The Lord of all Lords, Paramaśiva, the One without a beginning or end, the One who is eternal, formless, nameless, and representing causeless auspiciousness incarnated as Meenakshi’s Consort Sundareśvara – the One who is ‘supremely beautiful’.
The very land of Madurai is sacred, for here Sundareśvara incarnated himself in not just one human body, but eleven different bodies at different times. Even in Kailasha, Paramaśiva’s very own abode, the cosmic center of the universe, He assumed and left just one body. In Kashi, Paramaśiva’s city, He assumed two forms. But, in Madurai He assumed 11 incarnations to playfully, casually please, protect, and play with not just His surrendered devotees, but even other species such as animals and birds, for no cause or reason. In that sense, Madurai is considered the rarest of rare energy fields, so very close to Paramaśiva, who has a direct connection with Madurai and its people. The incredible journey into the play of divine consciousness is made possible by the most enchanting recordings of the great Paranjyothi Munivar called the “Thiruvilayadal Purāṇam”, the 64 magnanimous stories of the 64 Līlas (divine plays) of Lord Sundareśvara.
Incarnations appears to radiate and share their unique expressions of that one super consciousness energy. Every incident, every act, every step of their life is a divine play, called “leela” that gives eternal bliss to its devotees, the seekers of Truth. ‘Leela’ is the extraordinary consciousness landing in the lowest possible existence and playing.
The Supreme Pontiff of Hinduism speaks on the Leelas (Divine plays) of Sundareshwara
(Extracts from Nithya Satsang, the everyday morning talk, on 9 May 2012 at the Madurai Aadheenam)
“The Ultimate Divine descends in human body and expresses its extraordinary powers and experiences playfully. Sundareshwara is the embodiment of this statement. Sundareshwara is not a serious Shiva sitting in Samadhi in Kailash. No! When I describe Sundareshwara don’t understand him as serious with long matted hair and the snake and trishul (trident), sitting in Samadhi always in Kailash, frozen in time. No! Sundareshwara is powerful, playful, divine, above all handsome. That is why he is called Sundareshwara – lord of beauty, coming down, selling firewood, selling pearls and diamonds, selling bangles, destroying all the obstacles happening to the Madurai city and his devotees.
I tell you: Sundareshwara is the most powerful living incarnation. Please understand, he is so easily available anytime. Anybody who requests, he immediately reduces his frequency to human body, walks on the streets of Madurai and is constantly in ecstasy. Please understand again and again: he walked on this land. Each dust is sanctified by Mahadeva himself in a very playful form. He is not like Buddha. If you go to Buddha with the dead body of a child, he will say, “Go and bring me sesame seeds from a house where no death has happened.” Come on, tell me, directly can’t you revive? Why you want to play all these games? Sundareshwara… down to earth. He would have wiped her tears, hugged her and sprinkled that very tears on the body and brought life (to the dead child). Sundareshwara is not a philosopher, he is an artist! Ready to listen to human sufferings. Ready to bend for human emotions.
I know for sure, Param Jyothi Munivar who recorded (the 64 leelas) would have been in a big mess… what to leave and what to keep! Param Jyothi was capable of bringing all components and dimensions of the ocean into one cup. He was able to describe so beautifully the leelas.”