எறும்புகள்/Erumbugal

VaLLi ThirumaNam
**************

The hunters worshipped Murugan and asked him
to marry her according to their rites. All of them
went back to the hunters’ place and Murugan sat on
a tiger skin. VaLLi took her divine form.
Parvathi and Siva appeared for the marriage.
The hunter chieftain poured out water and gave VaLLi
as Kanyaadhaanam in marriage to Murugan.
Murugan and VaLLi worshipped Siva and Parvathi.
All the celestial beings showered flowers upon the
Divine Couple.

Murugan took VaLLi to Sri ParipuurNa Giri and
sat upon a throne with VaLLi, in a palace there. This
place is known as ThiruThaNi Malai. Murugan told her
about the special qualities of that place. Then Murugan
established a Siva Linggam there and performed Siva Puujai.
After that, Murugan went to Kandha Giri where
VaLLi was cordially welcomed and received as a companion
by DEvasEna.

Murugan sat upon a throne with VaLLi and DEvasEna
on both sides.

Murugan then told DEvasEna about both their histories.
DEvasEna expressed great happiness at having been reunited
with her sister VaLLi. VaLLi asked her elder sister to look
after her. Both of them sat with Murugan in perfect concordance.

Murugan’s chariot, peacock, cockerel, ram, VElaayutham,
and the vimaana came to them. Thus Murugan sat on His splendid
throne with both His wives, receiving all the respects of the
warriors, army commanders, and bhuthas who surrounded Him.

Thus Suutha Munivar recited the story of Sri Muruga Perumaan
to all the rishis who sat around him in Naimisaaranya Forest.

Regards

JayBee

>
>
> Near to Kanchipuram, is a hill called Lavalii or VaLLi Malai.
>A chieftain of hunters was living there with his family and tribe.
>At one time, Vishnu had taken the form of a Siva Munivar and
>was doing tapas in that hill. With his look he caused a doe to
>give birth to a beautiful baby. This baby was an incarnation of
>one of his two daughters from Vishnu Lokam, who had done
>tapas to marry Murugan.
>
> The baby was found by the hunter chieftain who gladly
>adopted her as his own daughter. She was named VaLLi.
>When she was twelve years old, she was sent to guard the
>thinai millet fields from the birds. It was the custom of the tribe.
>
> The sage Naaradha saw her and knew that the time had
>come for her to marry Murugan. But this was not going to be
>a straight-forward marriage. It had to be done in the mode of
>’kaLaviyal’, the ancient form of marriage. It is one of the
>approved forms of marriages by the ancient Tamils.
>
> He promptly told Murugan. Murugan came to her in the
>form of a hunter and tried to woo her. At that time, the chieftain
>came along. Immediately Murugan took the form of a vEnggai
>tree. When the chieftain had departed, Murugan switched back
>to the hunter-form and tried to woo her again. But His overtures
>were turned down by VaLLi.
>
> After that, Murugan came to her as an old man who was
>on a pilgrimage. He stayed as the guest of the hunter chieftain
>for some time. VaLLi was assigned to look after him and his needs.
>
> Murugan was fed Thinai flour mixed with honey. During
>the course of the meal, Murugan developed hiccoughs.
> VaLLi led him to a nearby pond for a drink of water.
>Murugan pretended to slip and fall into the water. He was saved
>by VaLLi. Murugan started playing pranks with her and told her
>about his love. But he was still refused.
>
> Thereupon, Murugan prayed to His elder brother, Vinaayakar.
>He appeared in the form of an elephant.
> VaLLi had always had a mortal fear for elephants.
>She could not even bear to hear the name of the elephant which
>would terrify her.
>
> So when Vinaayakar appeared as an elephant, He started
>chasing VaLLi.
> She asked Murugan to save her from the dreadful elephant.
>Murugan asked her to marry him in return, if he were to save her.
>She would not. So the elephant chased her again. This went on
>until until she promised to marry Murugan.

There is one little sentence missing here.

The elephant chased and chased her but seeing the refusal
of VaLLi, caught her finally and lifted her up with his trunk.
At this juncture, Murugan who was still in the form of
the old man asked her to marry him.
The terrifed VaLLi agreed to marry Murugan.
Thereupon, the elephant lifted her up and tossed her into
the upheld arms of Murugan.

Regards

JayBee

Near to Kanchipuram, is a hill called Lavalii or VaLLi Malai.
A chieftain of hunters was living there with his family and tribe.
At one time, Vishnu had taken the form of a Siva Munivar and
was doing tapas in that hill. With his look he caused a doe to
give birth to a beautiful baby. This baby was an incarnation of
one of his two daughters from Vishnu Lokam, who had done
tapas to marry Murugan.

The baby was found by the hunter chieftain who gladly
adopted her as his own daughter. She was named VaLLi.
When she was twelve years old, she was sent to guard the
thinai millet fields from the birds. It was the custom of the tribe.

The sage Naaradha saw her and knew that the time had
come for her to marry Murugan. But this was not going to be
a straight-forward marriage. It had to be done in the mode of
‘kaLaviyal’, the ancient form of marriage. It is one of the
approved forms of marriages by the ancient Tamils.

He promptly told Murugan. Murugan came to her in the
form of a hunter and tried to woo her. At that time, the chieftain
came along. Immediately Murugan took the form of a vEnggai
tree. When the chieftain had departed, Murugan switched back
to the hunter-form and tried to woo her again. But His overtures
were turned down by VaLLi.

After that, Murugan came to her as an old man who was
on a pilgrimage. He stayed as the guest of the hunter chieftain
for some time. VaLLi was assigned to look after him and his needs.

Murugan was fed Thinai flour mixed with honey. During
the course of the meal, Murugan developed hiccoughs.
VaLLi led him to a nearby pond for a drink of water.
Murugan pretended to slip and fall into the water. He was saved
by VaLLi. Murugan started playing pranks with her and told her
about his love. But he was still refused.

Thereupon, Murugan prayed to His elder brother, Vinaayakar.
He appeared in the form of an elephant.
VaLLi had always had a mortal fear for elephants.
She could not even bear to hear the name of the elephant which
would terrify her.

So when Vinaayakar appeared as an elephant, He started
chasing VaLLi.
She asked Murugan to save her from the dreadful elephant.
Murugan asked her to marry him in return, if he were to save her.
She would not. So the elephant chased her again. This went on
until until she promised to marry Murugan.

Thereupon, the elephant lifted her up and tossed her into
the upheld arms of Murugan.

Regards

JayBee

After the Suura Samhaaram, Murugan told Viirabaahu
to release all the devas from prison. They were freed and
brought before Murugan. Murugan restored them to their
rightful positions.
All the dead bhuthas and warriors were raised to
life by Murugan.
Murugan ordered the Samudra Raajan, the King of the
Ocean to swallow up ViiraMahendrapuram.

Murugan then came back to Thiruchenduur and sat upon
His throne.

The next day, Murugan worshipped His Father and Mother,
and adorning Himself with ornaments, went to ThirupparamkunRam.
VisvaKarma, the divine architect, built a beautiful city
and a palace there, and Murugan sat upon a throne there.
Six Rishis joined Murugan at ThirupparamkunRam.
Murugan sent the devas to their respective places and
then taught the Rishis, the Sarvaruupa Anubhava to them.

Devendran expressed his desire to give his daughter
in marriage to Murugan.

MahaVishnu had two daughters who wanted to marry Murugan.
Both of them performed Tapas to achieve that ambition. Murugan
appeared and told them to take births and He will marry them.
One of them was born as the daughter of the Divine Elephant
and was brought up by Indra and Indrani as their own daughter.
They named her DevasEna. She is also known as Devanayaki,
DeyvaYanai. She is a form of Sahshti Devi. Shashti Devi is a goddess
who looks after fertility, pregnancy, child-birth, and babies and
small children.
Near to Kanchipuram, is a hill called Lavalii or VaLLi Malai.
At one time, Vishnu had taken the form of a Siva Munivar and was
doing tapas in that hill. With his look, he caused a doe to give birth
to a beautiful baby. This baby was an incarnation of the other one
of his two daughters from Vishnu Lokam, who had done tapas to
marry Murugan. The daughter was born as VaLLi. A chieftain of
hunters was living there with his family and tribe. She was brought up
by the cheiftain.

Indraani was brought back from Mount Meru with her
daughter and the divine elephant. The marriage proposal was
duly made to Murugan. The marriage was fixed for the next day
and every arrangements were duly completed with precision.

Siva, Parvathi, and all the other celestial beings came
to ThirupparamkunRam. Murugan married DEvasEna with due
pomp and splendour.
Then Murugan went to grace the coronation of Indra.
Amaraavathi, the capital city of the devas which lay in
ruins, was rebuilt with the former magnificence and the coronation
took place there.
After spending some time at Svargam, Murugan went to
Kandhagiri with DEvasEna.

Regards

JayBee

The Visva Rupa Darsana of Murugan

Murugan then told Suuran that until then, Suuran had
taken numerous forms. But now he should look at Murugan’s
own forms. He, then took His Visva Ruupa form and filled the
firmaments and all the directions and showed it to everyone.

The Kandha Puraanam gives a vivid description of
Murugan’s Visva Ruupa Dharisanam.

All the great mountains were his mid-feet.
The oceans were in the fore-front of the feet.
The toes were the stars, lightning, and the nine planets.
The Rishis and Chintaamani were in the calf-muscles.
All the vidhyas were in the knees.
The thighs had Indra and Jayantha.
His waist had Kaala and Yama.
The ribs contained the devas and the asuras were in the hip.
The nagas were in the hidden parts.
Amritha was in the male organ.
The navel contained the production of all the worlds.
The chest contained all the saastras.
Gnyaana wisdom was found in the yagnyOpaviitha.
Billions of galaxies and universes were found in the hair follicles.
The palms contained all the pleasures.
Brahma and Vishnu were in His hands.
Deva women were in the fingers.
Words were in the neck.
The VEdas were in the middle of His Vak and the aksharas
formed His teeth.
The tongue had the Siva Aagamas and the seven kOti manthras
were the lips.
Vaayu deva was in His nose and the eyes were Suurya and Chandra.
The cardinal directions were His ears.
Omkaara was His fore-head.

When Murugan who was the form of Siva, took the Visva Ruupa,
all the devas worshipped Him.

Regards

JayBee

Suuran alone remained.

He commanded the Indraloka chariot to take all the
bhutha and deva warriors and transport them to the other side
of the universe and keep them there.
The chariot made them unconscious and took them away.
But Murugan sent asthras which revived them and caused
the Indraloka ratha to bring them back again.
Suuran threw a suulam against Murugan. But Murugan
captured it with a Kulisaayudham.
Thereupon, all the devas worshipped Murugan and prayed
to Him to destroy Suuaran.
Then Murugan killed the lion vaahanam which was carrying
Suuran.
Suuran, then, changed himself into a Chakravaaga bird
and started playing havoc.
Murugan descended from His chariot and saw that Indra
had changed himself into a peacock. Agni had changed himself
into a cockerel. Murugan got up upon that peacock and chased
the Chakravaaga bird. Murugan cut the bird into two.

Then Suuran took an immense form against which Murugan
sent seven arrows.
Suuran changed himself into a mighty ocean with destructive
tidal waves. Murugan sent a hundred asthras which turned into fire
and dried up the ocean.
Suuran took the form of an immense fire and Murugan
created a tremendous Chanda Maarudham storm which snuffed
it up.
After that Suuran took the form of a huge storm. Murugan
created a hundred thousand giant snakes with His asthras which
swallowed up the storm. Snakes are believed to swallow air and
live on it.
For four days, the battle ensued. Suuran took multivarious
forms like Brahma and the other devas, seas, clouds, animals,
star clusters, his own brothers, and sons, and emanating from
all over the places from all directions, he scared the bhuthas
and made them flee.
Murugan subsequently destroyed all of them with
a hundred billion arrows.

After all that, Suuran alone stood by himself.

Murugan then told Suuran that until then, Suuran had taken
numerous forms. But now he should look at Murugan’s own forms.

He, then took His Visva Ruupa form and filled the firmaments
and all the directions and showed it to everyone.

Regards

JayBee

Finally, Suurapadman himself came to war personally.

He sent for the trillions and zillions of asuras who had
colonised all the nooks and corners of the galaxies under his
control. With this immense army, Suuran went into battle.
An advance vanguard of asuras went to destroy the Hemakuuta
camp of Murugan. The bhutha army met the asuras in battle but lost.
Murugan launched many asthras which sought out all the asuras
who were in each and every one of the various worlds and lokas.
He also killed all of the asura armies of Suuran. Then the asuras
from the outside galaxies came and assembled there to fight.
The numbers of those asuras were innumerable.

Murugan commanded Vaayu to sally the chariot in and
out among the asura hosts. Within a moment, He destroyed all
the four components of asura armies. Then He destroyed
the asuras from the outer galaxies. He followed up by closing
up the portals from the outer galaxies with His weapons.
Then Murugan and Suuran started their battle. During the course
of their fight, they went to all parts of the universe. Suuran
broke open the portals to outer galaxies and let the alien asuras in.
But Murugan merely looked at them and smiled upon them.
His look turned them into ashes. Thereupon, Suuran meditated
upon his mother, Maayaa Devi. She appeared before him. Suuran
asked her to raise all the dead asuras back to life.

She pointed out to Suuran, his mistake of having mistaken
Murugan to be a mere boy. But she also divulged to him that
if the Sudha Mandhira Mountain which was on the other side of
the Great Ocean, were to be brought, it would revive them.

Suurapadman sent his Indraloka chariot to bring the
mountain. It went and brought the mountain. As soon as
the air from that mountain touched them, all the brothers
and sons of Suuran and all the other dead asuras became
alive.
Murugan sent a very potent and fierce Paasupatha asthra
which destroyed all their weapons and killed the asuras also.

Suuran alone remained.

Regards

Finally, Suurapadman himself came to war personally.

He sent for the trillions and zillions of asuras who had
colonised all the nooks and corners of the galaxies under his
control. With this immense army, Suuran went into battle.
An advance vanguard of asuras went to destroy the Hemakuuta
camp of Murugan. The bhutha army met the asuras in battle but lost.
Murugan launched many asthras which sought out all the asuras
who were in each and every one of the various worlds and lokas.
He also killed all of the asura armies of Suuran. Then the asuras
from the outside galaxies came and assembled there to fight.
The numbers of those asuras were innumerable.

Murugan commanded Vaayu to sally the chariot in and
out among the asura hosts. Within a moment, He destroyed all
the four components of asura armies. Then He destroyed
the asuras from the outer galaxies. He followed up by closing
up the portals from the outer galaxies with His weapons.
Then Murugan and Suuran started their battle. During the course
of their fight, they went to all parts of the universe. Suuran
broke open the portals to outer galaxies and let the alien asuras in.
But Murugan merely looked at them and smiled upon them.
His look turned them into ashes. Thereupon, Suuran meditated
upon his mother, Maayaa Devi. She appeared before him. Suuran
asked her to raise all the dead asuras back to life.

She pointed out to Suuran, his mistake of having mistaken
Murugan to be a mere boy. But she also divulged to him that
if the Sudha Mandhira Mountain which was on the other side of
the Great Ocean, were to be brought, it would revive them.

Suurapadman sent his Indraloka chariot to bring the
mountain. It went and brought the mountain. As soon as
the air from that mountain touched them, all the brothers
and sons of Suuran and all the other dead asuras became
alive.
Murugan sent a very potent and fierce Paasupatha asthra
which destroyed all their weapons and killed the asuras also.

Suuran alone remained.

Regards

JayBee

He then went to the Hemakuta to do battle with Murugan.
Murugan came forth to meet Singgamukan. The Kandhapuraanam
gives a vivid description of that scene.

Briefly put:

Murugan wore the foot-wear brought by Brahma and
alighted on the chariot driven by Vaayu Devan. Vishnu and
Brahma followed Him. Devendran fanned Him with a chaamaram.
The other devas followed him, waving peculiar fans of many
designs. Suurya and Chandra held up the Royal Parasols.
Agni Devan held up a torch. Yaman followed with a beautifully
wrought sword. Nirudhi blew on the Kaahala Vaadhyam.
Varunan held the auspicious kaaLaanji coconut, betel leaves, etc.
Kuberan bore the golden betel leaf casket. Isaanyan carried a
huge Suulam.

All the musical instruments were played together.
Naaradha and other rishis sang. The divine kattiyakkaarars -
proclaimers and announcers - read out the achievements and
exploits of Murugan. The bhutha warriors brandished,
exhibited and played around with their weapons in a
martial march.

Murugan possesses kOlaahalams - Bhaktha Jana KOlaahalam
and Vidhva Jana KOlaahalam. During the war, Samara KOlaahalam
is displayed.
It is said that these KOlaahalam aspects of Murugan
bring auspicious blessings of Murugan. Hence I felt that
it should at least be briefly written for the benefit of
those who believe.

In the battle with Singgamukan, Murugan split the
invulnerable chest of Singgamukan with a vajraayutham and
thus vanquished him. He raised all the bhutha warriors who
had been killed by Singgamukan. He also released Viirabaahu
and his bhutha and deva armies which had been bound by
the Maaya Paasam.

This chapter is also read for attaining victory over
enemies.

Regards

JayBee

Baanugopan came to do battle for the third time.

He created a huge tornado and from within it, he
showered weapons from all sides. But Viirabahu sent the
Vignyana asthra and broke through that maaya. Subsequently,
Viirbaahu cut off both the arms and then the head of
Baanugopan and thus killed him. Murugan thereupon blessed
Viirabahu for his great act.

There was a custom among the ancients to read this
chapter of ‘Baanugopa Vadham’, in order to destroy one’s
enemies and attain victory and gain the fruits of wishes.
After the demise of Baanugopan, Singgamukaasuran went
to battle. He was the younger brother of Suuran; he was
one of the people who advised Suran to release the devas
and be at peace. He had a special weapon, the Maayaa Paasam.

It should be noted that the asuras were very adept at
using illusions, hallucinations, mind-bending, mind-boggling,
mind-stretching, stupificatory psychotropic techniques. When
we read the detailed descriptions of the war episodes in
Kandhapuranam, we find that the warriors were also using
psy war - psychological warfare.

In the course of their challenges and counter-challenges,
we find a fully developed art of how to undermine an enemy,
discourage him and wear him down with words and shows of
bravado. There were also pep-talks given to troops and warriors
before and during a battle.
Many a time, even warriors of great caliber would be
discouraged and lose heart. But then, we will find some other
person coming and reviving him up with a lot of encouragement.
It was an art that was executed with finesse. We also find
numerous such instances in the MahaaBhaaratha.

The puraanic characters certainly had the knack of
making an already lost war seem like a war that could still
be won with certainty with mere words alone.
Or was it the pauraanikas who put those words in
the mouths of the puraanic characters?

Singgamukan subjected Viirabaahu, the bhuthaa and
deva armies to the effects of the bondage of the Maaya Paasam
and cast them into the UdhayaGiri from where the Sun rises.

Regards

JayBee