Arunagiri Naadhar (6)

[Guest guest]

The second round was 'anthathi', (a song wherein

the following verse begins with the last letter of

the previous verse), and the listening party should

correctly tell the implied meaning.<br>First villiputhurar

sang, and Arunagiri Nathar explained the exact

meanings. Now was Arunagiri Naadhar's turn to sing. He sang

53 songs. When he sang the 54th song, which goes

:<br><br>Thithath thath thath, thith thatha, thithi thaathai, thaa

tha thuth, thith thath thithaa;<br>thithath thath

thath, thith tha, thithi, thith tha, thE thuththu, thith

thithath thaa;<br>thithath thath thath, thith thath thai,

thaa thathi thE thuthai, thaatha

thaththu;<br>thiththath thath thath, thith thiththi, thI thI, thithi

thuthi, thI thoththathE;<br><br>Villiputhurar said, "This

is not a song at all, It doesn't have any meaning."

<br><br>Then Arunagiri said, that the 54th stanza indeed has a

meaning. He split the joined words, and explained the

meaning:<br><br>"Oh Lord, Thou, Who Art worshipped by Lord Shiva, who

basks in the Tala layas called Thithath thath, thath

thiththa, Brahma and Lord Vishnu who consumed lots of curd

and who lies on the Milky Ocean with AdiSeshan as His

mat! Oh servant of Deivayanai ( His Divine Consort ) !

Grant me the boon that even when this body, which is

confined by the laws of birth and death, and which is made

of bones, flesh and minerals, is being burnt (i.e.

crematorial rites performed after one's death), my mind /

intellect should still contemplate only on Your Lotus Feet.

"<br><br>When he heard this explanation, Villiputhurar accepted

his defeat, and took the royal sword and was about to

cut off his ear. Then Arunagiri Naadhar stopped him

and said, "Do not call any more scholars to compete

with them."<br>Villiputhurar was overwhelmed by

Arunagiri's compassion, and bowed down to him. He also

bestowed the title of 'Karunaikku Arunagiri'

(Arunagiri-the embodiment of kindness).<br>Arunagiri then sang

the remaining songs to 100.<br><br>In the Pandiya

dynasty there was a king called 'Prapuda Deva Raya'. He

had a royal poet/scholar called 'Sambandandaan.'

Though Sambandan was a Jain, he mastered all the Vedas,

manthras etc, and was a staunch devotee of Devi. The King

heard of the glory of Arunagiri and was always in

constant praise for him. This annoyed the royal scholar,

and he wanted to prove himself greater than

Arunagiri. He said to the King, "Your Highness, You

constantly praise Arunagiri. Is he really so great. Why

don't we see who's greater in a public gathering. In

public, I can invoke the Devi, and ask Her to give

darshan (make an appearance), but can Arunagiri too

invoke Muruga and ask Him to give darshan? "