Hark to the holy chant of the workers of Siva--
Trees in their trembling, stars in their circling,
Pause as they list to the Natchintanai of Sivathondar.
Will ye not join in their triumphal march?
In all directions, east and west, north and south,
The Great Guru's call 'de profundis' resounds,
Transcending time and space, thought and word,--
That the seen and unseen, sentient and insentient,
All that embrace this earth are knit
In Oneness indivisible,
Under the banner of Siva--Our Lord.
Life is a perpetual journey. The movement of birth and death betokens but one stage in this journey of life. In the objective and subjective spheres of existence, man enacts this pilgrimage par excellence. In the goodly realms of “being and becoming,” he has many mansions in which he rests, before he resumes his march. In the silence of Sivam is embedded the dynamism of Sakti; in the potency of 'Pranavam,' the Word that was at the beginning, is sustained the movement of the five-fold activities of Siva--creation, preservation, dissolution, involution and resuscitation by Grace.
The blessed sons of Lord Siva and his counterpart, the divine Mother Parwathi,--Sri Ganesh and Sri Subramanya--demonstrated the first of such journeys, hallowed by grace. Sri Ganesh-Pillayar--who came round the Father-Mother at Mount Kailas attained the goal much more quickly than Sri Subramanya who circumambulated the earth on his peacock chariot. This puranic story brings out the significance of Sthala Yatrai, or worshipful journeys.
In the journey of life, man encounters manifold difficulties. Saiva Siddhantam is a way of life, dear to the devotees of Lord Siva. The holy treatises which expound this system of thought and way of life clearly enunciate the goal, the supreme end of the journey of man. The soul of man, the eternal Verity that knows no beginning, nor end, that which remains while the rest change and decay, arises from the stupor of ignorance, embedded as it is in the fetters of the three malas--(anavam, kanmam, and maya)-- and turns its gaze upon the Pathi, the supreme Lord of involution.
In bountiful Grace, He quides the soul of man in this journey to His Feet. The Grace of the Guru works in wondrous ways and guides man through path-ways of delusion and darkness purifying his categories of perception, cognition and conation, and helps him pursue action at tamasic, rajasic or sattvic levels, motivated by the urge to attain the holy Feet of Lord Siva. The journey's End is beautifully summed up by St. Meykanda Devar in the eleventh sutra of SivaJnana Botham:--
“In unforgetting love, the soul reaches the Feet of Siva.”
In the light of this saying, the journey so devoutly undertaken by the “Siva Thondan”--a servant of Siva--significantly connotes the attainment of self-realisation leading to God-realisation, by following the path of Dharma--Siva Neri-- expounded in the holy treatises of the Saiva saints, and immortalised in the heart-melting Devarams and Psalms of the Saiva Seers--St. TiruJnanasambandar, St. Appar, St. Sundarar, St. Manicavacagar and St. Tirumular. These Seers have enshrined in glorious poesy, the unspeakable charm and power of the shrines and temples they visited. Theirs was not a commerce with stone images and sculptured deities. In direct touch with the gracious Feet of God, whose manifold manifestations they worshipped from Mount Kailas to Cape Comorin, we see them as the pilgrims of eternity radiating love and light, wherever their holy feet trod.
Their Pada-Yatrai--pilgrimage to the famous temples, abodes of Lord Siva with Sakti symbolising His Grace and power, forms some of the fascinating chapters in the spiritual heritage of the Hindus, and keeps the undying flame of Hinduism burning undimmed, down the ages. The Supreme Lord Siva, transcendent and without form, assumes a form and name, and takes His abode at sanctified places in order to draw the soul of man unto Him. In grace, He opens to the soul of man the door of liberation and admits him to the bliss of “Para-mukti.”
--Natchintanai. 236.
Thus Siva Thondu includes the pilgrimage to holy temples and worship of His gracious manifestation in the different sanctuaries. Service to his fellowmen, acts of dedicated service and performance of rites and rituals based on the enlightened understanding and knowledge of the Guru's teachings, integrated by the overflowing love for the Lord and Guru, and seeing himself in different relationships to Siva-- these are the revelations contained in the Books of the consecrated Saiva Seers. The devotees of Siva today need to contemplate on these potent psalms of the Saivite Saints and emulate their hallowed acts of service.
Every Sivathondan must understand the full significance of purity and peace at all levels in the layers of his being. Standing before the shrines of Tiruvarur, Tiruvaiaru, Thillai or Kanchi, St. Appar, St. Sambandar and St. Manicavasagar poured their love offerings at the roseate Feet of the Lord of that abode, and hence it is that these temples became charged with the magnetic power of the Living Presence of the Lord.
The still small voice in the temple of man's inner being responded to the symphony of the primal sound--Aum--that pealed forth from the lofty gopuram bells of these temples and commingled in the vibration of the Lord. Ever singing His praises, these maha yogis and seers stood in serene silence of supreme surrender, as did St. Manicavasagar before the Lord of Thillar. Even in his unspeakable joy, he remembers the sad plight of the many who could not join him in his sacred pilgrimage. We hear his poignant call to all the devout lovers of Siva--Siva Thondar-- to join him in his triumphal entry into the holy realm of Siva-nagar, the city of Siva which marks the journey's end.
“Loiter not; Arise ye and join
The happy bank: the journey is not far,
There's yet time; Haste ye before
The gates of the city of Siva are closed.
With paeans of praise, we press on, on.”
--Tiruvacagam: Pilgrim-Song
viii.45.5
Such a tuneful voice is heard today in our land of beauteous palms and sea-girt shores.
“This, our Land where loving devotees sing his praise,
This, our Land where Lord Siva is pleased to take his abode,
This, our land stands revealed in its fullest stature
By our Guru, who melts us all in the web of his Love.
--Natchintanai. 22.
The call is for all lowly servants of Siva to prepare for the great journey. Who knows? In harmlessness and acquiescence to His will lies our peace. Truth is the way and the goal, and so gird up your loins with the armour of purity and righteousness. The grace of the Guru is your best protection, as you set out on this unchartered 'yatrai' (pilgrimage) and keep on chanting the name of the Lord.
Then will dawn on you the happy realisation that Siva not only pervades the universe, but is the indweller who reigns supreme within you. --“Sivam art all.”
The true Sivathondan cannot be a static person. In every act of his, in every word of his and in every passing thought and feeling that surges from his mind and heart, he is serving the Lord. The Guru is forever pursuing the devotee, in as much as the devotee fills his heart with immeasurable love for his Master. “The worshipful journey cannot wait one's convenience, and hence tarry not; unite under the banner of Siva YogaSwami, the master Siva Thondan, and start the sacrificial march--Pada yatrai-- with faith and courage.”
“The Siva Thondan is the torch-bearer. He walks before and after the procession and alongside of Siva Thondar. Each one will walk according to his measure, but all will follow spontaneously the rhythm of the master Guru.” Thus is relayed the stirring chords of the peace march, not in soft strains of Thodi or Mukari ragas, but in the vibrant melodies of Kalyani and Hamsathvani ragas, by the SatGuru seated in his lowly Asharm at Columbuturai.
Thus begins the journey that has no beginning and no end, with the SivaGuru's incantation:
“That the devotees of Siva may get beyond the grip of cognition, perception and volition, march on, march onward.
That the Siva Thondar may reverberate the resonance of the Truth that shall make them free, march on.
That the legion of Siva may enrich their experience of Sivoham and realise the Oneness of Life, march on.
That the servitors of Siva may learn to live together, serve together and love together in absolute surrender with mine and thine effaced, march on, march onward!”
This in short is the significance of the worshipful journey called Yatrai Valipaadu. The 'foot-march' is an objective demonstration of an awakening of the servitors of Siva from the sense-slumber of unreality, from the pageant of enjoyment in life, to the higher phase of walking in the light of truth, Jnana Naadagam, witnessing the panorama of the soul's journey to the Lord. It has been willed so by the Grace of the Guru.
The Siva Thondar follow in the footprints of the Siva Thondan. In this eventful pilgrimage through life, they will encounter many perils but the Guru”s Grace will guide and free the pilgrims from passing despondency, attachments and delusions. Invoke the formless form of Sri Vigneswarar, who saves the servitors from all obstacles. He is the symbol of wisdom infinite, and victory is assured to them till journey's End. This is the promise held out by Swami, when he inaugurated the series of Pada-Yatrais by the Siva Thondar, in the last phase of his life. They moved to the music of Nalluran's Grace, invigorated by the tonic of Natchintanai:
The procession thus moves on. It can never halt. In the timeless era of His Grace, the light that is once kindled can never be quenched. The forces of nature and the world's discordant notes will yield their pressure before the peaceful march of the Siva Thondan. Integral wisdom--Jnana- will be the priceless experience of the worshipful, pure and peace loving devotee of Siva.
He will sing and move from shrine to shrine in all four directions, as did St. Manicavasagar or St. Appar, and his beatitudes will echo far and near. He will meet people of various races and creeds and salute them as co-workers in the realm of Lord Siva. He shall part from them all, but the fund of good-will shall remain wherever his feet shalt have trod. In Love, he shall abide; Love, he shall give in plenty, and Love, he shall receive too. Love will be his panoply. He will remain a witness to the beauteous Feet of Siva--Long Live Sivathondon!
In order to be an unfailing witness, the study of the Hindu Sastras followed by a deep contemplation of the inspired psalms and sayings of the illuminated Seers become a vital part of the preparation for the journey. The Siva Thondar need conscious initiation into the rites and rituals enjoined in the Saiva Siddhanta scriptures, and the disciplines that follow the spiritual pratice vitalised by the Saiva Saints and Maha-Yogis, down the ages.
When St. Manicavasagar began his worshipful inward odyssey at the foot of the Kuruntha Tree, his route winded through ten significant landmarks as portrayed in his Tirucadagam Cento. In like manner our peerless Guru of Lanka commended the marshalling of the forces of the Santi-Sena (Tiru Padai) at Yalnagar, the Crown or Sahasram of Sri Lanka Matha, and guided his Sivathondar step by step, through the prescribed stages of self-purification (Anma Suddhi) to the summit of self-realisation (Anma Siddhi), having realised the goal himself.
“Know the Self and be wise,
yea, by the light of wisdom, be ye wise.
In the undifferentiated plenum, behold
The Supreme Brahman in thyself and myself.”
--Natchintanai. 137.