Thirumoolar holds position as a prominent figure in Shaivism.He is one of the 18 revered Siddhas of the Tamizh tradition and stands as one of the Nayaanars ( 63 revered Saints of Shaivism )
His story has several versions to it.For standardisation,we shall look at what the Periya Purana has to say :
Thirumula Nayanar was a Shaiva Siddha. He was one of the eight students of Thiru Nandi Deva.He is called Thirumular because he entered the dead body of a man named ' Mulan'.
Tirumular desired to see Agastya Rishi in Pothia hills. So he left Kailasha and went southwards. On the way, he visited many Shaivite shrines. When he came to Tiruvavaduthurai, he took bath in the Kaveri river and went to the temple. He circumambulated the temple twice . When he was walking along the bank of Kaveri, he saw a herd of cows shedding tears. He found out the cause: the cow-herd lay dead. In order to please the cows,He entered the body of the cowherd after hiding his native body in the trunk of a tree.This cowherd was known as Mulan, a resident of Sattanur. In the evening, he drove the cows back into the village. Mulan’s wife was eagerly expecting the return of her husband.However,he declared: ‘Oh lady, I am not your husband. Adore Lord Shiva and attain liberation.
The lady complained to the village chief. They examined and came to the conclusion that he had attained enlightenment. So, they asked her to leave him alone. The next day, Thirumular followed the cows, but could not find his native body which he hid.Thirumular returned to Tiruvavaduthurai. He sat under the near-by peepul tree and went meditative. He was in Samadhi for three thousand years. Annually,he descended from Samadhi and revealed a verse of truth: thus, in three thousand years he wrote three thousand stanzas. This book is called Tirumanthiram.
We see a siddha who transferred his consciousness to another body- that too a dead one.How is this possible ?
Pancha Kosha ( five sheaths in man )
The Vedas describe something called the 'Pancha Kosha' ( five sheaths ) that make what we call as 'self'.You and I are made up of these Pancha ( five ) Koshas.
The first is the Annamaya Kosha which is our physical body.We eat and add matter to this lump called flesh.But this alone does not constitute a person.
The second sheath or layer is the Pranamaya Kosha.This Kosha represents life-breath.A body has to be respiring aight?
The third is Manomaya Kosha - the Mind.
The fourth is Vignyaana Maya Kosha - The Wisdom Sheath.A person who is centralised in this kosha is wisdom-rich.
Finally,the fifth is Anandamaya Kosha - The Bliss Sheath.This layer is most significant as bliss is our essential state.A person centralised here is always blissed-out.
In fact,the first 4 kosha-s arise from the bliss sheath - which is the state of Atma or godhood.
Man evolves in consciousness through these 'koshas' in tandem to self-realisation. The layers actually progress from the most gross ( physical ) to the most subtle. Enlightenment is moving towards the subtle from gross - from the identity of body and mind to universal consciousness.
The Gayatri Mantra expresses this in the second facet of 'bhur bhuvah suvaha' - from bhu loka to suvarga loka - gross to subtle.
The Brahmandavalli - also part of the Upanishad expounds on the Pranamaya Kosha and its components - the five vital airs.
 |
| Brahmanandavalli - Taittriya Upanishad |
(1) Prana
(2) Samaana
(3) Apaana
(4) Udaana
(5) Vyaana
If you pay attention to temple rituals,you will notice priests uttering these dimensions of Pranamaya Kosha when offering of food ( Naivedya ) is done to the deity.Water is sprinkled around the naivedya.
Whilst, dimension is uttered with 'svaha' as its suffix.Eg .. Om Praanayaa Svahaaa ..Apaanaaya Svahaa... etc and finally ending it with ' Brahmane Svahaa...
Temple deities express through life-energy ( pranamaya kosha ) .They do not have an annamaya Kosha ( flesh body ) and therefore,the way we transfer life energy from food to idol is through these rituals.
Prana is the incoming breath ( respiration ). Prana is responsible for sensation and mental function.So,your hair is said to lack Prana because it does not have sensation,but yet it is a living tissue because it contains the other fellows ( samana, apaana, udaana and vyaana )
The other four - Samaana,Apaana,Udaana and Vyaana are still intact though the body is not breathing !
This is why in the Hindu culture,we cremate a body after few hours, because the essential components mentioned above are still in the body - which means the person is still 'alive' in some ways,though not respiring.The Vyana can take up to two weeks to completely exit and it is not practical to preserve the body for that long.
So we at least ensured that the Prana aspect has totally ceased before burning,so that the person's respiratory faculty is completely down, shutting his sensation and mental function.
When Mulan died,the cessation of breathing did not negate the life process in him entirely.In addition,it was a 'snakebite'.Possibly a cobra bite.Cobra venom can cause acute respiratory failure because of the neurotoxins.So he could have experienced an instant death.
In other words,Moolan might have stopped breathing but his prana had not entirely left the body ( remember that it may take upto 1 1/2 hours for that ).It was during this interval in which the Siddha came and saw the situation.
Being a Siddha,this science was peanuts to him.So He entered Mulan's body.What about His original body ? We come back to the aspects of Pranamaya kosha.The Vyaana component can take upto 2 weeks to completely leave the body.So it is possible that the siddha preserved the Vyaana in his native body so that it lasts for some time until He fulfils His purpose of using Moolan's dead body.
However,as we had seen, He later failed to relocate His native body and remained in Mulan's body.
Thirumoolar was not the only one to conduct this feat.There had been many and even Adi Shankara entered a dead king's body once.
 |
| Adi Shankara |
Interestingly,Adi Shankara is famous for expounding on the Taittriya Upanishhad through his commentaries.This great being is a big reason why Taittriya Upanishhad is still preserved and in fact,popular till date.
My Whatsapp Veda Student Shravanthi reciting the first chapter of Taittiriya Upanishad - Shikshavalli
 |
| Saw this in Prashanti Nilayam,India.She was reciting Taittriya Upanishhad and I sat down to join.You centralise in Anandamaya Kosha ( Bliss Sheath ) whenever you chant Vedas.. what a bliss... |
 |
Michael Jackson dances with the dead in Thriller...
|
 |
| Thirumoolar : Hold my payasam kid |
Beautiful. Nicely written. Impressive. Well done
ReplyDeleteThank you
Delete