In his Kandar Anubhuti, Arunagirinatha wonders if Murugan is the sky, earth, fire, water or air? Or is He more than these five elements? Can we say He is the embodiment of the Vedas? But the Vedas themselves seek Him. Is Murugan the mind? He is unaffected by the three malams that Saiva Siddhanta describes. Murugan cannot be restricted by any definition, said So.So. Meenakshisundaram, in a discourse. The questions that Arunagirinatha asks in Kandar Anubhuti are similar to ideas that he expresses in an earlier work, Kandar Alankaram. Murugan is not sareeri (One with a body ) or asareeri (One without a body). Through the questions, Arunagirinatha is, in fact, explaining his own spiritual experience. In the course of his spiritual quest, he must have asked himself all these questions, and must have got the answers through Murugan’s grace. Attachment to his family and attachment to material possessions are fetters that keep him from reaching Murugan’s feet. Was Murugan not the one who killed Soorapadman with His vel (spear)? Was He not the God who destroyed the Krauncha mountain? Arunagirinatha asks Murugan if it is fair to let him perish.
‘Thagumo [is it fair] Arunagirinatha asks twice, to emphasise the need for help from Murugan. He refers to Murugan as ‘thodu velavan,’ to show that Murugan just has to touch [thodu] His spear for us to be saved. In Thiruppugazh, Arunagirinatha refers to wife, children and relatives as a net that has trapped him.
