Article sent from The Hindu on indiaserver.com

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Hari Om:

This article describes the "Saiva Siddhanta Tradition" of South which is quite

parallel to the Vaishnava Tradition. The Nayanmars of Shiva are the Bhaktas

equivalent to the Azwars of Narayana. They both surrender and be union with the

Brahman (Hari- Narayan or Haran- Shiva).

 

I come from Madurai and at Meenakshi Temple where the "Nayanmars (a total of 63

in number)are worshiped along with Shiva. The Term Siddhantam is equivalent to

Vedantam and the focus is on Shiva instead of Brahman. Lots of Tamil Literature

on Shiva Siddhantam are available in the Internet for those who want to see the

parallel between the philosophies of Vedantam and Siddhantam.

 

regards,

 

Ram Chandran

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This article is emailed to you by Ram Chandran ( chandran )

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Source: The Hindu (http://www.the-hindu.com)

 

Ideal of absolute mystical union

 

CHENNAI, MAY 23. The pathway to God has been trodden by countless

saints and the hymns they were inspired to compose describing

their spiritual experiences are standing testimony to the

perennial call of the Spirit which beckons one and all. Just as

the Vaishnava tradition has the rich legacy of the Azhwars in the

form of the Nalayira Divya Prabandham in Tamil, the Tamil Saiva

canon comprises the 12 Tirumurai-s. The Tevaram embodies the

first seven Tirumurai-s which are the compositions of Appar,

Sundarar and Tirugnana Sambandhar.

 

The 8th Tirumurai is the Tiruvachakam of Manikkavasagar. He along

with the other three saints are referred to as the ``Nalvar'' -

the four saints who are called as ``Samaya kuravar'' (fathers of

Saiva faith). The Saiva canon has a rich collection of nearly

20,000 verses of 26 saints. The Periapuranam of Sekkhizhar which

is the 12th Tirumurai describes the lives of the 63 Nayanmars in

verse. The lives of Appar, Sundarar and Sambandhar are treated in

the Periapuranam elaborately while it is from his work

Tiruvachakam that one learns about Mannikkavasagar.

 

In his lecture on the role of Tiruvachakam in daily life, Sri E.

Sundaramurthy said that the mark of good literature was the

lasting effect it had on the reader. It is said of Tiruvachakam

that one who is not moved by reading its verses will not be

affected by any other literary work. This attests to not only its

literary merit but also to its mystical quality which touches the

soul.

 

These four saints represented four distinct paths to God. While

Appar trod the path of Dasa (servant), the role of Satputra (son)

was exemplified in the life of Sambandhar. Sundarar personified

the role of Sakhi (companion) and Manikkavasagar, the path of

Jnana. The Tiruvachakam verses are an eloquent testament to the

saint's spiritual evolution - the description of a pilgrim's

progress on the path to Godhead.

 

It guides the seeker through the formidable alleys of the

purgative way, then on to the illuminative way and finally to the

blissful unitive way representing union with God. Thus the

Tiruvachakam is a veritable treatise on theological mysticism. In

the Saiva Siddhanta tradition, Manikkavasagar is worshipped as a

devotee of God, just as the Azhwars are in the Vaishnava

tradition.

 

This is of great significance in the Bhakti tradition where a

devotee does not seek liberation but only the acknowledgement as

God's servant. Manikkavasagar showed the ideal of absolute mystic

union like a sugar doll dissolving totally in water without a

trace.

 

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