திருவெம்பாவை — Benefits & How to Chant
திருவெம்பாவை
Complete guide to chanting correctly for maximum benefit
Benefits of Chanting திருவெம்பாவை
A supreme hymn of Saiva devotion, sung above all in Margazhi as a call of the soul to wake toward Lord Shiva.
Reciting it is held to kindle pure love (anbu) for the Lord and to bring peace, grace and inner awakening.
Part of the Thiruvasagam, of which it is said 'one whose heart does not melt at the Thiruvasagam will not melt at any sacred word'.
Recited in temples and homes during the Margazhi mornings, alongside Andal's Tiruppavai, as a daily devotional observance.
Cherished across Tamil Nadu as one of the most tender and exalted expressions of the soul's longing for God.
How to Chant திருவெம்பாவை
Instructions
Bathe in the early morning and sit before an image of Lord Shiva (Nataraja). Light a lamp and recite the verses with melody and feeling, entering the mood of the girls who wake one another with His praise. During Margazhi, sing one verse each day in order, or the opening verse and selected verses together; close with the refrain 'Elor Embavay'. Many recite it together with the Tiruppavai during the Margazhi observance.
Spiritual Significance
It is said that the Thiruvasagam, of which the Thiruvempavai is part, is so charged with the saint's love that 'the heart that does not melt at the Thiruvasagam will melt at no other word'; even Lord Shiva, tradition holds, took the form of a scribe to write down Manikkavacakar's verses at Chidambaram.
Origin & History
Source: Thiruvasagam — Thiruvempavai of Manikkavacakar (Tamil, c. 9th century CE); 8th Tirumurai
Author: Manikkavacakar
Manikkavacakar was a learned minister of the Pandya king who, sent to buy horses, met Lord Shiva in the form of a guru at Thiruperunthurai and gave his whole heart and the king's gold to Him. Renouncing the world, he wandered the holy places of the Tamil land singing of Shiva, and at Thiruvannamalai (by tradition) composed the Thiruvempavai. Cast in the Margazhi Paavai form, its waking of the sleeping girls is the awakening of the soul to the Lord, and it remains among the most loved of all Saiva hymns.