Source: TW
(Vaikāsi/Vaiśākha-Mūla) (26 May) is the day of Gurupūjā of the one who drank milk from Devī’s hands when He was just three, the day when He attained union with Śiva after 16 years of a divine & glorious life, culminating with His divine marriage. He is empirān (our Lord; the Lord of Śaivas)
He is Kauṇiya-Dīpan, the light of Kauṇḍinya Gotra. He is the Prince of Pugali that is, Sīrkāzhi, where He was born. He is the King of Śaivas, Śaivattvar Arasu.
His name is preceded by the adjective, Nānmarai as He is possessed of the 4 Vedas; by the adjective Naṭramil as He is possessed of the goodly tamizh language. He is Tamizhākaran; the very form of Tamizh.
He is the one who, while still a young boy, revived the girl Pūmpāvai from an urn of her ashes outside the house of Kapālīśa at Mayilāpuri (Mylapore, TN) & when her father wanted to offer Him her hand in marriage, He said “By Hara’s grace I caused her to be revived, therefore it will not be appropriate”, implying that Pūmpāvai is like His daughter.
He quelled the wicked Bauddhas & Jainas who attacked Veda & Śaivam.
He has touched the lives of more of the 63 Nāyanmār than any other Nāyanār. He led several of the Nāyanmār to Mukti on the day of His marriage to Mother Stotrapūrṇāmbikā:
He is:
ज्ञानमुनिवन्
तमिऴ्-विरकन्
तमिऴाकरन्
काऴियर्-कोन्
पुगलियर्-कोन्
काऴि-वेन्दर्
पुगलि-वेन्दर्
पूम्पुगलि-नायकन्
कौणियर्-कोन्
कौणियर्-दीपम्
शैवत्तवर्-अरसु
पोन्नि-नाड्न्
पोन्निवळ-नाडन्
आळुडैय-पिळ्ळै
नान्मऱै…नट्रमिऴ्…ज्ञानसम्बन्धन्
It is by the grace of the Sengōl (Sceptre) blessed with His sacred hymn (Kōlaru-Tiruppathikam) that Bhārata’s sovereignty has stood safeguarded all these decades despite having enemies on all sides.
Is there anyone like Tirujñānasambandhar? There never was & never will there be one like Him.
Hara Hara Śiva Śiva
Wedding
Is there a day like today? Today is the गुरुपूजा & wedding anniversary 🙂 of श्री-ज्ञानसम्बन्ध, the day he merged with शिव right after his divine wedding at the temple of शिवलोक-त्यागेश at नल्लूर्-पॆरुमणम्.
All his guests at the wedding were also granted the merger with the शिवज्योति, including 3 नायन्मार्:
- तिरु-नीलनक्कर् (who was the glorious पुरोहित conducting the wedding rituals), his long-time companion,
- नीलकण्ठ-याऴ्प्पाणर् (the player of the याऴ् instrument) &
- मुरुग-नायनार्.
He is the नायनार् (1 of the 63 नायन्मार्, exalted devotees of शिव) who has impacted so many other नायन्मार्. Not only was he the reason for 3 other नायन्मार् getting मुक्ति, he was also the special object of worship for गणनाथ-नायनार्.
The नायनार् चिऱुत्तॆण्डर् & his son, चीराळन् (who will both attain मुक्ति in a few years after चीराळन् grows up) also received the special grace of the prince of सीर्काऴि (सम्बन्धर्), who mentions चिऱुत्तॆण्डर्’s name throughout a decad & चीराळन्’s name once.
That verse is this: http://www.thevaaram.org/thirumurai_1/songview.php?thiru=3&Song_idField=30630&padhi=063&startLimit=8&limitPerPage=1&sortBy=&sortOrder=DESC
Ordinarily, it is translated to mean that one (anyone) may one day attain the grace of गणपतीश्वर (उत्तरपशुपतीश्वर) who dwells in तिरुचॆङ्काट्टङ्कुडि town of चिऱुत्तॆण्डर् & his son, चीराळन्.
However, it can also be understood to mean that चिऱुत्तॆण्डर् & his son, चीराळन् will one day attain the grace of the god of तिरुचॆङ्काट्टङ्कुडि. Verily, some have understood this verse as a cryptic benediction of सम्बन्धर् for चिऱुत्तॆण्डर् & his family to attain मुक्ति.
It is सम्बन्धर् that सुन्दरमूर्ति-नायनार् (who lived a century later), in his list of names of 60 नायन्मार्, calls, “ऎम्पिरान्” (my master). Such was the reverence सुन्दर had for the divine child that he did not dare enter the latter’s birthplace of सीर्काऴि!!
Why was सम्बन्धर् born? What was the purpose of his birth? This is the opening verse of his life-account as given by the blessed poet चेक्किऴार्
A translation here:
Every part of his life is so beautifully described. When he was a young infant, he would play with the girls in his neighbourhood by kicking their toy-houses. But who then realized the divine import of his deeds? 🙂
When ज्ञानसम्बन्ध-स्वामी revives the girl पूम्पावै from her ashes in an urn by the grace of कपालीश्वर of मयिलापुरी, her father asks him to accept her as his bride. But he refused, stating that he had given her life by शिव’s grace, implying that he is like the girl’s father!
When पूम्पावै is revived with adolescent beauty by शिव, all ज्ञानसम्बन्ध could see in front of him was the boundless grace of शिव, not the beauty of her form.
Some of the great hymns of ज्ञानसम्बन्ध-स्वामी
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திருநீற்றுப் பதிகம் (on greatness of bhasma/vibhūti) - This was sung to cure the पाण्ड्य king of fever.
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செய்யனே திருஆலவாய் (When the पाण्ड्य king gives the green signal to his नास्तिक गुरु-s to set fire to the monastery सम्बन्धर् was staying at with शिवभक्त-s, the divine child then hymned these 10 verses, asking the fire to go to the king (I.e. fever).
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நமச்சிவாயப் பதிகம் (on greatness of पञ्चाक्षर मन्त्र- न-मः-शि-वा-य ) starts famously as “காதலாகிக் கசிந்து கண்ணீர் மல்கி”
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மானின் நேர்விழி மாதராய் (beautiful hymn)
Hymn sung by सम्बन्धर् to the pious पाण्ड्य king to reassure her that nothing untoward will happen to him when सुन्दर्श्वर is standing with him & that she need not worry, thinking him to be a defenceless child.
- தோடுடைய செவியன் (svāmī’s very 1st hymn that he sang when he was 3 or 4)
Deep meaning of that hymn explained here:
- கோளறுத் திருப்பதிகம்
This was sung to reassure the great अप्पर who sees the planetary positions & expresses his fears for the divine child who wants to leave for madurai (then under नास्तिक control).
- போகமார்த்த பூண்முலையாள்
A hymn to शिव of नळ्ळाऱु; what is so special? The आर्हत-s at मदुरै, after failing to cure the पाण्ड्य king of fever, challenged सम्बन्धर् to prove the greatness of शैवम् by burning a leaf from his collection of verses.++
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Cont’d: This was the collection of palm-leaves that he carried along during his journey. When he opened his collection, the leaf with this verse showed up. That leaf was the one selected to go through the fire!!
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மாலைமாற்றுப் பதிகம்: Please see the lyrics given in the video for the verses. Please see each verse & read it from backwards, syllable by syllable. Palindromic tamizh hymn!
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திருவெழுகூற்றிருக்கை:
सम्बन्ध’s father, शिवपादहृदय, had a practice of reciting every morning all the hymns his son would have composed the then. But the divine one would compose so prolifically even at a tender age. As a result, it became very difficult for the father to recite the whole collection, which was just growing day by day. So, his son composed this beautiful verse which makes numerical references as shown in the picture below:
For those who don’t know tamizh, this is how the hymn “looks” like:
It is a “literary chariot”; a chariot made up of numerical references in a verse. Of course, स्वामी is not the only one to use this style but his is unarguably one of the very earliest & arguably the earliest.
Now, his son composed this hymn so that his father will get the फल of reciting all the hymns of सम्बन्ध with this one hymn alone. The hymn possesses a magical sense of completeness. Whether 1-2-1 or 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 or so on, it forms a complete circuit at each level.
Even today, one recites just this one hymn to attain the fruit of reciting all of the divine child’s hymns. Can’t resist sharing another beautiful चित्र of the poem although the words are hard to read.
https://gmbat1649.blogspot.com/2014/10/blog-post_8.html
The numerical references are produced forwards & backwards to build the complete chariot.
- வாழ்க அந்தணர் வானவர் ஆனினம்
When सम्बन्धर्’s scroll containing a hymn of his went against the current of the वैगै river & reached the shores safely, it was this hymn that was written there. Translation of 1st verse:
Made my day; kids singing the opening verse of सम्बन्धर्’s story from पॆरियपुराणम्
thevaaram.org/en/thirumurai_…