Nandi, the bull which is the mount of Lord Siva, received spiritual instruction from Lord Siva. Nandi, in turn, imparted spiritual knowledge to Sundaranatha.
Sundaranatha, in the course of his travels in Southern India, came to a village on the banks of the Cauvery. And there he was amazed to see cows standing around the body of a cowherd and weeping!
Sundaranatha had the power to quit his body and enter that of another. Using his powers, he entered the body of the dead cowherd, whose name was Moolan. Sundaranatha’s own body was then hidden away. The cows thought that their master had come back to life and followed Moolan. Having escorted the cows back to safety, Sundaranatha searched for his own body but could not find it. And so he continued to live in the body of Moolan and came to be known as the Saint Thirumoolar.
Thirumoolar sang of the glories of the Supreme One by using numbers to demonstrate His qualities, said Malayaman, in a discourse. The Lord is the only One, above all else. He has given half of his body to the Goddess, and so He is worshipped in two states — as Siva and as Sakthi. In Saiva Siddhanta, there are three important concepts. They are pasu, pati, and pasa. Pati refers to the Lord Himself. Pasu refers to the individual souls. Pasa refers to the state of bondage in which the souls find themselves.
Charya, Kriya, Yoga and Jnana are the four paths that lead people to Lord Siva. Building temples for the Lord, cleaning temples, stringing garlands of flowers for the Lord, singing the Lord’s praises, all of these can be taken to be Charya.
Kriya is the performance of Puja. Yoga involves control of one’s senses and meditation. Jnana means to understand the three concepts of Pati, Pasu, Pasa, and to seek Him.
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