[Type text] First composition of Sri Muruganar on his first meeting with Sri Bhagavan Oh! Glory- thy name is Desiga Pathigam A R Chandrasekar Sri Ramana Bhaktha Samajam Page 0 of 5
2. Aum Namo Bhagavate Sri Ramanaya Oh! Glory Thy Name is Desiga Pathigam! [First composition of Sri Muruganar on his First Meeting with Sri Bhagavan] A.R.Chandrasekar, Sri Ramana Bhaktha Samajam, Chennai Introduction In the debut performance itself many artists, musicians and sportsmen have proved they are a cut above the rest and are poised for outstanding achievements in their respective fields. Desiga Pathigam, composed by Muruganar on Bhagavan Sri Ramana, can be ranked in such a category of outstanding maiden performances. This very first composition itself reveals his ardent devotion and potential of his poetic excellence [see picture]. The Background It would be really interesting to know the circumstances that led Muruganar to compose this Pathigam [Decad- a set of 10/11 verses]. In 1923, Muruganar was working as a Tamil teacher in Northwick Girls High School, Royapuram, Chennai. His father-in-law, Dhanadapani Swami, was serving Bhagavan in Thiruvannamalai. On a casual visit to Muruganar s house, Dhandapani Swami presented the copies of the booklets -Arunachala Stuti Panchagam and Naan Yar? (Who Am I?), the graceful renderings of Bhagavan in poetic & prose order respectively. No sooner Muruganar read these works than he lost himself in the Ramana Bliss and felt an irresistible pull to have Bhagavan s Darshan. During the ensuing school-vacation, he rushed to Tiruvannamalai all alone. On 21st September 1923, Muruganar went straight to the temple of Lord Arunachaleswara. After having had the darshan of the deity, he sat in a place inside the temple to compose the above pathigam as an offering to Bhagavan. That is how Desiga Pathigam - a Decad on the Master - came into existence from the pen of Muruganar. Page 1 of 5
Salient features of Desiga Pathigam Arunachaleswara temple is a famous shrine of Lord Shiva, visited and glorified by the Great Saivaite Quartet, Appar, Sundarar, Sambandar and Manikkavasagar among others. On the backdrop of the temple majestically stands the Holy Hill of Arunachala. The Hill is praised by Bhagavan in Aksharamanamalai -Oh Arunachala, the ocean of mercy, in the form of a mountain, please bless me with your grace [Verse 17]. It is strange that Muruganar, oblivious of the presiding deity of the temple and of the visible Holy Hill, thinks of Bhagavan only and begins his first poem addressing Bhagavan as follows: Parvalar Kailai Paruppatham Neengi Pannavar Choozhalai vittu Seervalar Arunai Sezhumpathi Serndhaai Desiga Ramana Ma Deve meaning Oh Lord[Siva]! Leaving the Great Mount Kailas and the ambience filled with the chanting of Vedic Holy Hymns, you have landed in the town of Arunachala for my sake. Thus begins his identification of Lord Ramana as Lord Siva in the very first sentence in the very first verse he composed and he further continues in the same vein. Also, you have chosen to discard your original form of Column of Light which is unfathomable even to Vishnu and Brahma. Out of immense Grace, you have assumed a human form and girded up your loins with avowed intention of redeeming your devotees at any cost. -Verse-2 In this new role, your usual ornaments and armors like the crescent moon, third eye in the forehead, the deer, the axe etc are found missing for obvious reasons. Still, it is a wonder how you could also conceal the dash of blue colour patch in your neck which is inseparable from the skin - Verse-3* *Devas and demons churned the milk of ocean to discover Amritahm, the nectar giving immortal life. In the process, deadly poison came to surface. Lord Siva, in order to protect the world and its beings,, collected the poison and swallowed it. Goddess Parvathi, shocked by this act of Lord Siva, gripped His neck to freeze and prevent spreading of poison to the body. Still the poison was so potent to change the colour of the skin in His neck to blue and remained indelible. Page 2 of 5
Once upon a time, you severely punished all those devas [angels] who in defiance to your authority, attended the Yagnya [sacrifice] improperly performed by Daksha. You were fearsome and merciless at that time. Is it to make amends for such harsh punishment meted out to them, you have assumed the Peace-Personified [Shanti Sorupa] human form as Ramana in Arunachala now? - Verse -4 Each and every stanza in the Desiga Padigam ends with the phrase Desiga Ramana Maa Deve meaning Master Ramana, thou art Siva, the God of Gods. When Muruganar had not met Bhagavan even once before, to praise and portray Him as Lord Siva seems too much of a poetic license. People, as a general rule, shun and feel skeptical about god men. In the given circumstances, Muruganar eulogizing Ramana as Lord Siva is exceptional and extraordinary. Reasons for such devotional fervor of Muruganar towards Ramana are not far to seek for discerning persons familiar with religious texts. In this connection following findings are noteworthy. Reference is invited to the poem titled Thiruvanda Paguthi, where Muruganar narrates about his first poem and meeting with Bhagavan. Therein, Muruganar states Avan enai aatkondu aruliya adaival Sivan ena mutra therinan enga - This sounds like an affidavit, which states from the manner in which I was attracted and graced by Bhagavan, I am totally convinced that He is verily Lord Siva!. Manikkavasagar and Muruganar If Muruganar could spontaneously affirm that Bhagavan is Lord Siva, in spite of absence of usual outfits and features, it is logical to conclude that he should have been very intimate with Lord Siva. A study of Puranas and Literatures relating to Shaivism throws some light on the antecedents of Muruganar and his origin can be traced to Nandikeswara, the Bull God. In Mount Kailas, the Bull God, Nandikeswara is always in the proximity of Lord Siva, so much so that he is accused of obstructing the view of other onlookers. Once, Lord Siva ordered Nandikeswara to take birth as a human being to spread the cult of Para Bhakti i.e. Absolute Devotion devoid of duality. Nandikeswara complained that a human being is bound to inevitably succumb to earthly illusions and apprehended the possibility of losing Lord Siva forever. Lord Siva pacified and assured Nandikeswara that He would take a human form to reclaim him and bring him back to Page 3 of 5
Kailas after the mission is accomplished. Many Shaivite texts proclaim that Saint Manikkavasagar was an incarnation of Nandikeswara and Lord Siva came to Tiruperundurai under the garb of an ascetic to fulfill His above assurance. Today Thiruperundurai is called by one of its other names, Aavudaiyar Koil*. Muruganar in the first stanza of Desiga Padigam recapitulated that Lord Siva had come down to Thirupereundurai for the sake of Manikkavasagar and was delighted by listening to his divine outpourings. He queries Bhagavan as follows: Have you come down to Tiruvannamalai, just to repeat and re-enact the show you put up in Thirupereundurai by listening to my faulty songs? By advancing such a strange question, unwittingly, Muruganar draws a parallel between his assignment and that of Manikkavasagar, giving a clue that he is the chip of the old block. In other words, it boils down to the fact that Nandikeswara incarnated as Manikkavasagar earlier [see picture] and reincarnated once again as Muruganar during our times. In Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna declares that He incarnates periodically to protect and promote the good and punish the evil- Sambhavami yuge yuge. During such incarnations, invariably some celestial beings close to God accompany Him to achieve the mission. This is similar to a foreign tour undertaken by the Head of a State, when a retinue of officials and journalists tag on. Apparently, Lord Siva as Bhagavan Ramana came down to earth with a galaxy of celestial beings. Eminent personalities with extra ordinary erudition and capabilities like Kavyakanta Ganapathi Muni, Jagadeesa Sastry, Pudukotai Lakshman Sharma, Viawanatha Swami among others for Sanskrit works; Sadhu Om, Sadhu Natanananda, Kanakamma for works in Tamil; Suri Nagamma & the like in Telugu; and Paul Brunton, Arthur Osborne, S.S.Cohen, Major Chadwick, Devaraja Mudaliar and Munagala Venkataramiah *A big temple dedicated to Lord Siva stood there already & Manikkavasagar spent all his money along with Treasury funds in his possession as the Chief Minister of the state for many renovation works in that temple including the temple tank. Page 4 of 5
for works in English are just a few examples of this team. Not to speak of Muruganar who is acknowledged as the Poet Laureate in the spiritual empire of Sri Ramana, praised by not less than the Tamil Legend, Tamil Thatha Dr.Vu.Ve.Swaminatha Iyer, as Sangam- Tamil-poet of modern times & who gave shape to Bhagavan s Teachings and who is venerated today for his total surrender and dedication to Bhagavan as well as for Sri Ramananuboothi which he had elaborated in his magnum opus, Sri Ramana Gnana Bodham i.e. Experiential Knowledge of Self [read Sivanuboothi] in about 18000 verses. Last but not the least, Bhagavan Himself, in due course of time, testified that Sri Ramana Sannidhi Murai of Muruganar compares well with that of Thiruvachagam, the repository of Gnana [Knowledge] & Bhakthi [Devotion] by Manikkavasagar. The actual words He wrote in Tamil are as follows: Jagathar uya vaguthan murai Thiruvasagam nigare [for the sake of mature and ripe souls to get Liberation [Mukti] on this planet, Muruganar authored this Ramana Sannidhi Murai on par with Thiruvachagam!]. Can there be a greater tribute than this recognition by Bhagavan, to vouch for the divine nature and poetic skills of Muruganar? Epilogue Lord Krishna states In Bhagavad Gita [VII.3.] as follows: Hardly one among thousands of men strives to realize Me; even among such few persons, some rare ones are exclusively devoted to Me and know Me in all my fullness!. True to this verse, Muruganar with his inherent strength of devotion, worshipped Bhagavan as his one and only God and was able to realize that Bhagavan is verily Lord Arunachaleswara, the Reality. Time testified the truth of what Muruganar proclaimed in his debut song on that historic day [the exact date being 21.09.1923 when he met Sri Bhagavan for the first time] on Sri Bhagavan s Maha Nirvana Day (14.04.1950) when people at large witnessed the Ramana Jyothi, the Light of Bhagavan, arising like a meteor into the sky and eventually merged in Arunachala! Aum Sri Ramanarpanamastu Reference/ Acknowledgement: Sannidhimurai Sangraham by Sri K.Sriram. Page 5 of 5