Kandhar Anubhuti : Verse #18 - You are one without Birth or Death

உதியா, மரியா, உணரா, மறவா,
விதி மால் அறியா விமலன் புதல்வா,
அதிகா, அநகா, அபயா, அமரா
பதி காவல, சூர பயங் கரனே (18)

udhiyA mariyA unarA maravA

vidhi maal ariyA vimalan pudhalvA

adhigA anaghA abhayA amarA

pathi kAvala soora bhayangaranE (18)

Why Fear when I am here?

உதியா - Not born
மரியா - Without death
உணரா - Without remembering
மறவா - Without forgetting
விதி  - Lord Brahma
மால்  - Lord Vishnu
அறியா - Beyond comprehension
விமலன்  - Lord Shiva
புதல்வா Son
அதிகா - More than anyone
அநகா - Without sin
அபயா - Without fear
அமராபதி காவல - Protector of Amaravathi
சூர  - Asura Sudapadman
பயங்கரனே  - Terrifies


Short Meaning 
Oh Lord Muruga! You are without birth or death, remembrance or forgetfulness. You are the son of Lord Shiva who is beyond comprehension of Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu. You exceed everyone in capabilities, sinless and without fear. You are the protector of the city of Amaravthi, and one who struck fear in the heart of the most dangerous Asura, Surapadman


Gloss
This is a very beautiful verse - This verse is structured purely as one which extols the greatness of Lord Murugan. There is no seeking at all. 

The first line is in Sri Arunagiri's favorite form of words with opposing meanings, to describe Lord Murugan.

He starts by saying Lord is without birth (உதியா) and without death (மரியா). This is reinforcement of the same declaration in Verse 12. 

In his very famous work of Moha Mudgaram, popularly referred to as Bhaja Govindam, Sri Sankara says that this birth of repeated birth and death is *very* painful [2]

Punarapi jananam punarapi maranam,
Punarapi janani jatare sayanam,
Iha samsaare khalu dusthare,
Krupayaa pare pahi murare.

Repeated births, repeated deaths, and repeatedly taking birth in the womb of the mother. This repeating cycle is very pain - So, please take mercy on me and release me from this cycle, Oh Murari! 


We need to know that only the Lord who has no birth or death has the capability to release us from the tiring cycle (samsara) of birth and death

How is that God is not subject to birth or death? The first verse of Mandukya Upanishad is as follows: [1]

हरिः ओम् । ओमित्येतदक्षरमिदं सर्वं तस्योपव्याख्यानं भूतं भवद्भविष्यदिति सर्वमोङ्कार एव | यच्चान्यत्त्रिकालातीतं तदप्योङ्कार एव ॥ १ ॥

hariḥ om | omityetadakṣaramidaṃ sarvaṃ tasyopavyākhyānaṃ bhūtaṃ bhavadbhaviṣyaditi sarvamoṅkāra eva | yaccānyattrikālātītaṃ tadapyoṅkāra eva || 1 ||

1. Hariḥ Aum. Aum, the word, is all this. A clear explanation of it (is the following). All that is past, present and future is verily Aum. That which is beyond the triple conception of time, is also truly Aum.

The verse says that the primal mantra Om represents past, present and the future. And it also represents that which is beyond these three. How can anything beyond past / present and future?

The answer is, time is nothing but a tiny dimension in front of the Lord. He controls time, and is never controlled by it. In Vishnu Sahasranama, Lord Vishnu is referred to as 'Bhoota Bhavya Bhavat Prabhu:' - Lord of Past, Present and Future,

Since Lord Murugan is beyond time, the concepts of birth and death do not apply for Him. Hence He alone can release us from the endless cycle of birth and death.

As a direct effect of being beyond time, the Lord Murugan is beyond the qualities of remembering and forgetfulness. He just knows everything all the time. It is completely beyond our mind that how such things can exist. 

Remembering and forgetfulness exist only within the realm of time. They have no meaning for the Lord who knows everything. 

We need to know that Lord is beyond constructs that can be understood by the mind. This is exactly the reason Sri Arunagiri (and many other mystics) describe Lord in striking ways

Story of Arunachala [3]

The line 2 of this verse says Lord Murugan is the son of Lord Shiva, who was beyond comprehension of both Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu (விதி மால் அறியா விமலன் புதல்வா)

Lord Brahma is indicated by word Vidhi (விதி) which literally means fate - Since, according to our philosophy. Lord Brahma assigns Karma to be experienced during a specific birth.

To understand this name better, we need to know the story of the Holiest Hill of Sri Arunachala.

Once there was a strong argument between Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma on who is the most superior in the creation - In their arguments, they forgot that Lord Shiva who was the creator of both of them is one with no equal.

As they were involved in intense argument, there arose a red pillar of fire - The entire universe seemed to glow red because of that pillar - A voice was heard that the one who finds the bottom of the pillar or the top is the superior one. Immediately, Lord Vishnu took the form of a boar (Varaha avatara) and started going deep. Lord Brahma sat on his Swan and started flying up. 

Lord Maha Vishnu, in the form of the boar (varaha) tried very hard, but still couldn't find the base. So His ego was vanquished. On the other hand, Lord Brahma as much as he could try, couldn't see the top. That time, he saw a flower, called Thazampoo (Pandanus / Screwpine in English) falling down. Brahma asked flower where it was coming from, and the flower answered it came from the top of the pillar. Lord Brahma asked the flower to lie that he picked it up himself from the top

When Brahma came down, he saw a tired and sad Vishnu who said that he doesn't consider himself as supreme since he couldn't find the base of the pillar. While Brahma said that he found the top and hence he was superior. That time, the pillar shook and from that Lord Shiva emerged. He punished Brahma for lying and cut off one of his five heads. So, Brahma has only four heads. He also said that Brahma will no longer be worshipped (How many temples of Brahma do you know? :) ) and the Thazhampoo flower will not be used for worship of Shiva. 

Both Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu, with their egos vanquished submitted to Lord Shiva that He was the greatest One. 

Sri Arunagiri points to this story when he says Lord Murugan is son of the Lord Shiva who is without impurities. Malam means impurity in Tamil, and the prefix 'vi' indicates without - Vi-malan means one without impurities. As another example, Lord Ganesha is called Vi-Nayaka because He is one without (vi) any superior (nayaka)

In Thirumanthiram,  Saint Tirumular says, Lord Shiva is beyond the Trinity - 'Moovar Arinthilar, Yaavar Matrarivar?' - You are beyond the comprehension of Trinity! Who else can even attempt to know you?

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Lord Murugan is also described as One who is 'more' than anyone else (அதிகா) - This a form of Bhakti where Sri Arunagiri, out of sheer love for the Lord says He is more than anything else.

Lord Murugan is also without sins (அநகா) - He is also without fear (அபயா) - There are lots of pictures of Murugan in Tamil Nadu which have the quote 'Why fear when I am here?' - Lord Murugan is not only fearless, but also removes fear of all his devotees. He holds the Abhaya Mudra (holds His hand in a posture that removes fear from the heart of His devotees)

Lord Murugan showing Abhaya Hastham

Lord Subrahmanya is also the Protector of the city of Amaravathi (அமராபதி காவல) , the city of Devas. It is referred to as Amarapathi in this verse

சூர பயங்கரனே - One who struck fear in the heart of Surapadman. The evil Asura Surapadman was one who never had fear. He struck terror in all beings in the world, including high Gods. 

Lord Murugan, induced fear in Surapadman's heart during His fight. Hence Lord is referred to as One who struck terror in Sura's heart. 

References
[1] https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/mandukya-upanishad-karika-bhashya/d/doc143592.html


[2] http://www.astrojyoti.com/bhajagovindamstotra.htm

[3] http://arunachalagrace.blogspot.com/2008/04/lord-shiva-at-arunachala.html