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.(3564)That yogi, who had achieved the ability to become extremely small(aõim) and the other siddhis, lived on Shiva s holy Kailasa Mountain. the miraculous origins of siddha medicine 63He set out to spend a few days with his friend Gurumuni [Agastya] onPotigai Mountain, the mountain of excellent Tamil.(3565) 78He traveled south and eventually came to Avadudurai, in the heartland of theTamil-speaking Kaveri Delta.There he worshiped Shiva in his form as Pasupati,lord of animals (3572).As he moved on from the town,he saw a herd of cattle on the land by the bank of the Kaveri River, bel-lowing in grief.(3573)In the town of Sattanur, inhabited by brahmans, there was a shepherdnamed Mulan.Born into a family of herders, he was engaged in thefamily vocation of tending cattle.He was out with the herd when hiskarma ran out, and the cruel strong poison consumed his life.He fell tothe ground, dying.(3574)That herd of cows gathered around the body and bellowed with grief,turning in circles, sniffing the air.The yogi of great austerities, as an actof god s grace, decided to remove the suffering of the cattle.(3575)Reflecting that the distress of the cattle won t disappear unless he comesto life and rises up, that austere sage, in his mercy, decided to insert hislife (uyir) into the shepherd s body.He safely stored his own body, andby controlling his breath, he entered into that body.(3576)79After entering that body he rose, now as Tirumular. (3577)The yogi, now Tirumular, finished the work of grazing the cattle and returnedhome.He encountered his wife, who was distressed by his strange appearance andrefusal to touch her.He renounced her, and the villagers unsuccessfully tried toappease her by telling her that Mular has become focused on Shiva-yoga (3583).The yogi meant for this transformation to be temporary, but on returning tothe place where he deposited his body, it had disappeared. Deliberating on theseevents, he realized clearly what had happened.Shiva hid the body out of grace, sothat Tirumular would propagate in Tamil to the world the meaning of the gamas,bestowed by the one who wears the cool moon in his matted hair [Shiva].Withcomplete insight, he realized, This is Shiva (3585 3586).80 Tirumular returnedto Avadudurai and sat focused on Shiva.He lived there for 3,000 years, each yearcomposing a single verse.To remove the poison of being born in bodies of flesh, and so that peopleof the earth will attain liberation, he lived happily on this earth for three 64 recipes for immortalitythousand years.Each year he adorned the Tamil 3000 with a singleverse, composing a garland of holy verses (tirumantira mlai) with thefour flowers that begin with wisdom.81 This garland of truth considersthe one who wears the boar s tusk, the supreme god, as the only one. 82By the benevolence of the one whose head is adorned with the moon,he reached Mount Kailasa, never to be separated again from the feet ofShiva.(3589 90) 83The story ends where it began, on the slopes of Mount Kailasa in the north.Like the episodes of other nyanmr of the Periya Pur õam , the story ofÉTirumular is a vehicle to portray the strength of his devotion and to extol the great-ness of Shiva, not to showcase Tirumular s extraordinary powers or knowledge.Although the text does attribute to Tirumular the attainment of the siddhis, it refersto him as a yogi, not a siddhar.The characterization of Tirumular as rendering inTamil the truths of the Sanskrit gamas is consistent with the Tirumantiram, asis Tirumular s residence in both the northern and southern regions.The PeriyaPurõam , however, presents a coherent narrative that clearly depicts the asceticas a non-Tamil speaker, only gaining facility in Tamil through his occupation ofthe body of the herdsman.His possession of this body for an extended period oftime is something thrust upon him by Shiva, and although he lives happily on theearth for three thousand years, by Shiva s grace he eventually leaves the Tamil landand resides at the feet of Shiva on Mount Kailasa
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