Why Should God Fight?
A rational question can arise thus:The Lord is all-powerful; He is capable of destroying Soorapanman and his clan within a second by His very thought; so why did He have to fight for six days? Equally rational is the truth that God does not do anything without a reason.
The author of Kantha Puraanam says ‘Sooran Poar’ is one of the divine games of theLord. When Soorapanman, along with his mighty army, comes to the battle field on the sixth day, the Devas were taken aback by his mighty appearance. The king of the Devas, Indra, runs to Thirumaal (Vishnu) and expresses his fear. Thirumaal explains the Supreme nature of Lord Muruhan and wipes out the anxiety and fear of Indra. While relieving Indra’s anxiety, Thirumaal says thus: “If Lord Muruhan intends to destroy Sooran and his clan within an eye’s wink, He can do so with His smile, His anger, His words or His look; whoelse can perform such valiant deeds except the unparalleled Lord Himself?” The Tamil verse is as follows:
“Sooranae mudhaloar thammaiimaipinil tholaikka unnin
Mooralaal aduvan; kondamunivinaal aduvan; vaaymaic
Cheerinaal aduvan; Naattaccheyhaiyaal aduvan; endraal
Naerilaa mudhalvan vanmaiyaavarae nihal(z)tthat paalaar?”
(unnin=if (one) thinks; mooral=smile;aduvan= He will destroy;
munivu=anger; naattam=look)
The Almighty plays His divine games for the benefit of His devotees. Lord Muruhan fought against Soorapanman and His brothers to show the Devas and others the greatness of the penance performed by them and the power of the boons granted to them by Lord Siva. Lord Muruhan says to Singgamuhaasuran, “ Singgamuhaa, do you think that I have been fighting with you thus far? I showed to the Devas the greatness of the boons given to you by My Father. I pretended to fight thus far. Let us begin our serious fight hereafter”.
One more important point is to be noted. Soorapanman and his brothers were greater devotees of Lord Siva, than us. They went through severe penance for many years in order to have the vision of Lord Siva. When they found no sign of Lord Siva, they cut their limbs and put them in the sacrificial fire and were getting prepared to give their lives for the sake of Siva by jumping into the flame. When such great devotees do cruel deeds, it becomes an obligation on the part of God to subdue unrighteousness, uphold righteousness and save the affected party. Nevertheless, before punishing Soorapanman, Lord Muruhan sends a peace mission to him. Lord Muruhan displays His omnipotence in many ways. On the fifth day of the Kantha Sashti festival, the Lord gave him the spiritual wisdom to see His all-pervading Universal Form.
Visvaroobam is the all-pervading form assumed by God. Everything inclusive of all deities, worlds, living things, rivers, mountains, planets, plants and creepers will be contained in this form. There will not be a thing that is not contained in this form.
Despite such grace and concern of God, Soorapanman did not give up his arrogance. Therefore, Lord Muruhan had to destroy Sooran in order to save the other souls; but, Lord Muruhan accepted him as His vehicle (peacock) and His flag’s emblem (rooster) because of his commendable devotion. This clearly shows that the six-day battle is an illustration of God’s intense grace and kindness towards His devotees.