பக்கம்:திருவாசகம்-ஆங்கில மொழிபெயர்ப்பு-1.pdf/349

stored in his mouth, shook down the flowers from his hair on the idol and offered the flesh as food. This was followed the next day too. The reguler priest was enraged by the desecration as it was happening daily. So he hid himself one day behind the idol to catch the culprit. God wished to reveal to the priest the unparalleled love of Thinnan. So when the latter came for his usual ritual he found one of the eyes of the idol streaming with blood. He exclaimed, “Oh my Master! Who has wounded Thee? What sacrilegious hand evading my watchfulness has wrought You the evil?” Then seizing his weapons he proceeded to scour the neighbourhood to see if any one or wild animal could be detected as author of the mischief. Finding none he was perplexed, languished and threw himself on the ground in despair. He sought out in the jungle for some herbs of virtue and applied them but the wound bled all the more copiously. He could not bear the sight. He shuddered and became restless. Suddenly a happy idea he had learnt struk him. “For a wounded eye the remedy is another eye applied,” said he. Pausing not an instant he gouged out his right eye with the tip of his arrow and planted it on the damaged eye of the idol. At once the blood ceased to flow. At this his rapture knew no bounds. He sang and danced and poured forth uncouth expressions. But on looking at the idol once more, alas! he saw blood was oozing out from the other eye of the image of God. After a moment of bewildered sorrow he was filled with a spark of gladness as he had still one eye left, and the efficacy of the remedy had been tried already. So he raised himself up, put his sandalled foot close to the suffering eye of the image as a marker and proceeded to scoop out his remaining eye. But the terrifying but loving sacrifice of His devotee is 332