Lord Shanmukha is said to have been the result of a spark of fire from Lord Siva’s third eye. Lord Shanmukha is the fire who destroys our sins, said R. Narayanan, in a discourse.
Arunagirinathar was a great devotee of Lord Shanmukha, and his Kandar Alankaram, is a garland of verses in praise of his favourite deity. Alankara means decoration and here, the pious and beautiful words of Arunagirinathar serve as ornamentation for Lord Shanmukha.
In the very first verse of Kandar Alankaram, Arunagirinathar laments that he is not one of those who has done penance. And yet the Lord has saved him from attachment to worldly life. He praises Lord Shanmukha as the son of the One who holds the Ganges river in His matted locks and the One who also wears on His head the crescent moon. Arunagirinathar says people waste their time, when they should be spending it profitably, in praying to Shanmukha. Now is the time to worship Him. Is it wise to wait until the God of Death, Yama, is here, with his rope in hand, to take away a person’s life?
Lord Shiva is the One who, with just a laugh, destroyed the three cities ruled over by demons. His son Shanmukha is the One who split the Krauncha mountain into two; Shanmukha is the One who killed the demon Soorapadman. Arunagirinathar says that he has tasted the sweetness that results from bhakti towards Lord Shanmukha, and having tasted that, the sweetness of sugarcane and of honey no longer appeal to him. Sugarcane is salty and honey is bitter to one who has enjoyed the sweetness of bhakti.
Brahma is the one who is said to determine our destiny, before we are born. But Lord Shanmukha’s feet can change that destiny. When a person worships Lord Shanmukha, even death no longer frightens him. The fact that life is impermanent is evident to a devotee of the Lord, and so when death arrives, it is seen only as something that is going to take him nearer Lord Shanmukha.
