DHINAM ORU KATHAI-17.

Tiruneelakanta Nayanar was a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva. He was always keen
on serving the devotees. Never did he lean towards contradicting his words; had
been keeping the Hara the name of Lord Shiva always in the lotus seat of his
heart; followed the discipline of married life that is intended for humble service.
His profession was making pots and clay items. Hence his service was to provide
clay bowls to whoever was in the service of Lord Shiva. He being the place of all
good qualities, there appeared a small black spot. His young feelings led him once
to a lady whose work is to give bodily pleasure. His better half was a very beautiful
lady with the heart more beautiful than that and had the most beautiful Lord Shiva
in that heart. With the entire heart going upbeat in the feeling of ecstasy she will
chant TIRUNEELAKANTAM - one name of the Lord who got a spotted throat by taking
the poison that rose to destroy the entire universe..
She was unhappy with him for his deed. She did all the responsibilities of the wife
but didn't allow him to be with her. To bring down her resentment he went with
sweet words and tried to hug her. She said immediately, "If you touch us (me) !
TIRUNEELAKANTAM !" (The thamiz word emmai means "us" but she used it to mean
"me"). At the same moment of hearing her pledge on the name of Lord that great
man whisked off his hands away from her. The immense respect he had for Lord
Shiva who burnt the lust made him say with determination, "As you said "us"
(emmai) I won't even touch in dreams any females". It is the quality of the people
who stand for their principles that if they do mistake once and realize it they never
do that again, they will in fact become stronger in their principles. Hence they stand
supreme in the history. The couple of wonderful determination and self control did
the duties of the married life, but abstained from the base feeling of sex. They never
revealed it to others - the ideal couple. It could be easier to conquer the world, but it
is more difficult to conquer the senses and the toughest in presence of the charming
spouse. Given that the person had a great amount of desire for that in the past how
difficult it would be to conquer. He did conquer that for the Name of God and there
he stands greater than even the sages who conquered the senses by practice.
The years rolled down and not their determination, even the rocks could have
changed in their stability, but they stood by their oath. They became old, but held
strongly the lotus feet of Lord in their heart. To exhibit to the world the path that
should be followed as the way of salvation the Lord came in the form of a sage in
front of Nayanar's house. Welcoming and worshipping the devotee, Nayanar asked
in humble words what order the sage had for him. The Lord who came stealthily as
a sage gave the clay bowl in His hand to the humble Nayanar and asked him to
preserve it till the time He asks for it, as it was a rare bowl, He claimed. The servant
of devotees took it and kept in a secured place.

The Lord removed the bowl from that place and reached at the devotees house
after a lot of days. The truthful slave of God was shocked to find that the bowl was
absent in the specified place and searched the entire place with shivering heart but
couldn't get it. Lord in the form of a sage shouted at him for his irresponsibility. The
devotee begged for pardon to forgive the loss of the bowl and was ready to give a
real nice new bowl instead of that old one. But the sage asked for the same bowl
that he had given and refused to accept even if he would give a golden bowl. As
Nayanar was not able to give He charged him to be cheating. The devotee pleaded
Him to trust his honesty. The sage said if he takes a dip in the pond holding the
hand of his son He would believe. Nayanar told him that he did not have any
offspring. When the sage asked him to have a dip holding his wife's hand he replied
humbly that due to a pledge he was not ready to do that. Acting as if raged the Lord
went to the court of the priests of Thillai. "It was true that the sage gave the bowl
but I am really ignorant of where it disappeared", said the man of immense integrity.
The court upheld the argument of the sage that Nayanar should have a dip in the
pond holding his wife's hand.
Without breaking the secret of not touching his wife to the court, he came with her
to the pond of the temple of Chithambaram , the abode of the Lord with inseparable
Shakti . Each holding one end of the same bamboo stick that sinless devotee said
the secret behind his not touching his wife and his deed behind that to the entire
people present there and went into the water. The couple who rose from the water
after the dip appeared to the astonishment of all as young as one could covet and
at the same time found the disappearance of the Lord who came in the form of a
sage. There appeared the Lord in the horizon on the holy Bull with His consort to
bless the devotees, "You both are very great due to your victory over the five
senses. You be with me in bliss without an end to this youth". That marvelous man
and his worth praising wife lived in the youth that was excelling with the service to
the Lord at His abode than it could have been in this mortal world. Nowhere in this
world could we find such a devotee who sacrificed his youth for the pledge of his
wife.