Māvin vaḍuvaki raṉṉa kaṇṇīr
Vammiṉkaḷ vandhuḍaṉ pāḍumiṉkaḷ“O devotees with eyes as graceful as the cleft of a tender,
sliced mango, Come forth, gather together, and let us sing His divine glories!”
“Eyes resembling the cleft of a tender mango”—if you slice a young, tender mango (maavadu) straight down the middle, the soft, nascent seed inside takes the exact, beautiful shape of an eye! This is the profound wisdom revealed by Nature! Manikkavasagar calls out, saying, “O you who possess such divine eyes, come, gather and sing, becoming one with the Divine Mother (Amman)!”
Becoming the Divine Mother! I am not deriving this meaning simply out of my own worldly whim! I am humbly sharing with you the sacred words, the Ultimate Truths, and the profound spiritual experiences that blossom from the divine jewel within my heart!
Worldly material matters absolutely refuse to enter my mind anymore! I perceive everything around me only as the Supreme, Ultimate Reality! What am I to do! My thoughts, my spoken words, my writings, and my actions—all of it flows out only as the manifestation of the Supreme Truth! Everything is entirely the Lord’s divine doing!
Thēviyun thānumvan themmaiyāḷach
“As the Divine Goddess and the Supreme Lord come together to lovingly take us into Their graceful dominion…”
Look, Manikkavasagar himself is calling out! He pleads for the Goddess and the God to come and rule over him! He begs for both Shiva and Shakti to come and govern his soul!
Where is Shiva without Shakti?! One can see the Lord only when the youthful maiden (Valai Kumari) bestows the nectar of Her grace! Bow down to the Divine Mother (Ambal)! The veil of illusion (Maya) will vanish!
When we say Ambal or Amman, we absolutely do not mean the village guardian deities or the boundary-protecting spirits!! She is not a deity in those temples that demand animal sacrifice! The Creator God will certainly not reside in a place where lives are slaughtered! Offering animal sacrifice is pure barbarism! It is not a humane act!!
The omnipotent Primordial Energy (Adhi Shakti) is the exact half of the omnipotent Lord Shiva—She is Shiva-Shakti! She is the Mother! If we cry, She is the loving Mother who comes running to feed us nectar! She is the very embodiment of compassion! She is the Mother to all the people of the world!
The True Nature of the Goddess
She is Valai (the eternal maiden)! In the grand temples, She always resides alongside Shiva, her hands displaying the gestures of protection and boon-giving (Abhaya-Varada mudras)!
- Eyes that gaze upon us with love and compassion are the true eyes of the Mother!
- Those who glare with anger are merely local guardian deities!
A true Mother will not demand anything from us! She will give us everything! Minor deities will frighten and extort us, demanding, “Bring me this, bring me that!”
Compared to our earthly mother who carries us for ten months, gives birth, feeds, and nurtures us, Shakti is the one who, with manifold more compassion and love, feeds us the nectar of grace and ultimately unites us with the Supreme Father, Shiva!
Her Divine Abodes
That energy, the Adhi Shakti, resides right alongside Shiva in all the massive temples across India! As the Divine Mother, She is enshrined in countless towns:
- Kashi – as Visalakshi
- Madurai – as Meenakshi
- Tirunelveli – as Kanthimathi
- Mylapore – as Karpagambal
- Thirukkadaiyur – as Abirami
That Mother, the Adhi Shakti – Shiva-Shakti – Mother Valai, remains as a child in that incomparable holy shrine where the three oceans merge. It is the peerless abode of wisdom praised by the Devas, the holy Trinity, the Siddhars, and the Sages—She is Kanyakumari Bhagavathi Amman!
Kanyakumari is the sacred place where She is enshrined on the seashore as a 6-year-old child, a pure maiden (Kanni)!
Among the Siddhars, the supreme sage Kaka bhushundar—a Maha Siddhar who has existed for countless eons (kalpa-koti)—sings the supreme glory of this Kanyakumari Valai Mother!
Iḍappāka mirundhavaḷu mivaḷē mūlam
Iruvarukkum naḍuvāṉa thivaḷē mūlam
Thoḍakkāka niṉdṟavaḷu mivaḷē mūlam
Sūṭchamellāṅ katṟuṇarndha thivaḷē mūlam
Aḍakkāka aḍakkaththuk kivaḷē mūlam
Aivarukkuṅ kurumūla māthi mūlam
Kaḍakkōḍi katpamathil niṉdṟa mūlam
Kaṉṉiyivaḷ siṟuvālai kaṉṉithāṉē
Even when the great deluge struck and the entire continent of Lemuria was destroyed, the unparalleled holy land that remained standing at the very end was Kanyakumari! Even during the recent tsunami, the temple where the Mother resides suffered no damage! It is located right on the seashore! Devotees call her Kannika Parameswari and Bala!
Siddhas and sages call her “Valai”! Mother Valai, who took me under her fold, appeared before me, and bestowed her grace, has blessed me to stay in Kanyakumari itself to perform spiritual service! What penance I must have performed! My heart rejoices greatly! If you come to Kanyakumari, bathe in the confluence of the three seas, and bow down to Mother Valai, you will attain a prosperous life! Come! Come to the Kanyakumari Thangajothi Jnanasabai, receive spiritual instruction (Gnanopadesam) and initiation (Gnanadeekshai) from the spiritual luminary Gnana Sarguru Sivaselvaraj—who lives by the grace of Valai—and you will attain a truly spiritual life! You can attain supreme wisdom (Jnana)! Come!
“Maiyamar kandanai vaananadar
marunthinai maanikkak kooththan thannai”
The one seated in the center of the Kandam (section/throat) is God! Kandam refers to the eye; in its center, the pupil, there is a needle-point-sized aperture in the central region. Inside it is Sivam—God exists there as divine Light! There is a saying: “Cut into pieces, one cut, two pieces.” The meaning here is that the Kandam (the eye) exists as two pieces—as two eyes! For those who seek the sky—the ether (Akasha)—where that God resides, that Sivam, that Light itself, becomes the medicine! Thiruvarut Prakasa Vallalar also sings: “This good medicine, the medicine that grants comfort, the medicine of Vaithiyanatha, the medicine in the form of grace, the medicine of the Supreme Light of Grace.” If Manikkavasagar was someone steeped in supreme wisdom (Gnana), Vallalar was someone steeped and revealing in the Thiruvasagam! Manikkakoothan (The Divine Light Dancing in Pupil of eyes like a ruby ray): When our eyes perform penance and the inner light multiplies, they will shine like a ruby! The one who dances in that ruby-like eye is God!
“Semmalarp paathangal kaattunj selvach” (Translation: The wealth that reveals the red-lotus feet)
When spiritual penance (Jnana Thavam) is performed in the eyes—when it is done in our eyes, which are the holy feet of God—light abounds, and our soft, flower-like eyes turn red, appearing like red flowers, like red lotuses! Who is it that reveals this? It is the Wealth—our harmonious God Himself, Sivam Himself—the Light Himself!