Thirugnana Sambandhar and Thirumangai Azhwar

It is well-known that Thirugnana Sambandhar was a great Shiva bhakta, an accomplished tamil poet and the Thevaram contains his devotional outpourings on Shiva. The time period of Shri Thirumangai Azhwar, the last of the great azhwars, coincided with that of Sambandhar and their paths crossed. This write-up aims to bring out the events of that meeting and the consequences thereof.

The traditional narration of the incident is summarized in the following blog – https://guruparamparai.wordpress.com/2013/01/23/thirumangai-azhwar . Quoting from that blog,

“(Azhwar) arrives at chOLa mandalam, his sishyas exclaim his glories “chathush kavi has arrived”, “kaliyan has arrived”, “parakAlan has arrived”, “One who won over all other mathams have arrived”, etc. A saiva scholar/bhakthar named thirugyAna sambandhar was living there at that time and his sishyas object to the glories of AzhwAr. AzhwAr at once says he will debate with sambandhar and establish nArAyaNa parathvam (supremacy). They bring him over to sambandhar’s residence and informs him about the same and he agrees to debate with AzhwAr. Since, the whole place/town was filled with avaishnavas and since there is no vigraham (form) of emperumAn, AzhwAr is unable to start speaking and starts worrying about the situation. At that time, he notices a srivaishnava lady and asks her to bring her thiruvArAdhana perumAL (vigraham). She brings her emperumAn who is krishNan and brings him over to sambandhar’s place and starts the debate.”

Tradition records that Azhwar defeated Sambandhar in debate by singing a decad on Thadalan (Lord Vishnu’s name in Sirkazhi Divya Desam), upon which the latter acknowledged Azhwar as the Supreme Poet, and gave him the Spear that was gifted to him by Adi Parashakti. The same blog (https://guruparamparai.wordpress.com/2013/01/23/thirumangai-azhwar/) summarizes the debate as follows:

“Sambandhar recites a poem and AzhwAr finds fault in that. sambandhar then challenges AzhwAr to recite a poem and AzhwAr recites “oru kuraLAi” padhigam (periya thirumozhi – 7.4) on thAdALan emperumAn (kAzhi chIrAma viNNagaram – sIrgAzhi). sambandhar unable to respond back for that great padhigam which is perfectly and beautifully composed wonders about the greatness of AzhwAr and accepts his glories and worships him.”

But there is a dispute by some in this regard.

Some people who cannot digest Vishnu Paratva argue that the debate between Azhwar and Sambandhar Nayanmar was only in terms of who was the better Tamil poet, and not on the issue of who among Vishnu and Shiva was superior. They claim that both Azhwar and Nayanmar respected each other’s beliefs, and since Hari and Hara are identical, there was no debate whatsoever other than Sambandhar acknowledging Azhwar’s superior Tamil skills.

This idea is even propagated by some misguided sri vaishnavas as seen in this link on the subject - https://ramanuja.org/sri/BhaktiListArchives/Article?p=oct97/0032.html. Quoting the person from that discussion:

“I would not even call this episode as a "vAtham". VAtham can be meant as "Argument" directly in tamil. They never argued with each other and in contrary held each other in high esteem. They had a debate as promoted by their disciples. The debate was not on whether Saivam or Srivaishnavam was great. At the request of saint Thiru -jnAna-sambandhar, thirmangai delivered the pAsurams on Lord thAdALan at HIS sannithi and saint Thiru -jnAna-sambandhar accepted the pulahAngitham and Tamil poetic skill of thiru mangai even after the very first pAsruam in which he stacked numbers 1 to 10 in Tamil poetry and indirectly cited them as the 10 avathArams of Lord Vishnu. After this saint Thiru -jnAna-sambandhar presented his own holy spear (vEl) that he revered and keeps with him as a reward and and as an acknowledgement of thirumagai's winning the so called debate.”

To that, we reply – the very idea of Azhwar showcasing his Tamil prowess is nonsensical. Azhwar was least concerned about tamil as a language. Rather, the beauty of the tamil language lay in the fact that it was used in the praise of Bhagavan.  Azhwar valued Tamil and excelled in it not because he was some “Tamil poet” or “Tamil scholar”, but because the language served as a vehicle to convey the supreme truths of Vedanta. As Azhagiya Manavala Perumal Nayanar remarks in his work “Acharya Hrudayam” – Sanskrit doesn’t sound as beautiful when the Buddhists and Jains use it, but it attains its’ beauty only in our Vedas, purANAs and IthihAsAs when it is used for the Lord. Language is not beautiful on its’ own, not unless it is decorated with bhagavad kalyAna guNAs.

Furthermore, neither Azhwar nor Sambandhar were proponents of Hari-Hara aikya vAda. Both believed in the absolute supremacy of Vishnu and Shiva respectively, neither reveled exclusively in the scholarship of Tamil alone and so it is conceivable that a debate is along those lines. Furthermore, when the traditional account says a “Debate” occurred, there is no need to sugarcoat it by claiming “vAtham does not really mean debate” etc. Both were leaders of their respective darshanAs and hence agreed to debate with each other.

Azhwar is called “ParakAlan” – One who is like Kala (Death) to Para-Mathams. He delights in debating and vanquishing incorrect doctrines. That being the case, would he restrain himself from debating on Vishnu Paratva when Sambandhar requested him for a debate?

And that is the purpose of this write-up – to show how Azhwar defeated Sambandhar by establishing Vishnu Paratva and correcting the wrong knowledge propagated by the latter.

Clarification on the write-up

At this juncture, we venture to say something:  Shri PeriyavAcchan Pillai has commented on this decad and they choose to focus on how Azhwar glorified Thadalan. No doubt he was aware of the fact that this decad contained the details of the debate, but obviously, they did not elaborate on it in favor of loftier meanings. Azhwar’s pasurams are rich with multiple layers of meanings and our Acharyas often focus on the essence. This multi-layered intent is the reason for multiple commentaries on the Divya Prabandham.

Owing to the depth of meanings, and the focus of our acharyas on only the essence,e our write-up is not a contradiction, but simply comparable as a humble offering of a flower garland around the glittering commentary of VyakyAna Chakravarthy, Shri Periyavacchan Pillai. It complements the meanings given by the Acharyas.

Debate on Vishnu Paratva Enshrined in Periya Thirumozhi 3.4

Moving on now. It is said that Sambandhar sang a song, and Azhwar countered it with the decad on Thadalan of Sirkazhi. Therefore, it logically follows that the crux of the debate is enshrined in this decad, and a close study of the decad will bring out the details of the debate. For the sake of convenience, we will be using the fairly accurate English translation of the decad on this site: http://periyathirumozhi-3rddecad.blogspot.com/p/oru-kuralay.html

Let us begin with the first pAsuram on the beautiful Lord of Sirkazhi, Thadalan.

oru kuraLAi iru nilam moovaDi maN vENDi ulahanaittum eeraDiyAl oDukki-onrum taruha enA mAvaliyai Siraiyil vaitta tADALan tALaNaiveer takka keerti | arumaraiyin tiraL nAngum vELvi aindum angangaL avai Arum iSaihaL Ezhum teruvil vali vizhA vaLamum Sirakkum kAzhi cheerAma viNNaharE SErmin neerE ||

Meaning: Oh! Men! You want to seek the tiruvaDi of emberumAn—who begged only three feet of land from this vast earth from the asura king mahAbali; who measured the upper and lower worlds with His two steps and asked for a place for His third step; with the third He sent mahAbali to pAtALa lOka in prison—go and seek Him in kAzhi SeerAma viNNaharam—where there are vaidikas who chant four vEdas, teach six vEdAngas, do five maha yajnas and sing the hymns with seven swaras; where there is nitya utsava in every house and temple.

Notes: This first Pasuram must be construed as a response to a song composed by Sambandhar attempting to prove Shiva Paratva. We do not have the details of the song, but we can easily determine what Sambandhar was singing for Azhwar to counter with this Pasuram.

Here begins the debate.

Sambandhar first sings that Shiva is the Supreme Lord, and that Brahma and Vishnu are subject to him.

Azhwar says that this is not the correct intent of the Vedas. For the Vedas glorify Lord Vishnu as Trivikrama, one who conquered all three worlds by his strides. We know of the Rg Vedic rks that talk about this. And one who conquered the worlds by his strides alone can be the Supreme Lord. Furthermore, when the Lord measured the worlds, Brahma washed his feet and Shiva received it on his head. This proves that Brahma and Rudra are subject to Vishnu.

Hence, the purpose of beginning with the Trivikrama avatara is this – It proves that the Lord Narayana is the Ishvara, and Brahma and Rudra are subject to him. This avatAra is thus highly complete in displaying the absolute Paratva (Supremacy) of the Lord. Thus, Azhwar refutes Sambandhar’s idea that Shiva possesses Paratva and proves that Vishnu alone has the guNa of Paratva.

An muhan nAL mihai tarukkai irukku vAimai nalam mihu Seer urOmaSanAl naviTTru nakkan oon muhamAr talaiyoTTooN ozhitta endai oLi malar SEvaDi aNaiveer uzhu SEyODa | Soon muhamAr vaLaiyaLai vAi uhutta muttai tol kuruhu Sinai ena Soozhndu iyanga engum tEn muhamAr kamala vayal SEl pAi kAzhi cheerAma viNNaharE SErmin neerE ||

Meaning: Oh! Friends! If you want to seek His tiruvaDi—who removed the cause of naked sin who roamed with kapAla as his begging bowl; who subdued the pride of brahma who was begging his longevity through rOmasa maharShi—seek Him at kAzhichcheerAma viNNaharam—where the oxen plough the lands where the snails drop their pearls (eggs) in their holes. The cranes think these huge balls as their eggs. Therefore they guard over them carefully standing nearby. Since the field is muddy the lotuses bloom shedding honey in the pond. The fish hump and play in this sweet water.

Notes: Sambandhar objects to the idea that Vishnu is superior among the Trimurthis. He refers to the story of Lingodbhava and claims that Shiva, by manifesting before Vishnu and Brahma showed his Paratva.

Indeed, Sambandhar says in the Thevaram (first thirumurai) that Brahma and Vishnu were unable to reach the top and bottom of Shiva as a bird and boar respectively when they exerted their own strength, but after admitting their failure, they realized the supremacy of Shiva and worshipped him with love. In this way, Shiva removed the egos of Brahma and Vishnu by displaying his Supremacy.

Azhwar counters this by stating that the above story is tAmasa and proves that in reality, it was Lord Vishnu who removed the egos of Brahma and Shiva in two separate incidents.

This is described by Azhwar in the second pAsuram – Shiva who became arrogant after destroying Tripura, cut off the head of Brahma in anger. As a result, he incurred brahma-hatya dosha and was forced to wander naked with the skull as a begging bowl. The curse would end only when the skull was full, but no matter how much alms Shiva begged, it never became full .When Shiva approached Shri MahaLakshmi, she poured food into the skull and it became full. Then by her mediation, Shiva approached Bhagavan, who caused the skull to burst by a drop of his sweat (blood in some accounts) and the skull burst, relieving Shiva of his sin.Thus, Bhagavan showed Shiva he was the ultimate refuge and banished his sin born of arrogance.

The incident with relation to Brahma is as follows – Brahma was once filled with arrogance thinking that he was chiranjeevi and could outlive all created beings. Bhagavan realizing this, took Brahma to Romasa Maharishi, who had been blessed by Bhagavan with eternal life; for every Brahma who dies, only one hair of Romasa Maharishi would fall off his body, and he would die only when all hairs had fallen. Thus, Brahma realized the supremacy of Vishnu and the fact that he acquired this long life by his grace, and relinquished his ego.

The story of Romasa Muni is not oft quoted by azhwars. That it exists in this pAsuram along with Shiva’s kapAla moksha incident, as well as Sambandhar’s description of Lingodbhava in the Thevaram, shows clearly that the debate between Nayanmar and Azhwar is along the lines of our write-up.

In this manner, Azhwar shows that the sAttvika shAstrAs are aligned with the Veda in declaring that it was Lord Vishnu who removed the ignorance of Brahma and Shiva. Thus, he refuted Sambandhar and proved that Vishnu alone has the guNa of Ishvaratvam among the Devas.

vaiyaNainda nudi kOTTu varAham onrAi maNNellAm iDandu eDuttu madangaL Seidu neyyaNainda tikiriyinAl vANan tiNDOL nErndavan tAL aNaihirpeer neidalODu | maiyaNainda kuvaLaihaL tAm tam kaNhaL enrum malar kumudam vAi enrum kaDaiSimArhaL SeyyaNaindu kaLai kaLaiyA tErum kAzhi cheerAma viNNaharE SErmin neerE ||

Meaning: Oh! Wise men! You want to seek the tiruvaDi of emberumAn—who took varAha avatAra and lifted the submerged Boomi from the ANDa Bitti with His tusk; who chopped off the arms of bANAsura with His sharp-edged chakrAyudha—go to kAzhi SeerAma viNNaharam. The city is beautiful with fields where lotuses, karuneidal flowers and kumudam flowers grow as weeds. The women see the resemblance of their eyes in karuneidal flowers, the lips in the red kumuda flowers. Hence they don’t have mind to pluck them as weeds. They go back home. If such is the beauty of the lowest caste women, what to talk of the high caste maidens!

Notes: Sambandhar counters the claim that Shiva does not possess Ishvaratvam by claiming that the Shastras have various instances of devotees like Banasura seeking boons from Shiva, of Shiva protecting the devas by his acts like swallowing the poison, destroying Tripura and so on. Furthermore, even Krishna has prayed to Shiva requesting him for a son. Do not these acts show that Shiva can protect, and a protector is naturally an Ishvara as well?

Azhwar rebuts that claim in this pAsuram. He points out that as varAha, the Lord lifted the entire Earth. The one who lifted the Earth and protected it is naturally the protector of all entities living on Earth. The devas cannot be the natural protectors, even if they do offer protection. In addition, the Lord is the Supreme Protector of even the protectors like Brahma, Rudra and Indra.

Furthermore, the protection afforded by these gods is not perfect. That is best illustrated by the fact that though Shiva came to protect Banasura, he was unable to do so and Krishna defeated both Bana and Shiva. Thus, Shiva’s assurance of protection is not unfailing.

In addition, by defeating Shiva in that battle, Krishna also showed that his act of seeking the boon of a son from Shiva was merely in sport, and that in reality Krishna was the master of Shiva.

In this manner, Azhwar proves that the guNa of Sarva-Rakshagatvam is only present in Vishnu. He is our natural protector, the Sarveshvara, and no-one else.

panjiya mellaDi pinnai tirattu munnAL pAi viDaihaL EzhaDartu ponnan paimbooN nenjiDandu karudi uha uhirvEl ANDa ninmalan tALaNaihirpeer neela mAlai | tanjuDaiya iruL tazhaippa taraLam AngE taN madiyin nilAkkATTa pavaLam tannAl SenjuDar veyil virikkum azhahAr kAzhi cheerAma viNNaharE SErmin neerE ||

Meaning: Oh! Wise men! If you want to seek the tiruvaDi of emberumAn—who subdued the might of seven wicked bulls for the sake of nappinnai pirATTi; who split open the chest of hiraNya with His sharp nails as the spear; who is pure as crystal—go to kAzhi SeerAma viNNaharam—where the huge mansions are inlaid with sapphire (black as night) pearls (cool like moon) and corals (red like the dawn)—a divya dESa where He resides.

Notes: Sambandhar now argues that Shiva cannot be said to be lacking in the ability to protect as he is the means to several ends. Did he not show his extraordinary prowess in burning Kamadeva? Has he not helped the devas by his various deeds of prowess on many occasions? On account of such characteristic marks and strength, Shiva is the means to accomplish anything, which would include acts of protection.

Azhwar declares that these qualities alone are not indicative of being the means or upAya. It was Bhagavan who killed the 7 bulls to marry Nila Devi. Here, Nila Devi signifies the jivatma. The seven bulls represent Kama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Madha, Matsaryam and Asuyai. The two horns of the bulls which Krishna broke to kill them signifies the Punya and Papa Karmas responsible. Thus, Azhwar says that unlike Shiva who could only destroy Kama by his yogic power, Bhagavan destroys Kama and all these vices for the Jivatma and takes the Jivatma with him (signified by his marriage with Nila Devi). This proves that true upAyatva or means, which involves releasing the Jivas from their bonds and making them reach him, lies with him.

Furthermore, Bhagavan is the one who destroyed Hiranyakasipu. The term “Hiranyakasipu” means “Golden Seat”. It refers to the mind which possesses desire for sense objects (signified by Gold). For a bhakti yogi like Prahlada, it is Bhagavan alone who destroys the wicked mind that can cause disturbances for even the greatest of Yogis. It is a great act for the wayward mind is not easy to tame. Unlike Shiva who can has helped the Devas by destroying the Asuras, Bhagavan accomplishes the even bigger act of destroying the mind which is the biggest enemy and ensuring that the Yoga of his devotees is steady and uninterrupted. It can also be interpreted as, he helps bhaktas like Prahlada attain liberation.

As the Lord says in the gita, “tesam evanukampartham aham ajnana-jam tamah nasayamy atma-bhava-stho jnana-dipena bhasvata” – He destroys ignorance and kindles true knowledge in us.  

How does Bhagavan destroy the wayward mind? Because he is parama-sAttvika mUrthy, which is signified by “ninmalan” – as he is pure, he purifies those around him by virtue of his deeds, and their minds are purified by meditation on him. This again is a display of his upAyatva, the ability to purify.

In contrast, Rudra is a tAmasa devata and his body is not subhAshraya, on account of which it does not possess the purifying quality of bhagavAn and hence is not recommended for meditation. Thus, while Shiva can afford protection from poison or Asuras, Bhagavan can afford protection from Samsara itself, thus being the means to liberation.

It is to highlight the fact that bhagavAn is shuddha-sattvam while Shiva is tAmasa devata that Azhwar refers to purity here in this pAsuram.

In this manner, azhwar proves that Vishnu alone is the upAya or Supreme Means to all Ends.

devvAya mara mannar kurudi koNDu tirukkulattil irandOrku tirutti Seidu vevvAya mA keeNDu vEzham aTTa viNNavar kOn tAL aNaiveer vikirta mAdar | avvAya vAL neDungaN kuvaLai kATTa aravindam muham kATTa aruhE Ambal SevvAyin tiraL kATTum vayal Soozh kAzhi cheerAma viNNaharE SErmin neerE ||

Meaning: Oh! Men! If you want to seek His tiruvaDi—who killed the kShatriya kings as paraSurAma and did tarpaNa to his race with their blood; who killed kESi (a horse asura); and pulled out the tusk of kuvaLayApeeDa; who is the chief of nityasooris—go to SeerAma viNNaharam—where there are fields which have lotuses etc. as weeds. The lotuses look like the faces of women of that city, the karuneidal—their eyes, the Ambal, their red lips.

Notes: Sambandhar says that Shiva’s ability to be the Means to liberation or freedom from Samsara cannot be denied. He is a parama-yogi, Dakshinamurthy, and is referred to as omniscient in the Shastras. He is resorted to by all for knowledge and it is well known that the ability to bestow the highest knowledge is liberation (jnAnAn mokshO jAyatE). Thus, Shiva is to be worshipped as the bestower of the Supreme Knowledge and the granter of Liberation, which in turn signifies his nature of being the means to the Supreme Goal.

Azhwar refutes this by implying that the mere granting of knowledge does not make one the supreme means; for such knowledge granted by Shiva is by virtue of having Narayana as his indweller and being the true means for such endeavor; and the Lord who is the means for attaining knowledge, for undertaking acts to attain liberation, is also the one who is attained upon liberation. This is illustrated by Azhwar with the following examples:

• As Parashurama, he annihilated the entire race of Kshatriyas who were a burden to the Earth. The Kshatriyas represent the various dangers of Samsara. Since the race of a Kshatriya is characterized by Rajo Guna, it signifies various relatives, attachments etc that cause desire. Bhagavan is the means to destroy such attachments.
• Bhagavan killed the horse asura known as kESi – it is well-known that the shAstras compare the senses or mind that stray towards attachments to horses. Hence, Bhagavan is the means to tame the senses and mind.
• He killed KuvalayApIDa. The term (kuvalaya + ApIDa) means “That which hurts the Earth” – Here, “Earth” signifies the Jivas in Samsara and the name refers to desire which is the greatest enemy of all bound selves. Even when the senses are tamed and one is detached from sense objects, desire often still persists. The Lord is the means to kill the desire as well, for his auspicious qualities are extremely delectable to meditate upon and destroys desire of everything other than him.

In this manner, it is he who is the true means (upAya) in all acts undertaken to attain liberation. And is he merely the upAya? Azhwar says he is “viNNavar kOn” or the Lord of Nitya Suris in Sri Vaikuntha, which signifies that he is also the upEya (that which is to be attained as the Supreme Goal).

In this manner, Azhwar proves that Vishnu is not only the UpAya, but also the upEya or the Supreme Object of Attainment.

pangaN viral Semmuhattu vAli mALa paDar vanattu kavandanODum paDaiyAr tiNkai vengaN viral virAdan uha vil kunitta viNNavarkOn tALaNaiveer verpupOlum | tunga muha mALihai mEl Ahangoorum tuDiyiDaiyAr muhakkamala SOdi tannAl tingaL muham pani paDaikkum AzhahAr kAzhi cheerAma viNNaharE SErmin neerE ||

Meaning: Oh! Men! If you want to seek the tiruvaDi of Sree rAma—who killed vAli, the monkey king with red eyes and face; who killed virAda (an asura) and kabanda who created many weapons—go to kAzhi SeerAma viNNaharam—where there are tall mansions with balconies touch the moon on the top of which beautiful girls speak with each other whose faces make the moon feel shy and hide himself behind the clouds.

Notes: Sambandhar objects to the idea that the Lord is the upAya and upEya by saying that Shiva has granted boons to many of his devotees, elevated them to his abode and so on. He is considered to be very munificient. Hence, Shiva should be considered as the upAya and upEya.

Azhwar counters by saying that it is Bhagavan who grants different types of boons to the different seekers who are described in the Gita as “chatur-vidha bhajantE mAm…”. As follows:

• Like how Bhagavan restored wealth for Sugriva by killing vAli, similarly he grants the “arta/artArtins” the wealth they lost and the new wealth they seek respectively.
• Like how Bhagavan killed Viradha, he destroys the “Viradha” or “that which is against the nature of the self” – the notion of Ahankara and Mamakara. He makes one realize the nature of the self which is the aim of the jignyAsu.
• Like how Bhagavan destroyed Kabandha, he destroys the “Kabandha” or body to give liberation to those who seek him – the jnAnIs. (Kabandha means water and signifies the body made of subtle elements

Bhagavan grants material boons to the artas/arthArthins and the knowledge of the self to the jignyAsus. For the jnAnIs, he himself is the supreme object of attainment. Thus he is the upAya and upEya.

The fact that Bhagavan grants all these boons makes him the most munificient. Thus, Vishnu alone has the quality of “udAratva” or generosity.

poruvil valamburi arakkan muDihaL pattum paTTrum arindana pOla puvimEl Sinda

Seruvil valamburi Silaikkai malaittOL vEndan tiruvaDi SErndu uihirpeer tirai neer teLhi |

maruvi valamburi kaitai kazhi ooDADi vayal naNNi mazhai taruneer tavazh kAl manni

teruvil valamburi taraLam eenum kAzhi cheerAma viNNaharE SErmin neerE ||

Meaning: Oh! Men! If you want to seek the tiruvaDi of chakravarti tirumahan—whose bow and arrow caused the ten heads of rAvaNa to collapse on the ground like an anthill (is collapsed); who has mountain like shoulders on which He holds the bow—go to kAzhi SeerAma viNNaharam where the shells want to leave the sea goes to kAzhi SeerAma viNNaharam where at first they go round the ‘tAzhai’ bushes and then to the fields and from there to the fields and from there to the rain water canals (which are already filled with rain water) and from there to the streets of the city where they get settled when the rain water dries. Thus the city looks beautiful with shells pearls scattered every where.

Notes: Sambandhar continues his objection to the idea that Shiva should not be considered the most generous by bringing up the example of rAvaNa. The incidence of rAvaNa lifting Kailasha mountain is referred to by Sambandhar here and how Shiva not only spared rAvaNa’s life when the latter sang his praise, but also granted him a sword and long life. This shows that Shiva is not only generous in granting boons, but also merciful in granting them to one who opposed him.

(Sambandhar indeed does refer to this incident several times in the Thevaram as an example of Shiva’s generosity and mercy. One of the popular forms of Shiva worshipped is the “rAvaNAnugraha mUrthi” and Shiva’s gesture to rAvaNa is acknowledged by the Nayanmars as an act of supreme mercy and compassion).

Azhwar counters by saying that the biggest boon as well as the biggest act of mercy was conferred on rAvaNa, not by Shiva, but by Bhagavan only. For Shiva’s decision to spare rAvaNa led to the latter committing more offenses like kidnapping Sita and accruing sins, and the sword gifted by Shiva was used by rAvaNa to kill jatAyu, a bhAgavata, thus incurring bhAgavata-apachAra. In reality, this was never a boon or a true act of mercy, and it also shows that Shiva lacked the foresight to grant such boons.

In contrast, bhagavAn killed rAvaNa and thus prevented him from committing further sins in that body. The Lord is capable of bestowing a powerful boon like this on account of his strong mountain like shoulders which held the bow. And he did all this for rAvANa, despite the latter’s offences and refusal to surrender to him (sparing him from a worse state of continuing to commit sins and attaining lower births). Lord Rama even ensured rAvaNa’s last rites were performed by VibhIshana. This was the ultimate boon and the ultimate act of mercy.

Thus, azhwar showed that Vishnu is not only udAra or generous, but is also possessed of the quality of kArunyam or supreme compassion or mercy.

paTTaravu Erahal alkul pavaLa SevvAi paNai neDundOL piNai neDungaN pAlAm inSol maTTavizhum kuzhalikkA vAnOr kAvil marangoNarndAn aDiyaNai veer aNilhaL tAva | neTTilaiya karungamuhin SengAi veezha neeL palavin tAzh Sinaiyil nerungu peena teTTa pazham Sidaindu maduchchoriyum kAzhi cheerAma viNNaharE SErmin neerE ||

Meaning: Oh! Men! If you want to seek the tiruvaDi of emberumAn—who brought the karpaga tree from the garden of indra when satyaBAma wanted it—she who has hips like the hoods of a serpent with a silk saree, who has red coral-like lips, round bamboo-like arms, long doe-like eyes, sweet milk-like speech, wearing honey-laden flowers on her hair—and planted it in her garden—go and seek Him in kAzhi SeerAma viNNaharam—where squirrels jump from branches causing the fruits of areca nut trees to fall on the jack fruits resulting the breaking of jack fruits making the honey flow on the ground.

Notes: Sambandhar claims that Shiva is most compassionate or merciful as he fulfills all the desires of his devotees.

Azhwar refutes this by saying that in reality, there are some boons that Shiva cannot grant as it is not in his power. In contrast, it is bhagavAn who can fulfil any desire of his devotees, as evidenced by how he procured the hard-to-get parijAta tree, which did not grow on Earth,  from the abode of Indra for Satyabhama after defeating the devas. Thus, vishNu alone possesses the ability to fulfil even seemingly impossible desires of his devotees, and bestow the boon of liberation which other devas cannot.

pirai tangu SaDaiyAnai valattE vaittu piramanai tan undiyilE tOTTruvittu karai tanguvEl taDangaN tiruvai mArbil kalandavan tAL aNaihirpeer kazhu neer kooDi | turait angu kamalattu tuyinru kaitai tODArum podi SOTTru chuNNam naNNi Sirai vaNDu kaLi pADum vayal Soozh kAzhi cheerAma viNNaharE SErmin neerE ||

Meaning: Oh! Men! If you want to seek the tiruvaDi of emberumAn—who has Siva who wears crescent moon on his matted hair on His right; the creator brahma on His nABi kamala and periya pirATTi on who has beautiful spear-like eyes on His tirumArbu- -go to kAzhi SeerAma viNNaharam where the bees mates in sengazhuneer flowers, sleep in lotuses, get up roll in the pollen grains of ‘tAzhai’ flower, get intoxicated and sing joyfully flying over the fields.

Notes: Sambandhar finally claims that Vishnu and Brahma were created out of the left and right side of Shiva, which makes him the Supreme among devas. As such, it is not possible to claim Shiva cannot grant certain boons while Vishnu can, for the latter is created by the former.

Azhwar refutes this by declaring that it is Vishnu who has given his right side to Shiva, his navel to Brahma and his chest to Lakshmi and this is in accordance with the sAttvika shAstrAs like mahAbhArata. Vide the following,

pasyaikAdasa mE rudrAn dakshiNam pArsvamAsrithAn” ~ (Moksha Dharma 167.51, Mahabharata)

Meaning: See the 11 Rudras who are situated in my right side.

That the devas occupy various parts of the Lord’s body is also seen in the vishvarUpa darshaNa he gave as pAndava-dhUta as follows:

ihādityāś ca rudrāś ca vasavaś ca maharṣibhiḥ evam uktvā jahāsoccaiḥ keśavaḥ paravīrahā tasya saṃsmayataḥ śaurer vidyudrūpā mahātmanaḥ aṅguṣṭha mātrās tridaśā mumucuḥ pāvakārciṣaḥ tasya brahmā lalāṭastho rudro vakṣasi cābhavat lokapālā bhujeṣv āsann agnir āsyād ajāyata ādityāś caiva sādhyāś ca vasavo 'thāśvināv api marutaś ca sahendreṇa viśve devās tathaiva ca (~ Udyoga Parva 129.3-5, Mahabharata)

Meaning: Here, however, are all the Pandavas and all the Vrishnis and Andhakas. Here are all the Adityas, the Rudras, and the Vasus, with all the great Rishis. Saying this Kesava, that slayer of hostile heroes burst out into a loud laughter. And as the high-souled Sauri laughed, from his body, that resembled a blazing fire, issued myriads of gods, each of lightning effulgence, and not bigger than the thumb. And on his forehead appeared Brahma, and on his chest Rudra. And on his arms appeared the regents of the world, and from his mouth issued Agni, the Adityas, the Sadhyas, the Vasus, the Aswins, the Marutas, with Indra, and the Viswedevas…

Thus, Vishnu alone is the Sarva-Loka-Saranyan (the ultimate refuge for all) and is worshipped by the devas, as well as resorted to by them.

Sengamalattu ayan anaiya maraiyOr kAzhi cheerAma viNNaharE en SengaN mAlai angamala taDa vayal Soozh Ali nADan aruL mAri araTTamukki aDaiyAr Seeyam | kongu malar kuzhaliyar vEL mangai vEndan koTTravEl parakAlan kaliyan Sonna Sanga muha tamizh mAlai pattum vallAr taDangaDal Soozh ulahukku talaivar tAmE ||

Meaning: tirumangai AzhwAr—who is the chief of Ali nADu (having plenty of lotus ponds), who blesses noble people, who subdues his enemies and ensures that they never lift their heads again, who is like a lion to his foes, who is the favourite of beautiful women, who is the Lord of tirumangai and who holds a weapon in his hand for the protection of Sri Vaishnavas, a yama to the opponents—has sung these ten tamizh pASurams which even the sangam poets praise. Those who read them with interest and trust will be the chief of the world surrounded by the seas.

The number of titles azhwar declares here is clearly indicative of the fact that Sambandhar acknowledged defeat and that azhwar won the debate. Sambandhar gave him the spear (vel) as acknowledgement of the victory. Here it must be said that though Sambandhar accepted his ideas as wrong, he was still a shiva bhakta and driven by his own inclinations, continued in that vein.

Thus, it is clear as to how Azhwar established the truths of the Vedanta via his debate with Sambandhar and dispelled confusion.