The Story of Amarneethiyar

In the Chozha kingdom, in a wealthy town called Pazhaiyarai, lived a rich and honest merchant named Amarneethiyar. Despite his great fortune, his true devotion was to the god Shiva. He used his wealth to serve Shiva's followers, providing them with feasts and clothes.

During a festival, Amarneethiyar and his family were personally serving devotees when Shiva appeared, disguised as a young holy man. The holy man had two loin cloths, and he gave one to Amarneethiyar for safekeeping while he went to bathe in the river. He warned that it was a special cloth and must be kept dry. Amarneethiyar carefully stored the cloth away.

But Shiva, wanting to test Amarneethiyar's devotion, made the cloth disappear. When the holy man returned, he was wet from the rain and demanded his dry loin cloth back. Amarneethiyar searched everywhere but couldn't find it. He was filled with guilt and offered the holy man a new, high-quality cloth to replace the lost one.

The holy man refused, accusing Amarneethiyar of trying to steal his valuable possession. He insisted that the only way to resolve the matter was to weigh a new cloth against the wet loin cloth he was still wearing. Amarneethiyar agreed and brought out a scale.

He placed the holy man's wet loin cloth on one side and began piling new cloths on the other. But no matter how many he added, the scale wouldn't balance. He then added all his jewels, gold, and other wealth, but it was still not enough.

With nothing left, Amarneethiyar asked the holy man for permission to sit on the scale himself with his family. The holy man agreed. After praying to Shiva to show their true devotion, Amarneethiyar, his wife, and his son all stepped onto the scale. Immediately, the scale balanced.

As the world watched in awe, Shiva appeared on his sacred bull with his consort Parvati. He praised Amarneethiyar for his pure devotion, which was more valuable than all the riches in the world. The scale then became a heavenly chariot, carrying Amarneethiyar and his family to Shiva's divine home. His story is a powerful testament to the idea that true devotion is an offering of the self.