The following stories are sourced from Sri Swami Sivananda's "Sixty three Nayanar Saints" published by The Divine Life Society, India.
4. Ilayankudi Mara Nayanar
Farmer Nayanar had been blessed with all the wealth of the world. But, he considered that the wealth belonged to the Lord, to be utilized for the benefit of His devotees. Lord Siva was highly pleased with the Nayanar’s devotion. He wanted to show to the world that His devotee would be undaunted by the worst calamity and would remain unshaken in his virtue.
Nayanar’s wealth melted away. His wealth had left him, but not his virtue. On the contrary, his devotion to the Lord and His devotees grew more and more intense. Nayanar sold all his property and had to sell even himself in order to be able to serve the devotees of the Lord.
One day it was raining heavily. Nayanar and his wife were starving. No one came forward to help them. Finally, he bolted the door and was about to fall asleep. Just then he heard a knock at the door, and, on opening it, found a Siva Bhakta standing in front of the house, drenched with rain. Nayanar at once took the guest inside, dried his body and gave him fresh clothes to wear. "Rest awhile, Swami, while we prepare some food for you to appease your hunger," said Nayanar and told his wife of his predicament: there was nothing to offer the devotee of the Lord. But, the devout wife suggested that Nayanar could go into the backyard and collect the grain-seeds that they had just sown that very day. Nayanar accepted the suggestion. On account of the heavy rain, the grains were floating and it was easy to collect them in a basket. As soon as he brought the grains, the wife fried and crushed them, and with the help of some greens that grew in their own backyard, cooked a nice dinner for the guest. Nayanar was supremely happy.
And, as he went to awaken the guest, he discovered that he had disappeared. At the same time, Nayanar saw in the sky, Lord Siva Who had come in the form of the devotee and Mother Parvathy showering Their blessing on him and his wife.
The Lord said:
"Oh noble souls, I am highly pleased with your devotion. You will soon attain My Abode and live there for ever."
A similar story was told of how a Siva Bhakta, a sadhu dropped in unannounced at the home of my wife's great grandparents in Taiping many years ago. The womenfolk who were the only ones around then, invited the sadhu in and hurriedly gathered in the kitchen. They had no grain to cook for their saintly visitor. What were they to do, they asked themselves? Finally one of them had to tie the bell, inform their guest of their predicament in not able to feed the Siva Bhakta. Very reluctantly she told him that there was no grain in the vessel. He looked up at her and told her to return to the kitchen and look again into the vessel. Although she was confused, she did as told. The vessel was filled with grain. The whole house rejoiced. As soon as the food was ready to be served, they returned to where he was seated only to find a book in his place. He had disappeared. Sadly nobody remembers the title of the book and its whereabouts now.
The king Maiporul Nayanar’s fame spread far and wide. This evoked the jealousy of Muthanathan, the king of the neighbouring state. He collected a big army and attacked Nayanar several times; but he was repeatedly defeated. So, Muthanathan resorted to foul-play.
One day, he disguised himself as a Siva Yogi (for he knew that Nayanar had supreme devotion to Siva Bhaktas) and entered the palace at night. The gate-keepers did not question him, but allowed him to proceed.
Dathan, the faithful and intelligent servant of Nayanar, was guarding the bedroom in which the king was sleeping. When the Siva Yogi approached the bedroom, Dathan tried to dissuade him from disturbing the king’s sleep; but the Yogi refused to listen, saying:
"I have some secret Shastra to teach the king. I cannot wait."
So, Dathan had to allow the Yogi to enter the bedroom of the king, though he was a little suspicious.
Nayanar’s wife got up and, finding a Siva Yogi in the room, quickly awakened her husband. The Siva Yogi told the king that the Shastra was a great secret, revealed by the Lord Himself, and that only the king was entitled to hear it. At once the king sent even the queen away and prostrated before the Yogi, ready to receive the secret.
At that moment, the Siva Yogi, who was none else than the jealous king Muthanathan, quickly stabbed Nayanar on his back, with a knife he had kept hidden. At that time, the shrewd Dathan, as he entered the room, found the king on the floor in a pool of blood and Muthanathan with a knife in his hand. He was ready to strike down Muthanathan, when the dying Nayanar said:
"Datha, he is our man. He has the appearance of a Siva Yogi and so must be honoured as one. Do not harm him. Kindly escort him to the borders of our kingdom, and see that he is unharmed."
Dathan obeyed the commands of his master. As he was escorting Muthanathan, the people who had heard what happened went to attack Muthanathan, but, as soon as Dathan told them of the king’s commands, they withdrew, admiring the supreme devotion of their king. Thus, Muthanathan was safely escorted out of the kingdom. And, Dathan hastened back to the palace to convey this news to the dying king who was eagerly waiting for it.
As soon as Dathan conveyed the news to the king, the Nayanar called all his Ministers and relatives to his bedside, and spoke to them as follows:
"It is our duty to serve the Bhaktas. They must be honoured and worshiped at all times and under all circumstances. Let our people walk in the footsteps of the Siva Bhaktas. Let the country be flooded with Siva Bhaktas. By their blessings, let peace and prosperity reign in our land."
With these words, he closed his eyes and meditated on Lord Siva. Lord Siva at once appeared before him and blessed him as follows:
"I am immensely pleased with your devotion to My Bhaktas. I am immensely pleased with your cosmic love and your unquestioning devotion to My devotees. Even in a murderer you saw Me. You are, therefore, fit to reach the Highest Abode which even the Devas cannot hope to reach. You will soon come to My Abode."
With these words the Lord disappeared: and Maiporul Nayanar (whose very name meant ‘one for whom God was the sole reality’) also attained His Abode.