Sambanthar

Sambandar (Tamil: சம்பந்தர்), also referred to as Tirugnana Sambandar (lit. ''Holy Sage Sambandar''), Tirujnanasambanda, Campantar or Jñāṉacampantar, was a Shaiva poet-saint of Tamil Nadu who lived sometime in the 7th century CE. He was a child prodigy who lived just 16 years. According to the Tamil Shaiva tradition, he composed an of 16,000 hymns in complex meters, of which 383 (384) hymns with 4,181 stanzas have survived. These narrate an intense loving devotion (''bhakti'') to the Hindu god Shiva. The surviving compositions of Sambandar are preserved in the first three volumes of the ''Tirumurai'', and provide a part of the philosophical foundation of Shaiva Siddhanta.

He is one of the most prominent of the sixty-three Nayanars, Tamil Shaiva bhakti saints who lived between the sixth and the tenth centuries CE. He was a contemporary of Appar, another Shaiva poet-saint.''Encyclopaedia of Jainism, Volume 1, page 5468''

Life

Information about Sambandar comes mainly from the '' Periya Puranam'', the eleventh-century Tamil book on the Nayanars that forms the last volume of the ''Tirumurai'', along with the earlier ''Tiruttondartokai'', poetry by Sundarar and Nambiyandar Nambi's ''Tiru Tondar Tiruvandadi''. A Sanskrit hagiography called ''Brahmapureesa Charitam'' is now lost. The first three volumes of the ''Tirumurai'' contain three hundred and eighty-four poems of Sambandar, all that survive out of a reputed more than 10,000 hymns.

According to the Tamil texts, Sambandar was born to Sivapada Hrudiyar and his wife Bhagavathiar who lived in Sirkazhi, Tamil Nadu. They were Shaivite brahmins. When Sambandar was three years old his parents took him to the Shiva temple where Shiva and his consort Parvati appeared before the child. His father saw drops of milk on the child's mouth and asked who had fed him, whereupon the boy pointed to the sky and responded with the song ''Todudaya Seviyan'', the first verse of the ''Tevaram''. At the age of three, he is said to have mastered the Vedas. Sambandar died in the Tamil month of "Vaigasi" at the age of sixteen at his wedding.

Inscriptions

An inscription of Rajaraja Chola I at Tiruvarur mentions Sambandar along with Appar, Sundarar and the latter's wife Nangai Paravaiyar.

Many other inscriptions likely are related to the musical bhakti singing tradition founded by Sambandar and other Nayanars. The singers of these hymns were referred to as ''Tirupadiyam Vinnapam seyvar'' or ''Pidarar'' in Tamil inscriptions from about the 8th to 16th centuries, such as the inscriptions of Nandivarman III in the Tiruvallam Bilavaneswara temple records. Rajaraja deputed 48 ''pidarars'' and made liberal provisions for their maintenance and successors.Vasudevan 2003, p. 13 A few earlier records give details about the gifts rendered to the singers of ''Tevaram'' from Parantaka I of the 8th century.Vasudevan 2003, pp. 109-110 A record belonging to Rajendra I mentions ''Tevaranayakan'', the supervisor of ''Tevaram'' and shows the institutionalisation of ''Tevaram'' with the establishment of a department. There are records from Kulothunga Chola III from Nallanyanar temple in South Arcot indicating singing of ''Tiruvempavai'' and ''Tiruvalam'' of Manickavasagar during special occasion in the temple.

Iconography

Sambandar's image is found in almost all Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu. He is depicted as a dancing child or a young teen with his right forefinger pointing upwards, reflecting the legend where he credits Parvati-Shiva for what he has. A Chola bronze of Sambandar with a height of in standing posture dated to about the 12th century was found in Velankanni in Nagapattinam district. He is sported with ''catura'' posture with his feat on Padmasana and he is sported with jewels around his neck. Another image found in Tiruindalur in dancing posture with a height of dated 1150 has Sambandar sported with his right feet over a pedestal. Both the bronze images are stored in the Bronze gallery in Government Museum, Chennai.

Compositions and legacy

Sambandar is the first poet-saint featured in the ''Tirumurai'', the canonical works of Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta. His compositions grace Volume I, II and III of the twelve-volume compilation. He has been highly influential on Tamil Shaivism. His ideas and emotional devotion to Shiva are shared by other Nayanars and the Shaiva community they help organize. He is lucid in explaining the link between the Vedic tradition and the temple tradition. According to Cort, Sambandar clearly explains this through his hymn praising the power of the ''namah sivaya'' mantra: Cort 1998, pp. 175–176

It guides to the good path,
all those who melt with love,
and flow with tears as they chant it.
It is the essence of the four Vedas,
Chant our Lord's name,
say, 'Hail Siva!"
– Translated by John Cort

This is part of the refrain found in the Vedic teaching called the ''Śatarudrīya saṁhita'', states Cort, the foundation that transmutes that Vedic tradition into the Agamic ritual tradition of Shaiva Siddhanta. Sambandar and other Nayanars help shift the focus from celebrating the Vedic canonical text into a "magical connection with Siva" whereby every devotee can have a personal, direct connection to Shiva and the essence of Shiva within him or her. It helps shift the spiritual experience from being channeled through Brahmin priests to being channeled through a direct loving connection with one's own Shiva. In effect, states Cort, "the essence of the Veda" displaces the Vedic text itself through the tradition pioneered by Sambandar, Appar and Sundarar.

Temple services

The pilgrimage to temples, associated devotional singing with music, and other rituals started by Sambandar have thrived over the centuries. In contemporary Tamil Shiva temples, ''Odhuvars'', ''Sthanikars'', or ''Kattalaiyars'' offer musical programmes in Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu by singing ''Tevaram'' after the daily rituals. These are usually carried out as chorus programmes soon after the divine offering. The singing of Tevaram was followed by musicals from the music pillars in such temples like Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple, Nellaiappar Temple and Suchindram.Bhargava 2006, p. 467

''Periya Puranam'', the eleventh-century Tamil book on the Nayanars that forms the last volume of the ''Tirumurai'' primarily had references only to ''Tevaram'' and subsequently expanded to 12 parts and is one of the first anthologies of ''Tirumurai''. Prentiss 1992, p. 140 One of the first anthologies of ''moovars'' hymns called the ''Tevara Arulmuraitirattu'' is linked to Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta philosophy by grouping ninety-nine verses into 10 categories. The category headings are God, soul, bond, grace, divine initiation, methodology, enlightenment, bliss, mantra and liberation - correspond to Umapthi's work, ''Tiruvarutpayan''. ''Tirumurai kanda puranam'' is another anthology for ''Tirumurai'' as a whole, but primarily focuses on ''Tevaram''. It is the first of the works to refer to the collection of volumes as ''Tirumurai''. Prentiss 1992, p. 144

Tamil Shaiva ethos

The hymns of Sambandar include criticism and allegations of persecution of the Shaiva community by Jain monks, along with a "bitter anti-Jain polemic". Cort 1998, p. 213 Sambandar critiques the duplicity he sees.Das 2005, p.32 The early studies of this Jain-Hindu interaction, as seen in Sambandar hymns and other early Shaiva literature, is one where Jainism is inferred as the heterodox popular religion followed by a revival and triumph of Shaiva Hinduism. The situation was likely more complicated and driven by historical developments and context. The Buddhists denied the "existence of soul", states Nilakanta Sastri, while the Jains recommended "asceticism and suffering" – a period in Tamil culture where such "pessimism" must have been the ethos.

Shaivism retooled its Vedic roots and transmuted the Vedic ritual into a personalized temple bhakti ritual. Thus, the Shaiva poet-saints such as Sambandar and Appar emerged with an optimistic, cheerful celebration of Shiva, soul and life with music and songs. This may have represented a change to the earlier ethos of Tamil society. This evolution is embedded in the mythohistory of Shaiva legends, which accuse Jain monks of scheming and torturing Sambandar, Appar and others, followed by a reversal. These legends, states Richard Davis, are better studied as symbolic conflict of ideas, a competition for patronage and transformation of Tamil social ethos through a Brahmin-peasant alliance. The Shaiva literature and songs characterize Jain monks and their ascetic lifestyle as false doctrines with no emotional or spiritual value in this or the next life. They offer a new vision to the Tamil society and culture where devotion to Shiva temple, community and loving engagement to life is the path to liberation. Cort 1998, pp. 175–176, 213–217

Translation of Sambandar hymns

Francis Kingsbury and Godfrey Phillips selected and translated 24 out of 383 of Sambandar's hymns into English in 1921. These were published with a small collection of Appar and Sundarar hymns in a book titled ''Hymns of the Tamil Śaivite Saints'', released by the Oxford University Press. They stated that these were some of the hymns from ''Devaram'' (Tevaram) that they could hear being chanted in South Indian Shiva temples of their times.

Indira Peterson has published a more recent translation of many of Sambandar's hymns.

Notes

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External links

Festivals of Mylapore By Sambandar Sambandar's Thiruvenkattu pathigam

{{Nayanars

644 births
660 deaths
Nayanars