Powered by divine grace

Sacred works have universal  and timeless appeal because of the inspirational force  that sustains them. All saints and composers are aware of the  divine inspiration that has powered  their outpourings and this  is the strong basis of their humility. They acknowledge that but  for the divine grace they experienced, this gift of poesy would not have been theirs. In a lecture, Dr. Sudha Seshayyan pointed out that the Kanda Puranam was composed by Kachiappa Sivachariar, an ardent devotee of Lord Muruga at  Kumara Kottam in Kanchipuram, who enjoyed a personal rapport with the Lord.


Desirous of singing the Lord’s  glory, he would compose verses  describing the Lord’s exploits and leave them at the sanctum  sanctorum every night. The next morning he would realise that  suitable corrections, modifications, etc., would have been done to the manuscripts. It is thus an  inspired account that has been  verified personally by the Lord  Himself.

Kanda Puranam gives a detailed  account of Muruga’s exploits. After the disaster at  Daksha’s yagna, Sati offered herself in flames. Both Siva and Parvati  decided to descend to the  earth for penance. Parvati was born as Himavan’s daughter and did austere penance to win Siva. Siva too was deeply absorbed in  penance. The demons who troubled  the sages and the celestials were uncontrollable. Since only  Siva could find out a way to put  an end to their atrocities, they  sent Manmata to distract Siva’s  penance.

Muruga is believed to have been born from the third eye of  Siva in the form of a fire spark. Both Vayu and Agni carried this  fire spark and dropped it in the  Ganges. Six babies were formed  from the sparks and they were  brought up by six women known  as Karthigai Pengal.  Parvati picked up the six babies  and they merged into Lord  Muruga. His six faces, his twelve  eyes and shoulders are symbolic  of his compassion, valour, and  divine grace. He is all-pervading and has access to all directions. That God resides in the temples  is amply illustrated in the  many astonishing ways deities
have communicated with the devotees.

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