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My first Divine Experience - Subramaniyam, Singapore
I heard sometime back that one should not tell others of their personal experiences of divine nature. I don't know the reason, but then, how will the Glory of the Lord be known to others? Saint Arunagirinathar composed several thousand poems on Lord Murugan. If not for his works, many of us may not have been exposed to the greatness of the Lord. I would like to share with you, the following experience, (first of several in the past few years). Many of you may conclude this as pure co-incidence, but it really changed my life, forever! Several other experiences followed this (during my pilgrimage(s), while typing out Thiruppugazh (1328 poems) , when responding to emails etc.). I am sharing this experience to stress the importance of devotion, ...... pure devotion that is!. I may be an amateur in this subject, but believe me, He does show proof that He is with you & me! (always). It is us - we don't really make the effort to get 'close' to Him.
A few years back, I was not a 'serious' temple visitor. I had Lord Murugan as my ishta (favourite) deity, since my younger days, and that was it. I did'nt even bother to know more, other than listen to some (modern) songs about Him. My temple visits were rare, sometimes once in six months. All the rituals during Poojas & Abishekams just confused me.
Around April 1996, on one of my several trips to New Delhi, India, a staff member of the hotel I stayed at, mentioned about Sri Uthara Swaminathar Temple , better known as Malai Mandir in Ramakrishna Puram (New Delhi). I took an autorickshaw to this temple the following morning and was very impressed when I entered its premises. The temple layout and the 'hill' upon which Lord Murugan was - had a beautiful impact in my mind. I attended the regular deepArAthanai (darshans) and abishekams. The staff at the temple were very friendly, and they cleared some of my ignorance when I discussed certain topics. Since then, I would visit that temple on every trip to New Delhi.
A few months later I met a senior devotee at Lord Murugan's sannithi at the temple. He would sit on the floor and recite poems such as Sri Kanda Shashti Kavacam , for an hour before going home. I approached and asked him which may be the best poem/song for Lord Murugan. (I just had the inner urge to learn and memorise one!) He said that every song or poem written for the Lord is beautiful in its own way. Anyway, he recommended ThirumurugAttruppadai , by the divine poet Nakeerar, for me. I thanked him. A few days later, in Singapore, I looked for the book. What I found was the Nerisai Venpa (epilogue?) of ThirumurugAttruppadai ,
I thought that was the whole poem, and started memorising it. It had ten verses of four lines each, easy it may sound - but took me nearly a month to memorise! (my Tamil Language skills were not good then!). Anyhow, I did it - memorised the 40 lines. (Very much later I realised that the complete poem had nearly 370 lines!).
I had a trip to New Delhi a month later and as usual, visited the temple. There was a larger than normal crowd at Lord's sannithi. It was a Saturday and the abishekam was about to start. I stood nearly at the back of the crowd, and on my toes once in a while to get glimpses of the abishekam. When that was over, the thirai (curtain) was spread for the alangkaram (dressing up) of the Lord. I started reciting the memorised verses, in my mind. I came to the end of the fifth verse and stopped! I could not recall what the next verse was. So much for my memory skills!
The fifth verse is:
unnai ozhiya oruvaraiyum nambugilEn
pinnEi oruvarai yAn pin selvEn,
pannirugaik kOlappA, vAnOr kodiya vinai theerththaruLum vElappA,
sendhil vAzhvE!
Feeling desperate, I recited again from the start but could not go beyond that fifth verse. Staring at the thirai (screen), I 'spoke' (mentally) to Lord Murugan. I mentioned my plight and asked the Lord to forgive my weakness. Immediately, to my astonishment, I heard a voice at the front of the crowd, which later I came to know, was of the temple OthuvAr (singer).
He recited the SIXTH verse!
anjumugam thOndril ARumugam thOndrum
venjamaril anjalena vEl thOndrum
nenjil orukAl ninaikkin iru kAlum thOndrum
murugA endrOthuvAr mun!
That brought tears to my eyes. I felt a great sensation all over my body. There - that made my firm foundation on the strength of these poems. I was ascertained that this was the way for me - to experience His Love and Grace through these poems, hymns and songs. I started reading more and several other experiences followed.
I am quite sure that you may have had similar experiences of divine nature. If you would like to share them, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you very much!
Vetrivel Muruganukku Arohara!
ThirumurugAttruppadai (Tamil)
Sri Uthara Swaminathar Temple
- Your comments are most welcome, my contact: kaumaram@yahoo.com | |
