41 (a). THE WOOD CUTTER. It was the reign of Varaguna Paandiyan. A musician named Emanathan came from the north India. He mesmerized everyone with his sweet music. The king was very pleased with his music. So he showered gifts on Emanathan and gifted him a palatial house with all comforts.
Emanathan became very proud and arrogant. He thought that no one could match his music.Theking knew these changes in the mental attitudes of the musician. He called his own temple musician Paanabadhran. “Can you win over Emanathan in a music contest and put him in his place?” Paanabadhran was sure he could do so.On the way home, he listened to the sweet songs of the disciples of Emanathan. He got a doubt for the first time whether he could really win over their guru. He prayed to Siva to help him succeed in the contest and went to bed with a troubled mind. Siva felt pity on Panabadhran. He decided to make him win the contest even before a contest could be held. He took the form of an old wood cutter. He was dressed in rags; he had a knife on his right hip, a yaazh on his shoulder, a bundle of fire wood on his head and wore a worn out pair of old foot wear. He cried out “Fire wood for sale!” and walked on the streets of Madurai. . SELLING FIRE WOOD. The wood cutter demanded an astronomical price for his firewood. Nobody bought them since nobody could afford to buy them! He went round the whole city and sat outside Emanathan’s house to relax and rest for a awhile.He started singing in order to relax. Emanathan was drawn by the music like a bee by a flower. He asked the wood cutter, “Who are you? What is your name?” The woodcutter replied ,”I am not so famous as to be known by my name. I am an admirer of Paanabadhran and his music. I wanted to learn from him. But he would not teach me as I am too old to learn.So I became a wood cutter.” Emanathan requested him to sing again. The wood cutter set the strings of his yazh and sang a difficult raga.Emanathan began to melt in the music. If a man who had not even learnt music can sing so well, what bout the guru whom he admires so much? He got frightened by the possibility of his defeat and ran away in the middle of the night with all his disciples. When the king summoned Emanathan for the contest, the house was found deserted. Siva appeared in the dream of Paanan and told him that Emanaathan had fled during the night.The King came to know the part played by Siva in this drama. He was very happy to honor Panan with a ride on the royal elephant in the streets of Madurai. He showered many gifts on Paanan-who shared them with his disciples. Paanan continued to worship Siva though his songs and music as before. <http://groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/worldmalayaliclub/> *வாழிய செந்தமிழ்! வாழ்க நற்றமிழர்!* *வாழிய பாரதமணித் திருநாடு!* * V A N A K K A M S U B B U * [image: Charlie] -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
