return to Kailaayam, and while on his way, near Sathanur village (a village near Aaduthurai of Cauveri Delta area), he saw a group of cows crying. He went near the cows to discover that their cowherd, Moolan, was dead, having been bitten by a snake. He was very touched by the sight of the cows that he wept in sorrow and decided to use his Oham (yogic power) and move his soul from his body to that of the dead cowherd's, leaving his own body inside a tree log. On waking up in the body of the cowherd, the cows became happy; then he navigated them to the village. He then returned to the place where he left his body, to return to his own body. To his surprise, his actual body had disappeared from the tree log, and was nowhere to be found. At this moment, he heard a divine voice from the sky (Lord Sivan) who told him that he was the one who made his body to disappear. Lord Sivan told him he did that because Lord Sivan wanted Sundara Nathar to spread his teachings through the body of Moolan; this way, every common person would get enlightened through the knowledge spread in Moolan's body, because of the simple dialect of a cowherd man using the Tamil Language compared to Sundara Nathar's own body which would have used an advanced and literary version of the Tamil language that would make it very difficult for the common people to understand and comprehend. Thus, from that day onwards he was known by the name of Thirumoolar (from Moolar, the name of the cowherd; the prefix Thiru means 'respected'). He was deeply immersed in thapam (meditation) under a peepul tree in Thiruvavaduthurai and received holy hymns in Tamil. Three thousand holy hymns have been documented in the book called Tirumantiram. The exact years of these events are unknown. See also Agastya Kalangi Nathar Bogar Patanjali Thirumandhiram References External links Thirumanthiram with Tamil explanation — Tamil version of Thirumanthiram Tirumantiram — English version of Thirumanthiram Nayanars Indian Shaivite religious leaders Hindu philosophers and theologians Indian yogis Indian Hindu saints