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Re: Murugan and thirumangai aazhvaar

From the Bhakti List Archives

Jaganath.Bharadwaj • December 28, 1995 


K Srinivasan wonders if Thirumangai Azhwar and Murugan could be the
same person.  Devas are posts and are occupied by one or more person
during the period of a Kalpa.  All the Azhwars' permanent duties are
as ornaments or weapons of Narayana.  E.g  Kulasekara Azhwar is the
Kaustabha jewel.  I do not have references here to detail who exactly
Thirumangai Azhwar is.  I vaguely remember Him being the Vanamala
garland.  They are therefore not in contact with Karma.  If they
descend into the leela vibhuti of the Lord (i.e. all the lokas
controlled by this and other Brahmas), it is only to fulfil
Narayana's purpose.  Per Sri Vedanta Desikar all the Devatas right
upto Shiva and Brahma, are in Karma and are subject to the sway of
Triguna.  It is therefore unlikely that Murugan and Thirumangai
Azhwar could be the same person.

But I have also heard that Narayana can select a surrendered soul to
be a Brahma.  In the Ramayana it is stated that Hanuman will be the
next Brahma at the end of the lifetime of this Brahma.  For this
reason I will not on the basis of RTS alone be able to say
unequivocally that they cannot be the same person.  But because of
what RTS says we will have to know from scripture that Thirumangai
Azhwar or Perumal's vanamala or whatever His original position is,
took birth as Murugan before that conclusion can be drawn.  That will
have to answered by someone who has read all the Puranas, Itihasas
etc.

Jaganath.