A prodigy of yore

LAKSHMI DEVNATH

"Amma, today is aruvathi-moovar. Can you give me half a day's leave?"

"Sure Muniyamma," Amma nodded.

"Amma, what is aruvathi-moovar?"

"It is a collective term for the 63 saivite saints Sargam, who existed between the 2nd and 10th century A.D. They were devotees of Lord Shiva. They were called the Nayanmars. Today their idols will be taken out in a procession. Anyway, did you find out the answer to the question that I asked last time?"

"No, but... was he someone from the West, Amma?

"No! He was from our very own Tamil Nadu."

"Who Amma?" asked Sargam, her eyes widening.

"Tirugnana Sambhandar, one of the Nayanmars," Amma replied. And added, "Sit here. I will tell you his story while I cook.

Sambhandar was born in Sirkazhi, a place near Chidambaram. His parents were Bhagavati Ammal and Sivapada Irudayar. One day the father took the child with him to the temple tank. Seating the child on the steps he went in for a dip. Soon the child began to cry. Moved by the child's wails Shiva and Parvati came and the goddess fed him milk. The child stopped crying and the duo disappeared. The father coming out of his bath stopped short when he saw the milk smeared mouth of the child. He wondered aloud as to who had fed him. The child replied with a song (Todudaiya- Seviyan-in the pann Nattapadai) which described Lord Shiva and Mother Parvati. Sargam, can you guess how old he was when he sang this song?"

"Ten Amma?"

"No, he was just three."

"What!" Sargam gulped. "Was he a prodigy?"

"Yes and I will tell you some interesting incidents from his life.

One day the father carried Sambandar to a nearby temple. The child as usual was singing and clapping to keep rhythm. Just then a pair of golden cymbals with the inscription Namasivaya fell into his hands. From then on the child used this divine gift to mark the beats. As the child grew, so did his fame. One day, a yazh player, Thiru Neelakanta Yazhpannar met Sambhandar and offered to accompany him on his yazh. In course of time their music became very popular. The humble Yazhpannar however felt uncomfortable on being considered an equal to Sambhandar. He therefore requested Sambhandar to sing a tune, which he would not be able to reproduce on his instrument.

Sambhandar sang a Pann (tune) which could either be identified with today's Atana or may be Nelambari (names of ragas). Try as he did, the Yazhpannar was unable to reproduce it. Frustrated, he tried to break the yazh. Sambhandar prevented him by saying that it was not him, but the instrument, which had limitations. This pann later came to be known as the "Yazhmuripann" (the pann which broke the yazh).

Sambhandar's musical prowess grew over the years and he gained some miraculous powers too. This of course he used, to help his fellow men."

"How Amma?"

"Well, he cured people of snakebites and diseases. The story goes that he sometimes even revived the dead. An important incident was curing the Pandya king of Madurai who was very ill. This Jain king out of sheer gratitude then became a Hindu.

Sambhandar however, merged with the Supreme when he was just 16 years old. By this time he had however, composed 16,000 verses, out of which barely 3800 have survived."

"Awesome!" Sargam gasped.

"Close your mouth Sargam." Amma laughed on seeing the child's mouth open with amazement. "I haven't finished yet, but give me a break and I will continue later."

(To be continued)

Illustration by S. RAJAM

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Features
Previous : World citizen
Next     : Ambitious mother