On the northern bank of the Kollidam, in the village of Thirunaraiyur, stood the monastery of the great Saivite elder, Nambiyandar Nambi. At the entrance of this monastery, a royal palanquin, its bearers, and palace guards stood waiting. Apart from them, the villagers had gathered a little distance away in a crowd. At the center of this gathering, it seemed as if a heated debate was taking place between two men, and the onlookers watched with eager attention.

If one were to part the crowd and peer within, it would become clear that the two men quarreling there were none other than familiar figures. One was Thirumalai, known as Azhwarkkadiyan Nambi, and the other, the valiant Saivite with whom he had argued in a boat at the very beginning of our story. This Saivite was the chief administrator of Nambiyandar Nambi’s monastery.

Learning that the great lady, Periya Piratti Sembiyan Madevi, who had come to see Nambiyandar, wished to speak with him in private, the aforementioned Saivite elder had stepped outside. The moment he saw Azhwarkkadiyan, anger welled up in him quite naturally. The memory of having once been defeated in debate by this eminent Vaishnavite only fanned the flames of his irritation.

“Hey! You masquerading Vaishnavite, deceiving the town with your holy name! Why have you come here? Are you looking for a place where you can get some pongal or tamarind rice to eat?” he demanded.

“I have already eaten all the pongal and tamarind rice I need,” replied Azhwarkkadiyan. “I came here because I heard that all of you in this Saivite monastery have grown so bloated from eating only sacred ash that you can barely move. Poor fellows! What can you do? It was only because your Lord Siva could not find any food to eat that he consumed poison. If, at that moment, our Narayana Moorthi’s sister Parvati had not grabbed his throat, what would have become of your Siva then!” retorted Azhwarkkadiyan.

“O valiant Vaishnavite! Enough of your tales! Don’t fly too high! Even your Lord, after soaring to the highest heavens, could not find the crown of our Lord Siva and had to return in defeat, did he not?” “What is this story, sir? When our Mahavishnu took the Vamana avatar and measured the earth with one stride and the heavens with another, your Shiva’s head must surely have been beneath that very foot!” said Azhwarkkadiyan.

“Hasn’t your Mahavishnu’s mischief been evident ever since he incarnated ten times on this earth? And what kinds of births! Was he not born as a fish, as a tortoise?” retorted the Veera Saivar.

“That is all you know! Why did the Lord take birth as a fish? Was it not to retrieve the four Vedas that had sunk into the ocean? That is why our Azhwar sang:

‘Neither the wealth of the eternal damsels who surround me, Nor the heavenly riches, nor the earthly kingdom do I desire; In the honeyed, flower-laden groves of sacred Thiruvengadam,