Life of Manikkavacakar

Manikkavacakar was one of the poets of the Hindu bhakti revival and his work forms one
volume of the Tirumurai—the key religious text of Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta. His work is a
poetic expression of the joy of God-experience, the anguish of being separated from God.

This great saint who aided the spiritual and religious revival is revered as one of the four
Nalvars (lit. 'The Four') of Shaiva Siddhanta who took birth in the world to show the path of
elevating oneself to the Supreme Shiva. There is a well known statement that declares that
these four great ones, (Jnanasambandhar, Appar, Sundaramurti and Manikkavacakar) had
differing relationships with Shiva: Jnanasambandhar saw himself as the son of Shiva, Appar
as his servant, Sundaramurti as his friend, and Manikkavacakar as his beloved.

Manikkavacakar (the name means, “words like jewels”) was a Tamil poet whose most famous
composition was a book of Saiva hymns known as Tiruvacakam. He was an Adi Shaiva
Brahmin servitor who wore the top tilted knot to denote his servitorship to Shiva. He was
born in Vadhavoor near Madurai on the banks of river Vaigai. The exact date of his birth is
subject to controversy. The oldest record of his life comes from the Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam,
a text that narrates the divine events associated with Madurai Temple. Four chapters from
this work, fifty-eight to sixty-one, are devoted to the story of Manikkavacakar.

Manikkavacakar was born in a village called Vaadavur (Vaatapuri) in Pandya Desha—and

people called him Vaadavurar [man from Vaadavur]. He read many religious books, absorbed
the lessons therein, and became noted for his devotion to Shiva and for his kindness and
compassion towards all living things. Having heard about him, the Pandya king sent for him
and made him his prime minister and conferred on him the title of Thennavan Brahmarayan,
i.e., ‘Premier among Brahmins of the South’. Though he performed the duties of minister with
tact and integrity, he had no desire for material involvement. His mind was always absorbed
in spiritual matters. Feeling convinced that for the attainment of jnana the grace of a Guru
was essential, he continued his search for a spiritual master.

Once the Pandya king ordered the minister to purchase horses and bring them to him.
Vaadavurar felt that performing this mission would give him an opportunity to search for his
guru and as his mind was intensely seeking a Guru, he visited numerous temples.

Having realised the spiritual maturity of Vaadavurar, Parameswara assumed the form of a
schoolteacher and for about a year taught poor children in the village of Tirupperunturai
seated on a street pial near the temple awaiting the arrival of Vaadavurar. When he came,
Iswara assumed the shape of a Siddha Purusha [realised soul] with many sannyasins around
him and seated under a Kurundai tree within the compound of the temple. Vaadavurar came
to the temple, had darshan of the Lord, and while performing pradakshina around the temple,
saw the Siddha Purusha. He was thrilled at the sight, tears welled up in his eyes and his heart
jumped with joy. Spontaneously his hands went to his head in salutation and he fell down at
the feet of the Guru like an uprooted tree. He then arose and prayed that he, a humble being,
might be accepted as a disciple.

Vaadavurar taking blessing from guru

Having come down solely to bestow grace on him, Iswara, by his look, immediately gave him
jnana upadesa [initiation into true knowledge]. That upadesa took deep roots in Vaadavurar’s
heart, and gave him indescribable happiness. With folded hands and joyful tears, he
performed pradakshina of the Guru, offered salutations, stripped himself of his official dress
and ornaments, placed them near the Guru and stood before him dressed only in a kaupina.
As he felt like singing in praise of the Guru, he sang some devotional songs, which were like
gems. Iswara was pleased, and addressing him as ‘Manikkavacakar’ [meaning ‘one whose
speech is gems’] ordered him to remain there worshipping him. Then he vanished.

Fully convinced that He who had blessed him was no other than Iswara, Manikkavacakar was
stricken with unbearable grief and fell on the ground weeping and saying, ‘Oh, my Lord! Why
did you go away leaving me here?’ Sometime later, Manikkavacakar acted according to the
injunctions of Iswara; sent away his retinue, and instead of purchasing horses for the king,
spent all the money he had on the Temple.

The king immediately sent an order to Manikkavacakar to return. But how could he go to the
king without the horses? If he wanted to purchase them—where was the money? Not
knowing what to do, he prayed to Lord Shiva for help. That night Lord Shiva appeared to him
in a dream, gave him a priceless gem and said, ‘Give this to the king and tell him the horses
will come on the day of the Moola star in the month of Sravana’. Startled by the vision he
opened his eyes but the Lord was not there.

On the day of the Moola star, Iswara assumed the guise of a horseman, transformed the
jackals of the jungle into horses, and brought them to the king.

Lord in disguise delivering horses to King

The king was astonished and took delivery of the horses and had them tied up at the same
place where all his other horses were kept. The same night the new horses changed into their
real forms, killed the other horses in the stables, created havoc in the city and fled. The king
grew angry, branded Manikkavacakar as a trickster and imprisoned him.

Again the Lord came to the rescue of his devotee, and made the River Vaigai rise in flood and
soon much of the area was under water. The king ordered his people to send one man from
each family to raise bunds to contain the flood waters. One old woman, a seller of steamed
rice rolls, had no male member in her family nor could she hire anyone, as every available
man had been engaged already by others. The Lord in the guise of a coolie came and offered
to work for her provided she gave as wages the crumbs fallen off the rolls she had cooked..

She agreed and the Lord in the guise of a coolie went to the work-spot and busied himself
with loafing about, dozing off on a sand bank or playfully demolishing the work of others
under the pretence of helping them. The king arrived to inspect progress and found that the
portion allotted to the old woman’s hired coolie remained undone. On enquiry, his servants
told him of the pranks of the coolie. The king infuriated, called the coolie and said, ‘Instead of
doing the allotted work, you are lying down and singing’. So saying, he hit the coolie on the
back with the cane he had in his hand. The blow recoiled not only on the king but on all living
beings and all suffered the pain of the king’s blow. The king immediately realised that the
man he had beaten was Parameswara in the guise of a coolie. The king was aghast.

Parameswara vanished and a voice from the sky said, ‘O King! Manikkavacakar is my
beloved devotee. I myself did all this to show you his greatness. Seek his protection.’ The
King went to Manikkavacakar and requested he accept the rulership of the kingdom. The
saint refused and asked to be permitted to go to Perunturai. Both went to Madura to worship
the Lord. Manikkavacakar then left for Perunturai. The king renounced everything soon after
this and reached the Lord’s Abode.

At Perunturai, Manikkavacakar sang highly inspiring songs and prayed that he should see
the Lord in the form of the Guru. On the way he visited many shrines and by stages reached
Chidambaram. He stayed in a garden near the temple and sang the famous Tiruvacakam. The
people of Tillai heard the hymn and enjoyed its bliss

It is at Chidambaram that the Lord takes the Form, of Nataraja, the divine dancer, for the
welfare of the world. The object of His dance is to free souls from the fetters of Maya. Inside
the temple there is a tank called Siva Jnana Ganga tank. In this tank Hiranyavarman, the son
of Manu, took his bath and was cured of leprosy. It is believed that those who take a bath in
this sacred tank and then worship Lord Nataraja are purified of all sins.
The Buddhist Gurus declared they would go to Chidambaram and defeat the Saivite in debate
and convert the temple into a Buddhist shrine. So saying the Buddhists left for Tillai
accompanied by the King and his mute daughter. The Buddhists opened the debate.
Manikkavacakar explained the principles of Saivism. The Buddhists could not offer counter-
arguments but continued to repeat their arguments! Manikkavacakar prayed to the Lord for
help and Devi Saraswathi withdrew Her grace from the Buddhists—who became dumb and
were defeated in argument.

The Buddhist king understood Manikkavacakar’s greatness and said: “You have made my
teacher and all his disciples dumb. If you can make my dumb daughter speak, I and my
subjects will embrace Saivism.” Manikkavacakar asked him to bring his daughter. He prayed
to the Lord for His help and then asked the girl to give proper answers to the questions on
Lord Siva. The dumb daughter not only began to speak but gave fitting answers to the
questions asked. All were wonder-struck at this miracle and on recognising the superiority of
Saivism—embraced it.

One day Lord Siva desired to hear Tiruvacakam from the lips of Manikkavacakar and bestow
Moksha on him. He went to Manikkavacakar in the disguise of a Brahmin. Manikkavacakar
welcomed the guest with respect and enquired of his needs. Lord Siva in the guise of a
Brahmin, told Manikkavacakar: “I want to hear Tiruvacakam from you. I shall write it down, so
that I can learn it and with its help free myself from the shackles of Samsara.”
Manikkavacakar recited the Tiruvacakam. The Brahmin (Lord Siva) wrote it down on palm
leaves. Then he suddenly disappeared! At once Manikkavacakar knew that the Brahmin was
the Lord Himself.

Tiruvacakam

The Tiruvacakam is the celebrated collection of hymns by the Tamil Saivite poet-saint
Manikkavacakar. Together with the shorter poem Tirukkovaiyar, it forms the eighth book of
the Tamil Saivite canon Tirumurai. Tiruvacakam contains 51 hymns comprising a total of
3,414 lines. The hymns range in length from eight to 400 lines and show a significant variety
of metrical forms, with 14 sub-varieties of meter. The hymns are usually rhythmically recited
or sung rather than read.
The work includes some unusual themes. Some have a woman in the role of devotee to the
Lord, singing songs appropriate for playing games or doing village chores. One interesting
poem is meant to be sung to awaken the divinity in the temple in the morning (a common part
of Indian temple ritual). Because of its sacredness, Tiruvacakam has no traditional
commentaries attached to it.

Manikkavacakar’s most important theme is the shadow of karma, which hovers over all as a
spectre. The poet calls to God to remove the bonds of karma and free him. He also speaks of
impurity that takes him on the long road; when impurity has been removed, he becomes a
slave to Lord Shiva. Most importantly he asks for Shiva’s grace to escape the hold of the
senses, which lead one to impurity and destruction. Manikkavacakar was wary, as are many
renunciants, of the pull of the unrestrained senses.

“When He abode in state in Idaimaruthu and planted thereat the imprint of his Divine feet (on
my head)”

Keerththithiruvahaval lines 75-76

The history of the great Manikkavacakar is told in Thiruvadhavur Puranam and

Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam. His compositions are Tiruvacakam and Thirukkovaiyar. The day he
immersed himself in the Supreme and became one in Lord Shiva is Ani Magam Day.