TIRUMANTIRAM: A TAMIL SCRIPTURAL CLASSIC IN THANE

Tirumantiram is the seminal text of Saiva-Siddhanta which has produced a galaxy of saints and has powerfully influenced the day-to-day life of millions in South India,generation after generation.It’s author Tirumular was according to legend, a yogi who took compassion on a herd of cattle that had lost their shepherd and entering the body of the shepherd by his yogic power,continued to look after the flock.So when we find in this great classic,such splendid gems as "Anbe Sivam’-God is Love-we realize that the great yogi preached only what he lived.His fervent message that the ultimate Reality is One and all of us belong to the same family has special relevance to us moderns,who have lost our moorings of faith and and are ‘wandering between two worlds,one dead,the other powerless to be born.’ Apart from the literasry merits,Tirumantiram blazes a number of spiritual trails any of which the aspirant can follow with the full confidence that the Goal Suprerme is within the reach. First published in 1991,the book has run into six editions,the latest being 2002 Very littele is known of the legendary Tirumular who is traditionally considered to be a siva Yogi hailing from the north and settled down in the south at Thiruvavaduthurai.We don’t know know how and when the 3,000 verses were recorded but it is acknowledged that they form the nucleus for the Saiva Siddhanta that developed in Tamilnadu,a southern state of India.Besides the tenets found in Saiva sidhanta,we find tin the book doctrines common to Tantras.On the whole vision of the book is liberal and it is relevant today as when the work was first composed.It equates love with Godhead in the famous mantra ‘Anbe sivam’.It preaches that God is one and so is mankind too. The English translation and part of the notes are by the Late Dr.B.Natarajan who was not only a profound tamil scholar but also a noted economist. The book has the original Tamil verse and the English translation