The ''Tirumantiram'' () or ''Thirumantiram'' is a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

poetic work, written either in the 2nd century BCE and 4th century CE by

Tirumular Tirumular, also known as Suntaranāthar, was a Tamil people, Tamil Shaivite mystic and writer, considered one of the sixty-three poet-saints called the Nayanars, and is listed among a group of 18 sages called the Siddhars. His magnum opus, the ...

. It is the tenth of the twelve volumes of the ''Tirumurai'', the key texts of

Shaiva Siddhanta Shaiva Siddhanta () is a form of Shaivism popular in a pristine form in Tamilnadu and Sri Lanka and in a Tantrayana syncretised form in Vietnam and Indonesia (as Siwa Siddhanta). It propounds a devotional philosophy with the ultimate goal of e ...

and the first known Tamil work to use the term. The ''Tirumantiram'' is the earliest known exposition of the Shaiva

Agamas Religion *Āgama (Buddhism), a collection of Early Buddhist texts *Āgama (Hinduism), scriptures of several Hindu sects *Jain literature (Jain Āgamas), various canonical scriptures in Jainism Other uses * ''Agama'' (lizard), a genus of lizards ...

in Tamil. It consists of over three thousand verses dealing with various aspects of spirituality, ethics and praise of

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

. But it is more spiritual than religious and one can see the difference between

Vedanta ''Vedanta'' (; , ), also known as ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six orthodox (Āstika and nāstika, ''āstika'') traditions of Hindu philosophy and textual exegesis. The word ''Vedanta'' means 'conclusion of the Vedas', and encompa ...

and Siddhanta from Tirumular's interpretation of the Mahavakyas.''The Encyclopaedia Of Indian Literature'' (Volume Two) (Devraj To Jyoti), Volume 2, page 1625''Saivism in Philosophical Perspective'', page 31 According to historian Venkatraman, the work covers almost every feature of the

siddhar The Siddhar (Tamil language, Tamil (romanized) ''cittar)'' in Tamils, Tamil tradition is a perfected individual who has attained spiritual powers called ''siddhi''. Historically, Siddhar also refers to the people who were early-age wandering ...

of the

Tamils The Tamils ( ), also known by their endonym Tamilar, are a Dravidian peoples, Dravidian ethnic group who natively speak the Tamil language and trace their ancestry mainly to the southern part of the Indian subcontinent. The Tamil language is o ...

. According to another historian, Madhavan, the work stresses on the fundamentals of

Siddha medicine Siddha medicine is a form of traditional medicine originating in southern India. It is one of the oldest systems of medicine in India. The Indian Medical Association regards Siddha medicine degrees as "fake" and Siddha therapies as quackery, ...

and its healing powers.''A Short Introduction: The Tamil Siddhas and the Siddha Medicine of Tamil Nadu'', page 7 It deals with a wide array of subjects including astronomy and physical culture.''A dictionary of Indian literature'', Volume 1, page 393

Etymology

Tirumantiram's literal meaning is "sacred mantra" or "holy incantation."

Content

The ''Tirumantiram'' is divided into nine chapters, 9 tantras (): * 1. Philosophical views and divine experience, impermanency of the physical body, love, education etc. * 2. Shiva's glory, His divine acts, classification of souls etc. * 3.

Yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

practices according to the eight-angled way of Patanjali. Also refers to Vasi Yoga * 4.

Mantra A mantra ( ; Pali: ''mantra'') or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language like Sanskrit or Avestan) belie ...

tantra Tantra (; ) is an esoteric yogic tradition that developed on the India, Indian subcontinent beginning in the middle of the 1st millennium CE, first within Shaivism and later in Buddhism. The term ''tantra'', in the Greater India, Indian tr ...

, etc. * 5. Various branches of Saiva religion; the four elements of

. * 6. Shiva as ''guru'' bestowing grace and the devotee's responsibility. * 7. Shiva

linga A lingam ( , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. The word ''lingam'' is found in the Upanishads and epic literature, wher ...

, Shiva worship, self-control. * 8. The stages of soul experience. * 9. ''Panchadsara manthiram'', Shiva's dance, the state of samadhi. The poems have a unique metrical structure, each line consisting of 11 or 12 syllables depending on the initial syllable. Tirumular discusses the four steps of spiritual progress; ''Charya'', '' Kriya'', ''

'' and ''Gnana'', the

concept of ''Pati'', ''Pasu'' and ''Pasa'' where Pati stands for Shiva, Pasu stands for the humankind and Pasa stands for Maya (the desire), ''sadhana'', ''

'', the

Upanishad The Upanishads (; , , ) are late Vedic and post-Vedic Sanskrit texts that "document the transition from the archaic ritualism of the Veda into new religious ideas and institutions" and the emergence of the central religious concepts of Hind ...

ic ''

Tat tvam asi Tat or TAT may refer to: Geography * Tát, a Hungarian village * Tat Ali, an Ethiopian volcano *Trinidad and Tobago, a Caribbean country People *Tat, a son and disciple of Hermes Trismegistus * Tiffani Amber Thiessen, initials T.A.T. * Tat Wood, ...

'' and other Vedantic concepts, the transcendental reality as emptiness ''( Sunya)'' devoid of any attribute and ''Tantrasastra'' (

Shakti Shakti (Devanagari: शक्ति, IAST: Śakti; 'energy, ability, strength, effort, power, might, capability') in Hinduism, is the "Universal Power" that underlies and sustains all existence. Conceived as feminine in essence, Shakti refer ...

worship), '' chakras'', magic spells and their accessories. The section on

, called "Shiva yoga", offers details not found in the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

text of

Patanjali Patanjali (, , ; also called Gonardiya or Gonikaputra) was the name of one or more author(s), mystic(s) and philosopher(s) in ancient India. His name is recorded as an author and compiler of a number of Sanskrit works. The greatest of these a ...

. The ''Tirumantiram'' describes means of attaining an immortal body ''(kaya siddhi)'', advocating a theory of preserving the body so that the soul would continue its existence (). Tirumular is not only one of the 63 Nayanmars (

Nayanars The Nayanars (or Nayanmars; , and later 'teachers of Shiva') were a group of 63 Tamils, Tamil Hindu saints living during the 6th to 8th centuries CE who were devoted to the Hindu god Shiva. Along with the Alvars, their contemporaries who were de ...

) but also a significant one among the 18 Siddhars. Tirumular has been referred to as "Nampiran" (meaning: nam-Our, piran-God, thus thirumular has been called as a leader or god to all the remaining Nayanars) by

Sundarar Sundarar (), also referred to as Chuntarar, Chuntaramurtti, Nampi Aruran or Tampiran Tolan, was an eighth-century poet-saint of Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta tradition of Hinduism. He is among the Tevaram trio, and one of the most prominent Nayanars, ...

in his thiru thondar thogai (the earliest song which mentions the names of 63 Nayanars). Tirumular as a moral philosopher teaches the ethics of non-violence (

ahimsa (, IAST: , ) is the ancient Indian principle of nonviolence which applies to actions towards all living beings. It is a key virtue in Indian religions like Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism. (also spelled Ahinsa) is one of the cardinal vi ...

), abstinence from slaughtering, meat and alcohol. He condemns coveting another man's wife. He declares that "love is God", proclaims the unity of mankind and God and stresses the acquisition of knowledge. The final section of the Tirumantiram, named ''Sunya Sambhashana'' ("Colloquy on the Void"), is full of metaphorical sayings communicating mystical and speculative thoughts, for example;

References

Sources

* A Short Introduction: The Tamil Siddhas and the Siddha Medicine of Tamil Nadu By Marion Zimmermann * The Encyclopaedia Of Indian Literature (Volume Five (Sasay To Zorgot), Volume 5 By Mohan Lal * The Encyclopaedia Of Indian Literature (Volume Two) (Devraj To Jyoti), Volume 2 By Amaresh Datta * Saivism in Philosophical Perspective: A Study of the Formative Concepts, Problems and Methods of Saiva Siddhanta By K. Sivaraman * A dictionary of Indian literature, Volume 1 By Sujit Mukherjee * The Tirumandiram, (set of 10 volumes) English translation with commentary, 2010, T.N. Ganapathy et al. * The Yoga of Tirumular: Essays on the Tirumandiram, by T.N. Ganapathy and K.R. Arumugam, {{ISBN, 9781895383218

External links

Tirumantiram in English
translated by Dr. B. Natarajan * Tirumantiram in Tamil

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format
Tirumantiram

Shavism Homepage

Thirumandhiram

Thirumandiram information
by Marshall Govindan
The Tirumandiram in English and Tamil with verse by verse commentary, in 10 volumes, by T.N. Ganapathy et al
Tamil-language literature Texts related to Nayanar saints Tamil Hindu literature

Etymology

Content

See also

References

Sources

External links