Nandanar: The ardent Shiva Bhaktha

There was, during the thirteenth century, a group of devout Shaivite saints called the Nayanars. They loved Lord Shiva with all their hearts and were given the title Nayanar because miraculous events occurred in their presence. Sixty three such saints existed. This is the story of the twelfth saint: Nandanar. 

 

Nandanar was born to the lowest caste in the Hindu Caste system. He lost his father at a very early age, and while growing up, heard stories of Lord Shiva and fell deeply in paternal love for the Pitre Deva (Fatherly God). He used to sing his glories daily, compose songs just to please him and hence developed a deep rapport with his loving father, Lord Shiva. It just so happened that Nandanar was from the pariyah caste (untouchable). He was considered so low that it was a sin to even touch him. However, he had the heart of gold and loved god with such deep passion that he would spend hours dreaming about the Lord. 

Nandi: Even today it sits slanted

Nandanar lived as a farmer and worked for a Brahmin landlord. Though the landlord was never abusive, he never treated him with respect. One day he wanted to visit a Shiva temple in Thirupangur. That day, it was crowded with people and he was unable to see past the heads and as he was an untouchable, he was not allowed into the temple. 

He moved to a corner to get a glimpse of the Lord but could not do so as his pet bull Nandi was blocking the view. Then he sang a self composed song to his pet bull Nandi and the stone idol miraculously moved to allow the saintly devotee to see the lord.  

Just so a Shaivite can see

Nandi at Night

 Over joyed by the ability to see his god he went home singing and dancing. Unfortunately he had taken his only day off and his landlord was very angry with him. He promised to work harder. As he was working he remembered that Arudra Darshana was coming up in a few days. Arudra Darshana is celebrated as a very holy day to worship Lord Shiva. As such, he wanted to go to Chidambaram to see and worship him. Unfortunately his landlord refused to give him leave and said that he will fire him if he took off. Nandanar begged and begged, pleaded and implored, fervently, and finally the landlord said, if he could harvest 250 acres (about 230 Football stadiums) of land he would go. With three days till the Arudra Darshana, he knew it was impossible to do so.  

He spent the whole night crying, begging Lord Shiva, realising that it is impossible to go to Chidambaram. The next day, the entire field of 250 acres was harvested and the landlord fell at the Brahmins feet because he had a dream Shiva and his Army of Ganas were harvesting his entire field. The landlord gave him some money and sent him off.

As soon as he reached the temple, as he was an untouchable, the priests kicked him out of the temple and he began crying to lord shiva again. He spent the whole night crying, as the very next day was the holy day. That night, Shiva came in the dreams of these beastly priests and told them that a holy saint is wishing to see him. Despite this the priests still did not let him through. Finally the Diksheethar agreed to let him in, if he walks across fire. Nandanar was overjoyed, he screamed "HARA HARA MAHADEVA!!" and walked through hot coal but felt no pain and ran into the temple hugged the idol, and disappeared, merged into the soul of god. 

Kannapa Nayanar

There was, during the thirteenth century, a group of devout Shaivite saints called the Nayanars. They loved Lord Shiva with all their hearts and were given the title Nayanar because miraculous events occurred in their presence. Sixty three such saints existed. This is the story of the tenth saint: Kannapa Nayanar. 

There was once a hunter who knew nothing- he was both illiterate and uncivilized. It just so happened that one day by chance, when he was hunting in the forest,  he fell upon a small temple dedicated to lord Shiva. The instant he looked at the Lingam (a special stone dedicated to and representing the Lord) he fell insanely in love with it. He would sing, dance, and visit it everyday. 

One day, a thought struck him when he was playing with his Lingam (which he called Lord Shiva): he had never fed his lord. "My dear lord! I forgot all about your hunger! Please forgive me, my lord" he cried, and went searching for some food. Finding a boar, he slaughtered the beast and offered it to his lingam. "Why aren't you eating my lord? Is it because you are thirsty? Yes! That must be it! I will bring you some water my lord!" he exclaimed, and ran down to a nearby stream.Carrying the water in his mouth, the hunter spit it all over the Lingam. "You still havn't eaten my lord! I KNOW!! The food is not cut!! I shall sever it for you!!" He proceeded to defile the sanctity of the small temple with the flesh of the dead pig. The ignorant hunter then placed the dripping carcass all over the Lingam. "My Lord! You are STILL not eating! I know, you must be feeling shy about eating in front of me! I will come back tomorrow and you should have eaten by then!" 

Temple where Kannapa saw the Lingam

In the evening, a priest came and was utterly disgusted by what he saw. "MLECHAS!" He bellowed. "Disgusting barbarians! Animals! Who ruined my Temple?" He screamed out loud. No one answered. The priest proceeded to grumble and clean the entire temple, cursing the perpetrator of such a sacrilege.

The next day, the hunter returned and was over joyed to see that his god had eaten his food. He screamed "HARA HARA MAHADEVA!! (Another name for Shiva)" and danced around the temple. With tears of joy streaming down his face, the hunter killed another boar. Just as he had done the previous day, the hunter cleaned, cut and placed the meat on the idol and spat water onto the lingam. The sanctum sanctorum was left defecated with his spit and pig meat. 

As usual, the priest came to pray to the idol, and was furious, screaming and cursed obscenities before once again cleaning the entire temple as he had done the day before. This happened for 3 days, until finally the livid priest decided to notify the king and his guards. The king, shocked to hear this story, decided to personally accompany his guards and destroy this Asura. They hid behind a tree to wait for this maniac demon who keeps defiling this temple. As predicted, the hunter came and began his ritual of spitting on the tree, pouring boar meat and dancing around the temple. 

 

Kannapa, cutting his Eye

Horrified and devastated, the guards and the king lunged at the hunter but were suddenly stopped by a mysterious hand. Lord Shiva hmself had manifested infront them and refused them to touch the hunter. He then asked them to observe a little spectacle:a small drop of blood started to ooze from the eye socket of the lingam. The hunter started screaming in horror, "MY LORD!! WHAT'S HAPPENING?!? WHY ARE YOU BLEEDING?!? YOUR EYE MUST HURT! HERE, TAKE MINE!" And he swiftly cut his left eye and placed it on the Lingam. Instantly, the eye stopped bleeding.

Amar Chitra Katha: Depiction of Kannapa

   

 He was overjoyed and started singing praise in his lord. But then the second eye socket started bleeding! "HAA! I know what to do now! My Lord has an Eye disease." But the hunter was in a quandary: if he pulled out his remaining eye, how would he be able to see where to place the eye on the idol? So he placed his foot on the idol, marking the eye with his big toe, and slit his last remaining eye. Instantly, Lord Shiva manifested himself in front of the hunter and  carried him to heaven. The king, who witnessed this miraculous event, decided to bestow upon the hunter the honorary title of the Shaivite saints (Nayanar) and called him Kannapa- One who gave his eye. For years, he propogated the story of Kannapa Nayanar and made the temple a holy site.

Ancient Shaivite Inscription of Kannapa

THe 

Salutation to Rudra: Shatarudriyam Krishna Yajur Veda

Namaste astu bhagavan-vishveshvaräya mahädeväya tryambakäya tripuräntakäya trikälägni-käläya kälägnirudräya nélakantaäya mrtyunjayäya sarveshvaräaya sadäashiväya shrémanmahädeväya namaha.


Literal meaning:
Namaste Astu: I bow down to Astu (that which exists from Astika: To be) 


Bhagavan: Supreme overlord of the universe.


Vishveshwaraya: Vishwa (All pervasive) Eshvara (Same as Bhagavan) 


Mahadevaaya: Maha (great) Devaaya (as a comparison all demi-gods)


Tryambakaya: Owner of three eyes


Tripurantakaya: Owner of three worlds (Tri = Three, puram = world/city)


Trikaalagni Kalaya: The controller of 3 time frames (Past, Present & Future)


Kalagnirudraaya: Devourer of time with the heat of time


Neelakantaya: Blue Necked (Neela = Blue; Kanta = Neck)


Mrthyunjaya: Destroyer, Victor or Conqueror (Jaya) of Death (Mrthyu)


Sarveshwaraya: (Sarva = All; Eshvara = Same as Bhagavan) Lord of All


SadaShivaya: All Auspicious


Shree Mahadevaya: Greatest of the Great devas.


Full meaning:


I bow down to the living existing supreme being who is the all pervasive overlord, great god of the demigods, endowed with three eyes, controller of the three worlds, The controller of time and the devourer of time through heat, the blue necked god, who is the destroyer (conqueror) of death, the supreme overlord of all, the all auspicious greatest of the great devas. Parameshwara. 

  

LORD SIVA AND HIS LILAS: The Tale of the Shiva Jyothi

Lord Siva, as known from classical literature is a benevolent, kind, compassionate, caring deity. He displays his  nature through acts on Earth to help Jivas reach to him. To instil faith in his bhakthas and provide them with Siva-Jnyaanam. He is known as Girisha, the lord of the mountain as his abode is in Kailasam. He is also known as Triyambaka, the being with 3 eyes. Shiva is also called as HARA HARA MAHADEVA. The word Hara is the root word for Hru and the meaning of this is the being who, at the end of time brings the entire universe into his heart. Mahadeva is to highlight that he is the greatest among the Devas. 

The Tale of the Shiva Jyothi 

One day, it so happened that Brahma, after looking onto the universe quivered with pride "Take a look, my love, at my  creation, at my intellect and prowess. How I have single handedly created the entire universe by my will." to his wife. Saraswati, the goddess of Knowledge said "Dear husband, think not of yourself as the doer, this will lead to arrogance and ego, drop the act of action and remember the great brahman through which all of us have manifested and curb this futile increment of ego"  

Unfortunately, Brahma, was not convinced. His pride soon turned to arrogance and he started humiliating the devas considering himself greater than the manifold of the devas. Visnu, concerned that this would cause unrest within the pantheon, decided to check brahmas pride by challenging him. Visnu stated that it was his thousands of heads, thousands of feet which support the universe. His constant action in preservation is keep the universe alive and thus creation is a mere one off task. As such brahma is nothing compared to Visnu. This angered brahma and soon a huge argument broke out between the two titans of the universe. 

The devas, concerned that this argument would lead to war, ran to Sadashiva. Shiva (also known as Sadashiva when he is in deep meditation), was awoken with gentle grace and songs of praise. Upon awaking (from deep meditation known as samadhi), he, as the supreme controller of the universe was well aware of its goings on. He assured the devas that he will take care of the situation and curb brahmas pride. 

Mahadeva went to the two warring parties and proposed a solution. If either of them could reach his head (on top of his matted hair)or his feet, he would consider them the greater being. At once both Visnu and Brahma accepted to the challenge, when Shiva grew. Grew bigger than Girisa, the lord of the mountains, grew bigger than time and space, and Siva became the ultimate brahmaan. As Siva was growing Brahma flew on his swan in an attempt to catch his head. 

Brahma Flying to the top

Visnu deciding that the head would not be of ease as Brahma has already a head start, turned himself into the Varaha Avataram (The Half man, Half Boar) and began digging. He burrowed furiously day and night but the thighs of Siva were so deep that no amount of digging even placed a dent on his distance. Days passed into months which passed to years, when Visnu saw a Mole and asked him "where are you digging from?" To which the Animal replied "I have been here all my life and I am trying to burrow out, I have been digging upwards for 17 years now" Instantly Visnu understood the imprudency of his act and stopped burrowing. He chanted a hymn in praise of Mahadeva and bowed to his feet. At that second, Siva bestowed him a vision of his feet.

Meanwhile, Brahma was still furiously flying to get to the top of Sarveshwara's (Sarva = All; Eshwara = Lordship) head. Finally he sees a flower falling down and asks the flower "dear flower, where are you falling from?" to which the flower replies "I have been falling  from the head of this being" seeing that this is his cue he he asks "how long have you been falling?" and the flower replies "all my life, and I am 17 years old." Brahma, exhausted by the thought of flying for another 17 years, commands the flower to bear false witness by stating that He (Brahma) plucked the flower from Sivas head and the flower, fearing brahmas wrath agrees.

They both fly down to Visnu, and tell him the vision, and they speak to Shiva. Shiva, the all knowning brahmaan becomes infuriated by this act of blashphemy and forbids anyone from worshipping brahma for his lie and the flower, as it bore false witness was not allowed to used as an offering to any deity. Even today, there is only one temple dedicated to Brahma, in contrast to the hundreds of temples for Shiva and Visnu.