QUIZ 1

The Thiruppugazh journey that I undertook more than three years ago has just completed its first phase. When I started, I never had the confidence that I would take the task of translating all the 503 songs that Guruji Shri A.S.Raghavan taught us to its completion. I know I could have done a better job, but I was afraid that if I spent inordinate time in refining the work, I'd lose the momentum. As we now march ahead, I would regularly visit all my posts and improve them.

The plan I have for the second phase calls for a lot of reader participation. So please brace yourself for a more intense study of Thiruppugazh in the days ahead. To kickstart, I have a quiz for which there could be more than one answer for each of these questions. You can give your answer as a comment in Tamil or English.

1. In which song does Saint Arungirinathar say that Murugan resides in the minds of those who constantly meditate on Ganesha? கணபதியை இடை விடாது சிந்திப்பவர் மனதில் முருகன் எப்போதும் வாழ்வார் என்று எந்த பாட்டில் அருணகிரியார் குறிப்பிட்டுள்ளார்?
2. In which song is it stated that Ganesha sucked the water in the milky ocean? Why was this done? எந்த பாட்டில் விநாயகர் கடல் நீரை துதிக்கையால் உறிஞ்சினது குறிப்பிடப்பட்டுள்ளது? இந்த நிகழ்ச்சியின் பின்னணி என்ன?'

Let your answers keep flowing!
1)In Devendra Sanga Vaguppu, Saint Arunagirinathar says in the following lines
அடன்மிகு கடதட விகடித மதகளிற் அனவரதமும் அகலா
மாந்தர்கள் சிந்தையில் வாழ்வாம்படி செந்திலில்
அதிபதி எனவரு பொருதிறல் முருகன்
that Murugan resides in the minds of those who constantly meditate on Vinayaka.

2) Devas and Asuras together churn the milky ocean, using the mandara mountain as the churning rod and Vasuki, the king of serpents, as the churning rope. The demons hold Vasukui's head, while the gods, taking advice from Vishnu, hold its tail and the two groups began pulling the serpent back and forth. After several years passed this way, the mountain begins to sink. Vishnu, in the form of a turtle Kurma, comes to the rescue and supports the mountain on his back. As a result, the churning goes on without any hitch and yields the much wanted Amrita for the Devas.

Unfortunately, Kurma becomes arrogant and starts destroying the world. Shiva sends Ganesha to subdue the turtle. Ganesha sucks the entire ocean, including the turtle, with his trunk and spews the water out. The turtle crashes against the ground. Ganesha pulls out the hard shell of the turtle and presents it to his father which He wears on His chest.

This incidents gets mentioned in the Thiruppugazh ninathu thiruvadi in the follwing lines:
மனது மகிழ்வொடு தொட்டக ரத்தொரு
மகர சலநிதி வைத்தது திக்கர
வளரு கரிமுக ஒற்றைம ருப்பனை வலமாக