Culture
Vanthondan, The Argumentative Follower
G Chandramouli
Mar 15, 2015, 12:30 PM | Updated Feb 11, 2016, 08:48 AM IST
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This legend underscores the point that devotion to God may not be due to awe or fear of Him
It was a wedding day. There were celebrations all around. Nambi Arooran looked around his familiar town of Thirunavalur with its festivities. It was an era when a wedding meant celebrations for the entire town. It was getting closer to the Muhurtha time — the time when he would tie the maangalyam and officially declared wedded.
There was some commotion in the crowd, and Nambi saw someone walking in from the entrance towards the dais. It was an old man. He walked with a stick. He was brisk, though; age did not show in his pace. Something about him was divine, but Nambi could not figure out what it was. Nambi wondered who this mysterious fellow was, and why he was causing a ruckus here.
The old man stood in front of the crowd and with a booming voice said, “Hear Ye, one and all. I have something to say before the wedding happens.” He consulted his olai (leaf scroll) and paused for a dramatic effect, and said, “This man here, Nambi, is a slave to me.”
There was evident commotion all around. A fine orator the stranger was. He knew when to get the audience engaged and when to stop. In his booming voice he continued, “So it says, in this parchment, which was signed by his grandfather.”
Nambi was furious. He hissed at the old man, “Who are you, and where are you from?” The Brahmin responded that he was from the adjoining village, Thiruvennainallur. Nambi then roared in laughter, “You, my dear friend, must be stark raving mad (afflicted by pitthu).”
He sized the old man up and down, and taunted, “Perhaps senility has set in at this old age of yours.”
The old man smiled and responded by showing Nambi the parchment. Nambi’s smile vanished on reading it, which clearly mentioned that he was his slave. Nambi’s smile returned with an even more evil twist to it and, in a fit, he tore up the parchment, and roared with laughter.
The old man, in his booming voice, said, “This young whipper snapper thinks that, by destroying that parchment, he has gotten rid of the evidence. I knew this would happen, and that is why I brought a copy of the parchment, and not the original. The original is in Thiruvennainallur. The only way to settle this argument is to settle it in front of the elders of Vennainallur.
Nambi did not have a choice. The entire crowd, along with Nambi, followed the elderly Brahmin to the adjoining village, where a village hearing was organised in front of the temple where most disputes were settled. The elderly Brahmin brought forth the original manuscript, turned to the village elders and said, “Please make sure this young fellow does not tear up this document also. It is your responsibility.”
The contents of the manuscript were verified. The signature matched with other records that had been preserved by the village authorities, and the case was settled. Nambi was now the old Brahmin’s slave, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Sadness was wrought on Nambi’s face. All of 16 years old, he was looking forward to the marriage and settling down to grihasthaashrama. He followed the old man towards the local Shiva temple. The latter vanished into a blinding light as he approached the main sanctum sanctorum (garbhagriham).
It was then that Nambi realised that the old man was none other Lord Shiva, and that the lord had come down to earth to remind Nambi of his past at Kailasha and fulfill his task on earth.
It was then that he started remembering how he had come down to the earth from the snowy abode of Lord Shiva.
In the past
Lord Shiva had once been admiring his own beauty on a mirror. He had been so pleased at his own appearance that he affectionately called out to his own reflection, “Sundaraaavaa” (Come here, my beautiful one). Given the powers Shiva had, his reflection stepped out as a person from the mirror. From that day on, Sundarar had become a constant companion and servant of the Lord (anukkathondan).
On a fine summery morning, Sundarar was out plucking flowers for the lord. He chanced to see two maidens of Goddess Parvati — Kamalini and Anindhithai — in the garden. In a spontaneous minute of love, he fell for their beauty. Lord Shiva somehow got to know of this, and did not approve of this love.
“There is a time and place for everything, and this is not it,” he said. “You would need to go down to earth for this and finish what you started. You will enjoy your time with these two maidens, who will also descend to earth with you. I want you to go to the southern part of India, and sing my praises in verse and song.”
Sundarar realised his mistake and was ready to accept the punishment, but he had made a request to the lord — to come to him and remind him of this very moment, in case he got lost in the pleasures of earthly living. All these thoughts came flooding in as he stood in front of the blinding light, now feeling thankful that the lord had come and reminded him of his past.
“But, I do not know how to sing, or compose, or any of that, my Lord, How am I supposed to sing about you?”
The Lord still loved him very dearly. He said, “Talk to me, swear at me, admonish me, like you just did a few hours ago. Remember you called me a senile, old fool. It will still sound like music to my ears.”
Lord Shiva also added, “You will always be my Sundarar, my beautiful self. So I do not want you to renounce anything. I want you to always dress up like what you are now – in true wedding dress (kalyaanakolam). You will also be called Vanthondan — the argumentative follower. And the lord vanished.
Over the course of the next couple of years, he met Anindithai and Kamilini as Paravai Naachiyar (from Thiruvarur) and Sangili Naachiyar (from Thiruvatriyoor). And in these two years, he made dozens of temple tours, singing about Lord Shiva, as he moved from temple to temple.
Anecdotes abound on how the friendship of the lord and Sundarar are played out. The Lord pulls out all stops to keep Sundarar, his friend, happy. Sundarar, on the other hand, continues to admonish the lord, never being satisfied with what he is given. A peculiar kind of friendship-based devotion plays out in this Nayanmaar’s life. The story is meant to personify how devotion to God should not be of fear, but of trust and respect.
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