Letter 86

(86) JNANA SAMBANDHAMURTHY
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1st February, 1947
After Bhagavan had read out from the Tamil commentary of Soundarya Lahari and told us that the words ‘dravida sisuhu’ referred to Sambandha himself, the discussion on that subject continued in the Hall for the subsequent two or three days. In this connection a devotee asked Bhagavan one day, “Sambandha’s original name was Aludaya Pillayar wasn’t it? When did he get the other name of ‘Jnana Sambandhamurthy?’ and why?” 

Bhagavan replied, “As soon as he drank the milk given by the Goddess, Jnana Sambandha (contact with Knowledge), was established for him, and he got the name Jnana Sambandhamurthy Nayanar. That means, he became a Jnani without the usual relationship of Guru and disciple. Hence, people all over the neighbourhood began to call him by that name from that day onwards. That is the reason.” I said, “Bhagavan too acquired knowledge without the aid of a Guru in human form?” “Yes! yes! That is why Krishnayya brought out so many points of similarities between Sambandha and myself,” said Bhagavan.

“In Sri Ramana Leela it is stated, that while Sambandha was coming to Tiruvannamalai the forest tribes robbed him of his possessions. He was a man of wisdom and knowledge.

What property had he?”, I asked. “Oh! that! He followed the path of devotion, didn’t he? Therefore he had golden bells and a pearl palanquin and other symbols of that nature according to the injunctions of Ishwara. He had also a mutt (an establishment for monks) and all that a mutt requires,” said Bhagavan. “Is that so? When did he get all those?” I asked.

Bhagavan replied with a voice full of emotion, “From the time when he acquired the name of Jnana Sambandha, that is, even from his childhood, he used to sing with uninterrupted poetic flow and go on pilgrimage. He first visited a holy place called Thirukolakka, went into the temple there, sang verses in praise of the Lord, beating time with his little hands. God appreciated it and gave him a pair of golden bells for beating time. From that day onwards the golden bells were in his hands whatever he sang and wherever he went. Thereafter he visited Chidambaram and other holy places and then went to a pilgrim centre called Maranpadi.

There were no trains in those days. The presiding deity in that place observed this little boy visiting holy places on foot.

So His heart melted with pity and He created a pearl palanquin, a pearl umbrella and other accompaniments bedecked with pearls suitable for sannyasis, left them in the temple, appeared to the brahmin priests there and to Sambandha in their dreams and told the Brahmins, ‘Give them to Sambandha with proper honours,’ and told Sambandha, ‘The Brahmins will give you all these; take them.’ As they were gifts from Gods he could not refuse them. So Sambandha accepted with reverential salutations by doing pradakshina, etc. and then got into the palanquin. From that time onwards he used to go about in that palanquin wherever he went. Gradually some staff gathered around him and a mutt was established. But whenever he approached a holy place, he used to alight from the palanquin as soon as he saw the gopura (tower) of the shrine and from there onwards, he travelled on foot until he entered the place. He came here on foot from Tirukoilur as the peak of Arunagiri is visible from there.” A Tamil devotee said that that visit was not clearly mentioned in Periapuranam, to which Bhagavan replied as follows: “No. It is not in Periapuranam. But it is stated in Upamanyu’s Sivabhaktivilasam in Sanskrit. Sambandha worshipped Virateswara in Arakandanallur and won the god’s favour with his verses and then he worshipped Athulyanatheswara in the same way. From there he beheld the peak of Arunagiri and sang verses out of excess of joy and installed an image of Arunachaleswara in the same spot.

While he was seated there on a mandapam, God Arunachaleswara appeared to him first in the shape of a Jyoti (light) and then in the shape of an old brahmin.

Sambandha did not know who that old brahmin was. The brahmin had in his hand a flower basket. Unaccountably, Sambandha’s mind was attracted towards that brahmin like a magnet. He at once asked him with folded hands, ‘Where do you come from?’ ‘I have just come from Arunachalam.

My village is here, nearby,’ replied the brahmin. Sambandha asked him in surprise, ‘Arunachala! But how long ago did you come here?’ The brahmin replied indifferently ‘How long ago? Daily I come here in the morning to gather flowers to make a garland for Lord Arunachala and return there by the afternoon.’ Sambandha was surprised and said, ‘Is that so? But they said it is very far from here?’ The old brahmin said, ‘Who told you so? You can reach there in one stride.

What is there great in it?’ Having heard that, Sambandha became anxious to visit Arunachala and asked, ‘If so, can I walk there?’ The old man replied, ‘Ah! If an aged man like myself goes there and comes here daily, can’t a youth like you do it? What are you saying?’ “With great eagerness Sambandha asked, ‘Sir, if that is so, please take me also along with you,’ and started at once with all his entourage. The brahmin was going in advance and the party was following behind. Suddenly the brahmin disappeared. As the party was looking here and there, in confusion, a group of hunters surrounded them, and robbed them of the palanquin, umbrella, golden bells and all the pearls and other valuable articles, their provisions and even the clothes they were wearing. They were left with only their loin clothes. They did not know the way; it was very hot and there was no shelter, and all were hungry as it was time for taking food. What could they do? Then Sambandha prayed to God. ‘Oh! Lord, why am I being tested like this? I don’t care what happens to me, but why should these followers of mine be put to this hard test?’ On hearing those prayers, God appeared in His real form and said, ‘My son, these hunters too are my Pramatha Ganas (personal attendants).

They deprived you of all your possessions as it is best to proceed to the worship of Lord Arunachala without any show or pomp. All your belongings will be restored to you as soon as you reach there. It is noon time now. You may enjoy the feast and then proceed farther’. So saying He disappeared.

“At once, a big tent appeared on a level space nearby.

Some Brahmins came out of the tent and invited Sambandha and his party to their tent, entertained them to a feast with delicious dishes of various kinds and with chandanam (sandal paste) and thambulam (betel leaves). Sambandha who was all along entertaining others, was himself entertained by the Lord Himself. After they had rested for a while, one of the Brahmins in the tent got up and said, ‘Sir, shall we proceed to Arunagiri?’ Sambandha was extremely happy and accompanied the brahmin along with his followers. But as soon as they set out on their journey, the tent together with the people in it disappeared. While Sambandha was feeling astonished at those strange happenings, the guide who had been leading them to Arunachala disappeared as soon as they arrived there.

Suddenly, the tent along with the people in it and the hunters who had robbed them previously appeared from all sides and restored to Sambandha all his belongings which they had robbed previously, and vanished. With tears of joy, Sambandha praised the Lord for His great kindness, stayed there for some days, worshipped Him with flowers of verses and then proceeded on his journey. Out of His affection for Sambandha, who was serving Him with reverence, God Himself, it would appear, invited him to this hill.” So saying, Bhagavan assumed silence, with his heart filled with devotion and with his voice trembling with emotion.

Letter 82

(82) SUNDARAMURTI'S BOND OF SERVITUDE
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27th January, 1947
Yesterday, after hearing Bhagavan’s narration of Sundaramurti’s story, which I have mentioned in my letter to you, I was desirous of hearing the story of that devotee’s younger days and so went to Bhagavan’s presence early this morning at 7-30 a.m. Bhagavan had already returned from the hill and was reading some book. There were not many people in the hall at that time. Having made my obeisance, I asked Bhagavan what book he was reading. He replied, “Peria Puranam. I am just going through the story of the younger days of Sundaramurti.” “It is all very interesting, isn’t it?” I asked. “Yes.

Would you like to read it?” asked Bhagavan. “I should very much like to but I do not know Tarnil sufficiently well,” I replied.

“All right. I will tell you the story briefly,” said Bhagavan and, with a smile, proceeded with the story as follows: “Sundaramurti was born in the sacred place Tirunavalur in Thirumunaippadi country in the Siva Brahmana caste called Adi Saivam, to the Siva priest called Chadayanar, alias Sivacharya, and his wife Isaijnaniyar. He was named by his parents Nambiyarurar. One day, while he was playing in the street with a toy cart, the king of the place, by name Narasinga Muniyar, saw him and took a fancy to him. He requested the father, Sivacharya, to let him have the boy. The father agreed and the boy was brought up by the king as his foster son. Even so, the Brahminical customs as regards thread ceremony and vedic instructions were carefully observed and he became well-versed in all the Sastras.

“When he came of age, his marriage with the daughter of a relative by name Chatangavi Sivacharya was decided upon, and invitations were issued to all relatives for the function. Sundaramurti went through the usual premarital ceremonies a day before the marriage, and on the marriage day proceeded properly dressed as the bridegroom, along with his relatives, to the bride’s father’s house in Puttur village on horseback quite early in the morning. On reaching the bride’s house, he alighted from the horse and sat on the wedding seat in the marriage pandal in accordance with the usual custom. There was a blare of music and the arrival of the bride was awaited.

“Just then, Lord Siva approached the marriage pandal in the garb of an old brahmin, and announced, ‘All of you please listen to what I say.’ On their assenting, the old man told the boy, ‘Look here, there is an agreement between you and me. First fulfil it and then marry.’ The boy replied, ‘If there is an agreement let it be so but tell us first what it is.’ The old brahmin told the audience, ‘Sirs, this boy is my servant. I have with me the deed of service executed by his grandfather in my favour.’ Sundaramurti replied, ‘Oh! Madman, enough! We are hearing for the first time that a brahmin is the servant of another brahmin. Go, get away!’ The brahmin replied, ‘I am neither a madman nor a devil. I am not offended at your remarks. You have not understood me at all. Stop this childish talk and come and serve me.’ Sundaramurti then said, ‘Show me the deed.’ ‘Who are you to decide after seeing the deed?’ said the old man. ‘If the people in the audience see the deed and agree that it is true, you should begin to serve me.’ Sundaramurti got very angry and pounced upon the man to snatch the deed from him.

The brahmin however ran away but the boy pursued him, snatched the deed at last, and tore it to pieces. The old man caught hold of Sundaramurti and began shouting. The marriage guests got agitated over that, separated the two and said to the brahmin, ‘You are speaking of arrangements unheard of in this world. Oh! Quarrelsome old man! Where do you come from?’ The brahmin replied, ‘I belong to the village of Thiruvennainallur. Don’t you agree that this boy Nambiyarurar has confirmed his servitude to me by unjustly snatching away the service deed from my hands and tearing it to pieces?’ Sundarar replied, ‘If indeed you are a resident of Thiruvennainallur village, your claim can be decided there, can’t it?’ The brahmin replied, ‘Yes. Come with me. I shall produce the original deed before the Council of Brahmins there and establish my claim that you are my servant.’ Accordingly the brahmin walked ahead and Sundaramurti and all the other Brahmins followed him.

“As soon as they all reached the Council of Brahmins in the other village, the cunning old brahmin filed his claim petition before them to the effect that the boy Nambiyarurar tore up the service deed in his favour. The councillors said, ‘We have not heard anywhere in this world that Brahmins become servants of Brahmins.’ The brahmin replied, ‘No. Mine is not a false claim. The deed that this boy tore up is the deed of service executed by his grandfather to the effect that he and all his successors are to be my servants.’ The councillors asked Sundaramurti, ‘Can you win your case by merely tearing up the deed executed by your grandfather? What do you say?’ He replied, ‘Oh virtuous men, learned in all the vedic lore! You all know that I am an Adi Saiva. Even if this old brahmin is able to establish that I am his servant, you must please consider it a piece of magic, beyond the reach of mental reasoning.

What can I say of such a claim?’ The councillors told the brahmin, ‘You must first prove to us that he is your servant. To decide an affair of this nature, three things are needed, custom, written evidence and oral evidence. Should you not produce at least one of these three items?’ The brahmin replied, ‘Sir! what he tore up is only the duplicate copy; the original deed is with me.’ The councillors demanded the production of the original deed, and gave him an assurance that it would not be torn up by Sundaramurti. The old man took out the original deed from the folds of the cloth around his waist, and showed it to them. The village karnam (village officer) who happened to come there unexpectedly then, was asked to read it. He bowed before the councillors, opened the folds of the original document and so as to be heard by all, he read it out aloud as follows: ‘I, Adi Saiva by caste and Arurar by name, residing in Thirvennainallur village have executed this deed of service gladly and out of my own free will, undertaking to do service by me and by my successive descendants, to pitthan (mad man) residing in Thiruvennainallur village. (Sd.) Arurar.’ “The witnesses to the deed were those very councillors, and they all identified and confirmed that the signatures were their own. The councillors asked Sundaramurti to verify if the handwriting in the deed was his grandfather’s. The man pretending to be a brahmin said, ‘Sir! This is a mere boy.

How can he identify his grandfather’s writing? If there is any other paper available, containing his grandfather’s writing, please send for it, and compare.’ They all agreed, and the relatives of Sundaramurti searched, and produced a paper containing his grandfather’s handwriting. The councillors compared the two papers, and confirmed that the writings in the two papers agreed. They told Sundaramurti, ‘Boy! There is no way of escape for you. You have lost. It is your duty to do service according to this old man’s orders.’ Sundaramurti was stupefied at this and said that he would obey the order, if fate had decreed that way.

They had compassion on the boy, and had still some doubts about the brahmin, and questioned him, ‘Sir! This deed says that you belong to this very village. Can you show us where your ancestral house and property are?’ The brahmin pretended surprise, and said, ‘What! You are all of this village, so learned, so intelligent, so elderly --- does not even one among you know my house? How surprising are your words! Come with me then!’ So saying, he led the way, and they all followed. They all saw the God in disguise enter the Siva’s temple called ‘Thiruvarul Thurai’ in the village, and were stupefied.

“Sundaramurti thought, ‘The brahmin who made me his servant has entered the temple of my God Parameswara! What a wonder!’ So thinking, he followed alone eagerly the footsteps of the brahmin and entered the temple with great desire and shouted, ‘Oh brahmin!’ At once Lord Siva appeared in the company of Goddess Parvati, seated on the sacred Bull, and said, ‘My son! you are Aalaala Sundara, one of my Pramatha Ganas (chief attendants). You were born here as a result of a curse. You requested me to have you as My own, wherever you might be, even during the period of the curse.

I therefore made you My servant here.” Thus Bhagavan narrated to us the earlier story of Sundaramurti. He continued: “As soon as Sundaramurti heard those words of the Great Lord, he was overjoyed like the calf that hears the mother’s call. With his voice trembling with emotion and eyes filled with tears of joy, he made prostrations to Him, and with folded hands said, ‘Oh Lord! You are gracious to my worthless self, hold me fast to you like the cat holding on to its kitten, and make me your own. What gracious kindness!’ and praised Him. The Great Lord was pleased and said, ‘My son! Because you have disputed with me, you shall have the name of ‘Van Thondan’.

The service to be rendered hereafter by you to me, is to worship me with flowers of verses. Compose verses on me, and sing them.’ With folded hands, Sundaramurti said, ‘Oh Lord! You came in the guise of a brahmin, and preferred a claim against me, and I contested and argued with you, not knowing your greatness. You are the great Lord that gave me recollection of my past, and saved me from falling into worldly actions and behaviour and getting drowned therein. What do I know of your limitless great qualities, and what shall I sing of them?’ Ishwara said, ‘You already called me Pitthan, madman. Therefore, sing of me as the Mad Man’. So saying, he disappeared.

Sundaramurti immediately sang the “Sri Padikam”, commencing with the verse ‘Pittha pirai sudi’. His story is full of such strange experiences,” said Bhagavan.

I asked, “Is he named Sundaramurti as the result of the recollection of his past?” “Yes, yes! No other reason is to be found in his story!” replied Bhagavan.

For more on Sundaramurti Nayanar, please also see http://www.shaivam.org/nachundh.html and Spiritual Stories told by Bhagavan

Letter 81

(81) SIVA BHAKTA SUNDARAMURTI
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26th January, 1947
Yesterday, while Bhagavan was going through Thiruchuli Puranam, spoke thus regarding the events connected with the visit of Sundaramurti to this holy place: “The venerable Sundaramurti, born in the amsa (part) of Aalaala Sundara, who emanated from the reflection of Lord Siva, with the Somasekhara (with moon in his crown), acquired the friendship of the Kerala king, Cheraman Perumal Nainar, in the course of his wanderings as a pilgrim. Then they both went to Madurai on pilgrimage. The Pandyan king, as well as his son-in-law, the Chola king, extended a very warm welcome to them and expressed their happiness at being their hosts.

Sundaramurti worshipped God Sundareswara, the husband of the goddess Meenakshi, and sang the praise of the god with his poetic skill. Accompanied by the Chera king he visited and worshipped at the sacred shrines of the south, namely Thirukuttralam, Thirunelveli, and Rameswaram. From there he visited the sacred shrine of Thirukkedeswara in Lanka Dwipa (Ceylon) and offered worship. There he remembered Thrisulapuram (Thiruchuli), which is the Muktinagar (city of salvation) and proceeded thither. As they approached that city, the crowds saw them both resplendent as though the sun and the moon appeared at the same time. Sundaramurti was happy to have the darshan of Lord Bhuminatha and offered worship with the song, beginning with ‘Unaiuyir puhalai’ and was overwhelmed with devotion. He decided to stay in that holy place for a while, and so resided in a mutt (monastery) on the bank of the river Kowndinya.

“One night during his stay there, Lord Siva appeared to him in a dream with a ball in his hand (ball is the symbol of kingship) and a crown on his head, as a youth of incomparable beauty and with a smile dancing on his lips, and said, ‘We stay in Jyotivana (Kaleswara)’. On hearing these words, Sundaramurti woke up with excitement, and recollected the glorious kindness of the Lord who appeared and showered benevolence on him, and narrated the wonderful vision to the Chera king with joy. There and then he sang, overwhelmed with devotion, the Thevara Pathikam on Lord Kaleswar, commencing with the words, ‘Thondar adithozhalum’.

“From there they started to visit the far off holy place, Thiruppunavayil, and even as they started, God Kaleswara, who had appeared in the dream of Sundaramurti, and Amba approached them in the guise of an old brahmin couple. When Sundaramurti asked them, ‘Who are you? Where do you come from?’ they replied, ‘We shall talk about that later. First give us food. We are hungry.’ Sundaramurti consented and got food prepared and looked for the couple to serve it to, but they were not to be seen anywhere. All the lanes and by-lanes of the village were searched but they could not be found anywhere. They came back to the mutt only to find that the food that was cooked had all disappeared and the leaves in which the food was eaten were thrown all over the yard.

Sundaramurti was wonder-struck and exclaimed, ‘Ah! What a wonder is this! What can this be except the leela (game) of the Lord of the Universe?’ As he arrived at this conclusion, he heard an invisible voice: ‘Where do you intend going without seeing us that reside in the Jyotivana?’ Sundaramurti was wondering where that Jyotivana was and how to go there, when the invisible voice once again said, ‘We are proceeding there on the vehicle of the sacred bull Nandi. You may also come there, following its footsteps.’

“Sundaramurti followed the footsteps accompanied by the devotees there; but suddenly the track disappeared. As he stood there in confusion, the invisible voice was heard to say, ‘Look carefully.’ As he followed carefully the footsteps he saw a particular place full of Siva Lingas. There was no space even for a single step forward and he and the other devotees stood there in confusion. Suddenly he saw a narrow footpath and they followed it, on and on until at last they beheld the temple of Kaleswara. They all took their bath in the tank in front of the temple and, as they were thinking of going into it, all on a sudden, the temple with its tower disappeared. Sundaramurti was wonder-struck and sang some songs in praise of the Lord, conveying the idea, ‘Is this the result of my not having come for worship in your temple before bathing?’ At once, a whole view of jyoti (light) appeared and the view of the peak of a temple tower and then the temple itself with its compound wall. He was overjoyed, had a darshan of God, worshipped Him and sang songs in praise of Him, and then proceeded on his pilgrimage. This is a wonderful story. There are many more stories of him,” said Bhagavan.

He is the same Sundaramurti that was referred to in my letter printed earlier under the heading, “Swami is everywhere,” (No. 70). His story is given in detail in the Sanskrit works Siva Bhaktha Vilasam, Upamanya Bhaktha Vilasam and in the Telugu works, Panditharadhya Charitra and Basava Puranam of the poet Palakurthi Somanatha.

Bhagavan told us once before that the devotion of Sundaramurti to the Lord is that of a friend, of Manikkavachakar that of the beloved, of Appar that of a servant, and Sambandar that of a son.

Please also see Spiritual Stories told by Bhagavan (53).

Letter 3

(3) QUARREL BETWEEN UMA AND MAHESWARA
23rd November, 1945
This afternoon, while Viswanath was sitting near Bhagavan along with other devotees, Bhagavan was somehow reminded of an old widow and began to speak about her as follows: (I afterwards learnt that she is the younger sister of Muthu Krishna Bhagavathar who received Sri Bhagavan with kindness and gave him food at Kilur Agraharam.)

“That good lady not only gave me a hearty meal, but also, with a loving heart, gave me a parcel of sweetmeats offered as naivedya (offerings to God) to the household God, saying, ‘My dear boy, keep this with you carefully and eat the sweetmeats on the way.’

She came to see me twice while I was in Virupaksha Cave and used to say, ‘My dear boy, look what a state you are in! Your body is golden and you do not even wrap a cloth round it.’” When he spoke in this strain about her motherly affection, I could see that Bhagavan was overflowing with love.


His voice was choked with emotion. That sight reminded me of the saying that the heart of a Jnani is as soft as butter, and once more of the old saying, “bhakti poornathaya Jnanam” (The culmination of devotion is knowledge).

Sometime back, while reading that portion in Arunachala Purana where Gautama was extolling Amba, Bhagavan’s eyes were flooded with tears, his voice faltered and he put the book aside and sank into silence. Whenever any incident full of love takes place, or whenever passages saturated with bhakti are read, we often see Bhagavan thus overwhelmed with emotion. As one goes on observing, one gets confirmed in the view that prema and bhakti (devotion) are merely different aspects of jnana (knowledge).

About a week ago, a story appeared in the magazine Hindu Sundari under the heading “Paachikalu” (dice). It seems it was taken from the Skanda Purana. Once, even Parvati and Parameswara succumbed to the quarrel-mongering of Narada. “Lakshmi and Vishnu play dice, so why not you?” said Narada, and egged them on to play. Parvati was enthusiastic over the idea and persuaded Siva to play dice with her. In the game, Siva lost and Parvati was puffed up with pride and spoke slightingly of him. That is the legend.

After reading it, Bhagavan, his heart full of bhakti, asked me, “Have you read this story?” When I said, “Yes, Bhagavan,” he said with a voice choked with feeling, “The holy festival which is annually performed here on Sankaranti day, deals mainly with this quarrel between Uma and Maheswara.”

You know, every year, the divine marriage festival is celebrated here and during those days, if anybody were to speak about the festival in Sri Bhagavan’s presence, Bhagavan would usually remark with great feeling, “This is the marriage festival of Father and Mother.” You know the lives of Mahatmas are full of peculiar incidents. They express in their faces whatever rasa (feeling) is appropriate to the occasion. But what can one say in the presence of the all pervading vijnana rasa which integrates all the other rasas?