Home > Devotees > 63 Nayanmar Stories

The town peNNAkadam is near virudhdhAchalam. It is the place where the Lord put His R^ishhabha and sUla symbols over the shoulders of thirun^Avaukkarachar perumAn to make it clear that he is His devotee - slave. In that town where the Lord is pleased by the services of the devotees kalikkamba n^AyanAr was born in a family with trade as its profession. He grew up with the growth of his love for the Lord who burnt the lust. He was a determined slave for the God in thiruththUN^kAnai mAdam temple of that town and was not dependant on the worldly desires and hence adorable by the adored.

He served the slaves of the Lord who goes for alms, with a feast of fruits, fresh vegetables, fine rice with flowing ghee and that was a flawless service. He continued this essential service to the devotees wholeheartedly for the whole of his life. In that procedure one day as usual he welcomed the devotees with sweet words, blossomed face and humble gesture. Before serving them the feast that great person who had his impurities washed away used to wash the feet of the devotees. His wife cooked the food which was complete in all the six tastes, prepared the seats and all the required material and came to his husband in order to pour water on the feet of the devotees while n^AyanAr washed them.

At that time one who used to work as servant in their house before, came along with the devotees of the Lord who destroyed the three impurities, in the holy form of His slaves. n^AyanAr held his feet with his hands to wash them with love. His wife hesitated as that person was their servant and he left without serving them. kalikkambar got angry with his wife for not serving a devotee because of his previous status. He got the water pot from his wife, cut off her hand and took the scented water pot himself to wash his feet. He is a marvelous devotee who teaches that it is the service to the devotees that matters and not digging his old past even after he had become a receiver of the Lords grace. He served him along with other devotees gave whatever he wanted. He continued the service without allowing anything to disturb his dedication and resided under the holy feet of the most pleasent shiva. Let the respect kalikkambar gave to the form of devotees due to which he punished even his wife for not serving the person in the form of devotees.