THE HISTORY OF MANIKKA-VACAGAK. 123 



schoolmen. If then this work is his, the reputation of the shrine 

 must have been very great from a very early period. The legends in 

 this Puranam relate to a time long antecedent to that of any of the 

 devotees whose stories are given in the Periya Puranam ; and, in 

 fact, belong to the very oldest period of South Indian legend. These 

 myths relate especially to the Vyaghrapada (' Saint Tiger-foof), Pathaii- 

 jali (' the Serpent Devotee '), the dance of Civa, and the story of Hiranya- 

 vanma (' the Golden '). With these is combined a great quantity of 

 details of miscellaneous mythology. 



I. The history of Vyaghrapada, whose image is very often found iu 

 close proximity to that of (^''iva, is a very peculiar one, and seems to 

 belong to the very earliest period of the establishment of the Brahmani- 

 cai system in the South. The name is found in the Rig Veda ; so 

 that these legends are simple inventions to account for the appellation, 

 and to link on the Caiva system to the Vedic times. There was on 

 the sacred lands in the North, somewhere near the banks of the 

 Ganges, a hermit, a Brahman of the purest lineage and perfectly 

 conversant with the Vedic rites, to whom a son was born endued 

 with singular gifts and powers. The boy grew up in the wilderness 

 under the tutelage of his father, and when he had learnt all that the 

 father could teach him, the old hermit said to his son and disciple, 

 ' What else can I do for thee 1 ' The son replied, prostrating himself at 

 his father's feet, ' Teach me what is the highest form of ascetic virtue.' 

 The father replied that the worship of Civa was the highest. 'And 

 where,' inquired the son, ' can I best worship him ? ' The hermit leplied, 

 ' The whole universe is the presence of Para-brahtna ' (' the Supreme 

 Spirit'), 'yet there are places on earth where he especially manifests 

 himself, even as the pervading Soul dwells and energises in a visible and 

 circumscribed body. There are many myriads of such shrines, but of all 

 ot them Tillai* is the central sanctuary ' {Ifula-sthdna), ' where Civaii 

 wiU receive thy homage ; for there is established the lingam which is 

 light.'t So the youthful ascetic went on his journey, after taking an 

 aflfectionate leave of his mother, followed by his father's benediction. 

 After a long journey southward over mountains, rivers, and plains, he 

 arrived at a spot where he found a beautiful lake, covered with lotus- 

 flowers {Civa-gangd-tlrtham), and a lingam established under the shade 



♦ A name of Cithambarain, which at that time was a vast wilderness, covered witli 

 (excoecaria agaUocha) a tree called Tillai (perhaps S. Tilaka). 



t At Clthambaram is one of the princif)al Unganu, generally enumerated as twelve. 

 It is called the ' Air-lingam,' and is now invisible 1 



