Guest guest Posted March 19, 2002 Report Share Posted March 19, 2002 The Love Noose : ------------------- The first man to attract the queen was Saint Thayumanavar. "Holy Sir" implored Queen Meenakshi. "I am helpless and alone. You are the only wise man whom I can trust. Your head and heart alone can save the Kingdom. Its welfare depends upon you. Come and help me, in the name of my husband who loved you so much !" The saint took pity upon the helpless queen; he felt obliged to do his best to maintain peace and restore order in the realm. Under his influence, treachery was knocked down like an uprooted tree. The den of misrule became a heaven of order and discipline, under the control of Thayumanavar. The Rani was all regard for him. But her regard carried passion into her youthful heart. His beauty of person his strong will, wisdom, sagacity, political acumen, religious fervour, austerity and sweet words, worked like magic upon her imagination. Regard turned into affection, affection into love, love into lust, and lust inflamed hidden passions in the uncontrolled mind. She treated him like her close companion. The friendship ripened into love; and she approached him alone one night with a pining heart, with passion-lost modesty. She stood before the meditating saint like an image of love-lorn beauty. The saint knew her wiles. Thayumanavar: What has brought you here, Queen, at this hour ? Queen: My heart has brought me to you, sir. I offer myself to you in surrender. I love you. Thayumanavar: But I love none but the Divine in my heart. Queen: Sir, consider me as your wife. Thayumanavar: I consider you as my Mother. Mother, do not test me. I am your simple child. Queen: My lord, I dedicate my life to you; embrace me now, or I shall embrace death. Thayumanavar: That shall not be, Mother. O God, save me from the noose of lust. Divine Force, save me from this flashing sword of lustful eyes. Let not my purity be killed by its venomed edge. Queen: My beloved sir, I shall give you all my wealth; love me. Thayumanavar: Woman. your wealth is filth. Queen: I surrender my kingdom to you. Thayumanavar: Your kingdom is wardom. Leave me in peace. Queen: My man, it is the Queen's order. Obey me. Thayumanavar: I obey only the King's order. The King of my soul is God. The Rani cast a lust-lit look and departed like stormdriven lightning. Her love changed into wounded pride; she meant harm and the saint knew it. Next day, she was determined to force him to her will. She ordered one of her ministers, Narayanappa, to bring the saint to her private apartment. The minister went, saw, came back and reported that the saint escaped; his whereabouts not known ! She sent spies abroad. But before she could avenge herself, civil war raged in the kingdom; Chanda Saheb assailed her capital; conspirators and opportunists shattered her peace and the minister himself rebelled against this woman of intolerable pride and suspicious conduct. We shall see the result of these political upheavals later on. The Escapade : ---------------- Where was Thayumanavar ? How did he escape the guards and the spies? Silent, aloof, meditative, Thayumanavar had watched the play of the egoistic forces in the royal court since the sudden death of the king. Opportunists and sycophants thought the honest saint a stumbling block on their way to power. How can the blind know the sun? They knew that the queen loved him. They made her believe that Thayumanavar was an impostor. Influential talebearers, wicked slanderers, double-tongued flatterers, who won her favour, poured gentle venom into her ears. " O Queen, I sounded his heart today; it is flaming with passion for you. He closes his eyes just to adore your image installed in his soul. Meet him alone; He will fall at your feet; he is your slave; see that today !" Thus the cunning courtiers calumniated the saint and induced the queen. The saint knew the nature of the worldly; he heeded not the dagger- look of jealousy, the frown of insolence and the nuisance of talebearers. With a calm self-gathered inner strength, he was prepared for the coming events. Daily he was making himself ready to leave the capital. He had two trusted disciples. Arulayya, the first disciple, had the gift of clairvoyance: " Master, the talebearers are working out a plot that would cost you either your sainthood or your life. So, I am removing the family property to Vedaranyam. It is under the Maharatta king of Tanjore. These people cannot go there." The saint nodded his assent. Arulayya quietly removed all valuables to Vedaranyam along with a merchandise. Everything was kept ready for the saint outside the fort. That particular night, the saint dressed himself as a Naik soldier and escaped watching eyes. The horse was ready; Arulayya was there to do everything. They quickly crossed the boundary of the kingdom. And then, Thayumanavar, in the robes of a wandering sanyasi, joined a party of monks bound for Rameswaram. In those days, the Maravas of Sivaganga and Ramnad raised the standard of national Independence against alien powers that usurped the throne of the Tamil Nadu. Even to the end of the eighteenth century, the brave Maravas fought for national freedom and gave shelter to political refugees. It so happened that the party which opposed Rani Minakshi, hatched its plot in the Marava territory, from Sivaganga and Ramnad. So Thayumanavar made haste to reach Ramnad where he could live unmolested by the Rani's men. The king of Ramnad received the saint with due reverence and gave him a garden home for the practice of his yoga. The Silent Sage : ------------------- He scarcely saw the people. The few that sought him were satisfied with hearing his hymns sung by Arulayya every evening. The garden where Thayumanavar lived is marked today by a small temple where his image is adored. There too an offer came to him from the Royal court, but he refused it. "I have seen enough of this political and social drama. I have watched the world and I prefer silence all the more. Silence is my book of Knowledge." wrote the saint. He forgot the past in self-immersion. He opened his heart to divine love. He entered inner solitude, plunged into inner silence, and settled in the deeper Self. He kept his self-level, even like the ocean which overflows not by the inflow of rivers and which dries not by evaporation. (to be contd....) Hari Aum !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.