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The bees sent as messengers by love-lorn heroines, let their loves be known at Madurai. The heroes of Madurai answered their calls and came to them.
One such hero came from a city sector harbouring brothels.
He wanted to dispell the anger that his heroine might have.
He said, " ThirupparanggnRam has the capacity of producing love based on kaLavu - stealth, and proper love without interuption".
The heroine heard this.
"Hey! The smell of alien women emanates from your body now! You leave me in the morning because you want to make love with them. And then you come back to me in the evening. Therefore, you must break that lock of pledge(suuL - Ýû) that you made to me", said she.
The hero said, "O Woman with flowery eyes! I pledge upon the backwaters of Vaigai here. I pledge upon the cool hillside of ThirupparanggunRam. I pledge upon the Brahmans. What you say does not apply to me. The smell that emanates from my body is caused because my body is swathed by the breeze which wafts among the fruits and flowers of ThirupparanggunRam and carries their fragrance.
Therefore dont be upset".
The heroine said, "Release me from your pledge".
The heroines friend who was with her said, "Hey you! I am telling you one thing. Stay! Stand where you are, until I finish what I have to say. Then you pledge. You unfit son borne of lowly parents! This girl here, might die if she is afflicted by your false pledge. She is the only girl of her mother. She may have hardships because of your false pledges".
Whne the hero heard this, he said, "Is it so! Is she the only daughter to her mother? Is she such a rare and valuable person? I never knew until you told me".
The he continued, "See here. I am now touching the sands of Vaigai. I am touching the foot of the hill ThirupparanggunRam.
The maid friend who heard this replied, "If you pledge like this, the deities belonging to Murugan and His vEl weapon will make tou suffer. You may pledge, touching the feet of Brahmans; but never make such pledges upon the peacock and the vEl of MurugaveL. You are pledging by VaLLi also. Hereafter do not pledge like this. And also dont pledge by the sands of Vaigai and ThirupparanggunRam!"
The man said:
" O bejewelled pretty girl!
Who leaves? Who returns? Who asks? Who answers?
We are like the single soul of a two-headed bird. How can separation and return, questions and answers arise between us? You are not giving it a thought and accusing that the pledge that I make is terrible and done without justification. This girl with eyee and lips like the flowers of neydhal and naRavam and with lustrous forehead and white teeth......the allegation that she made against me is neither true, nor is it a dream. It is untruth. Even though I am faultless, she creates anger within herself and through that anger, she tries to judge my morality and that would be discarded by god. Therefore do not do that, O Maid!
You go to His feet and worship Him and thus praise and pacify Him.
O servants of mine! Carry my sayings and spread the word around.
Let us all go to ThiruparanggunRam where everybody worships the feet of Murugan and let us spread flowers there. Let us make offerings. Let us sing with rhythm. Let us sound the kiNai drum".
When the maid heard this, she retorted, "Hey man! You ask me to go and praise and pacify Murugan. Thus we know the sin of false promise befalling you. The power of Murugan shames and discards the order of death itself; before the mind of such a Murugan changes, this heroine would ring the bells and worship Murugan and thus abate the dangers that would befall because of your false promises and pledges. You will witness that she would be doing it as and when you think of enjoyment with alien women and go to their lairs".
The heroine did as her maid said and worshipped, praised, and pacified Murugan so that her husband would not meet with any hardships.
On the path that goes from Madurai to ThirupparanggunRam, can be seen people with intention of going an worshipping Murugan; they take forth snadalwood, article for fragrant smoke, lamps which would not be put out by wind, fragrant flowers, big drums, belles, lasoos, peacocks,axes, piNimugam elephants, and such like which are befitting and liked by Murugan.
They reach ThirupparanggunRam and worship. They worship for many types of purposes. Young girls ask, "I dreamt that I embraced and talked with my lover. Let not that dream falsify. Let it happen. Let my lover experience it as realiity and let the Vaigai river flow with new waters so that my lover bathes in it"
Many others would pray, "Let us be fruitful and pregnant", and offer many objects.
"Let my husband win in the war that he has undertaken", pray the ladies of leaders.
Correction:
going an worshipping - going and worshipping
snadalwood - sandalwood
article for fragrant smoke - articles for fragtant smoke belles - bells
lasoos - lassoes
There were those that sing and had rhythmic accompaniment: and those that danced and had all sorts of instruments be beaten and played; added to that there was the echo that rose from the hill. This raised a great noise.
There were girls and women who jumped into the fresh-water springs. They had eyes, faces, hands and feet like the lotus; mouths like the 'aambal' flowers; and had sharp teeth.
Their apparels and jewels mingled with those which were worn by their husbands.
They offered to those women, aphrodisiac drinks prepared by maids, together with luscious food prepared by professional cooks.
O ThirupparanggunRam! Such inseparable couples and those who seek boons and blessings, come together and worship at the temple of the Son of Siva and Umai; He who is seated beneath the kadamba tree. Even if rains fail causing the earth to suffer, your springs and rivulets abound with fresh water. Let that prosperity be persistant and eternal".
Murugadas Sir
What is this pledge(SUUL)? Is it something related to fidelity of married couples? If this pledge is broken, will one of the couple suffer hardships?
'SuuL uraiththal' was a special form of pledge.
Normally it had three components.
1. Upon this this god, lord, own son, own wife's maangalyam, honour, kind, country, eight dik paalakar, earth, akaashavaani, holy mountains, seven rivers, seven seas, etc.
They bear witness.
2. The subject matter of pledge - marriage, fidelity, perfroming a certain act, fulfillment of an objective, maintaining honour, meeting adead-line, etc. The sky is the limit for this.
3. What will befall if the pledge was broken or could not be dealt with. And also what they will do, if the pledge is broken.
Divine wrath, curse, procuring a sin are some of the things that were beleived to result from the breaking of the pledge.
When a pledge was broken or could not be fulfilled, usually the maker of the pledge would commit ritualistic suicide.
For further details about 'Ritualistic Suicide' please refer to the following URL -
http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Choir/4262/navkanta.htm
Things also would go wrong. Curses also were beleived to be incurred.
Anger of the gods was one thing that people were very scared of.