Saint Arunagirinathar’s life shows us how we can lift ourselves from the life full of desires that we lead, so that we reach God, said Panasai Aruna, in a discourse. Arunagirinathar began life as an ordinary mortal, with the same temptations that every human being has. He lived a pleasure-seeking life, and indulged his senses. However, every day, he would go and place his head on the pedestal of an idol of Lord Shanmukha, and think of the Lord for half a minute.
But after having lived a life of indulgence, Arunagirinathar realised that such indulgence stood in the way of God realisation. He felt that the only way to reach the Lord was to end his life on this earth. So he threw himself down from a cliff. But Lord Shanmukha appeared and held out his hands and caught the falling Arunagirinathar in His hands. The Lord appeared with His six faces and twelve hands to save Arunagirinathar. Arunagirinathar had not resorted to tough penance. The half a minute every day that he spent thinking of God, was considered significant by the Lord, who rushed to save him.
Saint Arunagirinathar, who was born in Thiruvannamalai, began to visit many places of pilgrimage. In Thiruchendur, Lord Shanmukha danced for him as does Lord Nataraja, in Chidambaram. To mark this novel way in which the Lord appeared for His devotee, even today in Thiruchendur, this incident is recalled during the temple festival. Many were the miracles that this saint performed. He cured the king of Sri Lanka of an eye ailment. Saint Arunagirinathar was like any one of us. But when he turned his mind towards God, he was blessed by the Lord, and it became clear that Arunagirinathar was a divine man.
