Abridged from Hymns of the Tamil Saivite Saints, by F. Kingsbury and G.P. Phillips, [1921]
SUNDARAMURTI SWAMI AND HIS HYMNS
SUNDARAMURTI SWAMI
(Abbreviated as SUNDARAR)
Sundaramurti Swami, was, like Sambandar, a Brahman. He was born in the
South Arcot District, and is generally believed to have flourished in
the first quarter of the ninth century A.D. Of his two wives; one was a
dancing-girl in the Saivite temple at Tiruvarur, the modern Tiruvalur in
the Tanjore District, while the other was a Velala woman of
Tiruvottiyur, now a suburb of Madras. His life seems to have been no
happier than life in polygamy usually is, and to add to his difficulties
he sometimes found himself without food for his ladies to eat. He
frankly praised God for what he could get, and on the whole his hymns
are on a lower spiritual plane than those others of the Great Ones, some
of who bore the marks of real spiritual experience. Of the sixty-three
saints whom Saivites hold in special honour, Sundarar seems to have been
the last, for he sang the praises of the other sixty-two. Sundarar was
the last of the sixty-three canonized saints of Saivism.
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65. Nanasambandar and Tirunavukkarasar, skilled in the Tamil tongue,
Nalaippovan, learned Sudan, Sakkiyan, Silandi, Kanmappan, Kamampullan,
these may do wrong, but yet Thou count'st it right. Hence have I come to
the sounding anklets of Thy feet, O lord of Tiruppunguūr with its pools
where blossoms many a golden lotus gem.
To English ears the metre of the next two verses, which are common
favourites, has a curious sound. It is a close reproduction of the
Tamil, so close that the tune of the Tamil hymn could be sung to the
English words.
66. Golden art Thou in Thy form, girt around with the fierce tiger's skin,
Fair shines Thy tangle of hair, crowned with blooms
from the kondai's bright tree,
Sov'reign, great jewel art Thou, the red ruby of Malapaḍi,
Mother, on Thee, none but Thee, can my heart evermore fixed be.
67. Clad in the little loin-cloth, my body with holy ash white,
Lo I have come to Thy foot; O my head, I beseech Thee, take me.
Portion of sword-eyed Uma, Thou red ruby of Malapaḍi,
Friend, 'tis on Thee, none but Thee, can my heart evermore fixed be.
Is the Siva manifested at one shrine so distinct from the Siva
manifested at another as to endanger the unity of God? If tradition is
right, the danger is very real, for Sundarar was already worshipping at
one shrine, Tiruvottiyur, when he remembered the lord of Arur, and
deciding to go to him like a returning prodigal, sang this stanza.
68. Ah sinful, I have left the path of love and service pure!
Now know I well the meaning of my sickness and my pain.
I will go worship. Fool! how long can I so far remain
From Him, my pearl, my diamond rare, the king of great Arur.
The joy in God which shines in our next hymn evidently rests on some
experience of divine grace which we should have liked to hear more
definitely described.
69. O madman with the moon-crowned hair,
Thou lord of men, thou fount of grace,
How to forget Thee could I bear?
My soul hath aye for Thee a place.
Venjey-nallur, in "Grace's shrine"
South of the stream of Pennai, there
My father, I became all thine;
How could I now myself forswear?
70. I roamed, a cur, for many days
Without a single thought of Thee,
Roamed and grew weary, then such grace
As none could win Thou gayest me.
Venmey-nallur, in "Grace's shrine"
Where bamboos fringe the Pennnai, there
My Shepherd, I became all thine;
How could I now myself forswear?
71. Henceforth for me no birth, no death,
No creeping age, bull-rider mine.
Sinful and full of lying breath
Am I, but do Thou mark me Thine.
Vennney-nallur, in "Graces shrine"
South of the wooded Pennai, there
My Master, I became all thine;
How could I now myself forswear?
The varying mood of the saint, now joyous and triumphant, now
plaintively looking for death, is reflected in the next two verses from
one hymn.
72. Linked to naught else in life, my mind thinks only of Thy holy feet.
I'm born anew, from this time forth I pass the way of birth no more.
In Kodumudi, lord austere, where wise men Thee with praises greet,
Should I forget Thee, my own tongue 'Hail, Siva' ! crying, would adore.
73. When will the end draw nigh, sense fade, life
close, and I the bier ascend?
This, naught but this, is all my thought. But,
lord of speech, Thou light on high,
Where the bright streams of Ksviri to Kodumuḍi
coolness lend,
Should I forget Thee, my own tongue to Thee
would loud 'Hail, Siva' cry.
God should deliver His own from death. The appeal here is to the
familiar story of Markandeya. Yama is the god of death who gathers in
the souls of men.
74. The young saint refuge sought from Death;
To save him, Thou grim Death did'st slay,
Such deeds Thy might accomplisheth,
And I who have beheld them pray
"O Father, should dread Yama press
On me, forbid him. 'Tis my slave";
Do Thou in green Pungur confess.
I've reached Thy foot, and Thou can'st save."
Sundarar is sure that Siva will understand his perplexities in supplying
the needs of his fair ladies. For does not Siva Himself bear the burden
of two ladies, Parvati his consort, and Ganga (lady Ganges) in his
hair? Sundarar, in the legend with which these verses are connected,
when one of his wives was suffering hunger, miraculously received some
uncooked rice from Siva. This was not enough; to complete the miracle
Siva must remove the rice for him to Arur the abode of his fair one.
This too was done in answer to the hymn of which the next two stanzas
are a sample.
75. Ever I think but of Thee;
Daily in worship I bow;
She of the sword-piercing eyes,
Leave her not suffering now.
Kolili's lord, Thou didst give
Rice in Kundaiyur this day.
No man to bring it have I,
Bid it be sent me, I pray.
76. Thou art half woman Thyself;
Ganga is in Thy long hair.
Full well canst Thou comprehend
Burden of women so fair.
Kundaiyur circled with gems,
There didst Thou give rice to-day.
Source of all, wonderful one,
Bid it be sent me, I pray.
The saint advises his fellow-poets to sing the praises of Siva rather
than the praises of men because they seldom reward the poets. Siva
rewards them here and hereafter. The Pari mentioned in 78 was a
chieftain in the Tamil country in the early centuries of our era, famed
for his liberality.
77. Though ye fawn on men of lies,
They to saints will nothing give;
Sing not them, O poets wise,
But if ye would wealth receive
Sing the Sire of Puhalur;
Here your wants will be supplied,
Pain will flee; there evermore
Ye will kings in heav'n abide.
78. Call the weak by Bhima's name,
Style him Arjun with his bow,
Give the mean man Pari's fame,
Not a gift will he bestow.
Sing, O bards, our holy God,
White with ash, in Puhalur.
In the deathless one's abode
Ye shall reign for evermore.
Life and experience have no value, no reality. God alone is real, the refuge from the unreal.
79. Our life is all unreal,
Its end is only dust,
Out of the sea of birth
Come ruin, pain and lust.
Delay not to do good
But praise Ketaram's king,
Whom Vishnu and great Brahma
Vainly sought sorrowing.
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