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A brief biography :
Near Nayanmars period, in Tiruvadavur (near Madurai) lived a pious Brahmin.
He and his dutiful wife got a worthy son whom they named Vadavurar. As the
child grew, his wisdom increased as well. The king of Madurai, having heard
of his qualities, made him his Prime Minister. As days passed, however,
dispassion grew in Vadavurar’s heart. Even while he was administering the
affairs of the state, his mind was fixed on the Lotus Feet of the Lord.
He longed to meet the real Guru. One day Tiruvadavur was directed by the
king to proceed to the east coast and procure quality horses that were being
traded there. The minister proceeded with a vast sum of money, and on his
way, as he approached Tirupperunturai, he heard the sound of Vedic hymns.
Lord Siva, in the guise of a Brahmin, was seated under a tree near the
temple. The Brahmin’s magnetic personality attracted Vadavurar. With
overflowing love and devotion, he fell at the Brahmin’s feet. By His grace,
Vadavurar was able to recognize him as his real Guru and prayed: ‘Oh Lord,
kindly accept me as your slave and bless me.’ The Lord cast a graceful
glance on Vadavurar. This at once removed all his sins and purified his
heart. Then the Lord initiated him into the divine mysteries of Siva Jnana.
This very initiation entranced him. With love as the string and his
nectarine words as the gems, he made a garland and offered it at the Guru’s
feet. The Lord was highly pleased with it, and called him ‘ Manikavasagar ’
since the hymns sung by him were like gems in Wisdom. The Lord asked him to
stay on at that place, and disappeared. Separation from the Lord and Guru,
made Manikavasagar suffer intense pain and anguish. Soon, he consoled
himself and lived in the remembrance of the Lord and Guru.
Manikavasagar adopted the life of a mendicant, and spent all his wealth
renovating the temple at Tirupperunturai dedicated to Shiva. The king, upon
seeing no sign of the promised horses or his esteemed chief minister, sent
out emissaries in search and was enraged to hear of what had happened.
Manikavasagar was admonished and condemned to be tortured. He prayed to the
Lord. The Lord heard him and willed that all the jackals of the place should
assume the form of horses. He also sent His celestial servants to act as
horsemen. He Himself assumed the form of a trader in horses and reached
Madura on Avani Moolam. The thought that he had unnecessarily tortured
Manikavasagar pained the king’s heart. He at once apologized to him. But day
passed into night and, in accordance with the Lord’s will, the horses
assumed their original form of jackals. The king got terribly angry with
Manikavasagar and he prayed to the Lord for His help again. At once the Lord
caused a heavy flood in the river Vagai. There was panic everywhere in the
town and the soldiers who were guarding Manikavasagar also fled. He went to
the temple to worship the Lord. The king finally understood that it was all
the Lord’s Lila, recognizing the greatness of Manikavasagar.
The king requested Manikavasagar to accept the rulership of the kingdom, but
the saint refused this offer. At Perunturai, Manikavasagar sang highly
inspiring songs and prayed that he should see the Lord in the form of the
Guru, as He appeared at first. He asked him to go to Chidambaram. On the way
he visited many shrines. In every shrine, unless the Lord appeared in the
original form of the Guru, he would not be satisfied. At Tiru Uttarakosha
Mangai, he wept bitterly when he did not see Him as the Guru. By stages he
reached Chidambaram and, residing there, he composed the Tiruvacagam hymns.
One day Lord Siva went to Manikavasagar in the disguise of a Brahmin and
told him: ‘ I want to hear Tiruvacagam from your own holy lips. I shall
write it down, so that I can learn it and with its help free myself from the
shackles of Samsara ’. Manikavasagar agreed to do it and the Brahmin (Lord
Siva) wrote down the hymns on palm leaves. Then he suddenly disappeared and
at once Manikavasagar knew that the Brahmin was the Lord Himself. The Lord
left the hymns lying on the temple steps, where was discovered by the
Brahmins of Tillai. In the end was written ‘Manikavasagar repeated this,
Tiru Chitrambalam wrote this’. The Brahmins wanted to know the meaning, so
they showed these verses to Manikavasagar who took them into the temple and,
pointing to the image of blissfully Dancing Lord, said: ‘ This Tillai
Nataraja is the purport of these stanzas. He is the meaning of them ’. Then
Manikavasagar immersed himself in the Supreme Light and become One with Lord
Siva.
Sri Ramalinga Swami's
Experience!
The following verses
are part of a song of praise on the saint Manikavasagar composed by
Sri Ramalinga, also in his early age.
“Devotees madly
seeking after Peru Veli, the Vastness of the Truth-World which is beyond
mind and all the instrumentation that arise from out of the womb of the
Darkness (Karu Veli, the subconscient and inconscient darkness) got stuck up
in Guru Veli, the Space of Heaven. But Oh you! Who hail from Vathavur, got
unified in that very pure and supreme Space of Universal Form which is
praised by the Vedas”.
“People who have
been doing Tapas for a long time absorbed in mind in that well-known chakra
of Ajna (at the middle of eye brows) and thereby becoming lean in body with
a bony frame have been disappointed not finding the Goal. But, Oh Lord of
beautiful Vathavur! You attained successively a form of Love, a form of
Grace and finally a form of Bliss”.
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