Ideal of absolute mystical union

CHENNAI, MAY 23. The pathway to God has been trodden by countless saints and the hymns they were inspired to compose describing their spiritual experiences are standing testimony to the perennial call of the Spirit which beckons one and all. Just as the Vaishnava tradition has the rich legacy of the Azhwars in the form of the Nalayira Divya Prabandham in Tamil, the Tamil Saiva canon comprises the 12 Tirumurai-s. The Tevaram embodies the first seven Tirumurai-s which are the compositions of Appar, Sundarar and Tirugnana Sambandhar.

The 8th Tirumurai is the Tiruvachakam of Manikkavasagar. He along with the other three saints are referred to as the ``Nalvar'' - the four saints who are called as ``Samaya kuravar'' (fathers of Saiva faith). The Saiva canon has a rich collection of nearly 20,000 verses of 26 saints. The Periapuranam of Sekkhizhar which is the 12th Tirumurai describes the lives of the 63 Nayanmars in verse. The lives of Appar, Sundarar and Sambandhar are treated in the Periapuranam elaborately while it is from his work Tiruvachakam that one learns about Mannikkavasagar.

In his lecture on the role of Tiruvachakam in daily life, Sri E. Sundaramurthy said that the mark of good literature was the lasting effect it had on the reader. It is said of Tiruvachakam that one who is not moved by reading its verses will not be affected by any other literary work. This attests to not only its literary merit but also to its mystical quality which touches the soul.

These four saints represented four distinct paths to God. While Appar trod the path of Dasa (servant), the role of Satputra (son) was exemplified in the life of Sambandhar. Sundarar personified the role of Sakhi (companion) and Manikkavasagar, the path of Jnana. The Tiruvachakam verses are an eloquent testament to the saint's spiritual evolution - the description of a pilgrim's progress on the path to Godhead.

It guides the seeker through the formidable alleys of the purgative way, then on to the illuminative way and finally to the blissful unitive way representing union with God. Thus the Tiruvachakam is a veritable treatise on theological mysticism. In the Saiva Siddhanta tradition, Manikkavasagar is worshipped as a devotee of God, just as the Azhwars are in the Vaishnava tradition.

This is of great significance in the Bhakti tradition where a devotee does not seek liberation but only the acknowledgement as God's servant. Manikkavasagar showed the ideal of absolute mystic union like a sugar doll dissolving totally in water without a trace.

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