7th century Tamil Nadu, India.
A little boy is born to pious Brahmin
parents in the quaint little town of Sirkazhi. As the boy attains the age of
three, he is taken to a nearby Shiva temple. While the father takes a dip in
the temple’s pond, Lord Shiva and his consort Parvathi appear in front of the
boy. Before the father comes back to the son, they disappear and the little boy
is left with drops of milk on his lips. When asked who fed him, the little
finger points up towards the sky and the soft lips start singing a hymn
praising the lord. Over the following years, the boy goes up to sing the most
amazing hymns in Tamil that forms the Holy Book of Saivism (religion of the Shiva
devotees). The little boy was none else than - one of the most renowned of the 63
Nayanmars - Thirugnana Sambandar. The lad who was fed by the Goddess herself!
15th Century Eastern Europe.
The cruel of the cruelest
King reigns over the country. The Ottoman Empire is being eroded away by this
ruthless warrior. As tens of thousands of enemies' bodies get cruelly impaled
in long and sharp arrows, the horrific image of this King spreads throughout
Europe as a forest fire. He was none else than King Vlad III Dracula - the demonic
warrior whose very thought and the bloody cruel punishments bring shrills and
shivers to people up to this day!
Now, why are these two different people being juxtaposed? Do
they share anything in common? What if they do? 
To understand the link here, readers should first clearly understand what "Impalement" is, and how it made Vlad Dracula stand out in history as the most horrific ruler. For the movie-buffs out there, impalement ("Kazhuvettram") is what Kamal Haasan (“Rangaraja Nambi”) gets as punishment for not practicing Saivism (worshipping Lord Shiva) in “Dasavatharam” movie. It's a kind of punishment where the body of a human is pierced from his bottom and pushed up through the body, to reach out through the head. (This being such a gory punishment is precisely the reason why the movie didn't show the way the punishment exactly works, but toned it down a bit). It was such a torturous execution method used in the early and medieval ages.
Now when I step into a Hindu temple and touch the feet of the 63 Nayanmar saints one by one - and when I reach Thirugnana Sambandhar - I would stop for a moment. To think.
~
7 Comments
Note:
ReplyDeleteHistory teaches us great lessons, but sometimes things need to be taken with a grain of salt. An historical event that is subjectively tweaked around a writer's views and beliefs is merely a story, not history. Emphasizing certain things and covering up certain things can tell a totally different story, especially when viewed from several centuries away.
It should be noted that, in this case, Sekkizhar has clearly recorded the impaling event in his Thiruthondarpuraanam (Periyapuraanam). But it has been recorded as an act of valor! However, it should also be noted that Jains in ancient Tamil Nadu are said to have looted and engaged in other crimes in certain other ancient texts.
yes this is history and you coining it well as crime... :)
ReplyDeleteHope you have read properly Periya puranam. All you said are based on Periya puranam. but you willingly wanted to leave some part of it to put guilt on Thiru janasambanthar. Here is the part that you "forgot" !!!
ReplyDeletethese Jain people had set the fire to the ashramam, where Thiru janasambanthar stayed with a lot of siva's devotees of more than 10,000, to burn all of them. But Due to the Thevaram(Holy song) that Janasambanthar had sung, they were protected and the fire went to the king as a burning illness on his stomach and made him suffering.
So these jain tried to do a massive killing that can be called as genocide. when King realized this truth, He was in the position to carry out the punishment for that. It was the duty of king!!!
So will you please let me know the part of thiru janasambanthar in this punishment"Kazhuvettram" in which you put guilt on him!
you may say he would better to have pleased the king to not carry out this punishment. But Saints should not involve in politics. More over, There is no excuse for the attempt to carry out the Massive Genocide.
Jain had strong enough power to set fire to the ashramam where more than of 10,000 devotees of saivism stayed. so just consider how terrible life normal saivites had during that period in which Jains were majority.
"Kandu muttu, Kettu muttu, Poojandee" read about this words. then only you would understand how much horribly saivites were ruled by those majority Jains.
So, They got the punishment that you would give to the one who involve in Genocide.
I think you have born with brain!
Yes that is the real history.
DeleteAnd another thing, if they burnt the ashram, the king alone was enough to punish them. The Shaivites didn't hv to use tactics and fraud to destroy the Jains. The ugly reason for impallment of the Jains is that the Shaivites & Vaishnavites, the then Brahmins feared their livelihood & religion will come to an end the way Jainism was spreading. No killing of animals means, no food nor animal sacrifices available to Brahmins. Non violence meant no killings, hence no wars. This is the truth & rest made-up stories to convince & justify their crimes against Jains.
DeleteYes you are right
DeleteThis is how India lost the best religious 'outstanding knowledge' propagated by Jainism & embraced nonsense called Shaivism & Vaishnavism. Teachings of Jainism can alone make the world eco-friendly & peaceful! It is imagination that Jains would ever undertake genocide; but false propaganda has no answers.
ReplyDeleteDid you like it?