Thirumangai Alwar - A Thief's Redemption!

November 3, 2013

In verse 18-66, Śrī Kṛṣṇa guarantees that He will redeem (or liberate) anyone who surrenders unto the Lord considering Him to be the ONLY refuge. Yesterday, Shri Raghavan, my neighbor told me the beautiful story of Thirumangai Alwar, a Vaishnava saint from Tamil Nadu who is the case study for this guarantee.

सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज |
अहं त्वा सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः ||१८-६६||
sarvadharmaanparityajya maamekaM sharaNaM vraja .
ahaM tvaaM sarvapaapebhyo mokShyayishhyaami maa shuchaH .. 18-66..
Abandoning all dharma, of the body, mind, and intellect, take refuge in Me alone; I will liberate thee from all sins; grieve not.

This verse is among the most important ones in the Bhagavad Geeta. The story of Thirumangai Alwar provides a very interesting insight into this verse. Here it as shown in the Wikipedia entry for Thirumangai Alwar.

According to the traditional account, he married Kumudavalli, a Vaishnava doctor's adopted daughter at a place Thiruvellakkulam (also known as Annan Kovil)and became a Vaishnava, devotee of the Hindu god Vishnu, under her influence. The temple-god of Thirunaraiyur (Naraiyur Nindra Nambi) - a form of Vishnu - is believed to have initiated Thirumangai into Vaishnavism, by teaching him the pancha samskara. Kumudavalli also got him to promise that he would feed a 1008 Vaishnavas every day for a year. Unable to bear the heavy expense of feeding a thousand people, Thirumangai resorted to highway robbery. One day, Thirumangai tried to remove rings from the toes of a bridegroom but could not do so. Then he realized the bride was none other than the Supreme god Vishnu. Narayana revealed himself to Kaliyan and transformed him by teaching the Narayana mantra or Ashtaksara (the eight syllabled) - "namo narayanaya", turning the robber into a saint and starts singing the first verse of Peria Thirumozhi/ Peria Thirumoli (Vaadinen Vaadi).

The first ten verses of Thirumangai's poem Periya Tirumoli sing of his transformation, after receiving the spiritual knowledge from Vishnu. He sings about his transformation thus:

I became a thief
deceitful and dishonest
I wandered hither and thither
yet light dawned upon me -
I reached Your feet
and instantly your grace fell upon me
with melting heart and choked voice
your praises I sing
bathed in streaming tears
I repeat day and night
the sacred name of Narayana (Vishnu)

I have also linked to Valmiki's transformation in this post here. You might also find this interview with AR Rahman an interesting take on refuge.

Hari Om and Namaskaar until the next post

PS: Photo courtesy of anudinam.org for all things Vaishnava

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