by: Sri Swami Sivananda
Kancharur was a fertile
place in the Chola kingdom. The people were all Siva Bhaktas. In this place
there lived a staunch devotee of Lord Siva by name Manakancharanar. He was a
Vellala by caste. He was a hereditary Senathipathi. People of the community had
the highest regard for him. He was a contemporary of Sundaramurthi Nayanar. To
him adoration of Siva Bhaktas was the highest form of worship of the Lord. He
would read their minds from their look, and would serve them without their
asking.
He had no children for a
long time. He worshipped Siva with faith and devotion and obtained the boon of
a daughter from Him. Nayanar celebrated the birth of this divine child, with a
lot of charity. In due time, the girl attained the marriageable age. She was
engaged to be married to Eyarkon Kalikamar who was also an earnest and sincere
devotee of the Lord. The date of the wedding had been fixed and all
arrangements made.
In the mean time, Lord
Siva wanted to shower His supreme grace on the Nayanar. He took the form of a
Maha-Vrathiar (man of great vow) who wears the sacred ash on his forehead,
matted locks adorned with a garland of bones, and a sacred thread made of human
hair on his chest. The Maha-Vrathiar appeared before Manakancharanar who
received him with great delight. When the ascetic enquired about the cause of
the festive appearance of the house, Nayanar explained that his daughter was to
wed that clay. He asked the girl to bow to the ascetic and receive his
blessings. The ascetic saw her flowing hair, and said: Oh noble soul, I am
delighted to see her hair. This can be conveniently made into a Panchavati (the
thread that adorns my chest).
At once, Nayanar took a knife and, without
thinking for a moment, cut the hair on his daughters head and handed it to the
ascetic. In his extreme devotion to the Siva Yogi, he did not even consider the
fact that he was disfiguring his only daughter, and that the bridegroom might
refuse to accept her. The Lord in the form of the ascetic immediately
disappeared. He gave Nayanar and his family Darshanam along with Mother
Parvathy and blessed them.
Eyarkon Kalikamar, the
bridegroom, and his party arrived there soon after, and came to know of all
that had happened. He was sorry that he had not come earlier and had the Lords
Darshan. When he saw the disfigured bride and hesitated to accept her, Lord
Siva, the Indweller, understood the cause, and restored the hair to her head.
Nayanar and his family were very happy and proceeded with the wedding.
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