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.In the foureditions that I consulted, two agreed in their numbering of verses, and as I will the miraculous origins of siddha medicine 59point out shortly, some verses were tellingly omitted from certain editions.69 HereI will follow the numbering of the Shaiva Siddhanta edition, as this seems to havebeen the most widely disseminated edition for a number of decades.The text depicts Tirumular as one of eight disciples of Nandi who received thetitle master (ntar) (129).Presumably this period of study was spent on MountKailasa, Shiva s abode in the Himalayas in the north.He spent much of his time indevotional meditation. Daily thinking of the feet of Shiva, who wears the twilightmoon, I propounded the gamas.Reaching gracious Nandi s feet, after seeingShiva s matchless dance in the flawless hall, I lived an unequalled seventy millioneons ( yukam) (135 136).The matchless dance refers to Shiva s dance in the hallat Chidambaram, in his form as Natarajan, indicating that Tirumular also livedsome of his eons among ordinary people.The gamas are Sanskrit liturgical textsof orthodox south Indian Shaivism, which took shape as a genre in roughly thesame period as the composition of the Tirumantiram.70This association with Nandi, residence on Kailasa and in more mundane envi-rons, and longevity, are biographical details that are consistent with those of later,more coherent narratives.Other skeletal elements of later narratives appear in theTirumantiram, such as his association with Mulan.I received the title of master by Nandi s grace.I found Mulan only through Nandi s grace.Without Nandi s grace, what can be accomplished?With Nandi showing the way, I remained on the earth.(130)This finding of Mulan is narrated in later texts as an entering into the dead bodyof a cow herder named Mulan near Avadudurai, a town in the Tamil Kaveri delta.In the Tirumantiram , Tirumular dwells at the feet of the beautiful goddess ofthe cool land (tuxai ) of Shiva s Avadu (139).He stayed there in Avadu, not farfrom Chidambaram, chanting the names of Shiva in the shade of Shiva s pMti, where pMti is either wisdom, or a bodhi tree (140). I was in this body for count-less millions of years, I was in the place beyond day and night, I was at the blessedfeet of god, I was below the two feet of my Nandi (142).He entered the city ofNandi, apparently here a reference to Avadu, where he remained for ninety mil-lion eons (143).He came by way of Kailasa (155). This body seems to be that ofMulan, who would compose the Tirumantiram: Mulan was born long ago in theenduring, virtuous path of the seven holy orders.On the edge of the monastery,he rendered the beautiful words of the gamas in 3,000 verses, divided into ninetreatises. 71 Mulan composed the 3000 in Tamil for the wisdom of the world. 72The biographical details given in the text are scattered, however, and they couldbe ordered into any number of coherent narratives, so one must not give in to thetemptation to organize them into the narrative that is given in later texts. 60 recipes for immortalityMuch of the text is didactic, instructing the persevering reader on the natureof Shiva, the causes of entanglement in the world, and the techniques and benefitsof yogic practice and devotion to Shiva.Tirumular claims extraordinary powersthroughout the text, a result of his devotion and yogic practice.In order to rid myself of flaws, I searched out the feet of the one whomthe celestial beings adore;I saw the space of brilliance and purity.Nothing is difficult for me now;He gave me the great gift of the eight siddhis, and cut off my futurebirths.(621)The eight siddhis, the extraordinary powers possessed by all siddhars, are gifts fromShiva, achieved through deep devotion.Tirumular makes it clear that that the sid-dhis are not gained through artistic learning, genius, or subtle wisdom (626).Thesiddhis he lists resemble those of Sanskrit traditions of yoga, such as the ability tobecome tiny, to become large, to prevail everywhere, and, especially salient to laternarratives of Tirumular, to enter into the bodies of others (648).For Tirumular, and also for the later medical tradition, the most importantextraordinary power is the ability to preserve the body and extend life.The reasonto preserve the body is that, with the destruction of the body, life departs, andone is destroyed.One will not achieve the eternal, true wisdom (704)
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