Humbing arrogant
The arrogant V1s & the true devotee of questionable heritage trope:
“God using the lowly/despised things of the world or people of no noble lineage to humble the strong & elite” is very much a Hindu meme. And no, it is not just a “Bhakti-Sampradāya” meme.
It goes all the way back to the Vaidika tradition in the Aitareya-Brāhmaṇa of the Ṛgveda, when Kavaṣa Ailuṣa was chased away into a desert by some Ṛṣi-s on account of his “ignoble” parentage on his mother’s side but Sarasvatī flowed in the place he was abandoned and surrounded him on all sides, forcing the Ṛṣi-s to acknowledge Kavaṣa’s greatness.
kavaSa ailUSa who was expelled by the RSis from a sattra on account of his maternal heritage (she was a dAsa woman; I suspect druhyu heritage). Expelled to the desert & suffering from thirst he sees the aponaptrīya sūkta and in the desert, the waters of the sarasvatI run to him.
Nandanār/Tirunāḷaippōvār Nāyanār of the Pulaya kula gets exalted in the midst of Tillai-Dīkșitas. Tiruppāṇāḻvār is exalted by Viṣṇu who makes a priest honour him by carrying him.
Kavaṣa Ailuṣa is chased away into a desert by some Ṛṣis on account of his maternal lineage but the riverine Goddess Sarasvatī flows up to him and surrounds him on all sides, forcing the Ṛṣis to acknowledge him
naive devotee
The innocent, naive devotee whose silly actions still please the deity: kaNNappa nAyanmAr’s spitting water on rudra as ablution to a creative mind, can be said to be prefigured in the story of apālā who chews the soma plant with her teeth to press out the juice indra!!
Kaṇṇappa Nāyanār offering Ucchiṣṭānna to Śivaliṅga and water for abhiṣeka by spitting it from his mouth, with pure innocence.
Apālā offering Indra Soma juice by crushing the soma stalks with her teeth; Indra drinks it directly from her mouth
विश्वास-टिप्पनी
“Evā́ ‘syāí múkhāt sómaṁ nír adhayat” (JB 1.4.3.6)
APĀLĀ . A daughter of the great sage, atri. Suffering from leprosy and hence forsaken by her husband apālā stayed with her father and started tapas to please indra. One day, on her way home from the river, apālā tasted the soma which was meant to be offered to indra and hearing the sound produced then Devendra appeared before apālā. She gave the soma to indra, who was so pleased with her that he cured her of her leprosy. (ṛgveda, 8-91).
- purANa encyclopedia
In the Vedic version there was no leprosy (but some other skin condition), husband, or tápas. Apālā́ pressed sóma between her teeth to rid herself of the condition, and Índra took the sóma from her. Índra then granted her her desire for hair to grow on her father’s head, her father’s field (i.e. crops), and her belly (so that she would become marriageable), in addition to giving her Sun-like skin.
- निखिलः
Fanatic devotee
The trope of the devotee who risks everything for his cherished deva: could be said to be prefigured in the story of Rjrashva who, seeing a she-wolf (and recognizing it as the divine animal it was; I.e. Sent by the ashvinau), offered a hundred sheep to satiate it and was blinded by his father as a consequence! However, the ashvinau, pleased with him, gave back his eyes.
The motif of Ashvinau restoring eyesight appears in the itihasa and the puranas in two other stories - cyavana and upamanyu.
विश्वास-टिप्पनी
Also, ‘न ऋते श्रान्तस्य सख्याय देवाः’ इति ऋक्-संहितायाम् उद्घोषितः ।
Not to mention para-vedic roots of atimArga shaiva-s.
Begging forgiveness
Sundaramūrti Nāyanār begging Śiva for forgiveness after breaking an oath
Vasiṣṭha begging Varuṇa for forgiveness for sins committed due to weaknesses/desires
Devotion despite torture
Appar/Tirunāvukkarasa Nāyanār undergoes torments at the hands of Śramaṇas for professing his faith in the Śaiva religion
Upagu Sauśravasa continues worshiping Indra despite being ordered by one Kutsa to not do so and ends up as a martyr, before Indra revives him.
Devotee first
Pūsalār Nāyanār builds a temple for Śiva in his heart, visualizing every detail of its structure in his mind, while a King is building an actual temple nearby. During the night prior to the consecration of the King’s temple, Bhagavān appears in the King’s dream to state that He will attend the consecration of His devotee’s temple first and that the King’s own temple will have to be consecrated later.
Both the Vāsiṣṭhas and one Pāśadyumna Vāyata are performing Somayāga at the same time but Indra prefers the former, with the hint in the Sūkta (ṚV 7.33) being that the Vāsiṣṭhas had intimate knowledge of the mantras and secret meanings