Kannappa Nayanar - the story of Height of Devotion!

[Guest guest]

Thanks adi for posting the story of the hunter with a difference. If

I may say so, it is the story of the height of devotion itself. The

real, unadulterated and total devotion.

 

I feel that it shows that the way to attain God is not through empty

rituals or make believe acts. True devotion is the master key.

 

The story also highlights the point that anything done with pure

devotion reaches God and is a success in that sense. We can learn a

lot from the hunter turned saint.

 

delhigopalan

 

 

 

 

 

-- In , "adi_shakthi16" <adi_shakthi16> wrote:

> dear jk,

>

> you have suggested to your friends not to use these chants

> with 'meat' offerings ? am i correct?

>

> well, dearest, let me share a story with you , this is the story of

> KANNAPOPA NAYANAR, a great shiva bhakta !

>

> THIS IS THE STORY OF 'tinnanar' , the son of a nagan, the hunter

and

> his wife, tattai , who lived in a forest in uduppur, in tamil nadu.

> since the child was rather heavy , he was named 'tinnanarr'

>

> Tinnanar was Arjuna in the previous birth, according to Tiru

> Kalahasthi Puranam. When he went to worship Siva, to get Pasupatha

> Astra, and when the Lord came to him as a hunter, Arjuna did not

> recognise Him. So, he had to be born as a hunter again and worship

> adore the Lord, before attaining Final Liberation.

>

> Tinnanar was educated according to the hunters' customs. He became

a

> good archer. Even when he was young, his father retired, and

crowned

> him king. Though he was a hunter and carried on hunting as his

> Dharma, Tinnanar was full of love and would not kill young ones,

> females, diseased animals, etc. Spiritually, he had already killed

> the animals within himself, viz., lust, anger, greed, vanity, etc.

>

> One day, Tinnanar went out hunting. A pig escaped from its net and

> was running away. Tinnanar pursued it accompanied by two others,

> Nanan and Kadan. The pig was tired and stood near a tree. It was

> quickly killed by Tinnanar. They were tired, too, and thirsty. They

> proceeded towards the Ponmukali. Tinnanar wanted to climb the

nearby

> mountain. Nanan, too, volunteered to follow him, saying that on

that,

> the Kalahasthi hill, there was Lord Kudumithevar (God with a Tuft).

> Kadan was busy cooking the pork.

>

> Even when he began to climb the hill, there was a definite change

> coming over Tinnanar, owing to past Samskaras. He felt that a great

> burden was being lifted off his shoulders. He was losing body-

> consciousness. As he saw the Lord there, he felt supreme love

surging

> in his heart. He embraced the Lingam and kissed It. He began to

shed

> tears of joy. He felt that the Lord was lonely there, and that he

> should thenceforth remain with Him. Again, he thought that the Lord

> might be hungry. Though he was reluctant to leave the Lord alone,

he

> quickly came down the hill to fetch some food for the Lord. He took

> the best pieces of the pork, tasted them and ear-marked the very

best

> for Him. In the mean time, he gathered from Nanan that the Lord was

> worshipped daily with water, flowers, etc, before the food was

> offered to Him. So, he began to collect the other articles of

> worship. He filled his own mouth with water from the river.

Flowers,

> he gathered and wore them on his head! He took the pork, bow and

> arrow and went up the hill again, alone this time.

>

> At the temple, Tinnanar poured from his mouth, the water that he

had

> brought for His worship. That was his `Abhishekam'. Then he

decorated

> the Lingam with the flowers he had brought on his own head. This

was

> his `Archana'. He then placed the pork before the Lord. He went out

> and stood guard for Him, at the entrance, lest some wild animals

> should hurt Him. In the morning again he went out to hunt and bring

> fresh food for the Lord.

>

> In the mean time, Nanan and Kadan worried about the change that had

> come over Tinnanar (which they thought to be madness). They went

and

> reported the matter to Tinnanar's parents. They came and tried, in

> vain, to take him back. They, too, went away.

>

> When Tinnanar left the temple in the morning to get food for the

> Lord, Sivagochariar, the temple priest, came there for the usual

> orthodox worship. He was horrified at the desecration that some

> unknown person had done in the temple. He was well versed in the

> Agamas (rituals of Siva-worship). He performed the necessary

> purificatory rites and took bath again and began his formal

worship.

> He brought water in a holy pot, with a bandage around his own

mouth,

> lest the breath of his mouth should pollute it. He brought fresh

> flowers in a holy basket. He brought fruits and sweets, newly made

> and unpolluted by anyone tasting it, before the Lord for being

> offered to Him. He went home after the worship.

>

> Tinnanar returned with fresh meat. He removed the priest's

> decorations, and did the worship in his own way, and then as usual,

> stood guard at the entrance.

>

> This went on for five days. The priest was greatly upset about the

> desecration of the holy place. He appealed to the Lord to stop it.

> Lord Siva wanted to show to Sivagochariar the nature of Tinnanar's

> supreme devotion. He commanded him in a dream, to hide himself

behind

> the Lingam, when Tinnanar went to the temple the next day, and

watch

> what took place.

>

> On the sixth day, Tinnanar went out as usual for getting the Lord's

> food. While returning, he saw many ill omens, which made him feel

> that something had happened to the Lord: he was so unconscious of

> himself, that he did not think that something could happen to him.

He

> ran towards the Lord. He was grieved to see blood issuing from the

> Lord's right eye. The articles he had brought for the worship

dropped

> from his hand. He wept bitterly. He could not find who had done

this

> to the Lord. He treated the eye with herbs he knew of. Still the

> bleeding did not stop. A simple idea occurred to him: `flesh for

> flesh'. At once, with his own arrow, he took out his own right eye,

> and fixed it over the right eye of the Lord. The bleeding stopped.

He

> was very happy. When he was dancing in ecstasy, he noticed that the

> Lord's left eye had begun to bleed. But, he had already found out

the

> remedy. There was only one problem: how to locate the eye of the

> Lord, when his own eye had been pulled out. So, Tinnanar planted

his

> foot at the place where the Lord's left eye was on the Lingam, and

> began to pull his left eye out, with his arrow.

>

> At once, Lord Siva caught hold of his hand and said: `My dear

child,

> Kannappa! Stop plucking your eye.' The Lord repeated the word

> Kannappa thrice. Kannappar was thrice blessed. Tinnanar became

> Kannappar, because he gave his own eye to the Lord. Lord Siva took

> him with both Hands, and kept him on His right side. Kannappar

> regained his vision and lived as god himself. Sivagochariar

> understood the true nature of devotion.

>

> This story has an esoteric meaning, too. Nayanar had conquered all

> other evils: but, Anava Malam or egoism had to be killed, too. The

> wild pig represents this. Supreme Bhakti dawned, the moment this

was

> killed. In its chase, the seeker is accompanied by good and evil

(the

> two hunters Nanan and Kadan). Nanan (good) described the glory of

the

> Lord to him: Nanan represents good Samskaras. Kadan (the evil) had

to

> be left behind. The aspirant with good Samskaras, goes to His

> Presence. But, when he has to attain God-realisation, even this has

> to be renounced. Hence, Nayanar, when he went to worship Him, went

> alone. Nayanar's parents (the hidden good and evil tendencies and

> worldly desires) tried but failed to take him away from God. The

Lord

> asked the priest to hide behind Him, while Tinnanar was in front:

> this means, true Bhakti is far superior to mere ritual. Tinnanar's

> readiness to pluck out his own eyes for His sake is total self-

> surrender or Atma-Nivedan, the highest peak of devotion which

> immediately reveals the Lord in all His glory.

>

> courtesy- shivananda ashram on 63 nayanar saints

>

>

**********************************************************************

>

> to cut a long story short, it is the devotion (or a bhava or

emotion)

> that counts ..... all else is a mere formality.....

>

> as you know, devotees offer mamsa (meat) and madira (wine) to kali

> ma and anything that is offered with love and devotion is accepted

by

> the god/goddess...

>

> basically, in offering these food chants, we are giving thanks to

the

> lord... that is all there is...

>

> if he feels uncomfortable about chanting these prayers simply

because

> he is meat eater, then let him simply thank the lord for food that

> is being offered and partaken!

>

> my 2 cents ....