Synthesis: Tamil Nadu's gift to Uttar Pradesh

V.SUNDARAM | Tue, 15 Jul, 2008 , 05:50 PM

Most of the people living in Tamilnadu today and much less in the rest of India may even be aware of the fact that in the darkest days for Hindus and Hinduism in the 17th century, a unique poet-saint called Aadi Kumaragurupara Swamigal (1625-1688) from Srivaikuntam in Tirunelveli District founded the Kasi Matam at Varanasi during the rule of Aurangazeb (1658-1707).

That Kasi Matam became a permanent centre for the propagation of South Indian Saivism and Tamil culture and learning. He made Varanasi his headquarters for the best part of his life. He mastered the Hindustani, Urdu and Persian languages. He delivered lectures on religious and secular themes in Hindustani and Urdu languages. It was the Sixth head of this Kasi Matam at Varanasi, Thillainayaka Swamigal, who came to the South and established the Mutt at Thirupanandal in Thanjavur District in 1720 A.D., which is also known as Kasi Matam.

The glorious life of Aadi Kumaragurupara Swamigal is of absorbing perennial interest. Many fascinating legends have gathered around it, as is usual in the case of the lives of great saints and sages. Professor Dr. Murugesan, who has made a thorough study of the life and writings of Kumaragurupara Swamigal, has rightly said: ‘Unique is the place that Aadi Kumaragupara Swamigal occupies in the religious, literary and educational history of India’.

Kumaragurupara Swamigal was born in 1625 A.D. at Srivaikuntam on the northern bank of the Tambaraparani River, 19 miles from Tiruchendur. He belonged to a Saiva Vellala family. His father was Shanmugasikhamani Kavirayar, from whom he inherited his elemental passion for Tamil learning and poetry. His mother was Sivakamasundarai Ammal, from whom he got his piety and flair for religion. Legend has it that Kumaraguruparar was deaf and dumb till his fifth year. His distressed parents took him to the Sri Subramanya Swamy Temple at Tiruchendur where, by the grace of Lord Muruga, the disability disappeared. From that moment, the young boy is said to have attained his divine precocious powers. From that moment he lisped in numbers and the numbers came to him. From that time he became a devotee of Lord Subramanya and came to be known as Kumaraguruparar.

Learning classical Tamil at the feet of his father, Kumaraguruparar attained great proficiency in Tamil poetry by Divine grace. Right from the days of his youth, he scorned worldly ways, took to an abstemious and austere mode of life, left home and wandered in the Tamil country visiting famous places of pilgrimage such as Madurai, Vaitheeswaran Koil, Tiruvarur and Chidambaram, worshipping in the temples there and composing timeless Tamil poems on the presiding deities of those places.

Early in his life, Kumaraguruparar was emotionally and spiritually drawn towards Masilamani Desigar who was the Head of the Dharmapuram Mutt at that time. When he sought the spiritual guidance and benediction of Masilamani Desigar for being initiated into the regular Sanyasa Ashramam, Masilamani Desigar (in accordance with the established traditional practice) advised the young spiritual aspirant to visit important pilgrim centres including Varanasi and then to come back to him again. Initially Kumaraguruparar felt a little diffident of his capacity for such an undertaking, which was very arduous in those days. Masilamani Desigar advised him to stay for sometime in Chidambaram and then again to come back to the Dharmapuram Mutt. Kumaraguruparar complied with this direction and some years later took to holy orders as a disciple of Masilamani Desigar in whose honour he composed a poem, Pandaramummanikkovai.

Immediately thereafter Kumaraguruparar decided to comply with the Divine direction of his Guru to visit Varanasi. That was the turning point in his life. It also turned out to be a decisive moment in the history of Saivism, Saiva Siddhanta and Tamil culture. He became a legendary figure in Varanasi. Overwhelmed by the ever growing and radiating spiritual and cultural influence and impact of Kumaraguruparar, Emperor Aurangazeb, the then Mughal ruler of Hindustan, expressed a desire to see him. Kumaragurupara Swamigal agreed to meet him. In this context, legend has it that he prayed to Goddess Saraswathi by composing his immortal Sakalakalavalli Maalai and instantaneously by Her Grace, Kumaragurupara Swamy became proficient in Hindustani. He went to see the Emperor Aurangazeb riding on a lion, symbolic of courage and pride. According to contemporary accounts, Aurangazeb was greatly impressed with Kumaragurupara Swamigal’s self-effacing holiness and learning and treated him with great respect, overcoming his initial suspicion and nonchalance. Kumaragurupara Swamigal was successful in persuading Aurangazeb to allot a plot of land to him at Varanasi near the Kedar Ghat. He later built a Mutt there on that piece of land known as Kumaraswamy Matam, (Kasi Matam) which became a centre of Saivaite religious activity. He built a temple also and re-consecrated the Visweswara Lingam of the Kedar Ghat...

From that time onwards Kumaragurupara Swamy lived in Varanasi till the end of his life in 1688, except for a short visit to the South to pay his respects to his Guru at Dharmapuram Mutt. He organized the Kasi Matam on sound lines and strengthened it. He delivered regular lectures there, both in Tamil and Hindustani on wide and encyclopedic themes --- religious, philosophical and literary. According to inherited tradition, he was very fond of Kamban’s Ramayana and used to deliver regular lectures on it. But there is no basis for another legend that Tulsi Das, the famous creator of Ramcharitamanas was influenced by Kumaragurupara Swamigal’s lectures on Kamba Ramayana delivered at Kasi Matam in Varanasi. This will be clear from the fact that Tulsi Das was born in 1532 A.D and died in 1623 A.D. He began his Ramacharitamanas in1574 A.D. Kumaraguruparar was born in 1625 A.D.; he went to Varanasi in 1655 A.D. long after the death of Tulsi Das in 1623 A.D.

As Dr. Murugesan puts it ‘Kumaragurupara Swamigal got the use of his tongue at the age of 5 at Tiruchendur by the grace of Lord Muruga, revered for long as the Presiding Deity of the Tamils. His first utterance was ‘Kandar Kalivenpa’ an invocation in 244 lines that has come down from generation to generation as a popular recitation among devotees of Lord Muruga in several Tamil-speaking regions of the world’.

Shri Kasi Mutt has published the English version of this prayer. The opening lines are given below:

You are, verily, the Knowledge

That is beyond the comprehension

of the Celestial Creator

that dwells on the red Lotus.

Beyond the ken of the Vedas, ancient and divine

Beyond even the luminous principle of Natha

And, indeed, over-reaching even a Knowledge that is pure.

According to many great scholars, Kandar Kalivenpa contains several scientific truths about cosmic energy and its total control over Man’s intelligence. This celebrated and popular poem, together with Kandar Alankaram and Kandar Anubhuthi of Arunagirinathar, constitutes in modern Tamil the Parayanathrayam of millions of Subramania Bhakthas who devoutly chant them. They are not merely songs of prayer but also poems of immense moving power and find literary qualities. Kumaraguruparar is also the author of many Prabhandams such as Meenakshi Amman Pillai Tamizh, Muthukumaraswamy Pillai Tamizh, Madurai Kalambagam, and Chidambaram Seyyutkovai etc., which have been held in great esteem by Tamil scholars for more than 300 years.

His Neethineri Vilakkam, an ethical poem in 100 stanzas is a classic in that category. According to Dr. Murugesan, out of 102 pithy sayings in this collection, 25 are devoted to ethical values rooted in the traditional concept of education. Nevertheless they sound novel and relevant even in contemporary educational milieu. Without an awareness of such roots no knowledge can grow and no flower of learning blossom. I am quoting below one beautiful verse from Neethineri Vilakkam in Tamil along with its English translation by Dr.Murugesan:



In his greatest work Sakalakalavalli Maalai, what Kumaraguruparar sought from Goddess Sakalakalavalli (Goddess Saraswathi) was not only master of languages but also supremacy over nations. In the concluding stanza of this Maalai he sang as follows:



The life of Aadi Kumaragurupara Swamigal has some lessons for us even today. Though he was a staunch Saivite and a passionate lover of Tamil language, which he often extolled, in his great poems, he never hesitated to learn Hindustani and carry on his religious and literary work in North India. As A.V.Subramania Iyer has rightly said: ‘His poems show that he never cared for the linguistic purism of an extreme type that is the fashion in some quarters today. He recognized the greatness of the Sanskrit language and the Vedic and other religious literature embedded in it. In fine, Kumaraguruparar was a poet of considerable genius, a philosopher of great acumen and a powerful religious organiser. And in choosing North India as the scene of his labours, he stand unique among the latter day poet-saints of Tamilnadu’.

Thousands of devotees from Srivaikuntam in Tirunelveli District and other parts of Tamilnadu have given a written representation to the Government of Tamilnadu to persuade the Government of India to bring out a commemorative postage stamp in memory and honour of Aadi Kumaragurupara Swamigal. Shri Irullappan, the organiser of Seva Rathna, who hails from Srivaikuntam is the moving spirit behind this movement. He studied in Sri Kumaraguruparar College for Arts and Science at Srivaikuntam. It is understood that the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu has agreed to get this done through the Government of India. All the devotees of Lord Muruga and Aadi Kumaragurupara Swamigal are very confident that the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu would be in a position to get this simple proposal through A. Raja, the Union Minister in-charge of the subject of issue of postage stamps.[/b]

Tamiul Nadu ius forced to give under gun point thousands of crores of rupees to uttar pradesh and other hindi states

Kayalvizhi wrote:Tamiul Nadu ius forced to give under gun point thousands of crores of rupees to uttar pradesh and other hindi states

You forgot to mention the expensive, high quality and nutritious grass that these Uttar Pradeshi looters like to gorge on after plundering the wealth of Tamil Nadu:

http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/in-drought-hit-uttar-pradesh-the-poor-are-eating-rotis-made-of-grass-1252317

*bump*