Arunagirinatha, in his Kandar Alankaram, writes of the impermanence of worldly life. The human body is compared to a building, where the legs are the pillars and the mouth the entrance. The skin is the protective wall. God built this house, for the atma to reside in, while it faces the consequences of its karma. The exit of the atma from this body should culminate in its reaching Lord Shanmkukha’s feet, and for this we must meditate on Him, said R. Narayanan, in a discourse. Lord Siva killed Gajasura, the demon who took the form of an elephant and harassed people. Lord Siva also destroyed the fort cities of the three demons — Taarakaaksha, Kamalaaksha and Vidyunmaali. They had their own forts and had obtained a boon from Brahma, that they could not be destroyed except by a single arrow. They inflicted cruelty on people, because they thought they were invincible. But Lord Siva shot the forts with an arrow, setting the three cities of the demons on fire. He came to be known as Tripurantaka, because of this. Symbolically, the three cities that Siva burnt down can be taken to be the hurdles in the path of liberation of souls. Such being the greatness of Siva, how great must Lord Shanmukha be, for he was the guru of Siva! Lord Shanmukha once asked Brahma to explain the meaning of the pranava mantra. Finding Brahma unable to do this, Shanmukha imprisoned him. When Siva asked Shanmukha to release Brahma, Shanmukha refused. He said ignorance of the meaning of pranava was the cause for Brahma’s imprisonment. He then explained the meaning of the mantra to Siva, who listened to his son Shanmukha, like a student learning from a guru. Siva is Dakshinamurthy, the One who imparts knowledge. But even He assumed the aspect of student where Lord Shanmukha was concerned.
