INTRODUCTION :
Nayanmars are the shaivite saints who lived a few thousand years ago. They are the ardent devotees of Lord Shiva, and they found Shiva in their each and every body cell, and worshiped him with great bhakti. They crossed many hurdles in their life, and they are tested by Lord Shiva, in order to bring out their purity, and to show their great devotion to the entire universe. Each and every Nayanmar saints are tested in a different manner, and they passed in the divine tests successfully, and finally reached the abode of Lord Shiva, Mount Kailash. The divine texts Thevaram tells the devotion of the Nayanmar saints, and contains the greatness of Lord Shiva. The Nayanmar saints preached the importance of Shaivism among the people, visited holy temples throughout India, and also cleared the sins and diseases of the people through the grace of Lord Shiva.
Similar to them, the 12 Alwars are also suffered a lot during their life time, and had staunch faith on Lord Vishnu during their toughest times. They have praised Lord Vishnu in their holy text “DIVYA PRABANDAM”, and it contains divine songs in praise of Lord Vishnu. Still the songs from “DIVYA PRABANDAM”, is being played in the Vishnu Temples, especially during the Margazhi month which falls on December – January. Alwars though contains divine powers, didn’t utilized it for their own use, and utilized it only for the welfare of the people. They relieved the diseases of the people, invoked the VISHNU BHAKTI SPIRIT among the people, and written several divine texts in praise of Lord Vishnu.
From the life of Nayanmars and Alwars, we have to cultivate the bhakti on the deities, and must adopt it regularly. Though we cannot entirely live like them, at least, by reading their divine texts, we can slowly develop the bhakti spirit on the gods and goddesses. Without the grace of the god, we can’t survive in the present “KALI YUGA”, and let us praise the glories of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and be blessed.
“OM”
SENT BY
R.HARISHANKAR
