Today is Appar Swami gurupoojai

A Bodhisatva among Tamil Saints

By reason of merit accumulated through countless births, he was enjoying the fruits in another world, somewhere in the pure serene heights of the Himalayas, may be in Tibet, in the environs of Mt. Kailas, he was Vagisa, the Lord of Speech.

The sage is said to have been born again in a small hamlet named Tiruvamur, in central Tamil Nadu. Growing up as any other child, Marulnikiyar (lost), for that was his name, now lost in quick succession his parents and also his would-be brother-in-law, to be shortly married to his sister, Tilakavatiyar, he so deeply loved. Shocked, traumatised and beyond words, realising in the depth of his being the utterly transient nature of mundane existence, he decided to find understanding and perhaps solace in Jaina religion - then the dominant religion in Tamil Nadu.

It is appropriate at this point to note, very briefly, the religious and cultural environment in Tamil Nadu during the period. Jainism was, to a lesser extent than Buddhism, a real presence in Tamil Nadu during the early centuries of this era. That was only as long as it had freshness and had not closed the springs of genuine religious endeavour. But only religious forms, mere discipline, became more important. More than that, political power came to be considered as a necessary instrument of parochial, secular and religious interests. Sri Lanka perhaps can learn lessons from the history of Jainism in South India.

Embracing the Jaina religion, Marulnikiyar mastered its scriptures, doctrines and the disciplinary tenets of Jainism. So doing, he earned the love and respect of the Jains so much so he was elevated to the position of an incumbent of a monastery, possibly in the environs of Kanchi. He took on the name and title Dharmasenan and during this period he became a sort of "social worker" and engaged in such activities as digging public wells, constructing public parks, dharmasalas, resting places etc. The spur for this kind of activity was invariably an idea, intellectually grasped.

The soul is not necessarily there. The real conversion for Marulnikiyar was yet to come.

It came in the form of a horrible illness, that proved almost terminal. The Jaina monks tried all the tricks within the ambit of their medical knowledge and magic. Nothing was of any avail. Only the pain became more acute and intense. At midnight in pitch darkness leaving all the paraphernalia of monkhood, the fan, the Kamandala, the little mat used as partial clothing, naked he went to only where he could go, to his sister Tilakavatiyar. Dressed in resplendent white, with tufted hair, she greeted him and queried "Have you come?"

He said, "I have." She led him, in those early hours of that beautiful morning to the precincts of the local temple, Tiruvathikai. There his illness was healed. Tilakavatiyar, one of the flowers of Indian womanhood offered him Vibuthi of the Lord. The ash, the meaning of which even Brahma and Vishnu can hardly understand.

Besmeared with the ash, he burst into song in which the Tamil language and music, meaning and feeling fused superbly and he became Navukkarasu - "Speech-King." Initially persecuted and tortured by the Pallava king who was prompted by a Jain clergyman for reasons that had nothing to do with religion, he survived; not only survived but also brought new life and hope for the Tamil people.

If the child saint of Tamil Nadu, Gnanasambanthar, like a lion cub waged a positive battle against the forces of evil and wickedness, Navukkarasu stood like a rock against which such forces were of no avail. There are scholars who have called him the first "pacifist" satyagrahi. In a loin cloth, besmeared with ashes, wearing Rudraksa, with only a tiny spade, used in the service of the Lord and endearingly called Appaby the Tamils, he traversed the entire subcontinent from the far-corners of Thirunelvelly district to the foothills of the Himalayas spreading compassion and light. In his poetry, the poet is generally unobtrusive. We see only the language crystal clear and lucid like the waters of the of Keerimalai tank at early dawn giving transparency to the Eternal, the Terrible, the Auspicious-Yakgnavalkya.

Return to the Plus Contents