We must now tell how Vandiyathevan, whom we left on the banks of the Kollidam, after he was put into the boat, came to reach the house of the astrologer at Kudanthai, must we not?

The elder Saivite, who objected to Azhwarkkadiyan boarding the boat, after the boat had started moving, turned to Vandiyathevan and said, “Brother! I allowed him to board only because you requested it. But as long as he is in this boat, he must not utter that eight-lettered name. If he does, I will order him to be thrown into this Kollidam. The boatmen are my men!”

“Nambi Adigal! Did that fall upon your sacred ears?” Vandiyathevan asked.

“If he refrains from uttering the five-lettered name, then I too will not utter the eight-lettered holy name!” replied Azhwarkkadiyan.

“Who is he to forbid the utterance of the Panchakshara mantra, the very sacred syllables of Lord Shiva himself? Impossible! Impossible!

Even if I am bound with ropes and cast into the sea, My sole refuge is ‘Namashivaya’!”

Thus thundered the Saivite elder in a majestic roar.

“I sought, I searched, and at last I found— The name ‘Narayana’!”

Azhwarkkadiyan began to sing in a loud voice.

“Shiva! Shiva! Shiva!” cried the Saivites, pressing their fingers into their ears to block the sound.

When Azhwarkkadiyan stopped his song, the Saivites removed their fingers from their ears. Azhwarkkadiyan turned to Vandiyathevan and said, “Brother! Just listen to this valiant Saivite. See how much he suffers even to hear the name of Thirumal! The Kollidam river flows downstream only after washing the lotus feet of Perumal, who reclines at Srirangam. The water that has touched the Lord’s feet is holy water— “Isn’t that why Lord Shiva himself is said to be performing penance, immersed in those very waters at Thiruvanaikka?” Even as he uttered these words, the Saiva elder grew furious and sprang at Azhwarkkadiyan. As the two men grappled at the edge of the boat, it seemed as if the vessel would overturn at any moment. The boatmen and Vandiyathevan intervened, separating them.

“O paragons of devotion! It seems you both are eager to fall into the swirling flood of the Kollidam and attain salvation straightaway. But I still have unfinished business left in this world!” said Vandiyathevan.

One of the boatmen remarked, “Who knows if falling into the Kollidam will lead you to salvation! But you’ll certainly end up in a crocodile’s belly! Look there!”

At the spot he pointed to, a crocodile could be seen, its jaws gaping wide in a terrifying manner.

“I have no fear of crocodiles; where has the primordial Narayana, who saved Gajendra, gone now?” asked Azhwarkkadiyan.

“Where has he gone? Perhaps he’s hiding in the end of a gopi’s sari in Brindavan!” replied the Saiva.

“Or maybe, just as he granted a boon to Padmasura and then ran away in distress, perhaps Shiva has found himself in some new predicament, and Narayana has gone to save him from it,” said Nambi.

“It