That a devotee is entitled to honour, respect and service on a par with the Lord Himself is the essence of the culture of devotion manifest in the lives of Sivan Adiyars. In a discourse, Sri R. Selvaganapathy drew attention to the rich reverberations of this spirit of devotion and humility that were brought about during the occasions when Tirunavukkarasar and Gnanasambandar happened to meet.
The very first meeting between the seven-year-old Gnanasambandar and the seventy-seven-year-old Tirunavukkarasar left both of them overwhelmed. Tirunavukkarasar visited Seerkaazhi to meet the child saint who had been blessed with divine grace. Gnanasambandar hastened to meet this great devotee who prostrated at his feet. The child saint lifted him up and paid obeisance to him and called out to him as ‘Appare,’ ‘O father’. Tirunavukkarasar is fondly known by this name even today. Sekkizhar records another instance when they were together at Veezhimalai and a cruel famine struck the people of the place. The Lord made it known that each of them would find a gold coin as cash allowance for famine relief. Accordingly, Appar and Sambandhar began to make arrangements for food to be supplied to the devotees. Sambandhar realised that the coin supplied in his camp was discounted in the market unlike that given to Appar. Why this discrepancy, thought Sambandhar. He soon realised that perhaps the Lord wished to indicate that sincere service should be met with suitable reward and that Appar’s dedication and integrity had earned the coin that was not discounted.
So he prayed to the Lord to grant that the coin given to him should also fetch the market value and this wish was granted. Henceforth, both Appar and Sambandhar continued to feed the multitude of devotees.
ADVERTISEMENT