Au service des serviteurs : L'hospitalité dans le Periyapurāṇam
Résumé
Bhakti (personal and intimate relation between a devotee and his selected deity) is expressed through the concept of service in Tamil Śaiva literature. The devotee becomes a servitor of Lord Śiva. Three Śaiva texts belonging to the Tamil Śaiva Canon, the Tirumuṟai, — the Tiruttoṇṭattokai of Cuntaramūrtt (9th cent.), the Tiruttoṇṭar Tiruvantāti of Nampi Āṇṭār Nampi (11th cent.) and the Periya Purāṇam of Cēkkiḻār (12th cent.) — describe the different types of services done by the sixty-three Nāyaṉmārs, or canonised devotees. Based on these texts, this study deals with one particular service : hospitality. In the Periya Purāṇam, the legends relating to seven of this Nāyaṉmārs demonstrate, formally, a well codified and ritualized hospitality. Each Purāṇam starts with the arrival of a Śaiva devotee, mostly Śiva in disguise, at the Nāyaṉmārs place. The host welcomes his guest perfectly and expresses his deep willingness to satisfy him. Nevertheless, the extreme character of their offerings abolishes all the conventions and boundaries, and present this service as a direct way to Liberation. Indeed, the offering is a test organised by Śiva who appears at the climax to welcome the Nāyaṉār in his world. To illustrate this form of hospitality in the context of Bhakti a translation of the Purāṇam of Māṟaṉ of Iḷaiyāṉkuṭi is offered.
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