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Unflinching faith

CHENNAI: The Periapuranam also known as Tiru Tondar Puranam, composed by Sekkizhar, contains the life accounts of the 63 Nayanmars — staunch devotees of Siva — wherein the remarkable ways in which the Lord tested their sincerity and manifested His grace inspires faith and devotion as much as awe and wonder. It projects an easier approach to God by personal worship wherein a unique bond between the devotee and the Lord is forged. Though hailing from varied backgrounds, from all regions of Tamil Nadu, and from all castes, classes and professions, these saints stood together in their display of utter selflessness, unflinching devotion to the Lord, and in the upholding of the values of life that comprise integrity, truth and honesty.

A shocking incident on the eve of the marriage of the daughter of Manakkanjarar, an army chief by profession and a great Siva devotee, highlights the extreme selflessness of his devotion, said Sri R. Selvaganapathy in a discourse. He considered it a great privilege to honour and serve all devotees of Siva. It so happened that the Lord appeared at the venue of the wedding disguised as a yogi. Manakkanjarar honoured this sage with great humility and asked his wife and daughter to pay respects to the guest. Struck by the beauty of the bride, the yogi took a fancy to the girl's lovely tresses. Without a moment's hesitation, Manakkanjarar cut off his daughter's braid and offered it to the sage.

To accede to the wishes of a Siva devotee was uppermost in his thought even in this most delicate situation. Manakkanjarar rose above the overriding concerns and hesitations about the likely disfigurement to his daughter on the threshold of her marriage. All else seemed immaterial, not even the inauspiciousness of removing the tresses on an auspicious occasion.

Recognising each and every thought wave in the minds of the people who were dazed by this unbelievable display of reverence to a Siva yogi, the Lord revealed Himself, restored the locks of the bride and graced the couple and the family.

Whenever Siva tested the sincerity of devotion by placing his devotees in similar moral dilemmas, they strongly affirmed their total commitment to the Lord and renunciation of any feeling of "I" or "mine".

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