Kandar Anubhūti – Mantra Prayoga – 10
To Overcome the Fear of Death and Attain Prāṇa-Strength
For the tenth hymn, the Siddha Guru titled the prayoga:
“Namanai Vilakka – Yamadaṇḍanai Vilakka”
(To be shielded from Yama, to be spared his rod of punishment).
The Root of All Fear
Among the five fundamental afflictions of man (pañca kleśas), even those who have attained wisdom are said—by Patañjali and other Yogis—to still be touched by the fear of death (abhiniveśa).
- The fear of death is the root of all fears.
- Every form of fear—whether fear of loss, sickness, or separation—traces back to the instinctive dread of dying.
- Fear itself arises from lack of strength.
- Specifically, the fear of death arises from weakness of prāṇa-śakti (life-force).
Thus, this hymn discloses the yogic secret of gaining prāṇa-strength, through which death-fear is transcended.
The Journey of the Departing Soul
- When beings die according to their evolutionary stage, different deities preside over their transition.
- For those who have received dīkṣā from a Guru and who practice upāsanā steadfastly throughout their life, Yama and his messengers do not approach them at death.
- Instead, their soul is guided by the divine powers of their iṣṭa-devatā:
- Śiva-upāsakas are received by the gaṇas of Śiva.
- Devī-upāsakas are received by the Yoginīs.
- Such beings are carried to realms suited to the power of their sādhana.
It is only the souls without dīkṣā and without spiritual discipline that are seized by Yama’s messengers, judged according to their karma, and sent to their appropriate state.
This hymn therefore instructs that a Muruga-upāsaka, at the time of death, must meditate on Him. By this, the fear of death is dispelled.
The Hymn
Tamil Verse (10th Hymn):
கார் மா மிசை காலன் வரில், கலபத்
தேர்மா மிசை வந்து, எதிரப் படுவாய்
தார் மார்ப, வலாரி தலாரி எனும்
சூர்மா மடியத் தொடுவே லவனே.
Meaning
“O Spear-wielder, Lord of the garlanded chest,
who struck down mighty Vala and the towering Sura,
when Yama comes riding on his black buffalo,
You must come to me, riding Your radiant peacock,
and stand before me.”
The Yogic Secret
This hymn conceals profound yogic insight.
- Indra, the intuitive divine mind, even after defeating Vala, became enslaved to Sūrapadman. This shows how even the divine mind is not free without Muruga’s śakti.
- Muruga’s spear (vēl) is the weapon of complete Śiva-Śakti, capable of destroying such asuric domination.
- Worship of Muruga therefore confers this Paripūrṇa Śakti—the power to overcome all asuric forces, including death.
The second part of the hymn turns to the moment of death:
- Yama comes mounted on the buffalo, symbol of destructive force pulling prāṇa away.
- Muruga, however, comes on the peacock.
In the second hymn we saw the “dancing peacock” as a symbol of the regulated breath (prāṇāyāma)—the disciplined flow of life-force. Here too, the peacock is revealed as the purified prāṇa, once transformed by Muruga’s śakti.
- Sūrapadman, by his tapas, had attained great asuric prāṇa-strength. But when split by Muruga’s spear, that force was purified and became Muruga’s own vehicle—the peacock.
- Thus the peacock symbolizes prāṇa made divine, capable of carrying the sādhaka safely beyond the grasp of Yama.
The Deeper Insight
When Arunagirināthar prays, “At the hour when Yama comes on the buffalo, You must come on the peacock and stand before me”, the inner meaning is:
- Yama seeks to cut prāṇa and drag it away.
- Muruga grants the sādhaka immense prāṇa-strength, so that the soul does not get bound in Yama’s noose but is carried directly to the feet of Muruga.
As sung in Kandara Alaṅkāram:
“For those who hold to the spear and the peacock,
there is no stream of death to be crossed.”
The vēl is complete jñāna-śakti.
The mayūra (peacock) is the purified, empowered prāṇa-śakti.
Together, they free the devotee from death-fear.
Practical Mantra Prayoga
- Meditate upon Muruga’s vēl as the force of Śiva-Śakti destroying all asuric powers.
- Meditate upon His mayūra as the sublimated, divine prāṇa carrying the soul beyond Yama’s grasp.
- At every meditation, visualize: “When Yama comes, Muruga will stand before me, radiant on the peacock, protecting me with His spear.”
Through this hymn, along with its mūlamantra and yantra as revealed by the Siddha Guru, the sādhaka gains prāṇa-strength and is freed from the fear of death.
✅ Thus, the 10th Mantra Prayoga reveals:
- Death-fear is conquered not by denial but by strengthening prāṇa through Muruga’s grace.
- Muruga’s spear gives jñāna-śakti; His peacock gives prāṇa-śakti.
- Together, they lead the sādhaka beyond Yama, into fearlessness.