Guhai Namashivaya
| Guhai Namashivaya | |
| Birth | ~16 Century BCE. |
| Death | ~17 Century BCE |
| Location of Samadhi | Guhai Ashram ,Tiruvannamalai |
| Teaching | Guhai Namashivayar wrote verses on his devotion to Arunachala which HDH imbibed |
| Other Names | |
| Place of Teaching | Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu |
| Guru | |
| Associated Kingdom | |
Guhai Namasivaya was a Saiva poet-saint who came to Tiruvannamalai in either the late 15th or the early 16th century and then spent most of the remainder of his life living in a cave on Arunachala that still bears his name. His title ‘Guhai’ is the Tamil word for a cave. Guhai Namasivaya took the sacred Hill of Arunachala, the embodiment of Paramashiva, to be his Guru and eventually gained enlightenment through His grace. He had only left one long poem of 100 verses (Arunagiri Antadi) along with about thirty-five other short verses as evidence for his existence but such was the power of his devotion, those verses are sung and memorised by the whole town of Tiruvannamalai until today.
Even Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi was enthralled with the verses of Arunagiri Anthadi, and sought out more of Guhai Namashivayar's works and published them.
The Supreme Pontiff of Hinduism imbibed the verses written of the Arunagiri Antadi by Guhai Namashivayar at a young age and until today holds deep reverence and respect for Guhai Namasivaya as His predecessor in the Arunachala Sampradaya.
References
- In this talk, the Supreme Pontiff of Hinduism speaks on how He completely memorized the Arunagiri Anthaadi and used to chant it while doing girivalam, or circumambulation, around the sacred Arunachala Hill.