Pattinathar / பட்டினத்தார் - Part 3

Pattinathar / பட்டினத்தார் 

Life story of Saint Pattinathar - Part 3

"காதற்ற ஊசியும் வாராது காண் கடைவழிக்கே" - Even an eyeless needle won't accompany you in your final journey.

Pattinathar left town after his mother's cremation and taught villagers on impermanence of life and to focus on attaining salvation by means of God. 

His command of Tamil language and poetry skills were exceptional. His songs were like words flowing on a honey coated tongue (Thenozhuga). He sang with Edugai and monai (Tamil: எதுகை மோனை ) and in praise of the lord/village he is visiting. 

At Thiruvaiyaru (tamil: திருவையாறு) (thiru = sacred; ai = five; aaru = river, Thanjore district, the lord here called "Lord of five rivers") he sings with five "aru" - tamil word for river as well as to cool/to abate.

மண்ணும் தணல் ஆற வானும் புகை ஆற
எண்ணரிய தாயும் இளைப்பாறப் - பண்ணுமயன்
கையாறவும் அடியேன் கால் ஆறவும் காண்பார்
ஐயா திருவை யாறா

Mannum Thanalara (1), Vaanum pugai ara (2),
Ennariya thaimar ilaiparavum (3),  pannumayan 
kai araavum (4), adiyen kaal araavum (5), kanbaar
aiya thriru vaiyara.

Meaning (From Variyar discourse): He thinks of how many births he has to take and cause suffering for the following before reaching god and laments: How many times do i need to be cremated - let the sand become cool (1), let the sky be clear of smoke because of repeated cremations of me (2), Let the mothers who is going to carry me during pregnancy be relaxed (3), let the god who write my fate take a break (4), in each birth i had to suffer running and searching for you, let me also relax my legs (5) - see of Lord of Thiruvaiyara.

Another one, this time at Irupaiyur:

மாதா உடல் சலித்தாள்; வல்வினையேன் கால் சலித்தேன்
வேதாவும் கை சலித்து விட்டானே -நாதா
இருப்பையூர் வாழ் சிவனே, இன்னுமோர் அன்னை
கருப்பையூர் வாராமற் கான்.

Matha udal salithal; valvinayen kaal salithen;
vedhavum kai salithu vittana - natha
irupaiyur vazh sivane; innumor annai
karupaiyur varaamar kaan.

He prayed: 
   "My mother got tired carrying me and giving me birth. 
    My legs were aching being in many mother's womb. 
    Even lord brahma (veda) got tired of writing my fate again and again. 
    Oh Siva of Irupaiyur, please save me from being born again (womb - karupai)".  

At Kanchi:

பிறக்கும் போது கொண்டு வந்ததில்லை; பிறந்து மண்மேல்
இறக்கும் போது கொண்டு போவதில்லை; இடை நடுவில்
குறிக்கும் இச்செல்வம் சிவன் தந்ததென்று கொடுக்கறியாது
இறக்கும் குலாமருக்கு என் சொல்லுவேன் கச்சி ஏகம்பனே

Pirakkum pothu kondu vanthathillai; piranthu manmel
irakkum pothu kondu povathillai; idai naduvil
kurikkum echelvam sivan thanthendru kodukariyathu
irakum kulamaraku en solluven kacchi ekambane!

We did not bring materials to this world when  born,
nor we are going to take anything with us when we die on this earth,
What wealth you accumulate in the meantime is nothing but what God gave,
you misers die without realizing this, what can i say Oh Ekamba of Kanchi.


At Srikalahasti:

வாளால் மகவரிந்து ஊட்டவல்லேன் அல்லேன்; மாதுசொன்ன
சூளாலிளமை துறக்கவல்லேன் அல்லன்; தொண்டுசெய்து
நாளாறில் கண்ணிடத்து அப்பவல்லேன் அல்லன்நான் இனிச்சென்று
ஆளாவது எப்படியோ திருக்காளத்தி அப்பருக்கே? 3

Vaallal magavarinthu utta vallen allaen; maadhu sonna
soolalilamai thurakavallen allaen, thondu seithu
naallaril kannidathu appavallaen allaen; naan ini sendru
allavathu eppadiyo thirukaalathi apparukae?

[Siru Thondary story]I'm not capable of slicing my son's flesh and feed you;
[Thiru Neela kandar story]Due to the challenge of a woman, i'm incapable of losing my youth;
[Kannapa Nayanar story]Nor can i give my eye like Kannapar;
How can i surrender and become one with you Oh Lord of Thiru Kaalathi (Sri Kalahasti).

Pattinathar / பட்டினத்தார் - Part 2

Pattinathar / பட்டினத்தார் 

Life story of Saint Pattinathar - Part 2

Sri Pattinathar

"காதற்ற ஊசியும் வாராது காண் கடைவழிக்கே" - Even an eyeless needle won't accompany you in your final journey.

Pattinathar and Sivakalai were happily married and successful, but had concern after many years they did not have a child.

After five years his mother started to worry that he didn't have any kids and suggested he look for a second wife. He refused and told his mom to not talk about this any further. You can make a cot at will, but cradle can be given only by God's blessings (Kattil undu thottil illai). They did what everyone in their situation does - pray to god and visit temples.  Sivakalai was in tears. When he wiped her tears, he heard a baby's cry. Thinking it was a miracle, he went to bed. 

When asleep, he had a dream, where an old couple is sitting on the front porch. He gave them water to wash and asked what they wanted, they replied, not much, but please save our child. He didn't see a baby in their hands and inquired where they came from and where is the child? They replied they came from Thiruvottiyur and the baby is in Thiruvidaimaruthur. It didn't make any sense. They gave an old saree and asked him to make a cradle/thottil (swinging cot). When he opened the saree, he saw a Nandhi from Chidambaram temple and after that they disappeared.

He woke up from sleep yelling. Told the story to his wife and later to his mother and said it appears God is playing an experiment. His mom told them to go for a pilgrimage between those temples and gave some jewellery for donation. His sister mocked him hearing the news, that after this many years they are suddenly going to find a baby in the temple? She is of the thought, without any heirs to her brother, the wealth will finally belong to her. There is no relation if we look for nuisance.

On the way, Sivakalai began to sweat in cool weather and began to cry. When he wiped her tears, he heard the same cry. Is that an illusion? Outside the temple, he saw a tree and an old couple sitting with a cradle hanging from the tree. They appeared to be the ones from the dream. He approached them and asked where they were from? Thiruvidaimaruthur was the reply. The cradle was made with the same saree, same nandhi picture. When he asked about the child, they said, The baby is ours and is born after a long time. We were very poor. We had a dream to hand this baby to Pattinathu Chetty and get some gold in return. We were on the way to meet him, and took a break to rest.

His eyes were watery, and when Pattinathu Chetty wiped the poor man's tears he heard a baby laugh. He took them back to his place. No doubt this child is godsend. They decided to adopt the child and made arrangements for a big ceremony. His sister was arguing not to adopt a baby from different caste. Ignoring her, he set for the gold weighing for the baby (Thulabaram - presenting ones weight in gold). It appeared to pull more gold than babys' weight - finally when he put the gold chain he bought for the temple, the scales were equal. 

[[Editor's note: There are variations found to this story - Variyar's discourse explains that Lord Shiva went into the poor man's dream and asked him to handover the baby found on the temple grounds to Pattinathu Chetty in exchange for money and he himself took the form of baby]].

Pattinathar / பட்டினத்தார் - Part 1

Pattinathar / பட்டினத்தார் 

 

Pattinathar Swamigal

 

Life story of Saint Pattinathar - Part 1

"காதற்ற ஊசியும் வாராது காண் கடைவழிக்கே" - Even an eyeless needle won't accompany you in your final journey.

 

I'm excited to finally write about the topic that bears the name of this blog. Tamilnadu had seen its fair share of saints and sages blessed with their wisdom. Life story and wisdom of Pattinathar is unique. There is a common saying in Tamilnadu, that only when one suffers, they realize pattinathar (Patta piragu than pattinathar puriyum).

His life history is not documented clearly and many of his songs were passed from one generation to another, now found in collections such as "Siddhar Padalgal" or "Pattinathar Padalgal". However most pin the events around 10th century CE. While researching this topic, i found wide variations and sometime minor differences in the life events of this great saint. Majority of the notes below is derived from the following sources: Variyar's discourse in Tamil "Pattinathar", Kannadasan's Arthamulla Hindu Matham - Volume 5 ("Birth of wisdom/Gnanam Pirantha Kadai" - translated in my blog post), Movie pattinathar, Book "Pattinathar Padalgal" and various web sources both in Tamil and English. Key differences and points are annotated either inline or at the end of post.

His mastery in language and poetry shows in his songs with proper grammar (edugai and monai) and flow. It took a considerable time to find translation and proper meaning for some words. Those who can understand Tamil, i recommend listening to Sri Kirupananda Variyar's discourse in Tamil titled "Pattinathar" or watching the movie for a quick refresh. Sri Variyar delivers the discourse in his usual mesmerizing way. 

Hope you find this post useful. Please use comments for any input/communications.

Sri Variyar swamigal started his discourse with a wonderful introduction. Here it is.

Introduction: 

There are many niyāyams in sanskrit. One of the six piramāṇam is Aruthapathi(அருத்தாபத்தி /aruttāpatti) which means implied or deduction. If he says, he didn't eat meat the last three days, it implies he ate before. 

Agasthiyar (Agastya) is a revered sage. Arunagirinathar sings about Agasthiyar, "Sivanuku nigar" - the one who is equal to Siva. Everyone goes to see Lord Rama, but Rama himself went to see Agasthiyar.  The sage was waiting outside his ashram to receive Lord Rama. Rama reaches the ashram and bows to him. Agasthiyar is shorter than Rama - how to tell this? Kamban Azhwar uses Aruthapathi to describe the scene - "Nindravanai sendra nediyon adi paninthan" (Nediyon - the taller one). He would've sung "Nindravanai sendra Nimalan adi paninthan (Nimalan - god) or niruban adi paninthan". Instead, he used "Nediyon", implying agasthiyar is shorter.

Likewise, since this saint is called as "Pattinathar" (city dweller or city person), it implies all the other saints were born in smaller towns or villages. He was born in Poompuhar (Puhar) presently known as Kaveri poompattinam, a coastal city which served as capital for many Chola kings.

It is important for all hindus to take pilgrimage and visit many temples and kshestras. Lord Kuberan is a good friend of Lord Shiva. He worships Shiva with his consorts in Kailasa. He made a request to Lord shiva to accompany him in visiting various temples. The ever kind Shiva granted his wish and they both set for a yatra/pilgrimage. 

Kedaram is the first stop - worshiping there will destroy the bad karma and that is the truth (Kedaram, ange vanaginal vinai sedaram, aduve namaku adaram - Variyar). They continued to Gowri kundam, Budha Kasi, Rudra prayagai, Deva prayagai, Haridwar, Naganatham, Varanasi. They were worshiping all the 12 Jyothir lingams. They traveled south to Sri Kalahasthi, Kancheepuram and then to Thirvannamalai Arunachaleswar. Chidambaram, Seerkazhi, Pullirukkuvelur (Vaitheeswaran temple) and Mayuram. 

Finally, they reached Kaveri poompattinam (now known as Poompuhar), once ruled by Karikala cholan. There are two padal petra Siva temples - sayavanam, Pallavaneeswara Swamy Temple [Padal petra sthalam - temples revered in verses of Saiva Nayanars - source: Wikipedia]. He prayed and immersed himself in the god. Kuberan liked the temple and its surrounding beauty and thought it'll be nice to stay a few days here before proceeding further. 

Where does god live?  In our mind, in our words, in our thoughts. Siva called Kubera and inquired his thoughts. Kubera, you wanted to stay here for a few days right? Why not stay and spend a lifetime here? He said and went back to Kailash. Think about this, for just one thought Kubera got a life on earth. How many thoughts we have and think of how many lives we need to live to make it equal.

If the thoughts were good, the birth is good. Bad thoughts will have a lower birth. Whether it is good or bad thought, both are karma - doesn't matter if the handcuffs are made of gold or iron, it is still a handcuff. We have to face the justice for our thoughts and get rid of them.

Arunagiri sings, "Iruvinaimum malamum ara, eraviyodu piravi ara, eka bogamai, neeyum nanumai, irugumvagai parama sugam athai arulidai maruthil, ekanayaga, loga nayaga". Only when you get rid of the good and bad karma, pain of birth disappears and attain moksha. Please don't confuse this with deeds or duties. You can still perform your duties, but without attachments - which determines the karma.

இருவினைமு மலமுமற இறவியொடு பிறவியற
     ஏக போகமாய் நீயு நானுமாய்
இறுகும்வகை பரமசுக மதனையரு ளிடைமருதில்
     ஏக நாயகா லோக நாயகா இமையவர் பெருமாளே.
 

Story:  

Kaveri poompattinam. When the Chola Kings are crowned, it is customary for the wealthiest in the nation to hand the crown for coronation. For three generations, the family of Sivanesan Chettiar had the honor of crowning the king. A known philanthropist he is also called Sivanesa Guptar (Guptar - philanthropist - right hand doesn't know what the left hand gives). His wife is Gnanakalai. They had a daughter Thillaiammai. The business was doing well. He had 12 ships, one for personal use. More than twenty crews were working for him. Each ship had a private room maintained to keep him feel at home. He had twenty stores in the city, with four in the streets where overseas business is usually conducted. 

Pathinarum Petru Peru Vazhvu Vazhga - Blessed with 16

Pathinarum petru peru vazhu vazhga

Blessings

Pathinarum petru peru vazhvu vazhga, is a common blessing in Tamil Nadu, especially while blessing the newlyweds. This blessing translates to, "Lead a great life by acquiring sixteen kind of wealth".

Oftentimes, people misunderstand this and conclude the meaning as "Give birth to sixteen children and lead a prosperous life". Even movies get in comedy act add such dialog and suggest we follow the government recommendation for only two children in the family. The reason for this confusion was the word "petru" (often said "pethu" in this context), which means "to give birth".

What are these sixteen kind of wealth? The origin of these sayings were not clear, but can be attributed to two sources: Kalamega Pulavar and Abirami Battar (Abirami Pathigam).

Pradosha Mahimai – a Variyar discourse

Pradosha Mahimai – Translation of discourse by Sri Thirumuruga Kirupananda Variyar Swamigal in Tamil.

There are many texts on Pradosham and Pradosha Mahimai on the web. The following text is translated version of Sri Kirupananda Variyar Swamigal’s audio discourse in Tamil.

Pradhosam has two meanings: 1: removal of dhosam (sins) and 2: its the night before a day.


There are five types of Pradosham:
     1) Nithya pradhosam – occurs daily 430pm – 630pm.
     2) Paksha pradhosam – Occurs on the 13th thithi (Trayodasi) of both lunar phases.
     3) Maasa pradhosam – On 13th thithi on Sukla paksham (rising moon phase)
     4) Maha pradhosam – also called Sani pradhosham – Any pradosham occuring on a saturday is considered special and is equivalent to worshipping on pradosha for 12 years.
     5) Pralaya pradhosam – Occurring at the end of universe.


Always chant the sacred mantra – Om Sivaya namah, especially during the pradosha times.


Of all the gods, Siva is the supreme. Of all the rivers, Akasha Ganga is the best. Of all the gems, Manikkam (Ruby) is the best. Of all the Vrats, Maha Pradosham is the best. This vrat is important for all shaivites. Chant om shivaya nama during these times as many times as possible. Many benefits come to those to pray to Shiva on pradosham days. They will be healthy, wealthy, gain respect, have wonderful children and more.

Siva is the most compassionate of all gods. He did not go to war with any. Rama went to fight Ravana, Krishna fought Kamsa, Narasimha found Iranya. He just teased yama (not kicked him). Appar swamy prays to siva: Oh Lord with Kunitha puruvam (curved eyebrow) – eyebrow never became straight in anger for him, Kondrai vayil punsirupum (smile in red lips), pavalam pol meniyum – bright appearance, Don’t give me anymore birth.


When a child cries for milk – how much will you give? a cup, a small tumbler? He gave sea like when sundarar cried. Ramalinga swamy says – Vallikanavan thanai endra vallan avan bhavani vara kanden: I see the philantrophist who gave us the husband of Valli. He gave us amritha, he took poison, he gave us angels and he kept the demons, he gave us home and he took the cemetry for living.


He gave Narai (white hair) only to humans – crows don’t get it, elephants doesn’t, cows don’t age with white hair. He gave it only to humanity. It is not narai, it is Yama’s lawyer notice showing your time is up soon. With that fear, we start to pray to god more living all these years forgotten about him. Not only humans, but he gave the same Narai to Devas too (Three final phases: Narai, Therai – body old age and Moopu – death).


Tamil vedam says, thamakuvamai oppathu – no one equals him. Brahma had five heads, and had ego issue (His ego was because of his responsibilities as he is the creator:sitthi kartha). Siva just took away one head with his nails and ended up with four.


After constant fighting with Asuras, Devas were tired and wanted to attain immortality. They went to Vishnu, who instructed them to churn the big milk ocean (parkadal) which will yield the sweet Nectar (Amrith).We say there are 330 million devas (33 crores). Vedas show us 33 devas in total (11 rudras, 12 adityas, 8 vasus, Indra and Prajapati) with a crore of incarnations of each.


The devas and asuras stuck a deal and set out to get the nectar. Vishnu took the form of a huge tortoise (Koorma Avatar) holding the Matragiri mountain and stabilized it. The snake Vasuki became the rope and they churned the ocean. The devas were clever and gave the headside of the snake to asuras and they took the tail end. With constant back and forth, the snake got agitated and started to spit poison. At the same time, a dangerous poison came out of the ocean – both combined called Hala-Hala (Hala-poison). Vishnu wanted to help, and as he got closer, the heat from the poison turned him black. Not knowing what to do, they went to Kailash to seek Siva’s help. After getting permission from Nandhi, they met Siva and ask for his help in dealing with the poison.

[[Side story: Nandhi Deva is one blessed with Siva Swaroobam.  Once Ravana was flying his chariot over tha kailash and he was stuck. Nandhi instructed him to go around as Siva is resting. Ravana replied, You look like a monkey and how can you stop me? Nandhi cursed, your city will be destroyed by a monkey. A thousand hanumans cannot destroy lanka without this curse. It was Nandhi’s curse that helped Hanuman lit fire of Ravana’s lanka]].

Siva drinking Halahala poison

It is customary to give the first harvest or first produce to the god. [Even now, some deposit their first month salary in a hundi]. Devas said, they were there to give the first product from the ocean churning to Siva as it is the custom. What they were saying is true, but what are they giving him? A potent and dangerous poison.

The ever compassionate Siva, smilingly asked to bring the Hala Hala poison; then rolled it in to a ball and took it like candy in one swoop. If the poison goes inside, the entire universe will be doomed. If it is outside, all these devas and asuras are doomed. Siva has a selfish reason too to take the poison. Without all the devas their wives will become widows and will cause more chaos. Wearing white sarees, everyone will look like kalaivani (goddess saraswathi) and no sumangali will be left to take aarthi even for parvathi.

He kept it in his throat without swallowing or spitting it out. [[Others point out Parvathi concerned about Universe put her hands around Siva’s neck and stopped the poison from moving further]]. When the poison lodged in his throat, his neck become blue, hence he called Neelakandan (blue-neck).

He is also referred as Sugreevan – beautiful neck (greevam – neck), Murugan called Sathgreevan (six neck), Ravana called Dasa grevean – 10 heads/necks.

The devas relieved, went back to the churning. Out of the ocean, many great things came. Kamadhenu (cow) – which gives what you ask for, karpaga tree – which gives what you think, parimala, chintamani, mandagini, choodamani and many – everyone took their shares. Last came the sweet nectar (Amirtham). Vishu took jagan mohini form, cheated fellow asuras who helped to churn, and gave it to devas only.

The day Amrith appeared is Ekadasi (Auspicious day for Vainavites). The next day, on Dwadasi, the devas are celebrating and were joyful having attained immortality and forgot about thanking Lord Siva. If i dropped my pencil and someone pick and give it back, i would say thank you. If i say thank you to the person who gave my own pencil, don’t you think the great shiva should be thanked too for taking the poison.

Finally they realized the blunder – if he hadn’t taken the poison, we would have died that day. They took bath in Ganga and headed over to kailash to worship siva and perform Pooja [[Meaning: (poo – poorthi /completion, ja – creation) – to complete (end) the maya/karma in our mind and to create siva jynana (liberation)]].

They cried and prayed to him for forgiveness. The ever compassionate lord forgave them and performed his Rudra dance. With the celestials playing music and singing, Shiva danced between the horns of Nandhi devar. This is called Anantha Thandavam (Happy Dance). Arunagiri explains this dance well in his poem: The Chandra (moon on siva’s head) also moves, Nandhi playing mathala (drums), Siva playing Udukai, Saraswathi playing veena and the position of his hair which was normally bent when tied up.

Observing Pradosham:
1. Chant On Sivaya Namah whenever possible, especially during the pradosham hours.
2. On Pradosham days, take bath, observe fast, (observe general Vrat rules like celibacy, truthful, compassionate) and pray to Siva. It is recommended to visit Siva temples during the pradosha hours and participate in the worship.
3. If starting a year long fast, can be done from any pradosha, but especially recommend when starting and ending with a Sani pradosha.
4. Siva should be worshipped between the two horns of Nandhi Devar.
5. Do Soma sooktha pradakshinam during this time in the temple.

Notes on Soma sooktha pradakshinam:

Normally when you go around the temple, you’ll do it clockwise. But during pradhosa pooja, the pradakshina is done differently. It starts at kodimaram  (pillar) right behind the Nandhi, goes right till Gomukhi (where Abhisehka water flows out), then back to nandhi and clockwise till chandikeswara shrine and reversed again for a total of three rounds.

Some call this Soma sooktha because the pattern appears moon like (Soma – moon).

However, Many articles point to the time when they run towards Shiva with the poison and Nandhi refused to let them in due to not praying to the lord before. The group was running away from Nandhi, but unable to run far on the other side due to the incoming poison wave and back till Siva stepped in to help them out. The current pradakshina is a re-enactment of that scene.

Om Namah Sivaya !!!