A mother is always anxious about her children. She will leave no stone unturned to protect them from danger and disease.
And yet, even after she has done all that is possible in the interests of their welfare, she still wonders if she has done enough. Such is her overwhelming love for them.
But what happens when a mother has a divine child? Her anxiety is still evident, and that is how an entire genre of poetry was born in Tamil. It is called Pillai Tamizh.
One of the most well-known works in this genre is poet Kumaraguruparar's Meenakshi Pillai Tamizh , said M. Girija in a discourse.
Kumaraguruparar imagines himself as the mother of Goddess Meenakshi of Madurai. He wants the blessings of all the gods for his child! So he prays to every one of them, extolling their good qualities, so that they will be pleased and bless his dear Meenakshi.
The poet begins by praying to Lord Ganesha. He describes His ears as being like lotus leaves.
He praises Lord Vishnu as the One who obeyed the command of a devotee and followed him, His serpent bed rolled up and tucked under His arm.
Praising Lord Siva, Kumaraguruparar says he who says ‘Hara Hara' will get an exalted position, even more exalted than that of Indra, god of the celestials. This he says he can guarantee in writing!
He prays to Siddhi Vinayaka as the One who governs our thoughts.
Lord Shanmukha is described by him as the One who is the nephew of Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi, whose eyes are just as lovely as Meenakshi's. He is also praised as the One who wed Valli.
Lord Brahma is praised as the One who is the son of Vishnu. Vishnu is like an emerald hill, and Brahma is the son of this Lord.
This description of Vishnu as resembling an emerald hill is similar to Tondaradippodi Azhvar's description of Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam as resembling a huge green hill.
Thus Kumaraguruparar prays to every deity and praises all of them. He hopes they will all be so pleased with his verses that they will all bless Meenakshi.
