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		"I am a serviteur of Saakkiyan who unforgettingly
		Pelted the ankleted feet of the Lord of Uma-- the Lady
		Of lovely breasts covered by a breast-band."
	
						- The Tiru-th-Tonda-th-Tokai.

1. 	He was a devotee of the Lord of the sextuple faith;
	His guise was that of a Saakhya, the adherent
	Of an outer faith; he was however convinced
	Saivism alone was the true faith; in joy
	He pelted stones at Siva linga and gained
	The sacred feet that do away with all flaws;
	This will we hail as is known to us.				(3636)

2. 	He was born in the lofty clan of Velaalas
	In Tirucchangkamangkai abounding in men	
	Of great endeavour; he conned the truth
	And realized it too; friendly by nature
	He was compassionate to all lives; he mused thus:
	“Without perpetuating the cycle of birth and death
	I will be freed from it in this life itself.”			(3637)

3. 	He came to the beauteous Kaanchi city girt
	With lofty walls; desiring to come by goodly wisdom
	He that sought manifold paths, first joined the faith
	Of the Saakyas and studied the ways to end
	Transmigration which could not endure for ever.			(3038)

4. 	In that state he learnt all the scriptures
	Of the Saakhyas; he was clearly convinced that their
	Conclusions and the convictions of the other
	External religions were not true; by the grace
	Of God, he stood poised in Siva-consciounsess,
	Fully alive to the truth that the aeviternally good
	Path of Saivism was indeed the way of truth.			(3039)

5. 	He was blessed with the clarity that four verities
	Constituted the pathway of truth, they being
	The deed, the doer, the result of deed and the Lord
	That binds the result of deed with the doer thereof.
	He also knew that this clarity of truth is
	The special feature of Saivism, and that no other
	Faith could claim it; by the grace of Grace, he came by
	The redemptive knowledge which taught him
	That Siva is the Supreme Ens.					(3640)



6. 	His conviction was as follows: “What though
	One’s station be, what though one’s guise be
	Sure redemption is gained by the non-forgetting
	Of the feet of eternally glorious Sankara!”
	So, though he was habited like a Saakhya, he thrived
	By his unforgetful love of the holy symbol of Siva-linga.	(3641)

7. 	Those that know not that the Lord who owns all, is
	The true God, turn nescient and espouse the evil guise
	Of the Saakhyas; however he knew for certain
	That the blue-throated Lord is Omneity;
	So, even though he was habited like a Saakhya
	He was firmly poised in his love for Lord Siva.			(3642)

8. 	“For the unseen formlessness and the seen form
	The source and symbol is Siva-linga which
	Indeed is the Lord adorned with a long snake.”
	It became clear to him that for Vishnu and Brahma
	Who shamelessly went in search of Him, He, in all grace,
	Manifested in their midst as a pillar of fire
	That pierced the upper and nether worlds.			(3643)

9. 	He desired to make it a rule with him to adore
	Siva-linga before taking his food; in an open space
	Nearby, he beheld an ever-during Siva-linga, and as his
	Mind came to be pervaded with excessive joy, not knowing
	What he did, he picked up a stone which was close by
	And threw it in trembling love at the Siva-linga.		(3644)

10. 	As by love boundless begotten by great delight
	That pervades the mind, when parents fondling
	Their children indulge in slight acts of violence
	Which will be otherwise painful, the young children
	Get only delighted, so too the Lord of long matted hair
	Felt joyous at the devotee’s act.				(3645)

11. 	On the following day when he came to adore the Lord
	As was the rule with him, his wish for throwing the stone
	On the Lord that wears the konrai flowers, surfaced up
	In his consciousness, and he mused thus: “So, it is
	The grace of the Lord that prompts my act!”
	Deeming that to be the service unto the Lord,
	He decided to perform it daily.					(3646)

12. 	Since the time he began to serve the Lord thus,
	He was steadfast in his act and continued it
	As his duty; he threw the stone at the Lord, attired
	As he was in the saffron robe of a Saakhya;
	It was clear to him that all acts are
	But the gracious doings of Lord Pasupati.			(3647)

13.	This he did in love without deviating from his course;
	In sooth, it came to be considered sacred service;
	The devotee’s deed informed by true love came to be hailed
	As the great and aeviternal pooja for the Holy One.		(3648)

14. 	Even pelting was deemed as loving to the Lord;
	Was not the touch of the bowman’s slippered foot
	On the Lord’s crown deemed divine?
	The act of Saakhya done in love, is pelting
	According to them that know not the way of love;
	Unto Lord Siva the stone was truly a flower.			(3649)

15. 	One day in sheer forgetfulness, he was about to eat
	Without performing his worship; then he said:
	“Lo, I forgot to stone my Lord!” Up he rose
	Without eating, and borne by soaring love, he came
	In all speed to the presence of the Lord
	Who pealed off the hide of the fierce tusker.			(3650)

16. 	He picked up a stone and came running
	Forsaking his desire to eat and fear-struck,
	To fling it at his target, the Lord; in love
	The brow-eyed Lord beheld him; with a view to cast
	His benign looks on him, with His Consort,
	The Lord appeared in the sky.					(3651)

17. 	On His young Bull as the Lord appeared before him
	The sacred serviteur folded his hands and fell
	Prostrate on the ground in adoration; casting
	His looks of grace on him, the Lord blessed him
	With the company of the hoary serviteurs in Siva-loka;
	This done, the Lord disappeared.				(3652)

18. 	The Lord of effulgence knows certainly the way
	Of the Saakhya’s life, who are we to comprehend it?
	We wear on our crown the feet of the flawless devotee
	Who daily stoned the Primordial Lord, all in love,
	And thus reached Him.
	With those feet for our aid, we proceed to narrate
	The life of Sirappuli and thus end all our woe.			(3653)

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NOTES

Verse No.

   1.	This Naayanaar, a Velaala by birth, pursued Buddhism.  However he was 
	convinced that Saivisam is the only true faith.

   8.	This verse explicates the greatness of Siva-linga.

   9.	This verse attests to the truth that love is maddening

  10.	The pelting done by the Naayanaar was not tantamount to any offence.  
	Actus non facit reum nisi men sit rea.

  11.	On the second day, the Naayanaar became aware of his act (pelting).  
	He could not restrain himself.  Something compelled him to do the 
	pelting. So, the Naayanaar concluded thus: “So, it is the grace of the 
	Lord that prompts my act.” The force of Grace is irresistible.

  12.	What arose as a freakish act eventually become an adorable rite approved 
	by Siva.

  14.	Unto Lord Siva . . . . a flower: A stone is a flower where love is.  
	A flower is a stone where love is not.  Kaama’s flowery dart aimed at 
	Siva was considered an outrageous offence.

  18.	The observation of St. Sekkizhaar is all-important.

		“The Lord of effulgence knows certainly the away
		Of the Saakhya’s life; who are we to comprehend it?”

	We are created to adore the Lord, not to understand Him.

		Here ends the Puranam of Saakkiya Naayanaar

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