SAINT SAMBANDHAR 

TFTD JAN 24

This highly revered Tamil poet  

lived in the seventh century. 

He turned the tide of religious trends  

from Jainism back to Shaivism.

in his beloved  Tamil country. 

Thiru-jñāna-Sambandhar 

or Sambandhar of Holy Wisdom

Is the honorific that he won.  

 

When he was barely three,  

his father  once left him alone

near a temple-pond and he went

to take a dip to cleanse himself,

prior to going into the temple.  

The child cried aloud, feeling alone.  

Lord Shiva, the Supreme God  

asked  Consort Goddess Pārvati

to give the child some milk. 

The youngster drank the divine milk  

Which was pure spiritual wisdom,  

and was immediately enlightened. 

 

When the father came back and saw  

The milk dripping from his child’s lips,  

he asked who had given that milk.  

The child answered in lovely verse: 

He with ear-rings on the sacred Bull, 

He with the crescent on his tuft,  

He with ash spread over his body,  

The One Who blessed Lord Brahma,  

He has taken my heart away: 

This Lord of Pirammapuram 

the place where we stay. 

 

This English version is crude compared  

to the mystic grandeur of the Tamil. 

This is the first verse of the sacred work 

known as Théváram, and of which  

Panniru Tirumurai is the beginning.  

Each  verse here has a literal  

as well as an  esoteric meaning.  

There are references  in this work 

to episodes in Hindu sacred history,  

The book alludes to Jaina atheism too.  

 

To Sambandhar Shiva is a strict father  

and Goddess Pārvati is a loving mother  

of  every Shaiva  aspirant.  

In another poem the poet says  

There is no need not renounce the world.  

Simply accepting Shiva as Lord 

will liberate one and all. 

This is the precise equivalent

Of what chat Christians say of Jesus.

 

People were simply amazed  

by the child’s poetic outpouring.  

They bowed to the little one,  

asked him to visit their towns  

Sambandhar traveled to places, 

composing poems wherever he went. 

When invested with the sacred thread,  

he  repeated Namasivāya to honor 

Lord Shiva, not Gāyatri mantra.  

Namasivāya is the primary chant  

in the Shaiva Siddhānta tradition. 

 

At one time the queen of Madurai  

invited him to her kingdom

to persuade the king to leave Jainism  

and embrace Hindu Shaivism.  

Sambandhar succeeded in this 

simply with powerful poetry.  

Sambandhar became a major poet  

of the Shaiva Siddhánta tradition:  

a rich spiritual framework based on  

unconditional devotion to Shiva.  

It has an elaborate metaphysical side 

Which only every practitioner 

Learns and abides by.  

When Sambandhar was sixteen  

they chose a bride for him,  

He pleaded with God to shield him  

from any carnal relations.  

He recited a song he had composed  

to thank the Lord for that blessing.  

Then, they say, Sambandhar, his bride,  

and all the people assembled,  

vanished in a great effulgence,  

and were never seen again.  

No saint’s life is complete without an incident

that borders on the miraculous.

 

Saint Samandhar is a prime  example 

In the rich Tamil tradition 

Where poets and composers 

Have had enormous influence  

On the religious and spiritual life 

Of the common people at large.