A brief
biography of Saiva Siddhar Saint
Manickavasagar :
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”.
