Kannappa nayanarr - a true devotee of Lord shiva!

[Guest guest]

dear devotee,

 

in the past two weeks, the name of knaapa nayanar has been mentioned

in this satsangha twice - once by me and today by the Shaivam TEAM...

 

it is my pleasure to share with you the inspiring story of KAMNAPPPA

NAYANAR!

 

Nagan was the king of hunters at Uduppur in Pottapi Nadu. His wife

was Tattai. They were great devotees of Lord Subramanya. By His

grace, they had a child, after a long time. It was very heavy: so,

they named him Tinnanar.

 

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 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.

 

 

 

Legends: Shiva here was worshipped by a spider,snake & elephant as in

Tiruvanaikkaval. Kannappa Nayanar a hunter is also associated with

Kudumidevar-Shiva atop the adjacent hill. It is believed that the 3

Saints Appar, Sundarar and Sambandar, worshipped the Shivalingam on

the hill. Please visit a special Templenet feature on Sree Kalahasti

for more information.

 

SOURCE...

WWW.SRIVIDYA,ORG/DIVINE_STORIES/KANNAPPA %20NAYANAR/HTM

 

om namaha shivaye!