purAna & the sibling ideal-Part 7 (concluding)

[Guest guest]

Dear bhAgavatOttamA-s,

 

A string of "sthala-purAna-s" related to several villages of South India

reveal to us the the heart-rending story of how Lord Narayana as a mere

cow-herd and Goddess Parvati as a hapless cow wandered in exile across the

land. From the account of the "sthala-purAnA-s" we get an idea of the

"travails and tribulation", the sadness and pain the Divine Siblings both

experienced on earth.

 

"tEr-ezhundUr" in TamilNadu is the place to which sister and brother

arrived one day after wearily trudging many miles through desolate

lands....

 

This village, "tEr-ezhundUr", today is known for its beautiful temple of

"gOpAla". The Lord in this temple is known as "gOsakhan" (He who remained

constant companion to "the cow"). The village is also known as

"gOsakha-kshEtram". The great AzhwAr, "Tirumangai-mannan", offered his

"mangalA-sAsanam" (poetic outpouring of inspired devotion), at this temple

in praise of the deity of Lord Narayana here.

 

At the other end of "tEr-ezhundUr" village there is also a temple of Siva

where Saint "GnyAna-sambandhar" too was moved to sing the glory of the Lord

of Kailasa in stirring "tEvAram-s" (the poetic Saivite equivalents of the

AzhwAr's "divya-prabandham-s").

 

This village is also the birth-place of the famous Tamil poet, Kamban.

 

Legend has it that at a place called "pilloor" very near "tEr-ezhundUr",

Vishnu the cow-herd tended to his sister, Parvati the cow, with touching

solicitude and great affection. As Amba rested, the Lord offered Her

"pillU" i.e. freshly cut grass and stroked her gently, whispering little

terms and sounds of endearment much as a cow-herd would do! The place thus

came to be called "pilloor" !

 

Nearby there are other small villages called "mEkkiri-mangalam" and

"An-Angur" where too, it is said in the "sthala-pUrAnA", that the Lord

grazed his beloved cow ("An" is an archaic Tamil synonym for cow, in fact).

 

It is also said that Vishnu, the beloved brother of Parvati, who greatly

grieved over her marital condition, proceeded to propitiate Lord Siva by

installing two deities in the temple at "tEr-ezhundUr" or

"gOsakha-kshEtram". Siva is thus known to this day in the two temples as

"vEda-purIsvara" and "aa-maruviyappan" ( "aa" again being an archaic Tamil

synonym for the cow!).

 

Thus, "tEr-ezhun-dUr" where the Lord Veda-purIshvara came to preside at the

behest of Lord Narayana, eventually became a great centre of Vedic

learning. Many great Vedic scholars have historically flourished in this

otherwise nondescript village. Sambandhar, the Saivaite saint, thus hailed

the village as "azhundai maraiyOr !" --- the Vedic pundits of "Ezhundurai".

 

In recent times, one of the most venerated pontiffs of the Srimad SriRanga

"Ashram" hailed from "tEr-ezhundUr".

 

Very near "tEr-ezhUndUr" there is a site called "tirukkulambiyam". It was

at this spot that Parvati the cow, while grazing one day under the watchful

eyes of the cow-herd Lord Narayana, accidentally tripped over a Siva

"linga" embedded in a mound of earth. She was horrified! The poor cow began

to run helter-skelter in a state of great panic until her cow-herd brother,

Vishnu, pacified her and counselled her to get a grip on herself and face

life with courage.

 

Vishnu then proceeded to implore Siva through heart-rending prayers to

forgive Amba and restore to her the rightful place and dignity as reigning

Consort of Kailasa. The legend of the "sthala-purAna" goes on to narrate

how Siva, pleased with Vishnu's ardent entreaties, appeared before Him and

spoke thus: "Keep grazing the cow until you get to the banks of the River

Kaveri. Bathe her in the pure waters of the Kaveri so that Parvati may

regain her form. Thou hast my word, O Lord Narayana, I shall surely wed thy

sister, Uma, again!".

 

The brother Narayana was filled with unbounded joy!

 

As bidden He took the cow to the banks of the Kaveri and bathed her in the

cool streams at a place called even to this day as "tiru-vAdu-turai" in

Tamil Nadu.

 

Amba rose from the waters in her radiant form again!

 

Lord Narayana watched her stride forth like a lovely bride again, His

filial heart bursting with pride and joy at its seams!

 

Brother led the beautiful bride, Parvati, to a village called

"tirutturutti", near Mayavaram in today's Tamil Nadu.

 

At "tirutturutti" Lord Siva made his appearance to undertake wedding vows

("vrata") at a place called "vElvikkudi". The spot where Siva again took

Parvati as his Bride by performing the "pAlikA" ceremony is called even

today as "kurumulai-palli". It is said in the "sthala-purAna" that the

canopy or awning under which Siva and Parvati were married spread over

two/three villages. One of the villages today is known as "tirumAnanjEri",

again in TamilNadu.

 

It was in "tirumAnanjEri" that Lord Vishnu, the greatest Ideal of Filial

Affection and Duty, gave His beloved sister, for whose sake He had suffered

much on earth as a common cow-herd, He gave her hand in marriage again to

the Lord of Kailasa!

 

It was an occasion of great joy for Him to see His sister rejoice in the

restitution of conjugal felicity!

 

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

 

On the auspicious occasion of Navarathri which has neared its end today, I

enjoyed recounting this little "purAni-c" tale where Amba and Parameshwara

were united by the untiring efforts of Lord Narayana.

 

I had observed, if you remember, in an earlier post that as many "broken

marriages" are mended in heaven as are first-time ones made therein!

 

After re-counting the above tale of Narayana and Parvati, I stand

corrected:

 

Now I am led to believe that marriages may be made in heaven, but "broken

ones" (like that of even Parvati and Siva) can only be mended on earth!

 

If you need proof of that please go on a pilgrimage beginning with

"tEr-ezhundUr" and terminating at "tirumAnanjEri" !

 

adiyEn,

sudarshan

[Guest guest]

Sudarshan wrote:

> It is also said that Vishnu, the beloved brother of Parvati, who greatly

> grieved over her marital condition, proceeded to propitiate Lord Siva by

> installing two deities in the temple at "tEr-ezhundUr" or

> "gOsakha-kshEtram". Siva is thus known to this day in the two temples as

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

> "vEda-purIsvara" and "aa-maruviyappan" ( "aa" again being an archaic Tamil

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

> synonym for the cow!).

 

This doesn't seem correct. From what I recall, it is PerumaaL alone

who is known as "aamaruviyappan" at thErezhundhUr. Rengi, can you fill

us in on the correct sthala-purANa story? I am not sure where Sudarshan

has got his version (Sudarshan, perhaps you can clarify), but some of

the other details he has presented here are not from the tErezhundhUr

sthala-purANa.

 

I await clarification from both members.

 

Thanks,

Mani

[Guest guest]

On Oct 4, 5:15pm, Mani Varadarajan wrote:

> Re: purAna & the sibling ideal-Part 7 (concluding)

> This doesn't seem correct. From what I recall, it is PerumaaL alone

> who is known as "aamaruviyappan" at thErezhundhUr. Rengi, can you fill

> us in on the correct sthala-purANa story?

 

Dear Sri Mani and Sri Sudarshan,

 

There are severel purAnams that talk about this kshEthrm including

the tamil classic puRa nAnooru. But SrivaishnavALs take the account

presented in sAthvika purAnam ie., Sri vishnu purAnam. In chapter 5 of Sri

Vishnu purAnam it is extensively dealt about this puNNiya kshEtram.

Whne Lord Brahma abducted all the cows and brought to this

place and kept them in hiding in his posession, Lord Sri Krishna

recreated all the cows (it is said that HE HIMself expanded into them)

and Lord BrahmA was hmuliated by this. Later Lord Brahmarealsing

the avathAra mahimai pleaded to the Lord to live in nityA vAsam in

the place where the cows were kept. Lord Brahma requested Sri Krishna to

be present there as the protector of cows (gOsakA). the tamil word

"AA" means cow and "Amaruviyappan mean (one of the meaning)

one who protects the cow

and it is considered to be equivalent of the sanskrit word Gosaka.

There is another episode that states that the celestial King

Ubairsaravasu. It seems this King

obatined a boon that on whomsoever the shadow of his

vimAnam will fall that one will die. He was flying in his vimAnam and that

the shadow of the vimAnam fell on the cows of Sri Krishna. And when

they collapsed Sri Krishna not only revived their lives but also

gorunded the flying vimAnam of the King. King Ubarisaravasu could not

make it fly again and apolgised to Sri Krishna and pleaded to him.

Since this place is considered the place where he met Sri Krishna,

Lord Krishna is also known here as one who revived the lives of

all the cows, ie "AA maruviyappan".

There was a question from shaivites as to why the moolavar is

not seen with any cows. the ursavar is seen with a cow at his bakc and its calf

at the front as goPalan to remind us that it is HIm who is

AAmaruviyapppan. thirumnagai clearly explains this i his pasuram.

besides, each of the 10 pasurams of thirumagai talk s so special

about this ninRa kOlam.

 

 

Lord Shiva is facing west here and Lord aamrauviappan is facing

east and as per the Agama, this is interpretted that Lord SriKrishna

is the pradhAna devathA and Lord Shiva is the parivAra devathA.

Once in a year this town also has a festival in which both of them

meet to play "dice" (intamil "thAyam").

There are much more to add for this thaal purAnam which I will

write later.

 

adiyEN

Sampath Rengarajan

 

note: There is an inner meanig to all this is presented in kAlaskhEbams.

ie., the cows are th ejivatmAs and no matter who do what to them

when they are surrendered to Lord, Lord Sri Krishna protects

them all the time.