Upanayanam: To do or not?

This post is by request, an attempt to answer multiple questions I was asked on the Upanayanam उपनयनम् ceremony.

Questions opposing Upanayanam:
- The sacred thread is an act of Brahminical patriarchy. Why should only Brahmin men wear it but not others? We should strive to destroy Brahminism & the oppressive caste system that the Brahmins have imposed on us for 1000s of years. This casteist ceremony should simply stop. People should cast away the thread.
- Why should we spend so much money in this ceremony? The priests nowadays charge so much! I don't do any Sandhyavandhanam. Neither did my parents or grandparents. What's the point? Let's simply not do it.
- Why should I wear this thread? I don't want to look strange in front of my friends in the locker room wearing it. Even if you force me to wear it in the function, I'll remove it the very next day. Why do you even want to spend money & make this effort?
- A Upanayanam event was conducted in 5-star hotel. It had alcoholic drinks & meat being served. The officiating priest got offended, & though he was offered additional money, he refused to conduct the event & left in a huff. The priest had brought an assistant who accepted the offer & conducted it. This is fundamentally just a social event, right? What's wrong with some drinks & meat? It is my choice of diet for a party. Why was the priest so uptight?


Positive Stories:
- A strange case that just happened. A young boy's family simply weren't interested in doing the ceremony. The father & grandfather don't do any Sandhyavandhanam. What's the point in spending the money for the kid? But the young boy was insistent. He forced his parents & grandparents to agree to doing the ceremony. They are doing it at their home.
   - Why did the boy insist on the ceremony? This is a mystery. The scriptures state that saying the divine name even once, even inadverdently, will stay with you forever. (Source: Haridas Giri Upanyasam) It will not leave you, until you reach the ultimate truth & merge with the divine, across lives. The priest who narrated this story wonders if this boy is an old soul who has chanted a lot of Gayatri Mantras who is reborn.
   - This is in contrast to the Abrahamic religions, which based off Moses' third commandment, states that God's name shall not be taken in vain. The staunchly religious will use G-d instead of God even today. When the Semitic Jews were wiped out, the pronunciation of YHWH was lost forever.
- A father wanted to do the ceremony for his son. He heard that the father had to do at least 1 lakh Gayathri Mantras before doing an Upanayanam. He kept count. It took him a couple of years. And he performed the Upanayanam once he was done.


What is the Upanayanam?
Upanayanam is a sacred ceremony where a sacred thread is vested for the first time.
Upa = small and nayan = eye, so the Upanayanam is also a ceremony in which you are initiated into the tradition of looking within through your inner eye. This will eventually yield the secret of death while still alive, leading to the practitioner getting the title twice-born.


Is Upanayanam only for Brahmanas?
No. It was performed by most Jatis & Varnas in India, and also adopted by some Dalit communities in history. Per the scriptures, it is open for everyone, per the Sushruta Sutrasthana & Baudhayana Grihya sutras, which specifically say that it was done for all Varnas.


Is Upanayanam only for men?
No. Per the Kurma Purana, Upanayanam was done for girls: पुराकल्पेहिनारीणांमौजीबन्धनमीरितम्. Girls undergoing Upanayanam before studies are called Brahmavadinis. Goddess sculptures such as those of Sarasvati & Durga have the thread.  Relevant scriptures: Harita Dharmasutras, Asvalayana Grhya Sutra and Yama smriti. The Valmiki Ramayana refers to Kausalya's Agnihotra & Sita's Sandhya Vandanam: Sundara Kanda - Sarga 14, ५-१४-४९ .
The girls not going to a Gurukulam to study were Sadyovadhus, whose Upanayanam would be performed during marriage, when they will were their saree over their left shoulder like a thread. Until the last generation, women would start wearing sarees after marriage over their left shoulder. Scriptures: Gobhila Gryha Sutra verse 2.1.19, Dharmasutras & Yajur Veda.

Sembiya Ma Devi, Chozha queen

Sarasvati as Brahmavadini

Hoysala armed Sarasvati

Hosaholalu LakshmiNarayana Natya Sarasvati

8th century Pandya Uma

12th century Chozha Parvati

12th century Chozha Lakshmi

Chozha Parvati

Why a thread?
Per the scriptures (2.2.4.22–2.2.4.23 of Apastamba Dharmasutra & Gobhila Gryha Sutra at verse 1.2.1), it simply means an upper garment (upavita) worn on the left shoulder. For those don't want to wear a garment, a thread.
Kapalikas used to wear an Upavita of hair instead of threads. Source: Periya Puranam


Number of fibers in each thread?
There are 9 fibers in each thread. Each fiber represents:
1. Omkaram,
2. Agni
3. Naga
4. Soma
5. Pitru
6. Prajapati
7. Vayu
8. Yama
9. Vishvadevata

There are similarly, 9 fibers in the Thali/Mangalsutra worn by women after marriage.

Number of individual threads?
The sacred thread has three individual threads. As is true for Hindu symbols & rituals, they have a multi-layared representation:
- Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva
- Sarasvati, Lakshmi, Shakti
- Dharma, Artha, Kama
- Matru (mother), Pitru (father), Guru
- the vow to respect debts to Guru (for knowledge), Matru/Pitru (parents/ancestores for the physical body), Samudhayam (society)
- Iccha (desire), Gnanam (knowledge), Kriya (action): Desire leads to knowledge which leads to action. To do anything in the world, action is required.
- Gayatri (thought), Savitri (deed), Sarasvati (word)
- Brahmacharya (student), Grhasta (householder), Vanaprasta (retired householder who has given up all wealth & power)
- Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda
- Sattva, Rajas, Tamas Gunas
- Karma, Dhyana (meditation), Bhakthi (devotion)
- Three fires: Garhapatya, Dakshinagni, Ahvaniya
Brahma/Sarasvatu represent the birth of a student. Vishnu/Lakshmi represent the householder life following Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha. This means: follow your desires (Kama) & find meaning in life (Artha) but be bound by Dharma with a goal towards Moksha. Shiva/Shakti represent the secret of death & the ultimate reality.


The knot on the thread?
Each of the three threads have a knot. They are the Brahma, Vishnu & Rudra Granthis. Lopamudra describes them in the Lalitha Sahasranamam as part of the Kundalini Yoga. The mysteries of creation, life & death will be unravelled through Yoga, yielding the ultimate truth.

This is also the underlying symbology behind three knots tied in a woman's Thali (Mangalasutra) during marriage.


Differences in number of threads?
After childhood, Hinduism has 4 Ashramas (stages of life).
- The Upanayanam introduces the student to the first Ashrama: Brahmacharya (the learning student). The student wears one set of threads. This represents Brahma: the birth of the knowledge seeker, also giving him the term Dvija (twice-born).
- Vivaham (marriage) introduces the Brahmachari to Grhasta (house-holder). He gains one more set of threads. This represents Vishnu. This Ashrama helps preserve & propagate the species (at a base level) and culture/knowledge (at a higher level).
- Rites of giving up current possessions of weath & power, and in some cases until a century back, permanently going away to Kashi is Vanaprasta (secluded retirement focussing on simple life & divine pursuits). When the parents pass away, the aspirant is endowed ritually with one more set of threads. This represents Shiva.
- Give up all human attachments including the sacred thread initiated during Upanayanam (in the common Advaita Sampradaya tradition) & focus purely on the divine by accepting Sanyasa (asceticism). This has to happen with the mother's consent (if unmarried) or spouse's consent (if married), or if they are no longer alive. Sanyasa is interestingly not initiated (such as a Deeksha). One does Sweekaram of Sanyasa (welcome to oneself). Source: Haridas Giri's Upanyasam on Adi Sankara. Like the Upanishads talk about a lamp extinguishing itself, the sacred thread is a prop that helps an aspirant towards divinity, that needs to be eventually discarded in Sanyasa.


Meaning of the thread?
The thread is called: Yajnopavitam meaning thread of sacrifice. Vivekananda once mentioned that the way of the world is that the best of us sacrifice themselves for the rest of us. Where other ancient civilizations withered away under a brutal onslaught, the best of our ancestors sacrificed so much for so long to preserve the culture & traditions.


Meaning of twice-born?
This is again multi-layered. With the Upanayanam ceremony & the birth of the knowledge seeker, the person is a Dvija (twice-born). There is a deeper meaning however. Deep meditation (Dhyana) practitioners talk about a light. Some with near-death-experiences (NDEs) also talk about a light. The Yogic theory is that once one reaches the light through a meditative practice, they have the secret to death, and are born again. They are the truly twice-born. This also gives rise to the term, Parpanar (in Tamizh, meaning one who can seen true knowledge), which is now used as a pejorative: Paapaan.
The religious thought of being born-again has made its way to other cultures, but relies on blind faith rather than quest for knowledge.


Why the left shoulder?
The threads are worn on the left shoulder, moving across to the right waist. Per the Aghori Vimalananda in the Robert Svoboda's Aghora/Kundalini book series, the right part of our body represents Shiva, while the left represents Shakti. This will enhance Shiva's energies which will guide the aspirant through a Dakshina Marga (right path) (such as Yoga, Dhyana-meditation). The Aghoris themselves follow the tricky Vama Marga (left path) & will not wear the thread. The Naga Sadhus follow the Dakshina Marga, but are Sanyais & will perform their last rites (Pindam Danam) when still alive, and hence will not wear the threads.


Why is it so expensive?
It doesn't need to be. It can be done in just your home cheaply. For those who wish to preserve the culture & traditions, and have wealth that can be used for pleasure buys & travels, consider generosity for a once in a lifetime event.


Is serving alcohol & meat ok? This is just a social gathering right?
The Upanayanam is introducing the child to a student life of realizing the ultimate truth. It is a introduction to Yoga. Ashtanga Yoga's 1st Anga (limb) is Yama, and the 1st Yama is Ahimsa.
Alcohol is called a Tamasic happiness of the mind, while the difficult Dhyana (meditation), which is the 7th Anga of Yoga is a Sattvic happiness. Alcohol is explicitly discouraged for truth seekers.
Serving meat & alcohol misses the point of the function. This is no mere social party gathering.


"I don't feel like wearing it."
There is a much deeper purpose to this function. It introduces the student to rituals that will eventually yield the ultimate truth. This is an opportunity to showcase the depth & richness of an ancient culture. If this is not the path that you wish to take, that is fine.


"I never did the rituals. Should I do it for my child?"
If you've read this far, and if you wish to contribute to preserving an ancient culture of knowledge & sacrifice, why not start now? Why deny an opportunity to your child?


Why do I need the thread to proceed on the path of learning?
In cultures throughout history, there are rites of passage. Rites of passage have profound effects on the mind & culture. They can be used for good or bad (as in bad cults).
You don't have to follow a rite of passage, though it will help. Per the scriptures, this is a recommended path. You can certainly choose your own path.


Who is a Brahmana?
A Brahmana, by definition, is someone who knows Brahman. Brahman is the all-pervading within & without divinity, per the Brahma Sutras.


What is the thread ceremony for a Brahmana?
A Brahmana aspirant, that is someone who wishes to know the ultimate nameless truth, which is simply given a name called Brahman, is prescribed procedures. This is called the Shodasha Samskara. Dasha means 10 in Samskritam. This influences the Indo-European English words of Decimal, Deci, Deca. Shat is 6. Shodasha means 16. There are 16 Samskaras.

Of these Samskaras, the prominent one is the Upanayanam, per the Smritis.

If most were wearing the thread & the scriptures allowed it, why are Brahmanas criticized? What about Brahminism?

Roberto de Nobili, a missionary who dressed up as a Brahmana to convert the natives was thwarted by the Brahmanas. He coined the term: Brahminismo (Brahminism) to demonize them. Robert Caldwell, the Tirunelveli Bishop popularized the term & created atrocity literature.

In historian Meenakshi Jain's "Plight of the Brahmins", she cites an observer: "70% of those felled by British bullets were Brahmins". 1879 Tanjore collector's communication to Sir James Caird, member of the famine commission calls Brahmins the most hostile to the British. Numerous British CID reports confirmed the predominance of Brahmins in all levels of the freedom movement. This led to the British actively setting up a framework demonising the Brahmins, the results of which are seen today.

Sir James Fergusson was against the introduction of local self-government in India as the Governor of Bombay Presidency since he was wary of the “ambitious Brahmin party”. (Anil Seal, ‘Emergence of Indian Nationalism’, CUP, 2007, p. 159). Lt. General Phayre in 1885 – “The educated Hindoo classes throughout India (Brahmins particularly)…[exercise] an incessantly unsettling effect upon native society generally.” (Ibid., p.174). In 1870, the Puna Sarvajanik Sabha had been founded by Mahadev Govind Ranade and it “immersed itself in the problems of agrarian society” (Ibid. p.239). In 1879, the Chitpavan Brahmin Wasudeo Balwant Phadke waged an armed uprising against British.  Phule, who had been educated in a Christian institution and considered British rule in India to be a godsend,  launched a militant attack on Brahmins in the 1870s. M.N. Srinivas quotes sentences from the Rowlatt Report in ‘Social Change in Modern India’ wherein we see that the British colonial administration believed “revolutionary conspiracy in Bombay” to be “purely Brahmin and mostly Chitpavan [Brahmin]”. The same report rued that “elsewhere in India the Brahmins had played a large part in fomenting and carrying out revolutionary crime.” (See ‘Social Change in Modern India’, Orient BlackSwan, p.113).

For instance, the British commissioned 1835 Adam's report (first noted by Dharampal in his book: "The Beautiful Tree") clearly shows that India had a thriving education system educating all Jatis including women. A systematic dismantling of India's education system led to the British leaving India with an abysmal literacy rate.
The British would also specially target thread-wearing Hindus by cutting off the sacred thread & hair in the infamous Kalapani Andaman prison through vicious Afghan & Baloch prison guards who would torture, with the offer of stopping if the prisoner converted. Sikhs & Muslims would be allowed to keep their religious symbols.


What happened after Upanayanam for a Brahmana?
In the olden days, students will be sent to a Patashala or Gurukulam (school). They have to live on alms every day. Having to do this will hit the ego (Aham BhAvam) hard.
They would then learn the Vedas & related scriptures, train in Vyakarana (grammar), MimAmsa (critical examination) & Tarka (debate), typically between ages 8 to 16. The historical results are profound. Hindu India's contributions to the world are staggeringly immeasurable in math, sciences, medicine & every conceivable field. Ancient India's historical debates are legendary in their rules, reasoning & philosophy. 75% of Nobel laureates of Indian origin are Brahmanas.


What were the rules for a Brahmana?
The Brahmana aspirant was expected to have no power & no wealth. They could assume advisory roles or teach, but had to continue to live on alms. There were derogatory terms used for the aspirants who would accept positions of power. The old tales of India, including the Buddhist Jataka tales, have multiple tales of poor indigent Brahmanas.
This system's design gets more interesting. The Kshatriyas had power, but had to give up all their wealth back to the people. Yudhishtira (in Mahabharatha), Jayachandra (Prithivraj Chauhan's father-in-law), Harshavardha (as recorded by Hiuen Tsang) all would perform Rajasuya Yagnas on a periodic basis & give away their wealth.
In every other society in the world, the kings with power would accumulate wealth. In today's English language, the word: realty-mogul or media-mogul means a business person with great power. This word comes from India's Moghul rulers. Since India had the world's highest GDP at that time, and the Moghuls would accummulate wealth, practically every Moghul ruler was the richest man in the world. San Zhang, arguably used to similar wealth accumulation by the Chinese royalty, wondered at Harshavardhana, and says that India is great because of kings like Harshavardhana who gave up the kingdom's wealth on a regular basis.


Have the Brahmanas ruled India?
It is rare. What happened in the rare cases when they did have power?

Gautamiputra Satakarani repulsed the Greek invasion led by Demetrius II.
Raja Dahir of Sindh decided to fight (citing Dharmic morals) against a much superior fighting force of Muhammad bin Qasim. He lost and his daughters were enslaved. The Sindhi Buddhists, following Shunyatha (nothingness) decided not to fight. Today, there are hardly any Sindhi Buddhists. But Sindhi Hindus still exist today. After the loss, Acharya Medhatithi inspired a counter aggression. In 3 decades, Sindh would be reconquered & hold fort for 2 centuries before falling again.
After Shambaji's torture & death, the Peshwas would extend Shivaji's vision, building an empire from Attock (Afghanistan) to Cuttack (modern Odisha). They would fight to death in Panipat 3 trying to break Ahmed Shah Abdali Durrani's siege, but a weakened Abdali would never return to Delhi. The Peshwas would recapture Delhi & win the 1st Anglo-Maratha war against the British East India company.
Mangal Pandey would spark the Sepoy Rebellion. Rani Lakshmibai (Manikarnika) riding the rebellion would lose to the worthy British Hugh Rose, but the battle would end the rule of the British East India company to be replaced by the Crown.


Didn't the Brahmanas setup an oppressive caste system over 1000s of years?
Let's look at historical records, while comparing similar societies. The worst human system can be called slavery.

"All Indians are free, NONE of them is a slave. Indians do not even use foreigners as slaves, much less a countryman of their own" - Indica of Arrian (quoting Megasthenes. translated by McCrindle)

Megasthenes notes in Indica that India is a land without slaves. How did India manage a system without slaves when the rest of the world had slaves & continued to do so, until recently?
When invasions brought slavery to India, Shivaji banned it, the first king in the world to do so, in 26th Aug 1677. Travancore Rani Lakshmi Bayi banned it as well, the 1st queen to do so. Hindus across the spectrum were enslaved & traded in slave markets in Kabul & notably the Dutch East India company.
Moving on to untouchability, this did exist, but was hardly unique to Hinduism. Christianity had a 7 fold caste system with slaves & the untouchable cagots/gong-farmers at the bottom. As late as the 18th century, a cagot had his hand cut off & nailed to a church door for touching a church water font. Heathens/Heretics were burned. Islam had Qureshi (Caliphs), Ashraf, Ajlaf & Arzal, with the slaves, Kafirs/Murtad (apostate) at the bottom, who faced atrocities. Even today, a forcibly converted girl is not even allowed to meet her Kafir parents. Communists had their bourgeouise & reactionaries who would be sent to Gulags (concentration/re-education camps).
It is also inconceivable that an oppressive system can exist for millennia without change, and naturally, no evidence exists for this charge.


How did the Brahmanas act in history?
In Alexander's India invasion, he summons the Brahmana ascetic, Dandi-Swami (Dandamis). Dandi-Swami refuses. Alexander threatens to behead him. He responds that only his body may be killed but not his soul, and warns Alexander that he is no match for the Hindu kingdoms that he's yet to face.(Source: Plutarch). Alexander would end up going to meet him. Their conversation is the Alexander-Dandamis colloquy.
Alexander was told of Dandi-Swami by Kalana (Kalanos) of Takshashila. Kalana accompanied Alexander to Persia. He told Alexander that he would meet him in 1 year in Babylon & would self-immolate in a burning fire without flinching when his body was burning. In 1 year, Alexander would die in Babylon.
The Brahmanas (Brahmanak Janpad) of a town in Mulastan (current day Multan) gave refuge to a few Malla fugitives. Alexander slaughtered the entire town. Per Nigel Cathorne's 'Alexander the Great', owing to Brahmin resistance, Alexander hanged any Brahmin that fell into his hands, reserving crucifixion for civil leaders that opposed him. Alexander asked a Brahmana before beheading him the reason for his opposition. Plutarch LX1V records him as fearlessly saying that one should live with honor or die. The result: per Peter Green in 'Alexander of Macedon: a historical biography', by 300 BCE, resistance ensured that every Macedonian garrison in Punjab was wiped out.

Chanakya helped Chandragupta Maurya build his empire & wrote the Artha Shastra. Vidyaranya would negate the forcible conversion of Harihara Raya & Bhuvahara Raya (Hakka & Bukka), who would build the Vijayanagara empire. The lake Madhavateertha was used for further negations of forced conversions.

Sikandar Butshikan summoned Kashmiri Pandits, giving them a choice of discarding the Janeu or death. Not one discarded the Janeu. This place is known even today as "Batta Mazar" (Graveyard of Brahmanas). 37 kg of Janeu was collected from their dead bodies & burnt. In the 1948 Kashmir invasion, Kashmiri Pandit men & women led an armed resistance, until the arrival of the Indian army.

Conclusion:
As we can see with these examples, this simple ritual of Upanayanam has had a profound effect on history & culture. There are great people & bad people in all cultures. But the great people who performed this Samskara have had immense positive contributions, and have shown us the way. It is a way of ascetic knowledge, debate & fearlessness of death. It is up to all of us if we wish to preserve this tradition, and how far we wish to travel in the path shown.

Further reading:

Brahmana contributions to Sikh Sampradaya

The family man, the ascetic & the dog

This Shiva Rathri (Shiva's night), I'll share a story of an interesting mystery that I dug into.

In this video, Tamizh writer, Joe De Cruz, when talking about his mystic experiences, casually mentions about Pattinathar (பட்டினத்தார்) & Pathirigiriyaar (பத்திரகிரியார்). Clearly, he expects this to common knowledge. There was only one issue. I didn't have the faintest clue on who was Pattigiriyaar. An interesting mystery.

Pattinathar is considered by Tamizhs to be the greatest Turavi (Source: Haridas Giri Upanyasam). Turavi can be loosely translated to ascetic. But it has a deeper meaning. Per the Upanishads, there are four states of consciousness:
- Jagruthi (being awake) in the Bhuta Sharira (gross body)
- Swapna (dream state) in the Sthula Sharira (subtle body)
- Sushupti (dreamless state) in the Sukshma Sharira (causal body)
- Turiya (a final state of being constantly aware of when one is awake, dreaming, in dreamless sleep, about to fall asleep, about to awaken)

One who has attained the Turiya state is called a Turavi.

Fine, so we have a basic idea of who Pattinathar was. But who was Pathirigiriyaar? Is the name lost in translation from Samskritam to Tamizh?

Maybe he was called Badri-Giri? After the famous Badrinath temple & nearby hill?
Or maybe he was Bhadra-Giri? After the famous BhadrAchalam hill, associated with the famous poet composer saint Ramdas?

It turns out that he was King Brathra-Hari. Samskritam exerts enormous influence in the Indo-European languages. Mathru is mother, Brathru (भ्रातृ) is brother. (Samskritam's influence is also a political battle. A new language: Proto-Indo-European/PIE has been hypothesized without evidence as the parent of both Samskritam & other Indo-European languages).

As a king, Brathrahari's jewels were stolen. The robbers had cast away a jewel, which fell on top of a meditating Pattinathar. Pattinathar was captured by the king's soldiers on suspicion of robbery & sentenced to death by sitting on a spike (Kazhu in Tamizh). Pattinathar would sing a song & the spike burns down. Brathrahari would apologize, give up his kingdom & follow Pattinathar as a Sishya (disciple). But the story gets more intriguing.

There are two types of Bhiksha (loosely translated to the similar sounding Indo-European English word: beg or getting alms, without the negative connotation in English). Bhiksha is Pitchai in Tamizh. When a childless couple get a child through Pitchai from the divine, they will name the child Pitchai. Pitchai is common name is Tamizh.

The first type of Bhiksha is someone who goes around collecting alms. In India, sometimes, wealthy people do this as a spiritual practice or as an offering to divinity, which inspired the Tamizh thriller movie, Pitchaikaaran. Sanyasis (ascetics who give up all attachments), Turavis & Brahmacharis (unmarried men invested with the sacred thread) would also follow this as a spiritual practice to reduce the ego.

There is a famous story that showcased this practice. Adi Sankara, the founder of Advaita (also called Siva Gnana Bodham), doing Bhiksha, goes to a indigent woman's house. She is in penury. Unwilling to turn away the radiant child, she searches, finds a half-rotten gooseberry (nellikkai in Tamizh) & give it to him. Sankara then composes the famous KanakaDhara stotram which results in a rain of golden gooseberries. This house is preserved to this day near Kalady, Kerala.

This tradition was the highest recommended practice for the Brahmanas, to lead a life of austerity, with the toughest called Uncha-Vritti. This tradition is used by Brahmana-haters with cognitive dissonance to mock the Brahmanas as beggars, while simultaneously calling them as oppressors.

The second type is someone who would only take whatever alms came to them. This is a superior form of Bhiksha. This was followed by the famous Carnatic musician & poet, Muthuswamy Dikshitar. This is also followed by many Sanyasis & Turavis. This was also the approach followed by Pattinathar.

Since Pattinathar would eat only whatever came to him & would go hungry if nothing came his way, Brathrahari decided that he would help feed his Guru. He would follow the first Bhiksha approach, go around collecting alms, give his Guru the food & also eat from it. He would cast aside the leftovers. There was a dog in the vicinity. It would eat the leftovers. And eventually, the dog and Brathrahari grew attached to each other. It would constantly be with Brathrahari on his rounds.

Pattinathar was residing near the east Gopuram of the Thiruvadaimarudhur Mahalingaswami temple. Brathrahari was residing near the west Gopuram.

One day, a beggar came to Pattinathar for food. Pattinathar told him that he was an ascetic with no possessions. And asked him to go to the family man (kudumbasthan) at the west Gopuram. The beggar approaches Brathrahari & tells him that the ascetic at the east Gopuram sent him to find a family man in the west Gopuram. But there was no one else here.

Now, Brathrahari realizes that Pattinathar was referring to him! He had given up his kingdom but developed new attachments. He had grown attached to his begging bowl & the dog.

He throws away his begging bowl. And is no longer attached to the dog. He composes Tamizh verses called Mei-Gnana Pulambal (the complaints of truth & wisdom).

Anyone who has experienced a dog knows how unselfishly attached the animal is. The dog, still attached to Brathrahari, not understanding his indifference, dies pining for him. And is now reborn as the princess of Kashi, the holiest place of Shiva. The princess also remembers her past life.

Per the Puranas, only someone with a special kind of Punya (good Karma from good deeds) can remember the past life. The Samskritam term for this ability is called JAti-Smara. JAti can be loosely translated to species (miriga-JAti meaning animal species) or tribes/castes (manusha-JAti). Smara means remembrance.

The dog had been attached to a great saint. Good attachments never go in vain & will eventually take one to the final detached state, casting themselves aside (like a lamp that burns itself out, per the Upanishads). This good attachment to a saint allowed the princess to remember her past life. She tells her father, the Raja (king) of Kashi, that she as a salivating dog belonged to her master, the ascetic, Brathrahari. The king brings her to Brathrahari. Brathrahari is nowadays living now only on Bhiksha that came to him like his Guru, Pattinathar. Brathrahari is surprised seeing the princess & hearing her story. He comes to his Guru followed by the princess. Pattinathar meditates on Shiva. A light emanates from Brathrahari & the princess to merge with the Mahalingaswami Shiva Lingam. The SatGuru takes the entire lineage of Sishyas to the final state of Mukthi.

Pattinathar's Sishya lineage had now attained Mukthi. Now, Pattinathar pleads with Shiva for his Mukthi. Shiva asks him to start wandering with a sugarcane. This sugarcane, however, strangely won't be sweet. The place where it turns sweet would be his final place. After many wanderings & more events, eventually, in Tiruvottiyur, the sugarcane is sweet. Now, Pattinathar plays a game with some local boys.

"Cover me with this basket. I'll show you a magic trick." Pattinathar tells the boys. The boys oblige. He disappears within the basket & comes walking from outside towards the boys. The boys cover him again. To the same effect. They try this again, the third time. Now, nothing happens. They open the basket. Pattinathar has disappeared permanently. This spot is a Samadhi and a shrine in Tiruvottiyur.

I've spoken with multiple meditation practitioners who have meditated every day for decades. They told me that in the deep meditative state, they have sensed that only love pervades everything, and that feel only pure love towards everything & everyone. The phrase: "Anbe Shivam" (meaning: Love is Shiva) is not just a mere slogan. It is the truth. We can realize it ourselves by following the path of the meditation practitioners.

Even if we lack the ability or inclination to meditate, there is nothing to worry about. There is nothing anyone needs to do or believe. Some paths are faster, some are slower. It is only a matter of multiple lives; we will all eventually unite with the all pervading Shiva, also within us. This is everyone's & everything's final destination. The wave will eventually die & merge with the ocean. There is nowhere else to go.

Om Shivoham.

The aged warriors

Tanaji was 70 when he (& team) scaled a cliff & captured Kondana. The Maratha empire would start expanding from this point & would end up ruling most of the Indian subcontinent (Attock to Cuttack). (Attock is in modern day Afghanistan, Cuttack in Odisha).

In Ponniyin Selvan, Kalki refers to an octogenarian Chozha king who enters the thick of battle & reverses a losing battle, inspiring his soliders to win.

Per some conflicting accounts, an aged Pandya king manages to use the monsoon rains in favor & repels Malik Kafur (heading Alauddin Khilji's huge army) near Tirunelveli.

The last king of Vijayanagara, Rama Raya, an octogenarian, led the final battle against the Deccan (Dakshin) Shia Sultanate. A betrayal by his commander (he had chosen to ignore intelligence reports) led to the complete destruction of Vijayanagara, then the 2nd largest & most prosperous city in the world. Chennaiites would remember that when the Portuguese were running rampant, including destroying the famous Kapaleeshwarar temple on Marina beach & replacing it with the Santome, Rama Raya had defeated them & forced them into a treaty to treat the natives well. After Rama Raya's death, the Portuguese would dishonor the treaty. The ruins of the Kapaleeshwarar were moved to Mylapore & rebuilt.

Given the Veera Parampara of these aged warriors of this ancient land, maybe the Indian army should reconsider its early retirement policy.