Kaapu Verse (Prayer to Lord Gaṇapati) -

Translation: The one wearing garlands of golden shower and champa flowers, residing in the land of Thillai, is a part (left half) of the Lord Thillai (Naṭarāja), known by the name Uma and whose son you are (Gaṇapati). Abirāmi, the mother of the seven worlds, Her Anthathi (a poem) states thus - Oh, the dark-hued Gaṇapati, please protect and facilitate that Abirāmi Anthathi remains in my consciousness forever.

Before commencing any major spiritual literature, it is a requirement to start the work with a prayer to divinity. Prayer to the divinity in the form of Gaṇeśa is a custom that is being followed to date. As Gaṇeśa is the remover of obstacles, the first prayer is offered to him for the smooth completion of the poems and also to remove obstacles in realizing the grace of the great goddess Abirāmi. Although this prayer verse appears to be simply invoking the divinity in the form of Gaṇeśa, various other subtle interpretations can be made, which we will continue to see in the following section.

The author of the poem Abirāmi Bhattar, belongs to the holy land of Thirukadaiyur and his Upasana devata is Abirāmi, the consort of Amṛtakadeśvara of the temple, which also houses Gaṇeśa in the same temple with the name “Kalla Varana Pillayar”, which roughly translates to “The elephant thief”. However, instead of praying to Gaṇeśa who is in Thirukadaiyur, Bhattar (hereafter Abirāmi Bhattar will be referred to by this name) prays to Gaṇeśa of Chidambaram (aka Thillai) a town that is far away. Ideally, the Gaṇeśa of Thirukadaiyur should have been prayed to for removing the obstacles, because the patron of the poem Abirāmi, is the mother of “Kalla Varana Pillayar” of Thirukadaiyur. Instead, Bhattar prays to Lord Gaṇeśa of Thillai, which does not seem logical at the outset. However, the following interpretations may shed some light on why Bhattar prayed to Gaṇeśa of Thillai.

“Thar” is a type of garland that is worn by men and “Maalai” is a type of garland that is worn by women, according to Tamil culture. Here Bhattar refers to the lord of Thillai wearing both types of garlands on his body. The philosophy of Śiva and Śakti being inseparable is indicated here. Though Bhattar wanted to sing the poem on the goddess, by referring to Thar here, he is also referring to the masculine aspect of divinity - Śiva. The golden shower flowers always bloom in bunches and no strenuous effort is needed to string them into a garland. Likewise, referring to it in the very beginning of the prayer verse, Bhattar indicates that the poems are also going to effortlessly originate out of the grace of Abirāmi. In the Śaiva philosophy, the golden shower flowers (Kondrai) represent the Praṇava or Omkāra. Thereby starting with the term “Thar” alludes to the poet starting his work with the Praṇava. The golden color of the flowers also subtly indicates that the goddess is in the form of light. Since Śiva is adorned with this flower on his matted locks of hair, this could also mean that the realization of this form of the goddess will happen only when the consciousness is out of the body in the dvādaśānta - one’s sahasrāra or crown cakra.

Champaka - the goddess here is referred to be adorned with the garland made of champaka flowers, Lalita Sahasranāma also refers to her liking of this flower in the nāma “Campeya Kusuma Priya”, meaning the One who has the champaka flower worn in Her hair bun. This can also be deduced from the nāma “champaka aśoka pun nāga saugandhika lasath kacha”, which states that Lalita wears champaka, Aśoka, Punnāga, and Saugandhika flowers in her tightly styled hair bun, again formed of yellow or golden color, refering to the realization of god in the form of light beyond the crown cakra.

“Umai Mainthane” - The name of the goddess of Thillai, is being referred to here, though Naṭarāja is the well-known lord of the temple, as per Śaiva Āgama doctrines, the chief deity of the place will always be in the form of Śiva liṅga. In this temple, the Śiva linga goes by the name “Ādi Mūla Nāthar” and whose consort is known by the name “Umaiya Parvati, who is being referred to by the poet. Moreover, the name Uma itself is a modified version of Praṇava. The Praṇava is composed of the syllables A-U-M, whereas the name Uma is made of syllables U-M-A. Uma is also called the Devi Praṇava. Thus, the poet skilfully combines the Vedic Praṇava and tantric definition of the Devi Praṇava, by denoting the golden showers and champaka flowers. While referring to Gaṇeśa of this temple, Bhattar thus refers to Him as the son of this Uma, subtly indicating that he is none other than the offshoot of Praṇava, Aruṇa-giri-nāthar in his works called “Thiruppugazh”, describes Gaṇeśa as a fast-acting god in the poem “ainkaranai oththa manam” referring to how he got the mango, by quickly using his intellect and circumambulating Śiva and Śakti. Arunagirinaathar also refers to Gaṇeśa in the same poem to have one pointed attention and also always being in bliss as he has mastered all five senses. Even during this extempore composition of the poem, and to be in spiritual life, a sādhaka has to master his senses by applying his intellect over the mind.

On the way to the sanctum of Umaiya Pārvati, we come across the corridor that houses a Gaṇeśa idol with a human face appearing like a five-year-old boy. This form of Gaṇeśa appears blowing a conch. To blow a conch, one needs to hold maximum air within their lungs by doing a full inhalation - called pūraka in the yoga mārga and must also retain it within the lungs - called Kumbaka and finally exhale it through the fine opening of the conch, thereby increasing the holding and exhaling duration of the air in a natural fashion. This form of Gaṇeśa housed on the way to the sanctum of Uma, subtly indicates the importance of pranayama and purification of the mind to obtain the vision of the goddess. This is also one of the reasons for the placement of the idol in its current location as well as the human face in the sculpture. The blowing of the conch also indicates single-pointed attention that helps in moving closer towards the divinity. The south side of Thillai also hosts a Gaṇeśa temple named “Nara Muga Pillayar”, which is a very special and one of its kind type of temple, that can be found only in this town, as the presence of this form of Gaṇeśa, indicates that the temple and the town have been existing even before Gaṇeśa got his elephant face.

Another possible reason is that the temple of Naṭarāja, houses a Gaṇeśa named "Karpaga Vinayagar" at the west entrance. This deity is known for granting wishes of the devotees exactly as requested, without any deviation. Bhattar, desiring all 100 songs to be fulfilled with proper grammar and the perfect choice of words, had his wish granted.

Bhattar also states “Kaar Amar Meni Gaṇapati” - This means dark complexioned Gaṇapati, as Elephants are dark in color. In the Tantric forms of Gaṇapati, the form of Ucchiṣṭa Gaṇapati, with his consort “Hasti Piśāci” on his left thigh is highly revered. The word “ucchista” means left over, in the act of Creation after everything has been created, the leftover that remains is the para brahman Itself. This leftover para brahman in the form of Gaṇapati is known as Ucchista Gaṇapati. The consort of this Gaṇapati is also dark gray and She sits on his left thigh, thus equating to “Kar amar Meni Gaṇapati”. This form of Gaṇapati can be seen next to Uma’s sanctum in the temple.

Before entering the main sanctum of Naṭarāja from the east gate, there exists another form of Gaṇeśa by the name “Mambazha Vinayagar” or “Mango Gaṇeśa”, who is directly connected to the incident of his obtaining the fruit of wisdom from Śiva and Śakti in the puranic incidents. Those desirous of the fruits of wisdom, pray to this form of Gaṇeśa, as Bhattar too needed wisdom to compose all the poems that could bring the goddess to earth. It can therefore be inferred, that he invoked this prayer to Gaṇeśa(s) of Thillai, for the above-mentioned reasons. One more reason why Bhattar did not propitiate “Kalla Varana Pillayar” of Thirukadaiyur as scholars mention on a lighter note, is that this Gaṇeśa is more mischievous by nature and he once hid the pot of nectar from devas when they failed to propitiate Him for starting all auspicious events.

The other reason why Gaṇeśa of Chidambaram is venerated amongst the temples of Śiva, is that Chidambaram becomes Ākāśa or Ether, among the Pañca Bhūta temple classifications. For sound to originate, ether is the cause. From Ether springs up Air, from air originates fire, fire cools down to form water and water hardens to form earth, as per Śaiva philosophy. Mantras are syllables formed with modifications of sound, with the aid of the air element. For mantras to originate, the causal layer of ether has to be present. Since we have already seen that the poet has started with the Praṇava mantra subtly and his poems are marching towards more forms of Mantras, it is therefore logically, to propitiate Gaṇeśa of Thillai, being the land of Ākāśa, where all mantras originate from.

Seer Abirāmi - “Seer” means perfect and here the author refers to Abirāmi to be in the highest order of perfection - Lalita sahasranāma “Anavadyaṅgi” also denotes the same meaning. Perfection here is being emphasized, because the author requests Gaṇeśa to install the perfect form of Abirāmi inside his consciousness, which subtly denotes the meditative practices of yoga mārga, where the form of the deity without any distortion or blemish, is visualized for longer durations of time to attain single-pointed attention. Once again he says “Abirāmi anthathi”, though anthathi means a class of poems, it also means in this context, the form of Abirāmi from toe to head. Thus, Bhattar requests Gaṇeśa to arrest Abirāmi's form inside his consciousness by expressing “nirka kattu” which means to make tight knots. Arresting here expresses his desire to arrest the activities of his mind, so that he can meditate on the form of his beloved goddess Abirāmi.

Though initially appearing to be a standard verse of meditation at the very start of a major work, upon closer examination, it becomes evident that this verse is imbued with profound nuances and an array of hidden messages that the author intended, as earnest pleas to Lord Gaṇeśa.

................to be continued

This article is wirtten by Shri Arun and can be contacted at arun.radhakrishnan25@gmail.com