During the sangam era, there lived a man called Pannan. He was renowned for his generosity and his residence was the most well-known in his town.
When someone wanted to know the way to his house,people would say,"Ants carry their eggs during the rainy season and travel in rows.Similarly, you will notice in this town,rows of people coming out of a house with balls of rice in their hands.That is the house of Pannan."Marvelling at his generosity, a king was said to have remarked:"Let my life span be added to that of this generous man-Pannan".
There is a character in the Tamil work,Manimekalai,whose generosity was also legendary.His name was Aputhiran.He was forced to leave his village because he objected to the killing of a cow.He then wandered to different places,begging for food. One day,when it rained heavily,Aputhiran took shelter in a temple.A crowd of passers-by came up to him and told him that they were hungry and asked him for food.
But Aputhiran has nothing to give,and this saddened him.As he ruminated over his inability to assuage the pangs of hunger of the travellers,the deity of the temple in which he had taken shelter called out to him.
The deity, whom he referred to as Chinta Devi,gave him a vessel ,and said:"This is a vessel that will never go empty.You can go on giving food from it to those who ask.The food in the vessel will keep getting replenished."
Aputhiran was pleased that he could now give to others, and he praised Chinta Devi as the Goddess who resided on everyone's tongues.Clearly this was a reference to Sarawathi,the Goddess of Learning.Thus,even the goddess of learning set great store by generosity, and the importance of giving to those seeking sustenance from us.
Knowledge is what one would ask for from her and that is what one would expect her to give.But by giving Aputhiran the vessel that would never be empty,she showed that the desire to help others was even more important than the acquisition of knowledge.Qualities like generosity are to be valued above knowledge.
When someone wanted to know the way to his house,people would say,"Ants carry their eggs during the rainy season and travel in rows.Similarly, you will notice in this town,rows of people coming out of a house with balls of rice in their hands.That is the house of Pannan."Marvelling at his generosity, a king was said to have remarked:"Let my life span be added to that of this generous man-Pannan".
There is a character in the Tamil work,Manimekalai,whose generosity was also legendary.His name was Aputhiran.He was forced to leave his village because he objected to the killing of a cow.He then wandered to different places,begging for food. One day,when it rained heavily,Aputhiran took shelter in a temple.A crowd of passers-by came up to him and told him that they were hungry and asked him for food.
But Aputhiran has nothing to give,and this saddened him.As he ruminated over his inability to assuage the pangs of hunger of the travellers,the deity of the temple in which he had taken shelter called out to him.
The deity, whom he referred to as Chinta Devi,gave him a vessel ,and said:"This is a vessel that will never go empty.You can go on giving food from it to those who ask.The food in the vessel will keep getting replenished."
Aputhiran was pleased that he could now give to others, and he praised Chinta Devi as the Goddess who resided on everyone's tongues.Clearly this was a reference to Sarawathi,the Goddess of Learning.Thus,even the goddess of learning set great store by generosity, and the importance of giving to those seeking sustenance from us.
Knowledge is what one would ask for from her and that is what one would expect her to give.But by giving Aputhiran the vessel that would never be empty,she showed that the desire to help others was even more important than the acquisition of knowledge.Qualities like generosity are to be valued above knowledge.
Comments
Post a Comment