Thayumanavar
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Thayyumanavar (1706 - 1744) was a Tamil philosopher and Hindu saint.
He is one of the greatest saints of South India and an articulator of the Saiva Siddhanta philosophy. The Hymns of Thayumanavar (1454 poems) is the life work of this realized sage who, in keeping with his Tamil traditions and his family’s lineage, worshipped Lord Siva. More than that, the sage ultimately knew his lord in the inner recesses of his being. Yet, his poems transcend all sectarian boundaries. His first three songs were sung 250 years ago before a crowd at the Congress of Religions in Trichinopoly, south of Chennai, where varied faiths had gathered. His poems follow his own mystical experience, but they also outline the philosophy of South Indian Hinduism (and more specifically of the lineage of Saint Tirumular, ca 2,000BCE) in its highest form, one that is at once devotional and nondual, one that sees God as both immanent and transcendent.
Thayumanavar's key teaching is to discipline the mind, control desires and meditate peacefully. He went on to say that "it is easy to control an elephant, catch hold of the tiger's tail, grab the snake and dance, dictate the angels, transmigrate into another body, walk on water or sit on the sea; but it is more difficult to control the mind and remain quiet".
His literary objective in writing the 1454 poems was not to impress the elite but to convey his philosophy and share his own spiritual experiences with the common man. The songs were set in a simple literary format that suit folk type melodies. His liberal spiritual philosophy is proof of his vision of a universal religion in which semantics, rituals, fixed dogmas are considered less important than the recognition of the Absolute Being as omnipresent, graceful and full of love.
Pete Brown, Mountain Man Graphics, Australia, in co-operation with the Himalayan Academy, has placed on the world wide web 1400+ Hymns of Thayumanavar - The Silent Sage - (1706 - 1744) in English, together with a short biography of the sage by Dr.B.Natarajan of Chennai:
http://www.tamilnation.org/sathyam/east/saivaism/thayumanavar.htm
Poems by Thayumanavar (English translations):
http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/T/Thayumanavar/index.htm#PoemList
Ramana Maharishi (Thiruvannamalai) on Thayumanavar:
