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		"I am a servitor of Muzhu Neeru Poosiya Munivar too"
		
							- The Tiru-th-Tonda-th-Tokai

1. 	He is the basis of all; He is omneity; He is the merciful One
	In whose matted hair the Ganga flows and in whose ears
	Are white and bright and beauteous Kuzhais;
	Sivaagamas propounded by Him expound Karpa,
	Anukarpa, Upakarpa and also Akarpa; of these
	Akarpa stands eliminated; the other three are adorable;
	They do away with Kaama and the like-- the sextuple sins;
	We hymn the praise of the Holy Ash that our twyfold karma
	May stand abolished.							(4163)

2. 	Cows yield Panchakavya used the ritualistic ablutions
	Of the Lord who joyously dances in the Ambalam
	For the deliverance of the world; if they are free
	From disease, having calved but recently, their dung is to be
	Picked up to the recitation of (Satyojaata) mantra;
	When in Sivaagni fostered with Siva-mantras adored
	By the celestials, their dung is laid with thought fixed
	On our Lord’s feet that are beyond the pale of (human)
	Consciousness, and taken out, it is hailed
	As the Holy Ash of the Karpa type.					(4164)

3. 	According to the rules enunciated in the Aagamas
	Of the Ruby-Dancer who dances in the Ambalam in the presence
	Of Uma whose breasts are covered by a band, cows’ dried dung
	Should be gathered from a forest; it should be
	Finely powdered and then mixed with the liquid pure of cows’ urine;
	Thereafter it is to be kneaded into balls,
	To the recitation of Atthira mantra and consigned to the Homa- agni;
	This is then to be gathered after it is well burnt;
	This wealth of the Holy Ash is indeed Anukarpam.			(4165)



4. 	The ashes of burnt trees and shrubs in a jungle
	(Where cows graze), the ashes when the pens of cows
	Get burnt, the ashes in other gutted places and the ashes
	In kilns where bricks are baked: these severally
	Gathered and without mixing one with the other,
	Should be mixed with cows’ urine, as ordained
	By the Sivaagamas, to the recitation of appropriate
	Mantras, and made into balls; when these are
	Consigned to the Sivaagni fostered in matams
	With all the attendant ritual, what is thereby
	Obtained is known as Upakarpa Holy Ash.					(4166)

5. 	With the Holy Ash thus prepared, purity-- external 
	And internal--, is to be contemplated; then a small
	Quantity is taken to the recitation of appropriate mantras
	And worn on the person; the wearer should eschew
	The adornment of the ash in the aeviternal Siva-Sannidi,
	Before fire, river, Guru the teacher of Truth, corridors
	And unholy places; the ash is to be duly worn on the whole
	Person, or as triple stripes, or as crescent or triangle,
	Very like the glow of the lustrous lamp or as a circle
	Bright; thus they wear, the servitors of the Lord.			(4167)

6. 	The are the rare munis of hoary tradition
	Who are righteously established in the conduct
	Pertaining to their respective caste regulations;
	They have known the way of the tattwas; they are
	Firmly poised in their faith and swerve not a bit;
	They hold the Holy Ash gathered from the fire,
	Nitya Agni, in fresh vessels; adoring the Lord
	Clad in tiger-skin, they wear the Holy Ash
	On their entire person; these indeed are known
	As “Muzhu Neeru Poosiya Munivar.”					(4168)

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NOTES

Verse No.

	The Holy Ash is among the chiefest insignia of Saivism.  It is the Holy Ash 
	which is celebrated in the very Vedas.  Latter-day innovations are all man-made. 
	The approved  symbol is the holy ash.  “Neerilla netri paazh” (Addle is the forehead 
	that wears not the holy ash) are the words of Mother Avvai.  The holy ash is pure 
	and purificatory.


			Here ends the Puranam of Muzhu Neeru Poosiya Munivar

Sincere thanks to Sri. T N Ramachandran of thanjavur, for permitting his English rendering of the holy text periyapurANam be published here.

See Also:
1. muzunIRu pUchiya munivar purANam in English prose
2. முழுநீறு பூசிய முனிவர் புராணம் (தமிழ் மூலம்)
3. thiruththoNDar purANam main page
4. 12 shaivite thirumuRais