The vikata vigneswarars in the sacred temples

The vikata vigneswarars in the sacred temples

 

There is a name "kallavarana pillaiyar" in tirukadaiyoor for vigneswarar implying that he is a thief. He stole the "pot of nectar" from the demi gods who are erred, and later gave it back to them when they repented for their error and prayed to him. Like this in several holy places, he has done many pranks, and earned funny names.

 

There is another called "katukkai pillaiyar". There is a place called tirukarayil in the south of thrivarur. It is one of the seven holy places where the lord Siva danced in one of his seven types. To this place, a trader brought sacks of jathikai seed (name in English) to sell. There is tax for this seed. So when he came to the toll gate he lied that he brought katukkai (name in English) – and in anticipation had loaded in his vehicle in the front and back a few sacks of katukkai. So by telling a lie like that, he was able to bring the jathikai into the town. Vigneswarar will punish those who do not follow the law and righteous ways. But he will also do it with a prank. So in actual fact, he converted all the sacks into katukkai over night. When the trader opened the sacks the next morning, he was shocked. Afterwards, realizing his folly, he prayed to vigneswarar that if these katukkais become jathikai he will pay the tax duly, and also pay the fine over and above the tax. Listening to his sincere prayer, the lord turned the katukkais back to jathikai. Therefore, the lord who has sweet modakas is called katukkai (katukkai is a bitter nut).

 

Opposite to the katukkai is the sugarcane. Not one but 1000 sugarcanes are in the name of the "karunbayiram pillaiyar" who is near kumbakonam. His temple is in the north west of the kumbeswarar temple. Why such a name and what is the story? In the ancient times, I believe his name was varaha pillaiyar. He is called so, because during the varaha avatar the lord prayed to him, and then recovered the goddess earth from hiranyaksha. One night, a man carrying sugarcanes in his vehicle stayed in front of that temple, on his way to the factory. Nearly 1000 sugarcanes were arranged in nicely tied heaps in his vehicle.

 

The lord vignewarar resides in the sugarcane ocean, do you know. Like kailash and vaikudam, he has a world for himself. His world that is fully of happiness is called ananda bhuvanam. The lord Vishnu is lying down in the ocean of milk. The goddess is residing in the island of jewels inside the ocean of nectar. Surrounding the ananda bhuvanam of lord vigneswarar is the ikshu sagaram, i.e. the sugarcane ocean. The fact that he is sweet is displayed not just by the sweet modaka in his hand, but also the big ocean that surrounds him. From his head only, the musth water that is sweet like sugarcane is constantly oozing, seeking which the bees come in swarms.

 

It seems that the Lord who lives in the middle of the sugarcane ocean, came in the disguise of a young bachelor boy and ask the man with the vehicle for one sugarcane! The man told no to him. The passers by chided the man "you have got so many sugarcanes in your vehicle; why not give one to this small child who is begging you for it? Hoping to escape from their coaxing, the man lied, "these are unusual sugarcanes. They are salty if eaten raw. They are sweet only when squeezed in the factory." "Oh I see" told the passers by and went away. So did the lord vigneswarar.

 

You must have guessed the remainder of the story – the next day all the sugarcanes were also bitterly salty. Once he loaded the sugarcanes down from his vehicle at the factory, he realized the folly. He came back to the temple understanding who is the young lad who came asking for the sugarcane. He prayed feeling very sincerely for his mistake. The lord also blessed him and turned all the sugarcane back to sweet ones.

 

Like these there are several stories featuring pranks. Playing like this with us, the lord grants us the liberation eventually, as shown by the life story of auvaiyar (the lady saint and poet). He lifted her with his folded trunk, and dropped her off at the kailasa (the abode of lord Siva). [The acharya described with an action, that the lord "just dropped the saint."