(adi Sankara) 18 Killed Kapalika Kirakasan Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

After Tirupati, Sankara moved,
And twelve places, he visited,
Where Jyotilingams kept a guard
O’er the country’s every ward.

In praise of those Lingams
He sang in dedication to them
A divine song “Dvaadasa
Jyotirlinga Stothra.”

At Srisailam, he sang
A praiseworthy divine song,
“Sivanandalahari, ” its name,
Spontaneously that came.

Near the Srisailam temple
There was a thick jungle
With no human habitations,
But for dangerous Kabalikas.

A garland of human skulls,
Lord Siva wore at His will,
So Kabali, by this name,
At that time, Siva became.

Those wild jungle men,
Sacrificing life of men,
And wearing skull-garlands
Were known as Kabalikas.

This tribal Chief Kirakasan,
A wild, brute, and ruffian,
To kill Sankara, his enemy,
Waited for an opportunity.

He had no tolerance,
For Sankara’s non-violence.
So, he wanted to offer
Sankara’s head in the altar.

Sankara was Siva, the fact,
This brute didn’t know, yet,
He wanted to get his head
And offer it to the same Lord.

That Sankara was liberal,
He knew it very well.
So he asked, “I want your head.”
To offer it to Siva, my God.”

Sankara laughed and said,
If you want my head
You’re free to take
For some use to make.”

The brute raised his sword,
To cut Sankara’s head,
But Padma Pada suddenly came
And into pieces tore him.

Padma Pada had worshiped,
Earlier Narasimha, as his God,
The Lord with the head of a lion
And the body of a man.

So, he became Narasimha,
To save his Guru Sankara,
Who then prayed Narasimha
For His act to restore Dharma.

Sankara then went to Badrinath,
A pilgrim center in the North,
Where Lord Vishnu one day
Appeared on his way.

The Lord told him, “My idol,
The one most peaceful,
In the River bank you’ll find
Buried under the sand.”

“You dig it out.
And install it,
For my grace,
In this place.

Sankara did the same.
And it had its famous name
As Badrinarayanan Temple,
Visited by all people.