True devotee of Lord Siva

Great philosophers are always driven to seek answers to questions that have a way of benefiting future generations. Appayya Dikshita was one such. An exceptional debater, philosophical expounder and equally famed for encouraging pandits, an ardent devotee of Siva, he was once assailed by a great doubt: was his Siva bhakti indeed true, all pervading or was it a superficial one? He decided to test himself; to which end, he drank the juice of datura seeds ( oomathangai in Tamil). Before drinking it, he instructed his sishyas to meticulously record all that he said in that state (of intoxication). His students diligently compiled his utterings, and the compilation is the 50-verse devotional work, Atmarpana Stuti. The essence of the work is to surrender to Parameswaran, said Giridhar Sharma.