திருமூலர்Thirumular

The Life

A yogi of the north named Sundaranathar, in the lineage of Nandi, journeyed south to Thiruvavaduthurai on the Kaveri. On the way he found a herd of cows weeping over their dead cowherd, Mulan of Sattanur. Moved by compassion, he laid his own body safely aside and entered the cowherd's body to comfort the grieving cattle. When he sought to return, his original body had vanished by Shiva's will, who bade him remain and teach the truths of Shaivism in the people's own Tamil tongue. As Thirumular he sat in deep yoga beneath a peepal tree and composed the Thirumandiram, over three thousand verses of Shaiva Siddhanta, uttering but a single verse each year. His work became the tenth Thirumurai, a foundational scripture of Tamil Shaiva philosophy.