The 'karna-paramparai' story, though there is no internal evidence for it, is as follows:

There was a great Devi-Upasaka, --- a devotee of the Divine Mother, -- Sambanthandan by name. He was an ardent Jain and had intimate friendship with the king Pravuda Deva, for his own ends. The wide-spread fame of Arunagiri and the special honour accorded to him by the king kindled Sambanthandan's jealousy towards Arunagiri, as he feared he would no more get the king's favour. He, therefore, struck upon a cunning plan to defame Arunagiri. He approached Pravuda Deva and said: "You should be devoted only towards him who can make the Deity he worships appear in an open assembly." Pravuda Deva could not tolerate this jealous attitude of Sambanthandan. He conveyed it to Arunagiri who agreed to it, taking it as the will of God. Accordingly elaborate arrangements were made and a big assembly was convened at the courtyard of the Arunachaleshwarar Temple. The king with his consort, nobles and the public at large gathered there to witness this unusual contest. Sambanthandan made all sorts of feats, pomp and show to manifest his Ishta Devata, -- Kali, -- but failed. Now came Arunagiri's turn. He made no special efforts, but sang a Tiruppugazh song, which begins with 'Athala Sedanarada' (T-1056). A free-translation of the song is thus:

"O Lord of Lords! Come dancing, O Lord, come dancing in such a way that when You dance, everything dances, -- the Adisesha dances in the nether worlds; the mount Meru dances on the earth; Kali dances with Lord Siva, the bull-rider;

xli the Ganas of Siva dance around Him; the sweet Sarasvati dances; Brahma, who is seated on the lotus, dances; the Devas dance; the moon dances; your mother-in-law, Lakshmi Devi seated on the red-lotus, dances; your father-in-law, Lord Vishnu who showed His Visvarupa (cosmic form), dances; and the Peacock (on which You ride), too, dances. O Son-in-law of Lord Vishnu (i.e., Lord Skanda), who (as Lord Krishna) helped Bhimasena (one of the five Pandava brothers)! ...... O Lord Muruga who resides in the heart of Pravuda Deva Maharaja making it melt and dance in joy! Come dancing, O Lord, please come dancing, with the Peacock, too, dancing."

No sooner did Arunagiri finish the song than the Lord appeared before the assembly, on a dancing peacock, by manifesting Himself from a pillar, holding the shining Vel in His hand and gave Darshana to the delight of the king and the assembled audience. (Hereafter we shall refer to this as the 'Event'.) These facts, viz., that the Lord appeared in no time, on a dancing peacock and gave Darshan to all, are revealed by Arunagiri himself in two of his other Tiruppugazhs (T-331 and T-755). The pillar from which Lord Murugan appeared in the Mandapam where the assembly was convened is to be seen even today in the Arunachaleswarar temple. A small shrine is dedicated there to Lord Murugan. As He came out of a Khamba or pillar, the shrine is called "Khambattu Ilayanaar Koil".

The two Thiruppugazh songs are: (i) In (T-331 -- Arivaiyar Nenjurugaappunar) (sung at Thiruchiraappalli) Arunagiri says: " O Guru Supreme, Who appeared on His peacock, holding in His hand the shining Vel which destroyed the (Krauncha) mountain, and accepted me -- Thou did that graceful act (at Thiruvannamalai) which was witnessed by the whole world." (ii) The second song (T-755 -- Thirumozhi Uraipera [Ulaginil anaivargal]) (sung at Vruddhachalam) says: "O valourous Peacock-Rider, You once came, in a fraction of a second, and helped me in Thiruvannamalai, which earned the praise of all the people of the world" (The Lord helped Arunagiri by responding to his prayer and giving His Darshana to the king and the assembled devotees.)

It is held by most authors that when the Lord gave Darshana, by the brilliance of His appearance the king lost his eye-sight. We shall revert to this subject later. (see page xlvii)

This 'Event' and the two Thiruppugazhs quoted above reveal the true history of the Saint's life. The crux of the matter is: When did this 'Event' take place? Did this take place before Arunagiri left Tiruvannamali on his Sthala-Yatra (pilgrimage tour of places throughout India) OR after completing the pilgrimage, at the fag end of his life? This is the crucial point!

From the 'Athala Sedanarada' (T-1056) and the two Thiruppugazh songs mentioned above (which Arunagiri gave during the pilgrimage tour) we can easily deduce that:

(i) In the 'Athala Sedanarada' song there is reference only to 'king Pravuda

xlii Deva, in whose heart Lord Murugan was residing and making it dance in joy.' It was his pious wish to have the Lord's Darshana and he requested Arunagiri for the same. Accordingly, when Arunagiri sang the 'Athala Sedanarada' song the Lord appeared. There is not even the slightest indication in that or any of the other Tiruppugazhs that it was a contest with someone or that Sambanthandan was involved in it. Sri Pillai taking refuge in the 'karna-paramparai' story and bringing Sambanthandan into the scene and making it appear as a contest is irrelevant and unwarranted. There is absolutely no need. It seems to be purely for the purpose of making Arunagiri take the form of a parrot, later on, for which Sambanthandan is needed and for which he is brought into the picture now!

(ii) This 'Event' did take place before he commenced his pilgrimage tour; otherwise he could not have referred to it in the two songs (T-331 and T-755).

(iii) Neither the king nor anyone else lost the eye-sight by the darshana of the Lord, as there is no mention of it either in these or in the other Tiruppugazh songs or his other works. On the other hand, from the saint's statement, "Thou did that graceful act (of appearing at Thiruvannamalai) which was witnessed by the whole world" (T-331) and "You once came, in a fraction of a second, and helped me in Thiruvannamalai, which earned the praise of all the people of the world" (T-755), it is quite evident that none lost sight.

(Some may think that the above two Tiruppugazhs may refer to the Lord's appearance when Arunagiri jumped from the temple tower, to save him. But it cannot be, because when Arunagiri jumped from the temple tower, it was to commit suicide repenting for his sinful life; he did not pray to the Lord to appear or to save him, nor did he know/expect that the Lord would do so. The Lord appeared of His own accord most unexpectedly, even to Arunagiri's own surprise. Neither Arunagiri had announced that he is going to commit suicide nor invited the people to witness the event. Those who commit suicide do it silently, secretly. Where then is the question of 'witnessed by the whole world' (T-331) or "all the people of the world" (T-755)? So these verses can NOT be taken to represent the appearance of the Lord when he jumped from the Gopuram, because then no one witnessed that incident. It was only Arunagiri and the Lord, and none else. Also, if we refer to T-392 (Manaiyaval Nagaikka), Arunagiri says: And reflecting thus daily, when I cast off the body and soul, --- Approaching me, Those Feet that You granted then, O Lord grant me again, and in T-394 (Kothi Mudiththu) he says: When I tried to cast off the soul from the body, showing pity on me, wishing to grant me the blessed state, You blessed me. In these two verses wherein he clearly refers to committing suicide (by 'jumping from the Gopuram'), he does not mention about the people witnessing the event. There is the small temple for the Lord at the very bottom of the Gopuram (Gopurathu Ilayanaar Koil) where Arunagiri was saved by Him, wherein also is an idol of the saint.

It was only in the 'Event' which took place in a huge sadas (assembly) convened in the hall or Mandapam that it was witnessed 'by the whole world' and 'all the people of the world,' where the 'Kambathu Ilayanaar Koil' is there.)

(iv) The 'Event' took place before Arunagiri went on pilgrimage {see (ii) above}. If we suppose that the king had lost his sight then and that Arunagiri went as a parrot and fetched the Parijata flowers from heaven to restore his sight and

xliii his body had been got cremated by Sambanthandan, as many authors hold, then Arunagiri remained as a parrot after that. In that case, there is no question of his going on pilgrimage or mention about the 'Event' in the above mentioned two songs, nor giving us thousands of Tiruppugazh songs. So, it is evident and beyond any doubt or question that neither the king lost his sight nor Arunagiri ever became a parrot. These are mere stories based on hearsay without any basis or internal evidence.

(v) The 'Event' was witnessed by a large gathering, perhaps the people of the town and nearby had gathered there to have darshana of the Lord. It was not a private or limited gathering, which is clear from the word 'Jagamariyumpadi' --- ஜகமறியும்படி.

(vi) The Lord appeared in the fraction of a second (ஒருநோடிதனில் வரு மயில்வீரா), without any delay. This falsifies the much adumbrated and dramatic scene introduced in the imaginary story of Devi holding Murugan and not allowing Him to go, and that Arunagiri sang the Devendra Sanga Vaguppu and then the Mayil Viruttham when the Lord jumped from Devi's lap and hurried to the assembly.

(vii) The 'Event' could not have happened after the saint completed his pilgrimage (i.e., at the fag end of his life), because, then how could he have referred to it in the 2 songs mentioned above which he sang during his pilgrimage?

From the above analysis it would become very clear that all other versions of the 'Event' and connected matters (king losing eye-sight, Arunagiri-parrot going to heaven, etc.) are all concocted stories and not something that really happened. Because they are all concocted stories, there are innumerable versions of them, each author being free to say what he wants or as inspired from within. Though we do not give any credence to them, we shall have a look into these different versions to show how shallow they are, having no basis or evidence.