Sri Sankara Charitham by Maha Periyava – Wonderful Lesson for One Thousand Disciples

Wonderful lesson for one thousand disciples

Patanjali conducted classes in the Thousand Pillar hall (Aayiram Kaal Mandapam) at Chidambaram. He was Adisesha, with one thousand tongues!  There is even a saying that, if any matter needs to be explained in detail, “Adisesha, who has thousand tongues should only speak”.  The great explanatory treatise (Mahabhashyam) is such a large work.  Normally, Patanjali was one who only appeared to be a sage in human form.  He was a person, having only one face and one tongue. However, it so happened that he had to really take the form of the thousand tongued Adisesha now.

This was because, a thousand disciples had joined to listen to his lessons. In this country, right from the early days, earnestness to learn, especially the rules of a language, is really an amazing thing.  People even travelled from one corner to another, to pursue studies.  That is how, now also, students had arrived from all four directions of this big sub-continent to Chidambaram.

Patanjali thought that he should teach each one of them, giving individual attention and also complete this as soon as possible.  He felt that he should clarify without any loss of time, whatever doubt was raised by a student.  He thought that if he has to teach each one individually, seek their doubts and clarify them individually, it would not be enough to have only a single face and mouth.  He therefore decided that he would take the form of the thousand-headed-Adisesha itself, while taking lessons.

But, humans cannot bear the intensity of Adisesha if they are in his vicinity.  Any man will get reduced to ashes even its looks fall on him or its breath touches him. It is not even that Adisesha should see the person; even if the person looks at Adisesha, the person who looks at him, will get burnt.  Such was the ferocity!

Therefore, what he thought was… He decided that he would have a curtain around him and take the form of Adisesha and make the disciples sit outside, in a way that each student was seated in front of one head.

He wondered what to do if any of the disciples went off roaming as per his whims, since the teacher was not visible but hidden. Thinking that he should scare and prevent from doing so, he gave an order as a curse:  “If anyone went out without permission, he would become a Brahma Rakshas” [ब्रह्म रक्षस्].