Meykaṇḍār

By Swami Harshananda

Sometimes transliterated as: Meykandar, MeykaNDAr, Meykandaar

The Śaivasiddhānta is an ancient school of Śaivism prevailing in the Tamil state. Out of the four major teachers of this school, Meykaṇḍār or Meykaṇdadeva was the greatest. He is said to have lived around A. D. 1235. He was a disciple of Parañjoti Muni. He originated and belonged to Tiruvenneyllur near the South Arcot district of the present day Tamil Nadu. An inscription of the Cola King Rājarāja III refers to the gift of the land to Meykaṇḍār.

Śivajñānabodham is the cardinal work of Śaivasiddhānta attributed to him. This is a brief work of 12 kārikās or sutras in Tamil language. It is selected from the Rauravāgama. The kārikās seem to be translations of the original Sanskrit text culled from that āgama. The title Sivajñānabodham is interpreted as:

‘Śivam is One; jñānam is the knowledge of Its true nature; bodham is the realization of such knowledge.’

References

• The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

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