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1. A general perspective
 The
Thamizh Saiva Canon (known as panniru thirumuRais),
consisting of 20,000 verses singing the glory of Lord Shiva, was
authored by 26 devotees of the Lord. The first seven of the
thirumuRais (called thEvAram) were written by ThirugnAna
Sambandhar (first three), the next three by ThirunAvukkarasar (also
known as appar), and the seventh by Sundarar. The eighth (ThiruvAcagam)
was written by MANickavAcagar, the ninth (ThiruvisaippA) by a
group of devotees, and the tenth (Thirumandhiram) by
ThirumUlar. The eleventh is another miscellaneous collection, and
the twelfth (PeriyapurANam) was authored by SEkkizhAr (who
lived in the 11th century CE).
PeriyapurANam is a hagiography of the 63
recognised Saivite saints known as nAyanmArs who lived from a
few centuries BCE to 9th century CE. PeriyapurANam has its
basis on two other works, ThiruththoNDaththogai consisting of
11 verses of 8 lines each written by Sundarar, and ThiruththoNDar
thiruvandhAdhi (89 quatrains) written by nambiyANDAr nambi
who lived in 10th century CE. But PeriyapurANam is a
quantitatively voluminous and qualitatively superb poetic narrative
by far in describing the lives of the nAyanmArs, their
backgrounds, and the splendorous places in which they lived.
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| SEkkizhAr riding the royal elephant |
SEkkizhAr
was the prime minister for the king KulOththungac cOzhan, who
advised the king not only on stately matters but also on religion.
He was encouraged by the king to write about the servitors of Lord
Shiva. Taking cue from the works of Sundarar and nambiyANDAr
nambi, SEkkizhAr wrote a masterly literary piece detailing the
lives of the 60 nAyanmArs (thiruththoNDars) mentioned by
Sundarar and included 3 more (Sundarar, and Sundarar’s parents,
isaignaniyAr, and saDaiyanAr) on his own thus branding a
total of 63 nAyanmArs (who remain so revered till today) in a
total of 4,286 stanzas of which 1,888 stanzas dealt with the
thEvAram trinity (Sambandhar, ThirunAvukkarasar, and Sundarar). The
king declared PeriyapurANam as the 12th thirumuRai.
PeriyapurANam is considered to be of great significance in Saivite
literature next only to thEvAram and thiruvAcagam. Ironically, the
author of eighth thirumuRai, MANickavAcagar, who preceded SEkkizhAr,
is not counted among the 63 nAyanmArs mainly because he came after
Sundarar when the 60 nAyanmArs (aDiyArgaL) were named by
Sundarar. SEkkizhAr, although aware of MANickavAcagar’s greatness,
could not or would not include him in the list of nAyanmArs.
Who are the saints/servitors?
Of the 63 nAyanmArs, four vocal and scholarly devotees account for
half of the total content of thirumuRais. They are Sambandhar, appar,
Sundarar, and ThirumUlar. Three others (kAraikkAl ammaiyAr,
ayyaDigaL kADavarkOn—a pallavA king, and cEramAn perumAL nAyanAr—a
cEra king) also sang in praise of the Lord. The remaining 56
devotees are the so-called “dumb” devotees. The epithet “dumb”
should not be taken at its literal meaning. It simply means they did
not express their devotion in words (unlike the four mentioned
above) but only in deeds.
The saints were drawn from all segments of
society—from the kings to the “menial” citizens. The three foremost
among the 63 are Sambandhar, ThirunAvukkarasar, and Sundarar. In
addition, there was a hunter (kaNNappar), a fisherman (adhipaththar),
an untouchable (nandhanAr), a weaver (nEsa nAyanAr),
a potter (thirunIlakaNDar), a washer man (thirukkuRippuththoNDar),
a merchant (kaNampullar), vEdhic brhamins (Sambandhar,
sOmAsi mARar), a farmer (appar), a poet (kAri nAyanAr),
petty chieftains (narasinga munai-araiyar, perumizhalaik kuRumbar),
an ex-general (ciRuththoNDar), a chief minister to a king
(kulacciRaiyAr), kings (pugazhccOzhar, cEramAn perumAL,
ninRasIr neDumARan, ayyaDigaL kADavarkOn, kOccengat cOzhan) and
a whole bunch of others who were just plain folks who pursued some
craft or other for a living but were mainly known for their devotion
to the Lord and the servitors. Bringing up the rear are three women
(kAraikkAl ammaiyAr, mangaiyarkkarasiyAr, and isaignAniyAr)
in the list. We will write about the women separately.
All the 63 were householders, bachelors or
married (with or without children) and one was an ascetic (ThirumUlar).
They performed various duties to earn a living while keeping the
devotion to the Lord and His devotees as their primary goal in life.
Many of the 63 were not educated—almost illiterate, so to speak. Not
all of them were vegetarians. One hunter even offered meat to the
Lord. Most of them did not do anything extraordinary by today’s
standards. But the chronicles tell us that they all attained
salvation (mukthi). The primary characteristic in all of them
is their love of God and His devotees. Not all of them were
non-violent. Some of them were violent enough to use weapons like a
hand axe or knife in achieving their goal in the service of the
Lord. But all of them had material desires set aside from their
hearts and minds.
Geographical and temporal distribution of
nAyanmArs
While the servitors of the Lord cannot be restricted to just 63,
those who have found a place among the 63 are unique. Where did they
live and when did they live? As for the time period it is generally
known that nine of them lived before Sambandhar’s period. Eleven of
the 63 were Sambandhar’s contemporaries (7th century CE).
Twelve servitors were Sundarar’s contemporaries (9th
century CE), and the time period of 29 others is not well
characterised. The earliest is known to be kaNNappar (the hunter)
who is presumed to have lived in the period BCE.
A large number (32) were from sOzha country,
eight were from middle country (naDunADu), a region
stretching north of the river KoLLiDam but south of the Arcot
districts, seven were from thoNDainADu (pallavA country),
four from PANDiyanADu, two from cEra country (malainADu),
and one each from kongunADu, mazhanADu, and the current
Andhra Pradesh. The places of origin or domicile of the remaining
are not known. The 63 who have been placed on pedestals are known to
have attained Godhead. Twelve of them gained through worshipping the
Guru, 19 of them through service to devotees of the Lord, and 32
others through their love and worship of God.
Saivism got a revival during the pallavA and
sOzha periods. ThirunAvukkarasar was known to have converted the
pallavA king Mahendravarman from Jainism to Saivism when royal
patronage changed the course of the spread of religion. Sambandhar
converted the PANDiya king ninRasIr neDumARan from Jainism to
Saivism. The thEvAram trinity, among the 63, was mainly responsible
for a transformation on the religious front (from the then pervasive
Jainism to universal Saivism).
We will not write about the thEvAram trinity.
They have been the subject of several books and articles. For an
excellent, analytical, thoughtful, and comprehensive account about
them the book ‘Periya PurANam’ (Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai-600
004) by G. Vanmikanathan is recommended.
General Reading on nAyanmArs and PeriyapurANam
(in Thamizh text):
1.
http://www.shaivam.org/nayanmar.html
2.
http://www.shaivam.org/siddomain/thiru12s.htm
3.
http://www.shaivam.org/nasekiza.html
4.
http://www.tamilnation.org/sathyam/east/periyapuranam.htm
Sethuraman Subramanian
subramaniansethu@hotmail.com
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