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I

Among the forms conferring Grace, Agamas mention also Ravana anugraha murti. Whilst Ravana was going in his chariot, coursing through air, Mount Kailas stood in his way. Proud Ravana began to uproot the mountain and throw it away from his path. The trembling of the Mountain terrified Parvati, and Shiva pressed down the mountain with his toe, crushing Ravana underneath it. He was advised to sing hymns on Shiva. His music and song pleased the Lord who blessed him with long life and a sword.

If Vaishnavites glorify their Lord as the conqueror of Ravana, should not Shaivites have a story of Shiva vanquishing this Raksasa? The defeat of Ravana at the hands of the monkeys was itself, according to Shaivites, a result of Nandi’s curse on Ravana when the latter insulted Nandi on the Mount Kailas at his advising Ravana to go a different way. The very name Ravana� from the root �R� [�] to bewail or scream—according to the Shaivites, arose out of his screaming under the Mountain. They love the story so very much that they think that it was Appar who in his previous birth advised Ravana to sing the hymns of God and that, therefore, Appar in every one of his hymns refers to Ravana. Napacampantar also, sings of this story of Ravana in the 8th verse of each of his hymns uniformly—except in a few cases. There can be no doubt that this was a very popular story in the age of Tevaram.

II

The story is popular in the Tamil country from the days of the Cankam work Kalittokai. In the Kurincikkali, Kapilar compares, an elephant striking its tusk against a �venkai� tree, from which the tusk cannot be taken out, to the twice five headed king of the Raksasas, placing his hands underneath the mountain, trying to lift it up with his bent hands shining with shoulderlets, failing in his attempt and suffering therefrom, whilst the �Antanan� of the cool braided hairs, who bent the bow of Himalayas sat on that high mountain lovingly with Uma:

�Imayavil vankiya irncatai antanan
Umaiyamarntu uyarmalai iruntanan aka
Aiyiru talaiyin arakkar koman
Totipoli tatakkaiyir kilppukut tammalai
Etukkal cellatu ulappavan pola
Urupuli uruveyppap putta venkaiyai
Kanukkon tatanmutar kuttiya matayanai�.

III

No particular form for this murti is prsecribed in the Agamas or Silpa sastras. In the sculptures of the age of Arurar we are fortunate to get the representation of this form. There is figure 5, in Plate CXXIII of Rea. Rea enumerates the figures found there as follows:—‘Shiva, Parvati and three attendants, supported on a lotus by Brahma�. This is evidently wrong. Brahma is given only four hands by Manasara and other works. Here, there are more hands than four; there must be more Beneath the chest line, up to which alone the figure appears. The posture is one of trying to carry something—suggesting Ravana under the mountain. Only three faces are visible but others must be beyond the angle of vision. In other figures which are admittedly of Ravana, we see only three clear faces. Parvati is sitting by the side of Shiva resting her hand firmly on Shiva’s thigh. Shiva is pressing down his right arm, whilst he is catching something up in support. The left leg is bent vertically whilst the right leg is hanging and is pressing down.

From the Tripurantakesvara temple in Cofijivaram comes another representation. Five faces of Ravana are within the angle of vision. Ravana is kneeling down and trying to uproot the mountain with his hands and with all his strength, as is revealed by the twists of his body and heads. Shiva and Parvati are seated up above. Rav ana’s efforts seem to have tilted them to the left, for he is moving the mountain up and to their left. They are pressing down on their left. Parvati’s body seems to lean towards Shiva. Ten arms on the right and eight arms on the left are within the angle of vision.

Plate CV, Fig. 1, represents Ravana uprooting the mountain. Havana’s three faces alone are visible? The effort of Ravana is very well brought out. He is kneeling down; a rotary effort is attempted. The heads are being crushed and are falling down. Rocks are giving way and one is falling down on one of his left hands. This is from the Muktesvara temple of Conjivaram.

Plate LXXIV, Fig. 4 of Rea is from Matahgesvara temple, Conjivaram. Ravana is found kneeling down. Five faces are visible; six hands on the left and eight on the right are there. We see his back. Parvati shows some loss of equilibrium. Shiva’s elongated right leg is hurriedly pressing down. All ihese sculptures bear a family likeness as belonging to one particular school of artists.

IV

Arurar’s descriptions may be studied in the light of these explanations. Ravana was a ¸é²¹°ì²õ²¹²õ²¹â€”â¶ÄœA°ù²¹°ì°ì²¹²Ôâ€� He was adamantine—“Vai ²¹°ù²¹°ì°ì²¹²Ôâ€�. He was mighty and strong—â€�Vali cer arakkan". He was a hero and a warrior—â€�Marakkol arakkanâ€� But all his capacities and strength were used for evil; it was a crime, not strength—â€�Kurrattiral". “Marakkol arakkanâ€� mentioned above may also mean a sinful and deadly Raksasa. He was like the black mountain—â€�Karuvarai pol arakkan; but all the same he has a splendour or beauty of his own—â€�°Õ±ð³¦³Ü³Ù²¹¾±²â²¹â€�.

He was Ravana—�Iravanan�. He was the lord or king of Lanka—“Ilankaiyar kon�; “Ilankaikkiraivan�; “Ilankai zientan�. Lanka was of the great ocean throwing up the breakers. It was surrounded on all sides by the ocean which by its very motion (of its currents or waves) is circumambulating the island—�Kati cul katal ilankai�. It was in the Southern seas full of waves—�Tiraiyinar katal culnta Tennilankai� It is the city full of very long trunk roads for strong chariots—perhaps opening out into all the parts of his universe—�Tinter netu viti�.

This happened once upon a time—â€�±Ê²¹²Ô³Ù³Üâ€� Havana came in the chariot. He was in his glories or with the sword—â€�Vanta val ²¹°ù²¹°ì°ì²¹²Ôâ€�. He was in the prime of his youth like a bull—“Kalaiâ€�. He cared for none; he never thought of God—â€�Karutata Arakkanâ€�. He was coming in a chariot, a strongly built and fast moving chariot—â€�Katuttavan ter kontotiâ€� When his chariot was running, the mountain lay across preventing his free flight—â€�Malanka varaiâ€�. It was the beautiful and resplendent Kailas—â€�Elil tikal Kailaiâ€�; the good Kailas—â€�Kayilaya nan malaiâ€�. He was too full of the pride of Sovereignty—â€�Mikkirai eyavanâ€� to notice at first this mountain. His intellect worked the wrong way—â€�Tunmat iâ€� He thought he had the required proud strength—â€�Mitukkuntu enruâ€� and rushed to uproot the mountain—â€�Otiyor verpetuttanâ€� He wanted to pluck it out as it were—â€�Parri varaiyai etutta ²¹°ù²¹°ì°ì²¹²Ôâ€�. He was in the act of raising it, but the poet states he had raised it. It refers to the attempt and not the achievement. The poet dramatically thus brings out the effort which to the onlookers appears to be almost successful.

V

This gave a shaking to the mountain. The daughter of Himavan, was frightened—â€�Imavan makal ²¹²Ô³¦²¹â€�. Arurar develops an idea which Appar has imagined in his poetry.

The Lady of the pure words and the broad pelvis draped in rich cotton was in a sulky mood, full of bouderie. Shiva could not appease her. Havana came at the most opportune moment, as though he had been told to come—�Corpatay vantu�? His shaking of the mountain made her suddenly embrace Shiva, forgetting all her bouderie.

VI

The Lord smiled a little. He pressed his foot. He touched the mountain below with his foot, only with one toe on the mountain. Ravuna was caught under the mountain and crushed. Mountains of his shoulders were crushed, by the mountain or by the dint of the line made by the tip of God’s toe—�Varai�

There are two places in these hymns where the swift movement and the sense are suggested by the sound of the words.

“P²¹°ù°ù¾± varaiyai etutta arakkan
Irru muriya viralal atarttdnâ€� 

�Marakkol arakkan varaitol varaiyai
Irakkol virarkdn irukkum itam�;

Thus was Ravana attacked. His stength was also crushed. His power was destroyed—�Arral alittu� He was thrown out and he fell down with his body mangled—�Poy vilntu citaiya�.

Ravuna’s discomfiture is described in greater detail. The ten heads were crushed. The poet counts the heads leisurely as five plus five, perhaps following Kapilar, mentioned above. In the sculptures, we see five faces represented on one side and five suggested on the other side or back side. Alas! what a fate for the crowned heads! He began to shriek with the twice five mouths of the ten crowned faces. He screamed under the Mount Kailas He moaned at being crushed.

The poet indulges in counting the heads and hands. It is only in a few places he says that the heads and hands were crushed without mentioning their numbers. The shoulders were very big—�Peruntolkal; he most often gives their number. The twenty round shoulders, God crushed. Sometimes he emphasizes the large number of shoulders as referring to them as ‘many shoulders� perhaps suggesting they are innumerable. He speaks of the five times four arms. He counts both the ten heads and the twenty arms.

Arurar in describing Shiva’s attack on Ravana uses the verbs �iruttu� (smashed), ‘atarttu� (crushed—oppressed), �nerittu� (squeezed), irru� (broke the bones) �citaittu� (mangled), �alittu (destroyed), �tolaittu� (removed) and �cerru� (subdued and overcame).

The poet states that the Lord of the shoulders and ten crowns was made to evolve through the three stages of a ‘Pet/�, or ghost or demon. Perhaps the three stages are: growing big, growing small and disappearing in almost death; or, it may mean losing the heads, losing the arms and shrieking. Or, the three stages of demonhood may refer to the �Pey�, ‘Paritam� and �Putam� which are explained later.

The heads and hands fell broken—“Zrru Vila�. The sculpture above described illustrates this. The hands were broken; the brain matter had come out of all his crowned heads; that was how the Lord crushed him down with one toe In the course of these descriptions, the poet is himself overpowered by the horror and exclaims: ‘He is pitiless—He who broke up the five and five heads and twenty shoulders of the Raksasa whom He completely crushed�.

VII

If the poet is horrified at this first step, he is inspired by the next step. It is said that Ravana made a harp or â€�vinaâ€� of his hands with the head as the sound box. The representation of Ravanesvara Vahana of modern times clearly expresses this idea. In Plate CV of Rea, one of the heads fallen on Ravana’s thigh may represent the sound box; the upper part of the ‘vinaâ€� the hand, is not there. The poet, however, refers to this. Ravana sings the Vedic songs to the tune of the strings of his hands—“Kai narampal veda gitankal pataluraâ€�.â„� He sang divine music—â€�Tippiya kitankalâ€�. The Lord heard the sweet music of these songs of great ideal or significance—â€�Kurikol patalin innicai kettuâ€� All this was the work of God—â€�±Ê²¹³Ù³Ü³Ù³Ù²¹±¹²¹²Ôâ€�. The sinner who had to die was given a fresh long lease of life—â€�Valum nal kotuttayâ€� It was fixed at many thousands of years. A chariot was given; a sword was also given by the Lord to Ravana The chariot was the â€�Puspaka vimana which Ravana won from Kubera; but the poet makes it a Shiva’s gift. The Lord gave him not only the sword into his victorious right hand but also the title of Ravana—one who screamed—which had become famous. The screaming is the repentance and the theory of Grace lays much store by this repentance. Therefore, this name becomes of great importance. God never looks down upon this but saves him and gives him a long life. He is indeed the munificent Lord. ‘Oh! Thou Lord of Uma! Thus you shower your sweet Grace’—â€�Innarul ceyta Umapatiâ€� exclaims the poet. The foot that crushed, worked this wonder. The Lord was there bestowing this final goal—â€�Ketiperu ceytiruntanâ€� The Lord blessed ¸é²¹±¹²¹²Ô²¹â„� The Lord is no more the pitiless. He melted down into pity at Havana’s song; that is the victory of the Lord, the victory of His pity. The crushing down, in the eyes of Arurar, is no victory. ‘The Lord is pitilessâ€�, the poet said, but understanding the final consummation, he hurries to add, ‘He is alone the beautiful’—â€�Avare alakiyareâ€�

This story of the sinner repenting and singing hymns to God and becoming the unequalled, inspires our poet, a poet and a musician himself, singing hymns on God and he confesses this in his famous Thiruppungur hymn