tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39613581052140082842024-03-19T10:52:37.939+05:30Arunachala and Ramana MaharshiDavid Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.comBlogger137125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-867675905220779062015-01-18T14:19:00.000+05:302015-01-19T07:18:00.783+05:30A series of new videos on Ramana Maharshi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Last winter I agreed to tell stories of Bhagavan, his teachings and his devotees while a French-Canadian film maker Henri Jolicoeur filmed me. After receiving permission from the president of Ramanasrama<span style="font-size: small;">m, I gave talks and told stories in many places that had been associated with Bhagavan: the Arunachaleswara Temple, Skandashram, Virupaksha Cave, Guhai Namasivaya Temple, Gurumurtham, Pavalakundru, Pachaiamman Koil, the Old Hall, the ashram dining room, the Mother's Temple, a</span>nd so on. I also visited Palakottu and told many stories of the devotees who had lived there during Bhagavan's lifetime. These included accounts of Viswanatha Swami, Annamalai Swami, Ganapati Muni, S. S. Cohen, Guy Hague, Ramanatha Brahmachari, Munagala Venkataramaiah, Kunju Swami, Lakshman Sarma, Paul Brunton and B. V. Narasimhaswami.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The project was plagued by multiple technical problems. Henri's rather expensive camera broke down at one point and ended up being sent to Singapore to be fixed since there was nowhere in India that seemed to know what to do with it. Some of the remaining film was shot on a smaller replacement camera, but when Henri returned to Canada, a hard drive crash damaged some of the files beyond repair. A few of them only survived as low-resolution flv files on Youtube, whereas other talks disappeared completely. When Henri lost the services of the editor who normally helped him to edit his videos, I volunteered to take over the editing process, even though I had no knowledge or experience of doing this kind of work.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Fortunately, serendipitously, Bhagavan sent me two devotees who were professionals in their field: Merlyn Haycraft, a professional short-documentary maker from London, and Jordon Loder, a professional sound engineer who had come to Tiruvannamalai for a few months. We set to work, salvaging what we could. A few weeks ago my brother-in-law, Martin Sammtleben, a professional photographer, visited me. This gave me the opportunity to refilm some of the portions that had gone missing, and re-record the sound tracks of talks where there was too much hiss, or the words were undecipherable. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The first results of our efforts were posted on my <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBcqQGNwcSEwlv6gJXP-U9A" target="_blank">Youtube channel</a> yesterday and this morning: a 37-minute video that tells the story of Lakshmi the cow, and a 28-minute film that tells stories connected with the Old Hall that Bhagavan lived and taught in for many years. Over the next few weeks I hope to post many more videos, hopefully at the rate of about one a week.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I apologise in advance for the amateurishness of some of the films. Film-making is not one of my skills, and I have been thrust into this job through the circumstances outlined above.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">If you like these films and want to be notified when more are released, you can subscribe to my <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBcqQGNwcSEwlv6gJXP-U9A" target="_blank">Youtube channel</a> and receive a notification when any new films on Sri Ramana are uploaded there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Finally, here are my first two offerings:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/M-POLMrAspw?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/D0biWI6ZvzI?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">At some point in the near future I will add French, Spanish and English subtitles to the video of the Old Hall. If anyone reading this would like to provide the text for subtitles in any other language, I can provide a pdf of the script that has an English transcript, and the times when each sentence was spoken. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Enjoy!</span></div>
David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com71tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-70261938481957581042014-05-28T20:59:00.000+05:302014-05-28T20:59:00.443+05:30Extracts from my Books <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Over the last year or so I made a couple of stuttering and ultimately failed attempts to upgrade my site (www.davidgodman.org). The design and coding were done twelve years ago and are now in need of a major overhaul. I am about to begin another attempt but as a stop-gap measure I recently made a new site that contains extracts from all my books, along with information on where they can be obtained. It can be viewed here:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://davidgodman.wix.com/ramanamaharshibooks"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_8_1401281399763_19"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_1_1401281399763_24574">http://davidgodman.wix.com/ramanamaharshibooks</span></span></a></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_8_1401281399763_19"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_1_1401281399763_24574">The site was made from a template provided by a company called Wix. It is simple and easy to use and I can recommend it to anyone who wants to put out a site, but who doesn't have any knowledge of coding.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_8_1401281399763_19"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_1_1401281399763_24574"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_8_1401281399763_19"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_1_1401281399763_24574">Since there is a built-in feature on the Wix site that enables blogging and the posting of photo galleries, slide-shows and videos, I plan to use it to add photo and video presentations. To start the ball rolling I have uploaded a gallery of photos that were taken by Eliot Elisofon when he visited Tiruvannamalai in 1949:</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_8_1401281399763_19"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_1_1401281399763_24574"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://davidgodman.wix.com/ramanamaharshibooks#!photo-2/cos9"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_8_1401281399763_19"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_1_1401281399763_24574">http://davidgodman.wix.com/ramanamaharshibooks#!photo-2/cos9</span></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_8_1401281399763_19"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_1_1401281399763_24574"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_8_1401281399763_19"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_1_1401281399763_24574">Eliot Elisofon was the photographer who took the photos for the article on Bhagavan that appeared in the 1949 article in LIFE magazine. He took many additional photos that were not included in this article. I have collected all the ones I could find and put them together in this slide show. It runs automatically, but you can stop it with your mouse to see captions or expand the photos. </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_8_1401281399763_19"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_1_1401281399763_24574">The 'Photo' section also contains a collection of old black-and-white pictures of Arunachala that I have collected in recent years.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://davidgodman.wix.com/ramanamaharshibooks#!photos/c1i7j"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_8_1401281399763_19"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_1_1401281399763_24574">http://davidgodman.wix.com/ramanamaharshibooks#!photos/c1i7j</span></span></span></a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_8_1401281399763_19"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_1_1401281399763_24574">I love old photos of Tiruvannamalai and Arunachala and have many more that I will post in future presentations. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_8_1401281399763_19"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_1_1401281399763_24574"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_8_1401281399763_19"><span class="yiv9180863274" id="yiv9180863274yui_3_16_0_1_1401281399763_24574"><br /></span></span></span></div>
David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-38051664010377838502013-11-05T19:07:00.002+05:302013-11-05T19:07:58.223+05:30Guru Vachaka Kovai in Telugu<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">A couple of days ago I was presented with one of the first copies of a translation of <i>Guru Vachaka Kovai</i>
in Telugu. It was the full text of the version prepared by T. V.
Venkatasubramanian, Robert Butler and myself, minus the introduction and
the end material. This is the cover:</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtE9MW1g02K3beljvHxc3Gwk4bHKkWr15-6MgiL2y8B0GL2MGIsvDmTN4Rg1BxPIsrCKvgloQJjkqzPrDckmSaoj9Zr-P0L-24Pvdkoxd23jbGoz5sfXCn97YzR09oizMk7o4_6SN7QI4/s1600/GVK+Cover+051013-001.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtE9MW1g02K3beljvHxc3Gwk4bHKkWr15-6MgiL2y8B0GL2MGIsvDmTN4Rg1BxPIsrCKvgloQJjkqzPrDckmSaoj9Zr-P0L-24Pvdkoxd23jbGoz5sfXCn97YzR09oizMk7o4_6SN7QI4/s640/GVK+Cover+051013-001.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">I
have been assured by a devotee in Hyderabad, who has translated
Bhagavan's books into Telugu himself, that the translation is a good
one.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">I was
gratified to discover that this edition, which has been brought out by
Ramana Bhakta Mandali, Bangalore, has been initially published as a free
offering to devotees. Only a hundred copies have been printed, and
these are being distributed, free of charge, to Telugu devotees and to
Ramana centres in Andhra Pradesh. If this initial offering is a success
and meets with the approval of Telugu devotees, it is hoped that a
second and more commercial printing can be made. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">If any Telugu-speaking devotees want more information about this book, they should contact</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">C. L.Giridhar, General Secretary, Ramana Bhakta Mandali, Bangalore,<br />No 377, F- Block, 12th Cross, 16th Main,<br />Sahakara Nagar, Bangalore –560092<br />email: ramanabhaktamandali@gmail.com<br />Blog: http://www.ramana-bhakta.blogspot.in/</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">This is
latest in a long line of books by Muruganar that have been subsidised by
dedicated devotees. In the 1930s and 40s Ramanapadananda raised money
to publish Muruganar's works in Tamil. I wrote about his efforts a few
years ago on this blog: <a href="http://sri-ramana-maharshi.blogspot.in/2008/05/ramanapadananda.html">http://sri-ramana-maharshi.blogspot.in/2008/05/ramanapadananda.html</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">In the
late 1970s Professor Swaminathan persuaded the New Delhi government to
bring out all Muruganar's unpublished verses, which were being edited
and compiled by Sadhu Om, in a subsidised series. The resulting nine
Tamil volumes of <i>Sri Ramana Jnana Bodham</i> went on sale at a remarkable Rs 10 per volume. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">After
Ramanapadananda handed on the responsibility of publishing Muruganar's
Tamil books to Sri Ramanasramam, it reprinted several of Muruganar's
titles, knowing that they were unlikely to cover their costs. T. V.
Venkatasubramanian told me several years ago that he had edited one of
these books for the ashram. When he asked about a year later how many
copies had been sold, he was told 'About ten'. That wasn't the full
extent of the distribution: many copies were given away to Tamil
devotees who had the necessary literary skill and interest to go through
the text.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">When we (Venkatasubramanian, Robert and myself) brought out our own English version of the <i>Guru Vachaka Kovai</i>,
two devotees heard about our project and offered to subsidise the book
for readers in India who might not have been able to buy the book if it
was sold at a commercially viable price. These large subsidies have
enabled me to sell copies to the Ramanasramam bookstore at a price that,
per copy, is less than the cost of printing the book. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Some of
my other books have also found unexpected sponsors. Many years ago a
Korean Zen monk, Daesung Sunim, came across a copy of <i>Be As You Are</i>
and decided to translate it into Korean. When he had finished, he
contacted Penguin in London and asked for the right to publish the book
in South Korea. Penguin had already given the rights to a Korean
publishing house, which was not interested in bringing out Daesung's
translation. He consulted a lawyer who informed him that if he printed
the book himself and gave it away free of charge, he would not be
violating the rights of the South Korean publishing company. In South
Korea monks are often sponsored by industrial companies. Daesung found a
business house that was willing to pay for the printing, and he
received a big enough donation to print 5,000 copies. Daesung then went
on a tour of Zen monasteries and gave away a free copy of <i>Be As You Are</i>
to every Zen monk in South Korea who wanted to read it. For several
years afterwards I would occasionally be accosted and greeted by Korean
Zen monks in Ramanasramam. They were immediately recognisable by their
grey tunics. Most of them didn't know a word of English, but that hadn't
stopped them from making a pilgrimage to Ramanasramam.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">While I was finalising the first printing of <i>Padamalai</i>, I gave it to a devotee to proof read. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">She didn't find many errors, but when she returned it, she asked, 'How much will this cost to print?'</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">When I told her, she wrote me a cheque for the full amount. Reading Muruganar seems to affect some people that way.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Not all
translation stories have such a happy ending. Most English books on
Bhagavan manage to cover their costs, but translations into other
languages often struggle to find customers and publishers. I have
several friends who are sitting on manuscripts of Ramana books, which
they have translated themselves, that no one wants to (or can afford to)
print. If reading these stories has inspired any potential patrons, let
me know, and I will put you in touch with devotees who need help with
their projects.</span><br />
<br /></div>
David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-10729794759084913422013-10-16T07:31:00.001+05:302013-10-16T07:36:26.739+05:30Video Interviews<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">I have been in Colorado, USA, for the last few weeks, staying with my wife who is currently working near Denver. Here I am a couple of days ago, standing in front of a herd of elk who had come down to a picnic area just outside Rocky Mountain National Park.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrC_9iv6D2IigCbBW9hAgswHaJuFDHFqPrC5ITwciE3MeiScfW_cYESlu_99sCYfmCh7DdiI136LtjPm-tQdCv2bXAtoFRr0UcvbW6cl3vYup5TdF4-s_4S43WCkDihUm2MQ3o468Z8v0/s1600/DSCF1164.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrC_9iv6D2IigCbBW9hAgswHaJuFDHFqPrC5ITwciE3MeiScfW_cYESlu_99sCYfmCh7DdiI136LtjPm-tQdCv2bXAtoFRr0UcvbW6cl3vYup5TdF4-s_4S43WCkDihUm2MQ3o468Z8v0/s640/DSCF1164.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">The day before I went to this park I did an interview with Rick Archer for his site 'Buddha at the Gas Pump'. Rick interviews a different spiritual writer or teacher every week and posts the interview on his site. All the interviews he has done can be found here:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.batgap.com/">www.batgap.com</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">His interviews are also posted on Youtube. Here is our conversation, which covered a wide variety of topics:</span><br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/0xayU4f5--I" width="420"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">A few weeks ago Michael James was also interviewed by Rick. This is his interview:</span><br />
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<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/oR2KvWOSPVU?list=UUnlVpm_PkNiFlTWFb0sEUDg" width="420"></iframe>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">There are several more videos of Michael talking about Bhagavan on his Youtube channel:</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/SriRamanaTeachings?feature=watch">http://www.youtube.com/user/SriRamanaTeachings?feature=watch</a> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">A few months ago I also started a Youtube channel and loaded up a few videos that were mostly made in my old house about ten years ago. I also added some extracts from a South African documentary on modern <i>advaita </i>teachers that I featured in a few years ago, and a clip of Annamalai Swami. The channel can be found here:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBcqQGNwcSEwlv6gJXP-U9A/feed?view_as=public">http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBcqQGNwcSEwlv6gJXP-U9A/feed?view_as=public</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">Here is one of the videos I posted. It is a short talk I gave about Robert Adams' early life and his relationship with Bhagavan:</span><br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/KIo0AbN8LzA" width="420"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">I hope to add several more videos in the coming weeks. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">If you want to comment on any of these videos, there are three possible places. There is a forum on the www.batgap.com site where viewers can comment on the weekly video. There are separate forums for mine and Michael's interviews. It is also possible to make comments under the videos on the Youtube site. And, of course, you can also leave a comment on this blog.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">I will be back in Tiruvannamalai soon.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></div>
David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com74tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-55751245304991940792013-03-22T15:41:00.000+05:302013-03-22T15:41:23.780+05:30Sorupa Saram<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Apologies
for the lack of contributions to the blog in recent times. I hope to
remedy that with some long posts later in the year. Meanwhile, I am
happy to announce that I have recently brought out an edition of <i>Sorupa Saram</i>
that contains the original Tamil verses, an English translation of
them, and an introduction that summarises the available information
about its author Sorupananda, his chief disciple, Tattuvaraya.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM5yNTYd-j2iBI7fmHoCWg6LPQOISMWpZc61FLq1NJsz1HiHV2O7dbTE7PI66ucEvqfRYK4N7nlWVjL_6aw8mpr15qzZLuCiCEkgJbzt_qZCPeodZhov7SCcUnbU_AyyjFKumJqqgjdRU/s1600/Sorupa+Saram+for+the+blog.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM5yNTYd-j2iBI7fmHoCWg6LPQOISMWpZc61FLq1NJsz1HiHV2O7dbTE7PI66ucEvqfRYK4N7nlWVjL_6aw8mpr15qzZLuCiCEkgJbzt_qZCPeodZhov7SCcUnbU_AyyjFKumJqqgjdRU/s400/Sorupa+Saram+for+the+blog.jpg" width="252" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Information about the text and its author can be found in one of my earlier posts:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://sri-ramana-maharshi.blogspot.in/2011/05/tattuvaraya-and-sorupananda.html" target="_blank">http://sri-ramana-maharshi.blogspot.in/2011/05/tattuvaraya-and-sorupananda.html</a> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The text has been revised by T. V. Venkatasubramanian and myself since it was published in 2011 on this blog.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The
book is available in India from the Sri Ramanasramam Book Depot. Those
ordering from outside India can obtain it from my site:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://www.davidgodman.org/books/buybooks.shtml" target="_blank">http://www.davidgodman.org/books/buybooks.shtml</a></span></div>
David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-59553384170666381872012-10-27T13:00:00.000+05:302012-10-27T13:00:34.165+05:30New Telugu Book<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The devotees of Annamalai Swami have recently brought out a Telugu edition of <i>Annamalai Swami: Final Talks</i>. Unfortunately, the Ramanasramam management has decided that it does not want to stock this book in the Ramanasramam Book Depot. Telugu-knowing devotees who would like to purchase a copy of this new book should contact Sundaram, Annamalai Swami's former manager, attendant and interpreter. His email address is <span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1351321526594_264"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1351321526594_263"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1351321526594_262"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1351321526594_261">gurudeva000@gmail.com. </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1351321526594_264"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1351321526594_263"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1351321526594_262"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1351321526594_261"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1351321526594_264"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1351321526594_263"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1351321526594_262"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1351321526594_261">Sundaram also has Tamil copies of Annamalai Swami's <i>Final Talks</i> and his <i>Diary</i>.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1351321526594_264" style="font-size: 16px;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1351321526594_263"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1351321526594_262"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1351321526594_261"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE7tcHr4qneQ2RnHcUPLURxhvank8HVyzxli-mYUjdeJ36ck7Mab2FSpYourO12gzC77buOHKBEa6yCSuw_aiMPILsWSudY1y5cKDZEz08b7JAsvim0caae8jd5y-QaRMzhLYbRYJhGR8/s1600/Annamalai+Swami+Telugu+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE7tcHr4qneQ2RnHcUPLURxhvank8HVyzxli-mYUjdeJ36ck7Mab2FSpYourO12gzC77buOHKBEa6yCSuw_aiMPILsWSudY1y5cKDZEz08b7JAsvim0caae8jd5y-QaRMzhLYbRYJhGR8/s320/Annamalai+Swami+Telugu+cover.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1351321526594_264" style="font-size: 16px;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1351321526594_263"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1351321526594_262"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1351321526594_261"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-61378918503871790592012-09-22T09:33:00.000+05:302012-09-22T09:33:27.061+05:30Open Thread<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Ravi just informed me by email that the previous Open Thread, started last year, had reached 5,000 comments, and that it was refusing to take any more. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Please continue all your discussions here.</span></span></div>
</div>
David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com2142tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-25701763571747600492012-07-24T14:15:00.005+05:302012-07-24T16:02:59.279+05:30Annamalai Swami Photos<div align="justify"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">A week or so ago Sundaram Swami, who was both Annamalai Swami's interpreter and his ashram manager, lent me two albums of Annamalai Swami photos. I had asked to see what he had collected since I was planning to include some new photos in the next printing of <i>Final Talks</i>. There were many photos in the album I had never seen before, and I am sure that most readers of this blog will not have seen them before either. I asked for his permission to post some of them here, and he happily agreed.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">First, though, here are some older photos, taken in the 1930s, when Annamalai Swami was working in Ramanasramam. These have been taken from the Sri Ramanasramam Archives and are reproduced here with the kind permission of the ashram president.</span><br /></div><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtCLPu63r0rBiDRSXVlD0GfJc4nCVZC8bGovG_y1DvgtbBrM_1_A830iqN2GjQBsBgzCuqXxHLun3h-heXN-5zHglQRziuvHpfuNR6FcqaPOd1xhDjsrfkNr153Ds8mCFMFNzmdOMDikQ/s1600/Annamalai+Swami+and+Bhagavan.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 257px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtCLPu63r0rBiDRSXVlD0GfJc4nCVZC8bGovG_y1DvgtbBrM_1_A830iqN2GjQBsBgzCuqXxHLun3h-heXN-5zHglQRziuvHpfuNR6FcqaPOd1xhDjsrfkNr153Ds8mCFMFNzmdOMDikQ/s400/Annamalai+Swami+and+Bhagavan.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5768626746008430162" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">This is the cover photo of <i>Living by the Words of Bhagavan</i>. When I was looking for old photos of Annamalai Swami the 1980s, he told me he was usually easy to spot in group pictures because of three features: folded arms, copious <i>vibhuti </i>on the forehead, and a necklace containing a single rudraksha bead.</span><br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_iEnIa560De3cXyqbiiChlwbqAqQFqgP4PtvMAWM0tRWPNBERmDSRF1YD0cvGnVaKODLHnPbHxa454A7Md-Blllop5-6zlTy0mgbrj78RBP1kP0cm8vLsg4qDe2ejWDXgIbHlfsplHcI/s1600/Annamalai+Swami+and+Lakshmi+on+the+hill.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 377px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_iEnIa560De3cXyqbiiChlwbqAqQFqgP4PtvMAWM0tRWPNBERmDSRF1YD0cvGnVaKODLHnPbHxa454A7Md-Blllop5-6zlTy0mgbrj78RBP1kP0cm8vLsg4qDe2ejWDXgIbHlfsplHcI/s400/Annamalai+Swami+and+Lakshmi+on+the+hill.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5768626965391629138" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">In <i>Living by the Words of Bhagavan</i> Annamalai Swami noted, 'In those days [early 1930s] Lakshmi could wander wherever she wished. Sometimes someone would take her to graze near the Samudram Lake, but mostly she stayed in the ashram.'</span><br /><br /><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">In these two photos Annamalai Swami is taking Lakshmi out to graze on the lower slopes of Arunachala.</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAajYwSVbvPMJvpoxCBgx0YXzshSAq8hq90EWpLnP85fQRWWNyNtoNSLnXy5lNGPzVfAjwRJVVVgf6ugEGKt2W_ZXwyNEICYs8gfRyg7vQ5z7woFKuF-GTURMfx-tqqq7jo4iPLPEzRmI/s1600/Annamalai+Swami+and+Lakshmi+out+grazing.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 388px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAajYwSVbvPMJvpoxCBgx0YXzshSAq8hq90EWpLnP85fQRWWNyNtoNSLnXy5lNGPzVfAjwRJVVVgf6ugEGKt2W_ZXwyNEICYs8gfRyg7vQ5z7woFKuF-GTURMfx-tqqq7jo4iPLPEzRmI/s400/Annamalai+Swami+and+Lakshmi+out+grazing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5768627063337430290" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">The next photo, of Annamalai Swami standing outside the ashram kitchen and storeroom in the 1930s, turned up fairly recently in an album of pictures that had been taken or assembled by Dr Mees.</span><br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0b4vjxgJZis-xfv7N7gTe8-pB6emTh5XCdPofmjbqXfKIIhn75X8Yc-SSKC-JqLFUELYKM7X9pp9MPWn8vArinA3XoVJWirbAGbqzRaIAkJy_pKXGTaO_dzvsh2WRSXSXTXlba3YyE2Q/s1600/Annmalai+Swami+outside+the+kitchen.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 276px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0b4vjxgJZis-xfv7N7gTe8-pB6emTh5XCdPofmjbqXfKIIhn75X8Yc-SSKC-JqLFUELYKM7X9pp9MPWn8vArinA3XoVJWirbAGbqzRaIAkJy_pKXGTaO_dzvsh2WRSXSXTXlba3YyE2Q/s400/Annmalai+Swami+outside+the+kitchen.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5768637327695980546" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">The same album contained this photo of Chadwick and Annamalai Swami. I included it in the most recent edition of <i>Living by the Words of Bhagavan</i>.</span><br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhURrfnXdJ5RhfXWdCv-F8bTeucvO8AKRbSReQiee2EoD4doZ5LZkWhpYajvZ9p9gTrbgsQYV5R2r2TSAZ46rGdHm9isvKZgZukelcQWlJdWGTph1C9qvuSDzJptKXbVlzypa66HWJsev0/s1600/Chadwick+and+Annamalai+Swami.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 379px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhURrfnXdJ5RhfXWdCv-F8bTeucvO8AKRbSReQiee2EoD4doZ5LZkWhpYajvZ9p9gTrbgsQYV5R2r2TSAZ46rGdHm9isvKZgZukelcQWlJdWGTph1C9qvuSDzJptKXbVlzypa66HWJsev0/s400/Chadwick+and+Annamalai+Swami.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5768637736939763106" border="0" /></a><br /></div></div><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Next is a cropped extract from an ashram group photo:<br /><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyjUXWln3Te4Y6GJy8RguoRJQGtDpCB2igsyVyL193AGs3nQV1byF6GhzITKgAe25DVnLKWnn44jQc3ZQkV6CB3P2AWkKMFCEJyF3kdM_NI7oWL-aE0jLh_Kpy80Q0uXBcJrXvjBwJQyI/s1600/Annamalai+Swami%252C+top+left%252C+folded+arms.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 384px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyjUXWln3Te4Y6GJy8RguoRJQGtDpCB2igsyVyL193AGs3nQV1byF6GhzITKgAe25DVnLKWnn44jQc3ZQkV6CB3P2AWkKMFCEJyF3kdM_NI7oWL-aE0jLh_Kpy80Q0uXBcJrXvjBwJQyI/s400/Annamalai+Swami%252C+top+left%252C+folded+arms.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5768637159879268034" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Left to right, top row: Annamalai Swami, Ramanatha Brahmachari, not known, Ramaswami Pillai, Kunju Swami.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Sitting: T. P. Ramachandra Iyer, Bhagavan, Chinnaswami.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Here is Annamalai Swami in some other group photos of this era. Look for the man with folded arms, <i>vibhuti</i>, and a rudraksha necklace.</span><br /></div><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihjCTnZGpVXHyzDvsRZ2hcfkn7WZI7b189Pbnj4ja-6njLxICoVcppgFNQN5a6IufdrC4-s-0Z0ebI7MHLe4DmHJidQgzqky4Bkr5Ffr08_HYB6n_9t1sxRrNIIoLElgzfwlh6p00obMs/s1600/Annamalai+Swami%252C+standing+left.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 378px; height: 349px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihjCTnZGpVXHyzDvsRZ2hcfkn7WZI7b189Pbnj4ja-6njLxICoVcppgFNQN5a6IufdrC4-s-0Z0ebI7MHLe4DmHJidQgzqky4Bkr5Ffr08_HYB6n_9t1sxRrNIIoLElgzfwlh6p00obMs/s400/Annamalai+Swami%252C+standing+left.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5768637014263228370" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj71END9532InAsz6kl_1pVPBlwmMmsBRXbDvthWMeTOQeAYWlrBioXKSdgBPced-ZQj-E6iX_Icnfg0Zm0I1jT-L1Os-YqTr-na9zn582hvK8YwJfvOrgrZMPo5SBxK8w7YDno_jHHZuA/s1600/Annamalai+Swami%252C+left%252C+folded+arms.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 265px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj71END9532InAsz6kl_1pVPBlwmMmsBRXbDvthWMeTOQeAYWlrBioXKSdgBPced-ZQj-E6iX_Icnfg0Zm0I1jT-L1Os-YqTr-na9zn582hvK8YwJfvOrgrZMPo5SBxK8w7YDno_jHHZuA/s400/Annamalai+Swami%252C+left%252C+folded+arms.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5768636888836237874" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi233TIWnj20BFU_fwNUCUqbCln6g-ZSdkph1lFna5e9zd8pF3sCiC1za3hLdas1jzh9qGnArTt0qPoGtWqOcdEhvw1_bHm7MTLiNZhrjJzLHug_7EUiTrhcLKt_KKmLo_Suxb5BHcNNbM/s1600/Annamalai+Swami+behind+Bhagavan%252C+top+row%252C+with+folded+arms.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 256px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi233TIWnj20BFU_fwNUCUqbCln6g-ZSdkph1lFna5e9zd8pF3sCiC1za3hLdas1jzh9qGnArTt0qPoGtWqOcdEhvw1_bHm7MTLiNZhrjJzLHug_7EUiTrhcLKt_KKmLo_Suxb5BHcNNbM/s400/Annamalai+Swami+behind+Bhagavan%252C+top+row%252C+with+folded+arms.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5768627229362606066" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">There are two people here with <i>vibhuti</i>, a rudraksha necklace and folded arms. The one in the centre is Annamalai Swami while the one on the extreme left is Madhava Swami, Bhagavan's attendant for most of the 1930s.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span></div><br /><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">There are very few photos of Annamalai Swami from the first forty years (1942-82) he spent in Palakottu, after he left Ramanasramam. The next three are probably from the 1980s:</span><br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmCX46SRzgSfbqVrlmOM4QaQIG2XrTAxo9YHvCLDu_GKb4hIGVjnVVc7KD0zoCGYyaautRQSTu4lJv1F2MQCjZ_OEyrrh085jACajCB2x8LH4zjC-yCV3Aozxu-C_GOCwEi4V7UZuYbjY/s1600/black+and+white+3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmCX46SRzgSfbqVrlmOM4QaQIG2XrTAxo9YHvCLDu_GKb4hIGVjnVVc7KD0zoCGYyaautRQSTu4lJv1F2MQCjZ_OEyrrh085jACajCB2x8LH4zjC-yCV3Aozxu-C_GOCwEi4V7UZuYbjY/s400/black+and+white+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5768637649679650722" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-hSb4PngXq72VSNrVSIpq22u__Y8T0YDhrePeFC_OXeEyA-ybHtMqzlS_1vhNPisDOFgphmx9vdkB9c7gEXtfvvRcNoMHwunnG_HWhnhRdh4aQfADcWn5HAhBTNJVDme2R4eTzlHcd1w/s1600/black+and+white+2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 275px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-hSb4PngXq72VSNrVSIpq22u__Y8T0YDhrePeFC_OXeEyA-ybHtMqzlS_1vhNPisDOFgphmx9vdkB9c7gEXtfvvRcNoMHwunnG_HWhnhRdh4aQfADcWn5HAhBTNJVDme2R4eTzlHcd1w/s400/black+and+white+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5768637511383712226" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvVq4hlgSZXsoZZMh1vgWE1Ueow8rS0piHYSWSGsQNa8WFl-JxZqgOVKbM8a8cr9D1kdeR9qKTRKoW-2HjoBY07bNWBEcKrS35baFoxkjT7HDtQABeRakatRMuq-S3w18MLBEo-yvbEhI/s1600/black+and+white+1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 271px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvVq4hlgSZXsoZZMh1vgWE1Ueow8rS0piHYSWSGsQNa8WFl-JxZqgOVKbM8a8cr9D1kdeR9qKTRKoW-2HjoBY07bNWBEcKrS35baFoxkjT7HDtQABeRakatRMuq-S3w18MLBEo-yvbEhI/s400/black+and+white+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5768637428494889922" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">The next three show Annamalai Swami walking on Arunachala in the 80s or 90s. He went for a walk there every day. Regular visitors to Ramanasramam will note that this area is now well reforested. In Annamalai Swami's later years it was mostly bare rock, lemon grass, and the occasional thorny bush.</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHz-x300sOphlxVhKpGRFT8tDgtHXfTfxe5-VtbZbOToDFQsuFrY0WnZQiDUVdAS5doaNrqdRUoAubk6qcslLRy4QDCuysVz3Vm9EfveIJOJFA17SVSvmrNa8r3Z1NE4fhjVn9kLjaxd0/s1600/Annamalai+Swami+on+the+hill.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 275px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHz-x300sOphlxVhKpGRFT8tDgtHXfTfxe5-VtbZbOToDFQsuFrY0WnZQiDUVdAS5doaNrqdRUoAubk6qcslLRy4QDCuysVz3Vm9EfveIJOJFA17SVSvmrNa8r3Z1NE4fhjVn9kLjaxd0/s400/Annamalai+Swami+on+the+hill.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5768627357866887586" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGOETuuqFHPQecrImWZa5HQr_6a9uBhkve3pbYX_2OAFCYc3S6dNFWNUiI2kq3EYgElKTUECerCZKzQz2bjgkQlvzBV6S1BMFlqGdxLqQFMp1DoEeJhMoQ_Mm-vIeIOMdc6cj3wigHQRo/s1600/Walking+on+Arunachala.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 271px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGOETuuqFHPQecrImWZa5HQr_6a9uBhkve3pbYX_2OAFCYc3S6dNFWNUiI2kq3EYgElKTUECerCZKzQz2bjgkQlvzBV6S1BMFlqGdxLqQFMp1DoEeJhMoQ_Mm-vIeIOMdc6cj3wigHQRo/s400/Walking+on+Arunachala.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5768639115515506354" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoOTIC_Ih-CRFd2RD9TwtsaT-wX9fT_ERqAN1VGFurHT2bWHptBdD4NN9d0VLwis2eM6X6oo1-LJqsN6Xh7fiiGOf67MFOvCeRF86-kLbyDQs0fO1jvwsnDhyphenhyphensCAEIlfxI0eY6FzxDd24/s1600/colour+14.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 259px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoOTIC_Ih-CRFd2RD9TwtsaT-wX9fT_ERqAN1VGFurHT2bWHptBdD4NN9d0VLwis2eM6X6oo1-LJqsN6Xh7fiiGOf67MFOvCeRF86-kLbyDQs0fO1jvwsnDhyphenhyphensCAEIlfxI0eY6FzxDd24/s400/colour+14.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5768638563412697106" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><br /></span><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">This is the small room where Annamalai Swami met with visitors in the 1980s and 90s. The devotee on the floor, reading to him, is Sundaram.</span><br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtpPs3829zaYOV83nlQf7MdvsT_FZT9UgjgO9-yfKB0R-aPspJwL9YnRTZN1iHSTvwqEsUP8WZrl901w94c1aiIjcnBGBXlu0MkJNiJ9cERUkdw22zPji-tunP-gvTnsSvPnA9iCiTtRI/s1600/Annamalai+Swami+wth+Sundaram.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 275px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtpPs3829zaYOV83nlQf7MdvsT_FZT9UgjgO9-yfKB0R-aPspJwL9YnRTZN1iHSTvwqEsUP8WZrl901w94c1aiIjcnBGBXlu0MkJNiJ9cERUkdw22zPji-tunP-gvTnsSvPnA9iCiTtRI/s400/Annamalai+Swami+wth+Sundaram.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5768636758112072802" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><br /></span><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">And finally, here is a selection of photos I found in Sundaram's albums. They were all taken inside Annamalai Swami's ashram in the 80s and 90s. The final photo is of Annamalai Swami's <i>samadhi </i>shrine.</span><br /></div><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgigvin1bJ4rHD0_Gqmi6yeXGm63hGD73XqJB3cf6EFyrphl1WjFjs_PoGGbNRHeafiTYKHMWwL7xH0JyxMbDVjGxuZMLCsn8ZAJzFQUsDYbiqL6d9X28FqZgciMdONU7xe-PZVVjspVA4/s1600/colour+23.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 259px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgigvin1bJ4rHD0_Gqmi6yeXGm63hGD73XqJB3cf6EFyrphl1WjFjs_PoGGbNRHeafiTYKHMWwL7xH0JyxMbDVjGxuZMLCsn8ZAJzFQUsDYbiqL6d9X28FqZgciMdONU7xe-PZVVjspVA4/s400/colour+23.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5768638970340892434" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpBopbII86PBikw5v_gcdy6NoeS9ZiSqREzVcUb8fMApnK1rNxXPfdFAVq35OUzUxMFU0JScAzN3Ya3aVU8rmC75EEiVGMxYsbgaSva9IGgO3s8l2bmcCksGmeTC2T_-UjICJjD0V45z8/s1600/colour+22.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpBopbII86PBikw5v_gcdy6NoeS9ZiSqREzVcUb8fMApnK1rNxXPfdFAVq35OUzUxMFU0JScAzN3Ya3aVU8rmC75EEiVGMxYsbgaSva9IGgO3s8l2bmcCksGmeTC2T_-UjICJjD0V45z8/s400/colour+22.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5768638956272379826" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqBXvgyh1UaZzfsfLh9niUFvCg1rBEeXAF4lkuxh-dpokwNhPQZUaUbAsEFzPnHUiTkA7IVUu-GdMVe_9TrMrIRcGuRUgeL3nd5aUzJ85iWGHw-DEnkcj1QeYndgjZtJUeSTYhzQStU_Q/s1600/colour+21.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 264px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqBXvgyh1UaZzfsfLh9niUFvCg1rBEeXAF4lkuxh-dpokwNhPQZUaUbAsEFzPnHUiTkA7IVUu-GdMVe_9TrMrIRcGuRUgeL3nd5aUzJ85iWGHw-DEnkcj1QeYndgjZtJUeSTYhzQStU_Q/s400/colour+21.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5768638948199880242" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip_Wc9H1lylGdcPFyVpnuBN-OeXj9Zq9D9nzmddIL0pJFPUMfX95H7usjwgtnwEynJH1qzDcfH1_r3Ln-YcovZXaF1_BCZyMPMAczKgw2Sdb66xA0DzvgdFFYP3vBRAJnvNMOOwcFXTBE/s1600/colour+20.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 275px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip_Wc9H1lylGdcPFyVpnuBN-OeXj9Zq9D9nzmddIL0pJFPUMfX95H7usjwgtnwEynJH1qzDcfH1_r3Ln-YcovZXaF1_BCZyMPMAczKgw2Sdb66xA0DzvgdFFYP3vBRAJnvNMOOwcFXTBE/s400/colour+20.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5768638943724016834" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg84PP1jY9_z_GtGgnBsz73HHt2pRIyDWf7CasvO7ijALhaUOvb-coHOITrjUO4Ks-7jehIeeXS6JqQ3KrHvj-9Gn5mWDKUx24CBB0khzjupr5Pfr2eRalcGtRCtK-lQLkm0RsmPzk7WDU/s1600/colour+17.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg84PP1jY9_z_GtGgnBsz73HHt2pRIyDWf7CasvO7ijALhaUOvb-coHOITrjUO4Ks-7jehIeeXS6JqQ3KrHvj-9Gn5mWDKUx24CBB0khzjupr5Pfr2eRalcGtRCtK-lQLkm0RsmPzk7WDU/s400/colour+17.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5768638577776653858" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPDn-DXr5qKOBFXn_nqFYVaJW5S_pD3KcxsQpJlFyfkbJfR1sDdQnr4RhBQZ3Pqj75gcNYkKrwkGj8NHF42DqPQrLdxLsuRNlMrry3d0VysijcJPIu5Hc4-OcWHRRKuAW8np3SsHiA4dw/s1600/colour+15.jpg"><img style="display:block; 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margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 278px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlTM9Z-pXcooPZYKnQuaVRHRuAhbmT9U3Tbj8vyQZME9MmpmRFzDBabn9FjYapthqgO8eSXN5tWIiY1vroHLIJJHWMx1qqUAp5uGyGyBb0wEVSNZsG-N8A0m9FWgnGAbm_N7AWoaW8kcs/s400/colour+5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5768638033894391458" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOF-K8UVqkvvbbRD62Aj54-4O4kXrVvoIpvlEQ3QDQrKXyJA6r3HZgcIhHAcHTnMX5TDFqVLEmzXMWt7TfNoe0-ior8GPKVNw46OIzcRKHLg1ovuW2tg8yNycELmDFd_9o2kt0r_RoJV4/s1600/samadhi+building.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOF-K8UVqkvvbbRD62Aj54-4O4kXrVvoIpvlEQ3QDQrKXyJA6r3HZgcIhHAcHTnMX5TDFqVLEmzXMWt7TfNoe0-ior8GPKVNw46OIzcRKHLg1ovuW2tg8yNycELmDFd_9o2kt0r_RoJV4/s400/samadhi+building.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5768638979830126690" border="0" /></a>David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com43tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-30409463943705835472012-07-22T14:06:00.006+05:302012-07-22T14:13:39.375+05:30Kumaradeva<div align="justify"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><i>Apologies for my long absence. I haven't felt much like writing in the last few months, even though I have several big projects that are still awaiting completion.<br /><br />Here is an article I recently co-wrote with T. V. Venkatasubramanian. The biographical information all comes from </i>Kumaradevar Sastra Kovai<i>, by P Arumugam Mudaliar, published by Golden Electric Press, 1923.</i><br /></span><br /></div> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language: AR-SAfont-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" ></span></span><br /><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Kumaradeva, a Karnataka king who renounced his throne to attain liberation, was part of a distinguished lineage of Gurus who lived and taught in South India in the 16th and 17th centuries. According to his hagiography, Kumaradeva had spent his penultimate incarnation in Mallikarjuna, nowadays known as Sri Sailam, in Andhra Pradesh. In that life he was performing <i>nishkama tapas</i> – rigorous and selfless meditation – and directing it towards Lord Siva. He had a companion, another <i>sadhu</i> who was performing <i>tapas </i>alongside him.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Siva became aware of this anonymous <i>sadhu’s</i> strenuous efforts and decided to manifest before him to offer assistance.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">‘Devotee, what boon do you want?’ he enquired.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">The <i>sadhu </i>had been harbouring a request in his mind, but when he opened his mouth to speak, something completely different came out. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">The details of the unplanned request are not known, but they were bad enough to cause great anger in Siva, who cursed him with the following words: ‘May you become a <i>jatamuni </i>[a kind of demon with long matted hair]!’</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">This was a not a curse for some future life; the transformation was immediate.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Shocked by this sudden turn of events, the devotee prostrated at Siva’s feet and pleaded with him.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">‘I made a mistake by not asking for what I really desired. Supreme Being! What can I do now? When can I be released from this curse?’</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Siva gave him the following prescription: ‘Go to Vriddhachalam [a town near Chidambaram] and live there on the branches of the mature bodhi tree that is growing on the bank on the Manimutta River. The devotee who has been performing <i>tapas </i>next to you will, in his next life, be born as a king in the Karnataka region. After ruling there for a brief period, he will develop a distaste for worldly life that will lead him to Peraiyur Santalinga Swami. He will attain liberation through the grace of this swami. His Guru will then instruct him to go to Vriddhachalam where he will stay under the same bodhi tree in which you will be living as a <i>jatamuni</i>. If you prostrate to him and beg him to release you, you will be freed from your curse.’</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">‘When will he attain liberation?’ asked the <i>jatamuni</i>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Siva replied, ‘He has already taken five consecutive pure incarnations. In each one he performed intense <i>nishkama tapas</i> and directed it towards me. This is his sixth pure birth. In his next life he will attain liberation.’</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Saying, ‘This is my good fortune,’ the <i>jatamuni </i>took leave of Siva, went to Vriddhachalam, took up residence in the tree specified by Siva, and waited for the time when he would be released from his curse.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">The destinies ordained by Siva then began to unfold. The devotee who had been doing <i>tapas </i>with the <i>jatamuni </i>took a new birth as Kumaradeva in the Karnataka region. He ruled there as a king for a short period of time before taking <i>sannyasa</i>. After his renunciation, he asked his former chief minister to send a message to Peraiyur Santalinga Swami that gave details of his history, his renunciation, and his desire to see him. Then, without waiting for an answer, he went there in person and fell at the Guru’s feet.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Santalinga Swami wanted to test the maturity of Kumaradeva.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">He looked at his <i>kaiettu tambiran</i>, a scribe-disciple who always stood near the Guru in order to write down important teachings, and said, ‘<i>Appa</i> [a term of endearment], this person looks like a king. He is not fit for this path. Ask him to go home and rule his kingdom again.’</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">The scribe was a mature man who could see or intuit that eighteen distinct marks that are said to appear only in those true devotees who have intense and extreme maturity were all manifesting in this former king. Since he did not want to disobey his Guru or reveal this information to Kumaradeva, he contrived to pass on the information to Santalinga Swami in sign language.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Santalinga Swami was aware of all this himself. Softening his stance a little, he turned to the <i>tambiran </i>and said, ‘Tell him to go outside and cut grass for my bullocks’.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Kumaradeva was given a sickle, along with a rope to tie the cut grass with, and was dispatched to the nearby fields where he joined a group of <i>pallars </i>(members of an agricultural caste) who were already engaged in cutting grass.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Kumaradeva held a bunch of grass in his left hand and attempted to cut it near the ground with his sickle. However, being completely inexperienced, he only succeeded in inflicting a severe wound on the hand that was holding the grass. Instead of getting upset about the gaping wound, he got angry with his right hand for being so incompetent. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">The <i>pallars</i>, who had been observing the strange and unskilled behaviour of the new grass cutter, approached him and asked him who he was.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">‘Oh, I am just a worker who has been asked to cut grass to feed the bullocks that pull Santalinga Swami’s cart’.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">The <i>pallars </i>were not convinced. His incompetence at one of the most basic agricultural tasks, combined with his aristocratic bearing, led them to believe that he might be a king. When they saw that he was incapable of accomplishing the simple task that had been assigned to him, they took pity on him, cut the grass that was required, and tied it with the rope that Kumaradava had been given. They then lifted it up and placed it on his head so he could walk off with it. Unaccustomed to bearing heavy loads, Kumaradeva’s head buckled under the weight. Realising that Kumaradeva did not have the necessary neck muscles to carry the grass to its destination, the <i>pallars </i>carried it to the <i>math </i>and placed it outside the door.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">On the two succeeding days Kumaradeva was again sent out to cut grass for Santalinga Swami’s bullocks, and each time the <i>pallars </i>cut the grass for him and delivered it to the math. On the third day the worker who was carrying Kumaradeva’s load for him met the <i>tambiran </i>who had conveyed Santalinga Swami’s original orders. He told him about the strange new worker who couldn’t either cut or carry grass and who had slashed his hand on his first attempt. The <i>tambiran </i>reported these developments to Santalinga Swami.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Santalinga Swami decided that he would test Kumaradeva a little more. He came outside and got angry with him, just to see how he would react. Kumaradeva became a little frightened when Santalinga Swami verbally attacked him, but other than retreating a little and standing some distance away, he displayed no reaction to the assault.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">That night Santalinga Swami called his <i>tambiran </i>and said, ‘Pack two separate cooked-rice parcels for myself and Kumaradeva. Hang them on opposite ends of a pole and give the pole to Kumaradeva. Then ask him to accompany me with it.’</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">They set off together, with Santalinga Swami walking in front of Kumaradeva.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">After travelling for some time Santalinga Swami turned round and rebuked him, shouting ‘Why are you delaying?’</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Kumaradeva replied fearfully, ‘On one side the <i>acchu lingam</i> [axis <i>lingam</i>] is tugging me, and on the other side the <i>gana yuddham</i> are pulling.’ </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">In this highly cryptic pronouncement the <i>acchu lingam</i> represents the Self while the <i>gana yuddham</i> (the hordes of warring warriors) represent the outward-moving senses who are always trying to take attention away from the Self.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">This enigmatic but profound reply sent Santalinga Swami into a state of ecstasy. He sat down on the bank of a nearby tank with Kumaradeva and asked him to mix the rice from the two packages. Kumaradeva obeyed the command and then served Santalinga Swami, treating the rice as <i>naivedya </i>[sanctified food offered to a deity]. When Santalinga Swami had indicated that he had received enough, Kumaradeva took some himself, treating his portion as <i>prasad</i>. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">The two of them spoke together before Santalinga Swami decided it was time to return to the <i>math</i>. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">This meeting was a turning point in their outward relationship. Kumaradeva began to perform <i>sadhana </i>under the supervision of Santalinga Swami and soon realised the Self through his Guru’s grace. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Since Siva had ordained that the enlightened Kumaradeva would one day travel to Vriddhachalam to release the <i>jatamuni </i>from his curse, Santalinga Swami turned to him one day, addressed him as ‘Maharaja,’ and ordered him to visit that town.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Kumaradeva took leave of his Guru and began to travel there on foot. As he was walking through a forest near Chinnasalem, Pazhamalainathar (Siva residing at Vriddhachalam) appeared in the form of a brahmin. Knowing that Kumaradeva was walking towards his town, he set up a wayside stall that served free drinking water to travellers. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">As Kumaradeva approached, the brahmin addressed him saying, ‘You seem to be exhausted. Drinking water is available here. Drink as much as you want and quench your thirst.’</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Kumaradeva accepted the brahmin’s offer before continuing with his journey to Vriddhachalam.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">The long walk exhausted him. When he finally arrived at his destination, he decided to rest under the shade of the large bodhi tree that was growing by the side of the River Manimutta. Within minutes of sitting down he fell into a deep and blissful sleep.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Periyanayaki, the goddess presiding at Vriddhachalam, came to know of his arrival. She took some milk that had been kept for her <i>abhishekam </i>and came in the form of a brahmin woman to where Kumaradeva was sleeping. She sat down next to him, placed Kumaradeva’s head on her lap, and fed him with the milk she had brought.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Kumaradeva woke up, saw the woman, and asked who she was.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">She replied, ‘Kumaradeva, I am Periyanayaki. Come and stay forever in my place and live happily here.’ </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Then she mysteriously vanished into thin air.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">This incident left Kumaradeva wondering, ‘Mother, what can I possibly give you in return for this grace?’ </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Within minutes he was lost in ecstasy.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">The <i>jatamuni</i>, who had been staying on the branches of the bodhi tree, observed all this and thought that the person he had been waiting for had finally arrived. He climbed down the tree, took the form of a brahmin, and fell at the feet of Kumaradeva with great humility.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">‘Who are you?’ enquired Kumaradeva.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">‘I am a <i>jatamuni</i>.’</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">‘Why have you come to see me?’ enquired Kumaradeva.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">The <i>jatamuni </i>then narrated the story of how the two of them had once been <i>sadhus</i> together, and how Siva had cursed him to remain as a <i>jatamuni </i>in the bodhi tree until Kumaradeva came there to release him.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">When the story had been concluded, Kumaradeva carried out Siva’s wishes and released the <i>jatamuni </i>from the curse.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Kumaradeva remained in Vriddhachalam since his Guru had asked him to be there. Some accounts say that he used the shade of this bodhi tree as his base.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">One day Periyanayaki appeared to him again and requested him to compose some <i>jnana sastras</i> (scriptures on true knowledge). Kumaradeva doubted that he had the capacity.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">He replied, ‘Though I am your slave, I am not able to do this’.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Periyanayaki told him, ‘I myself will abide in your tongue and complete the <i>sastras</i>’.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Kumaradeva accepted the order and went on to compose sixteen <i>jnana sastras</i>. In one portion of the sixth <i>sastra </i>– which is entitled <i>Jnana Ammanai</i> and is addressed to the deities of Vriddhachalam who enabled him to compose the work – he gave details of his life and his spiritual development. The lines all conclude with the exclamation ‘<i>ammanai!</i>’ This is a celebratory shout that indicates joy and delight in all the incidents and opinions that are mentioned in the poem. The original <i>ammanai</i> poem was composed by Manikkavachagar in Tiruvannamalai over a thousand years ago. The <i>ammanai </i>exclamation in that particular poem is thought to have been derived from a triumphant shout of joy made by young girls as they scored points in a game that involved keeping a number of balls in the air.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Here, then, is an extract from Kumaradeva’s own <i>ammanai </i>poem, his exultant retelling of his path to liberation.</span> '<span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Azhattu Pillaiyar' (first line) is Ganapati in Vriddhachalam;</span> '<span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Vriddhambhikai' (third line) is Siva's consort in Vriddhachalam; 'Sankari' (towards the end) is a more generic title for the consort of Siva.</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Worshipping the feet of Azhattu Pillaiyar – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">I rooted out doubt and erroneous understanding – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Reaching the feet of Vriddhambhikai – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">opening the eye of true <i>jnana </i>– <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">and meditating and dwelling on the conclusion – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">I will now declare what I have experienced, as I experienced it – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Father, mother, wife, relations – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">these are attachments of the soul – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Wealth, ornaments, land, empire – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">these are attachments to objects – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">These two are external attachments – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Remaining with these –<i> ammanai!</i> </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">thinking there is no lack in – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">noble lineage, wealth, handsome looks, attire – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">I lived for some time, wallowing in them – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">without paying attention to the excellent path – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">not performing Siva <i>bhakti</i>, <i>tapas</i>, and offering gifts – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">It was through providence that my mind became clear – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Impermanent, impure and misery-causing – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><i>maya </i>of this nature is most certainly unreal – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Eternal, immaculate and having enduring bliss – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">this state of liberation is one’s own [state] and real – <i>ammanai!</i> </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">After realising this, disregarding completely – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">the happiness of a householder’s life – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">I renounced it in my youth as false and moved towards – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">the golden feet of <i>jnana </i>Guru Santalinga – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">I came, I praised him, and I prostrated – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">He placed his golden feet on my head and then – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">made clear to me the path of liberation – <i>ammanai!</i> </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">He said, ‘Exert yourself on <i>tapas </i>at Vriddhachalam’ – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Obeying his command I stayed there – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">remaining there motionless, night and day – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">I merged in <i>tapas </i>– <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Vriddhambhikai came and taught me – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">As she was explaining I realised – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">clearly the experience that is free from doubt and wrong understanding – <i>ammanai!</i>... </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Seeing everything as ‘I’ – <i>ammanai!</i> </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">I remained without any anxiety – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Only my being manifests and exists – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">only my consciousness appears – <i>ammanai!</i> </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">only my bliss is experienced as happiness – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">all is only <i>sat-chit-ananda</i> – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">I saw and attained myself through myself – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">I remained, experiencing happiness alone – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">I became convinced that the happiness experienced in objects – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">is only my own bliss – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">From now on I will not think of or desire any object – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">There is no bliss in it – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">I obtained freedom from desire and fear – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">as I became the eternal blissful one – <i>ammanai!</i> </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Whatever happens to come to me in the present – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">I will experience it in a state of desirelessness and abide in the [natural] state – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">When I think, I see myself as ‘this’ – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">as the various non-existent objects – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">In my thought-free state I see only myself as One – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Seeing only myself here and there – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">I remain without any anxiety… – <i>ammanai!</i> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">There is nothing other than ‘me’. I swear to this – <i>ammanai!</i> </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">I will hold the red-hot iron in my hand [swearing] that this is the truth – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Not knowing myself for such a long time – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">was like languishing in fear, without knowing my way – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">What recompense can there be in me – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">for the compassion of Sankari , who has no equal – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">for bestowing her cool grace? – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">From now on it will be proper for me to render elegant service – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">wholeheartedly to her devotees – <i>ammanai!</i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">May this holy <i>kshetra </i>of Vriddhachalam shine forth – <i>ammanai! </i></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">(<i>Jnana Ammanai</i>, sixth <i>sastra</i>, lines 1-34, lines 67-88, lines 91-100.) </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Though Kumaradeva’s written works are studied in Vedanta <i>maths</i>, he himself was brought up in the Virasaiva tradition. This is a subdivision of the Saiva faith which originated in Karnataka about 800 years ago. It still has many adherents there. The traditional accounts of Kumaradeva’s life stress his Virasaiva background and beliefs and generally include the following entertaining incident:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Once Kumaradeva went to Tiruvarur to witness its annual festival. As Sri Tyagaraja, the presiding deity of Tiruvarur, was travelling in his chariot, moving through the main streets that surrounded the temple, Kumaradeva stood in front of the moving vehicle and had <i>darshan </i>of the deity.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Two Saivas who witnessed this spoke to each other in a sneering way: ‘Look at this deluded Virasaiva!’ </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">The implication in the original Tamil is not that Kumaradeva is a deluded person, but that the Virasaiva faith is based on deluded principles.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language: AR-SAfont-family:";font-size:11.0pt;" ></span></span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">When he overheard this comment, Kumaradeva addressed Thyagaraja: ‘Lord, if the Virasaiva faith is a delusion, then let this chariot continue. If it is the way of grace, then let this chariot come to a halt.’ </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">The chariot ground to a halt.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">After issuing this challenge and achieving the desired result, Kumaradeva went and sat under the shade of a nearby tree.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">The king of Thanjavur, who was also a trustee of the temple, learned that the chariot had unexpectedly stopped. Since he had taken a vow that he would not eat until the chariot had returned to its starting point, he became extremely concerned and initiated several different attempts to get the chariot to continue. The chariot, though, refused to budge from its spot.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Feeling both anxious and exhausted by his failure, he prayed, ‘Lord, what can be done now? Through whose agency has this event occurred? My vow is not possible to fulfil.’</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">The king then learned about the incident between Kumaradeva and the taunting Saivas which had occurred earlier that day.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">He went to Kumaradeva, prostrated to him, and appealed to him for help. Kumaradeva, though, was unmoved.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">He told the king, ‘What business do you have with this “deluded” person? Go away!’</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">The king persisted by both praising and beseeching him, adding, ‘You should forgive this fault of ours and make the chariot move again’.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Kumaradeva finally agreed to help by taking up the matter with Sri Tyagaraja directly.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Accompanied by the king and his entourage, he stood before the chariot and addressed the deity: ‘If the Virasaiva faith is the way of grace, let this chariot move. If it is delusion, then let the chariot remain motionless.’</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Immediately, and to the joy of everyone watching, the chariot began to move, reaching its starting point without any further problems.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">The first <i>jnana sastra</i> that Kumaradeva composed under the supervision of Periyanayaki, was <i>Maharaja Turavu</i> (<i>The Renunciation of a Great King</i>). This later became a standard text on Vedanta in the Tamil-speaking world. It is one of sixteen Vedanta texts that comprise the syllabus in some traditional South Indian <i>maths</i>. <i>Maharaja Turavu</i> covers many topics but its principal theme is extolling the virtues of physical renunciation and ascetic living.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">In <i>Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi</i>, talk number 648, Bhagavan mentioned one of its verses with great approval:</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">In <i>Maharaja Turavu</i> [Kumaradeva writes that he] was seated on the bare ground, the earth was his seat, the wind was the <i>chamara</i>; the sky was the canopy; and renunciation was his spouse. </span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><br /><br />Then Sri Bhagavan continued: </span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">I had no cloth spread on the floor in earlier days. I used to sit on the floor and lie on the ground. That is freedom. The sofa is a bondage. It is a gaol for me. I am not allowed to sit where and how I please. Is it not bondage? One must be free to do as one pleases, and should not be served by others.</span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><br /><br />‘No want’ is the greatest bliss. It can be realised only by experience. Even an emperor is no match for a man with no want. The emperor has got vassals under him. But the other man is not aware of anyone beside the Self. Which is better?</span></blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Bhagavan's <i>Maharaja Turavu</i> quote is a free rendering of verse 64. The full translation is as follows:</span><br /><br /></span><blockquote><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">The king remained resplendent with the earth as his bed, and the sky, appropriately, as his canopy. Existing in happiness as the one Self, the moon and the ruddy sun became his lamps, the wafting breeze his befitting yak-tail fan, and renunciation his wife.</span> </blockquote><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Though the verses of <i>Maharaja Turavu</i> that praised an ascetic and frugal lifestyle clearly resonated with Bhagavan, he did not accept Kumaradeva’s contention, repeated in many of the verses, that physical renunciation was an essential prerequisite to Self-realisation. There is no record of Bhagavan ever giving permission to a devotee who wanted to give up his family or financial responsibilities in order to pursue a spiritual life full-time. If Bhagavan was asked about this, he would usually reply that it is the mind that has to be renounced, not physical circumstances, and that realisation did not depend on adopting a particular lifestyle.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Sadhu Natanananda (known in his earlier life as Natesa Mudaliar) was one of the devotees who sought Bhagavan’s permission to renounce family life and become a <i>sannyasin</i>. As a keen student of vedantic texts, Natananananda had probably read <i>Maharaja Turavu </i>and accepted Kumaradeva’s prescription that physical renunciation was a pre-requisite for serious seekers. This is why, in refusing his request, Bhagavan cited a typical renunciation verse from <i>Maharaja Turavu</i> before going on to point out that in later works Kumaradeva had changed his view and taught that renunciation of the ego was more important than the external variety. This is B. V. Narasimhaswami’s account of Bhagavan’s reply: </span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">[Around] 1926 Natesa Mudaliar approached Maharshi and said that he desired to become an ascetic, as that seemed the only course for him, since domestic life was standing in the way of his achieving peace and control of mind. Maharshi tried to dissuade him, and pointed out that if one quitted home to escape a single hindrance and went to the forest, ten hindrances would beset him there, as though they came up on purpose to test his mettle.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">‘But do not ask me why I came [here to Tiruvannamalai],’ said Maharshi. ‘Somehow I came then.’<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">[Bhagavan then] quoted <i>Maharaja Turavu</i> [saying] that the king, when he left home and all, no doubt said, ‘If a man goes southward [from a starting point in South India] he will never go to the Ganges. Similarly, one who stays home will never obtain liberation.’ </span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">But the same king at a later stage said that there was no difference between domestic life and a hermit’s.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">‘Just as you are free from cares of home when you are here,’ said Maharshi, ‘go home and try to be unconcerned and unaffected even in the midst of home life.’</span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><br /><br />Natesa Mudaliar got the same negative reply on two or three later occasions when he again broached the subject of <i>sannyasa</i>. Maharshi’s words proved to be quite prophetic. Natesa Mudaliar, with an impetuosity which no doubt did credit to his heart, put on <i>kashayam </i>[orange robes] and became a <i>sannyasi</i>. But he was prevailed upon, after a few years, to resume his place as a householder and work for his family as a teacher in a school. (<i>Self-Realization</i>, 1993 ed., p. 224.)<br /></span></blockquote><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">According to Kunju Swami (<i>The Power of the Presence</i>, part one, p. 97) Natanananda asked Bhagavan to give him the orange robes of a <i>sannyasin</i>. Natanananda had brought the cloth to the old hall but Bhagavan refused to touch it. Natanananda then placed the cloth on the stool in front of Bhagavan that visitors put their offerings on. After a few minutes he took it away and began to wear it. A few months later, when Natanananda decided to give up his life as a <i>sannyasin</i>, he presented the orange robes to Bhagavan. For the rest of his life he only ever wore white clothes. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">In his reply to Natanananda Bhagavan noted that Kumaradeva ‘at a later stage said that there was no difference between domestic life and a hermit’s’. This is most probably a reference to a sequence of verses in <i>Advaita Unmai</i> where Kumaradeva’s views are almost indistinguishable from those of Bhagavan.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><b>81 </b> There is no need to renounce everything. If karma leaves you, everything will leave [along with it]. If karma remains, they [objects] will associate with you. Give up clinging to them or renouncing them. Knowing that [these things manifest] according to your karma, exert yourself only to attain the firm knowledge ‘I am the Self’.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><b>82</b> Even if those who are firmly convinced ‘I am the Self’ continue to remain as householders, they will lack nothing, and they will be free from all blemishes. Even if they renounce a householder’s life, will those who do not have the firm conviction ‘I am the Self’ attain liberation merely because of this [renunciation]? Will their births come to an end?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><b>83</b> It is not appropriate to say that those who remain as householders will have to experience sorrow and delusion [<i>soha </i>and <i>moha</i>] and that for those who have renounced and become <i>sannyasins</i>, sorrow and delusion will leave. Sorrow and delusion will not end in those who do not know ‘I am the Self’. It will only end for those who have the knowledge ‘I am the Self’.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><b>84</b> There is no need either to renounce this world or cling to it. It is enough for one to know that the world is an illusion. Instantly, it will leave. If it is asked, ‘What should be renounced and what should be clung to?’ the correct solution is to renounce <i>jivatva </i>– the feeling ‘I am a <i>jiva</i>’ – and instead hold tightly to Self-attention.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><b>85</b> It is not necessary to think about choosing between a householder’s life and <i>sannyasa</i>. Neither is an obstacle. Self is attained by remaining motionless, excluding all thoughts except the thought of the one [Self]. The obstacle to merging with that Self state is the feeling ‘I am a householder’ or ‘I am a <i>sannyasin</i>’. Get rid of it. </span><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-54363090945735438942011-07-22T09:12:00.004+05:302011-07-22T16:22:04.762+05:30A Curious Court Case<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" id="blogBar-bar"><div class="blogBarBox_gsblb full_gsblb vertical_gsblb"><div class="brandingBox_gsblb"><div class="gsc-branding"><table style="text-align: left; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;" class="gsc-branding" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td class="gsc-branding-text"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;">A few weeks ago a friend of mine, armed with a letter of recommendation from the president of Ramanasramam, went to an Indian consulate office in Australia and asked for a long-term visa. The consular official, who had obviously never heard of Bhagavan or Ramanasramam, asked my friend for proof that Sri Ramanasramam was a registered charity in India. I had never heard of Ramanasramam’s status being queried in this way before. However, thinking that it might be a standard feature of future visa applications, I went online, typed ‘Ramanasramam’ and ‘charity’ into Google, and found myself being directed to the transcript of a 1959 court case in which Ramanasramam’s legal status was clarified. It was a fascinating document that I pored over for the better part of an hour. I am reproducing it here in full because I want to discuss some of the evidence and assumptions that featured in the case.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">First, though, a little background information is needed. In 1938 Bhagavan executed a will that bequeathed all the Ramanasramam properties to his brother, Chinnaswami. It was further stated that Chinnaswami would continue to run the ashram after Bhagavan’s <span style="font-style: italic;">mahasamadhi</span>, and that when Chinnaswami died, those rights would be inherited by his son, T. V. Venkataraman.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">There is one word – appanages – in the court’s written judgement that had me hunting through my dictionaries. It appeared to refer to the properties owned and run by Ramanasramam. The only definition I could find, even in the Complete Oxford Dictionary, was ‘The provision made for the maintenance of the younger children of kings, princes, etc.’ I rather like the mental image of ‘King’ Ramana bestowing the gift of Ramanasramam on his younger ‘princeling’ brother in order to support him after he passed away, but I suspect that in legal circles the term may have a slightly different meaning.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">Bhagavan’s will envisaged a succession of ashram managers, determined by the laws of primogeniture: Chinnaswami was to be followed by his eldest son T. N. Venakataraman, and he in turn would be succeeded by his own eldest son, the current ashram president, V. S. Ramanan. There were few instructions in the will about what should go on at the ashram: there was a clause that a statue should be erected on Bhagavan’s <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi</span>, another that a daily <span style="font-style: italic;">puja </span>should be performed at Bhagavan’s <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi </span>and in the Mother’s Temple, and in a more general instruction Bhagavan said that the ashram should remain open as a spiritual institution so that anyone who wished to could avail themselves of its facilities.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">I quite like the fact that there was no attempt to dictate what visitors and devotees should do or not do at the ashram. There is no mention in the will that Bhagavan’s teachings should be promulgated to the people who came, or that people who went there would be expected to learn them or put them into practice. During Bhagavan’s lifetime there was no compulsion to be anywhere at a particular time, or to follow any particular practice. Visitors could follow their own routines and immerse themselves in the <span style="font-style: italic;">sannidhi </span>in whatever way they felt was most beneficial to them.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">After Bhagavan’s <span style="font-style: italic;">mahasamadhi </span>the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Board (nowadays known as the ‘Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Administration Department’) went to court and challenged the right of Chinnaswami to run the ashram. One of the primary functions of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Board (HRCEB in future references) was to take over Hindu institutions that were either not being run properly, or had no legally established management structure. The HRCEB wanted to take over Ramanasramam since it claimed that Bhagavan’s will did not legally convey the ashram properties and the management of them to Chinnaswami.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">I have not seen a record of the first court case, which took place in the District Court of Vellore in 1954, so my information about it is second-hand, and may well be wrong. Some devotees who were associated with the ashram in the 1950s told me that, though the judge recognised that the will was a validly executed document, he concluded that it lacked legality since it could not be proved that Bhagavan actually personally owned all the properties he was disposing of. </span><span style="font-size:130%;">I am not sure if that is the full story since section 21 of the document I am posting today seems to indicate that Bhagavan did acquire property rights during his lifetime. Or at least Ramanasramam claimed in the court that he did. Bhagavan himself sometimes said that his only possessions were his water pot and his stick.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">The judge eventually found in favour of the HRCEB, a decision that legally nullified Bhagavan’s clearly expressed wish that his family should run the ashram after his passing away.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">Though Bhagavan’s family had their right to manage the ashram negated by the 1954 court case in Vellore, the rival claims of the HRCEB depended on proving that Ramanasramam was a Hindu institution. The HRCEB could only take it over if it could establish that the entity it was annexing was used exclusively by Hindus, or a specific section of the Hindu community. This they attempted to do by asserting that what they were actually taking over was the Mother’s Temple – the most Hindu feature of the ashram – arguing that all the other components of Ramanasramam were merely adjuncts to this temple. I don’t know what arguments it put forward to support this peculiar and, to my mind, somewhat ludicrous position, but the judge eventually found in their favour.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">Sri Ramanasramam appealed against this decision. After a delay of several years (more on that later) it was heard in 1959 by a two-judge bench of the Madras High Court. Sri Ramanasramam argued in its appeal that it was not a Hindu institution, and therefore could not be taken over by the HRCEB. It asked, instead, to be regarded and legally recognised as a public religious trust whose aim was to maintain Ramanasramam in a way that was consonant with Bhagavan's declared wishes.<br /><br />The HRCEB, in order to sustain its case, had to convince the appeal court of the validity of several points:<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">(a) That the Mother’s Temple really was a Hindu temple. This depended not on how it looked or what went on there but on whether it met a set of rather strict legal rules.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">(b) That Ramanasramam was a Hindu institution, and not one that catered to other religious communities.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">(c) That the temple was the centre of Ramanasramam and that all other buildings and activities were subsidiary adjuncts to it.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">Having set the scene, I will now give the judgement of the appeal court in full. The principle judge (Justice Ramaswami) expounded at some length on various legal niceties that may not be of great interest to many readers of this blog. There are learned expositions on the legal distinction between public and private, what constitutes a Hindu trust, when and whether a <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi </span>shrine can properly be described as a temple, and much else besides. For those who want to pass over these sections, I have highlighted key portions in bold type. It is the content of these sections in bold that I will refer to and discuss towards the end of this post.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">The online record I found came from a scan of the original court document that had subsequently been processed by text-recognition software. This meant that I had to go through the text quite carefully in order to correct the mistakes that this treatment always introduces. I did my best, but I am not a legal expert. There may be technical terms and references that are still misspelled or misrepresented since I don’t have the knowledge to make an appropriate correction.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >* * *</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span></div></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /><br /></span></td><td class="gsc-branding-img-noclear"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="docsource_main"><span style="font-size:130%;">Madras High Court</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> <form method="POST" action="/doc/197112/"> </form> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="doc_citations"> <span style="font-size:130%;"><b>Equivalent citations:</b> AIR 1961 Mad 265, (1960) 2 MLJ 121 </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="doc_bench"> <span style="font-size:130%;"><b>Bench:</b> Ramaswami, Anantanarayanan </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:georgia;" > </span></span> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Ramanasramam By Its Secretary G. Sambasiva Rao And Ors. vs The Commissioner For Hindu Religious And Charitable Endowments, Madras on 12/12/1959</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;">JUDGMENT</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> Ramaswami, J.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 1. This appeal is directed against the decree and judgment of the learned Subordinate Judge, Vellore, in O.S. No. 69 of 1954.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 2. It is a statutory suit filed under Section 62 of the Madras Hindu Religions and Charitable Endowments Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act) by the persons aggrieved who consist of Sri Ramanasramam, by its Secretary G. Sambasiva Rao, T. N. Venkataraman, A. W. Chadwick, S. S. Cohen, Framji Dorabji, A. Devaraja Mudaliar and C. Somasundaram Pillai. The defendant is the Commissioner for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments, Madras.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">The question for consideration is whether the component part of Sri Ramanasramam, by name Sri Mathrubhutheswaraswami Temple, an institution registered under the Societies Registration Act, (Ex. A. 23 dated 11-9-1950) is a temple as contemplated by Section 6(17) of the Act, as has been held by the learned subordinate Judge or a public religious trust as has been contended by the plaintiffs, with the following objects, viz., to carry out the provisions in the will of Sri Bhagwan, to administer Sri Ramanasramam, Sri Mathrubhutheswaraswami Temple, the Samadhi of Sri Bhagwan Ramana Maharshi with the properties and assets attached thereto and for propagating the sayings of the Bhagwan.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 3. Section 6(17) of the Act defines a temple as, "a place by whatever designation known, used as a place of public religious worship, and dedicated to or for the benefit of or use as of right by the Hindu community or any section thereof, as a place of public religious worship".</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 4. In regard to what constitutes a public religious trust in Hindu law, we have three authoritative works of Pandit Pran Nath Saraswati's Hindu Law of Endowments (T.L.L.) 1892, P. R. Ganapati Aiyar's Hindu and Muhammadan Endowments, 2nd Edn. (1918), and B. K. Mukherjee's (late Chief Justice of India) Hindu Law of Religious and Charitable Trust, T.L.L. (1952), and the following information can be gathered therefrom.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 5. In the Hindu system there is no line of demarcation between religion and charity. On the other hand, charity is regarded as part of religion. This is because the Hindu Religion recognises the existence of a life after death, and it believes in the Law of Karma according to which the good or bad deeds of a man produce corresponding results in the life to come. Therefore, all the Hindu sages concur in holding that charitable gifts are pious acts par excellence which bring appropriate rewards to the donor.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 6. Hindu religious and charitable acts have been from the earliest times classified under the two heeds viz., Istha and Purtta. The two words are often used conjointly and they are as old as the Rigveda. The compound word Ishta-purtta has been retained in the writings of all Brahminical sages and commentators down to modern days, and although the connotation of these two expressions was extended to some extent in course of time, the fundamental ideas involved in them remain practically the same, By Ishtha is meant Vedic sacrifice, and rites and gifts in connection with the same; Purtta on the other hand, means and signifies other pious and charitable acts which are unconnected with Vedic sacrifices. The meaning of these two expressions has been discussed elaborately by Pandit Pran Nath Saraswati, in the Tagore Law Lectures on the Hindu Law of Endowments.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 7. Following a text of Sankha quoted by Hemadri, Pandit Pran Nath Saraswati makes the following enumeration of Ishtha works, viz., (1) Vedic Sacrifices, etc. (2) Gifts offered to priests at the same, (3) Preserving the Vedas, (4) Religious austerity, (5) Rectitude, (6) Vaiswadeva Sacrifices and (7) Hospitality. The Purtta works not only signified such works of public utility as excavation of tanks, wells, etc., but included all acts which either conferred some kind of benefit on those who were in need of it, or were regarded as meritorious from the spiritual or religious point of view. From the numerous Smriti texts bearing on the point, Pandit Pran Nath Saraswati has compiled a list of Purtta works which are generally recognised as such by Brahminical writers.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> These are : (1) gifts offered outside the sacrificial ground, (2) gifts on the occasion of an eclipse, solstice and other special occasions, (3) the construction of works for the storage of water, as wells, tanks, etc., (4) the construction of temple for the Gods, (5) the establishment of procession for the honour of the Gods, (6) the gift of food and (7) the relief of the sick. This list is by no means exhaustive. One other form of religious and charitable endowments which is popular with the Hindus is to create places where hospitality can be combined with dissemination of religious knowledge and facilities for meditation.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> Charitable trusts are of two kinds--public and private. The Hindu law itself knows no distinction between public and private religious or charitable trusts: Rupa v. Krishnaji, ILR 9 Bom 169. Hence it was that West J. remarked in general terms in Manohar v. Laxmiram, ILR 12 Bom 247 that a trust for a Hindu idol and temple is to be regarded in India as one created for public charitable purposes within the meaning of Section 539 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1882, corresponding to Section 92 of the present Code.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> Still that distinction is not without its meaning in Hindu law as now administered. It is, therefore necessary to show here where the distinction lies. In English law the terms "public" and "private" are thus defined: By "Public" must be understood as such as are constituted for the benefit either of the public at large or of some considerable portion of it answering a particular description. The essential elements of a public charity are that it is not confined to privileged individuals but it is open to the indefinite public, or some portion thereof or upon an indefinite class of persons.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:georgia;" > </span></span></div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> It is this unrestricted quality that gives it its public character: 19 American Jurisprudence, 588. The lines of distinction between purpose of a public nature and of private nature is fine and practically incapable of definition. 4 Halsbury 3rd Edn. page 211. See also Ram Saroop v. S. P. Sahi, (a case under Bihar Hindu Religious Trusts Act) and also <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://indiankanoon.org/doc/254621/">Moti Das v. S. P. Sahi.</a><br /></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> To this class "public" belong all trusts for charitable purposes and indeed "public" trusts and "charitable" trusts may be considered in general as synonymous expressions. In "Private" trusts the beneficial interest is vested absolutely in one or more individuals who are, or within a certain time may be, definitely ascertained and to whom therefore collectively, unless under some legal disability, it is, or within the allowed time will be, competent to control, modify, or determine the trust.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> A public or charitable trust on the other hand has for its object the members of an uncertain and fluctuating body and the trust itself is of a permanent and indefinite character and is not confined within the limits prescribed to a settlement upon a private trust; Lewin on Trusts, page 18. The same distinction has been expressed in a simpler language by Mr. G. S. Shastri in his Hindu law at page 491.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> He says that when property is dedicated to charitable, educational or religious uses for the benefit of an indeterminate body of persons, the endowment is a public one and when property is set apart for the worship of a deity of a particular family in which no outsider is interested, the endowment is a private one. It seems that it was with this distinction in view that the Privy Council held in a Calcutta case that in the case of a family idol the consensus of the whole family might give the estate another direction: Konwur Doorganath Roy v. Ramchunder Sen, ILR 2 Cal 341 (PC). This decision appears to have been followed in another case which went up to that High Court and approved in a somewhat analogous case by the Bombay High Court: Gobinda Kumar v. Debendra Kumar, 12 Ca,l WN 98, Khetter Chunder v. Hari Das, JLR 17 Cal 557, Rajaram v. Ganesh, ILR 23 Bom 131. These decisions are obviously based on the belief that the endowment in each case was a private one.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> Mr. Shastri has, in view of the decisions, gone so far as to assert that if all the members of the family to which an endowment belongs renounce Hinduism and choose to throw the family idol into the water of the Ganges and themselves enjoy its property, no outsider can raise any objection to that course: Shastri's Hindu law, page 491. The Allahabad High Court had, on the other hand, occasion to define what a public endowment was in the case of Puran Atal v. Darshan Das, ILR 34 All 468. Therein Chamfer J. remarked :</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> "It seems beyond doubt that in order that a trust may be a trust for a public purpose it is not necessary that it should be a trust for the benefit of the public at large. It is sufficient to show that it is a trust for the benefit of a section of the public." It seems it was with some such definition of a "public trust" in view that, where a Hindu provided for the creation and maintenance of a religious endowment in favour of the sect known as the Bhagavatas, appointing managers and directing the manner in which the profits of the endowment properties were to be spent, the Calcutta High Court held that there was a public religious endowment within the meaning of Section 539 C.P.C. 1882 : Kanhaya Lal v. Salig Ram, 1894 All WN 159.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 8. In regard to abuses relating to public and private trusts and the powers of the Civil Court to give relief like the framing of schemes of management etc., in the case of public trusts, the powers are regulated by Section 92 C.P.C. and in the case of private trusts, by a long series of decisions. It is enough to refer here to the following decisions : <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://indiankanoon.org/doc/801962/">In Narayanaswami Naidu v. Balasundaram Naidu</a> it was held that,</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> "even in the case of a private trust, it is open to any member of the founder's family wherein his rights are impugned to seek redress in courts of law .....The Court cannot refuse to frame a scheme in the matter of a private trust so far as the members of the family are concerned, who are interested in the trust, if the trustee for the time being mismanages or acts in breach of trust, it is a civil right which is infringed and under Section 9 C.P.C., they are entitled to seek redress in court for the purpose of remedying the mischief".</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> In Chellam Pillai v. Chatham Pillai, AIR 1953 Trav-Co 198, it has been held that</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> "though Section 92 C.P.C. in terms does not apply because it relates specifically and definitely to the case of public trusts, in the ease of a private family trust the court has got jurisdiction to frame a scheme for the management of the trust",</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> In Vaithinatha Aiyar v. Thyagaraja Aiyar, 41 Mad LJ 20 : (AIR 1921 Mad 583), two plaintiffs instituted the suit under Section 92 C.P.C, as the descendants of the founder of the charity, a chatram. On the question of their right to institute the suit, it was held that</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> "the fact that the plaintiffs belong to the family of the founder would naturally give them an interest in the family charity so as to enable them to bring a suit under Section 92 C.P.C."</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> In addition, the powers of the civil court in the case of private trusts to frame a scheme have been affirmed in a Bench decision of this court in A. S. No. 221 of 1951, to which one of us was a party.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">9. Bearing these principles in mind, let us examine the facts of this case and find out whether the institution under consideration is a temple within the meaning of Section 6(17) of the Act, or is a public religious trust as contended for by the appellants before us.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">10. In order to find out whether this institution falls within the scope of the Act, we must first of all determine the connotation of a temple which consists of the following component parts, viz, firstly, that it must be an exclusively Hindu institution and, secondly, that it must be exclusively a place of Hindu public religious worship.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 11. In regard to the first point, in <a href="http://indiankanoon.org/doc/733224/"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Seshachalam Chettiar Charities, Tiruchirapalli v. State of Madras, W. P. No</span>.</a> 1034 of 1957, Balakrishna Aiyar, J. has construed the long title and preamble to the Act which runs as follows:-</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> "An Act to provide for the better administration and governance of Hindu Religious and Charitable Institutions and Endowments in the State of Madras. Whereas it is expedient to amend and consolidate the law relating to the administration and governance of Hindu Religious and Charitable Institutions and Endowments in the State of Madras, it is hereby enacted as follows:"</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> The learned Judge observed:-</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> "I would draw attention to the words "Hindu Religious and Charitable Institutions and Endowments" occurring in both the long title and the preamble. The Act is intended to apply to (1) Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments, and (2) Hindu Charitable Institutions and Endowments. It seems to me to be manifest that the word "Hindu" is not used in one sense in relation to religious institutions and endowment and in another sense in relation to charitable institutions and endowments. The word "Hindu" must be given the same connotation whether it is read in connection with religious institutions and endowments or whether it is read in connection with the charitable institutions and endowments. Now we can have a Hindu religious institution or a Christian religious institution or a Muslim religious institution. But, I do not see how we can have a religious institution which is at one and the same time partly Hindu and partly Christian or partly Muslim. I am not aware that any religious institution exists in the State which bears such a composite character. There can be no doubt whatever that so far as religious institutions are concerned, the Act is intended to apply to only religious institutions and endowments which are exclusively Hindu in character. The omission of the word "exclusively" on which Mr. Srinivasan laid stress, is of no consequence. In fact, the introduction of such a qualifying word was entirely unnecessary and would only have led to confusion and controversy in other places in the Act. The expression "Hindu temple" is plain enough. By saying "exclusively Hindu temple" we are not making the meaning plainer; we are only introducing a degree of annoyance. "..... Section 9 of the Act enjoins that the Commissioner, every Deputy Commissioner, every Assistant Commissioner and every other officer or servant appointed to carry out the purpose of the Act, by whomsoever appointed, shall be a Hindu. The section also enacts that should a person so appointed cease to be a Hindu, he shall also cease to hold office. Likewise, Section 22 requires that no person shall be appointed to be a trustee of a religious institution ...... unless he is a Hindu. Provision of this kind would be appropriate only in respect of institutions which are exclusively Hindu. The legislature could hardly have intended that provisions of this kind should apply to what may be called mixed or composite institutions, that is to say, institutions which are only partly Hindu and partly non-Hindu. That would amount to discrimination based on religion. It would also probably be correct to say ..... that the Act would apply to institutions which, are exclusively Hindu in character."</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">The evidence in the instant case shows that this institution is a composite institution and it is only in accordance with Sri Ramana Maharishi's universal outlook making his Asramam open to devotees of all religions; vide B-16 pages 74, and 284; Ex. A-27 page 201 and Ex. A-30 page 13. The contributions came also largely from non-Hindus; See Exs. A-38 to A-47 and the account books of the Asramam (Ex. A-17 and Ex. A-14). It stands to common sense also that no exclusively Hindu shrine would be an appendage of a cosmopolitan Asramam, and which would have been totally inconsistent with Sri Ramana Maharishi's teachings and life.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">This is not the place for further dealing with the life and teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi which would amply bear out this conclusion, because they are not in dispute. It would be enough to refer here to a valuable publication of the life and teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi by the late Sri B.V. Narasimhaswami, a distinguished lawyer and legislator of this State, of which the 5th Edn. has been revised by Mr. S. S. Cohen, one of the appellants before us.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">12. The oral evidence has established beyond doubt that persons of other religions were consistently paying homage to the shrine, see Ex. A50 and the deposition of Dr. Syed. In other words, the evidence in this case clearly shows that the first requirement, viz. that it must he a place exclusively dedicated to the Hindus and is an exclusively religious place, does not stand made out.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 13. Then we have to define the religious worship of Hindus. The term "religion" whatever its best definition, clearly refers to certain characteristic types of data (beliefs, practices, feelings, moods, attitudes etc). It primarily involves some immediate consciousness of transcendent realities of supreme personal worth vitally influencing life and thought, expressing themselves in forms which are conditioned by the entire stage of development reached by the individual and his environments and tending to become more explicit and static in mythologies, theologies, philosophies and scientific doctrines.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 14. The lexicographers' definition of "religion" can be gathered from the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Funk and Wagnall's New dictionary of the English language, Webster's International Dictionary of the English language, Murray's New English Dictionary and Earl Jowit's (former Lord Chancellor of England) Law Dictionary, 1.959.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> (i) Action or conduct indicating a belief in, reverence for, and desire to please, a divine ruling power; the exercise of practice of rites or observances implying this.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> (ii) Some system of faith and practice, resting on the idea of the existence of one God, the Creator and Ruler to whom his creatures owe obedience and love. As to conditions as to religion, see Re Allen, Faith v. Alien, 1953 Ch 810, Re Wolffe Shapley v. Wolffe, 1953-1 WLR 1211, Re Alien, Faith v. Alien, (No. 2), 1954 Ch 259.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> (iii) A belief in an invisible superhuman power (or powers) conceived of after the analogy of the human spirit, on which (or whom) man regards himself as dependent, and to which (or whom) he thinks himself in some degree responsible, together with the feelings and practices which naturally flow from such a belief.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> (iv) The outward act or form by which men indicate their recognition of the existence of a God or of Gods having power over their destiny, to whom obedience, service, and honour are due; the feeling or expression of human love, fear, or awe of some superhuman and overruling power, whether by profession or belief, by observances of rites and ceremonies, or by the conduct of life; a system of faith and worship; a manifestation of piety; as, ethical religions, monotheistic religions; natural religion; revealed religion, the religion of idol worshippers.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> Religion (as distinguished from theology) is subjective, designating the feelings and acts of men which relate to God. As distinguished from morality, religion denotes the influences and motives to human duty which are found in the character and will of God while morality described the duties to man, to which true religion always influences.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 15. Religions, by which are meant the modes of divine worship proper to different tribes, nations, or communities, and based on the belief held in common by the members of them severally. There is no living religion without something like a doctrine.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 16. What is worship? The word itself is English and almost untranslatable into other languages. Originally it implied acts prompted by veneration, but with stress of time and weight of usage, it has come to be applied to the whole range of religious behaviour, so that one might well say that worship is the active side of religion (Hastings Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Vol. 12 page 752, and foll.)</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 17. The lexicographer's definition of worship can be gathered from Balantine Law Dictionary, Webster's International Dictionary of the English Language, Murray New English Dictionary, Funk and Wagnall's New Dictionary of the English Language, Shorter Oxford English Dictionary as follows: Worship is the act of paying honour to the Supreme Being; religious reverence and homage; adoration paid to God or a Being viewed as God with appropriate acts, rites or ceremonies: See Hansher v. Hansher, 132 Illionis 273 : 8 LRA 556.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 18. So far as the Hindus are concerned, worship includes the place of worship, and forms in which this active behaviour and veneration should be expressed and those are all regulated by <a href="http://indiankanoon.org/doc/1305829/">Agama Sastras. In Saraswathi Ammal v. Rajagopal Ammal,</a> it has been held by the Supreme Court that in the case of Hindus the institution must be shown to have a Shastraic basis. This Shastraic basis is not only provided for by the Agama Sastras, but it has also got an equivalent when particular practices have obtained recognition as constituting long religious practice and usage of a substantially large class of persons.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> Thus in South India several places of public-worship not governed by the Agama Sastras have grown up, on account of the super imposition of the Aryan culture over the Dravidian native culture. (See Kanakasabhai Pillai, Tamil Eighteen Hundred Years ago (reprint by the South Indian Saiva Sidhanta Works, Tirunelveli) Ch. XV, P. 22S and foll.). One illustration may be given. <a href="http://indiankanoon.org/doc/1932866/">In Commissioners Hindu Religious Endowments, Madras v. Narasimham,</a> 1939-1 Mad LJ 134 : (AIR 1939 Mad 134) the curious temple consisted of the images of as many as 66 heroes who were said to have been killed in a war between two 'neighbouring kingdoms in the 13th Century,' and they were systematically worshipped.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> Similarly, cave temples, and the village deities like Poleri Amman, Mariamman, Ellai Amman etc., which have no roof over their heads may not conform to the Agama Sastras. But on account of the long worship by the Hindu public they have in course of time come to be classed as temples. In other words a temple must conform to Agama Sastras or by immemorial public usage must have come to be regarded as a place of public religious worship notwithstanding its non-conformance with the Agama Sastras.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">It is as against this background we have got to examine whether the Mathrubhutheswara temple in the Ramanasramam is a Samadhi only or has evolved into a public temple.</span> <a href="http://indiankanoon.org/doc/358852/">In Elumalai Chetty v. Commr., Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments, Madras,</a> 68 Mad LW 260 (2) one of us has set out the origin and development of temples in Southern India. In India during the Vedic period there were no temples on account of the domestic character of Vedic worship (Saraswati, Tagore Law Lectures p. 34). No traces of temples built in the pre-Buddhist period is known.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> But the Ramayana and Mahabharata mention Chaityas in several places. Originally, Chaitya seems to have been a tree planted on the grave. Tree planted on the Chiti became Chaitiya. Later shrines probably of wood were erected. It is even possible that they had upper storeys. For the Ramayana in one place (Book I) compares the upper parts of the places in Ayodhya to the Vimanas of the Shidhas, a species of Gods.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> Although the Arthasastra of Kautilya does not describe anywhere a temple, it mentions Chailyas and gives in book 2, 3, a description of the temple of Kumari the Goddess of War. Kautilya agrees with Megasthenes that the temples were under the control of Government and there was a special department to govern religious institutions and its head was known as the superintendent of religious institutions. Religious edifices are certainly known for the first time in Buddhism.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> Hindu temples doubtless owe much in their inception to Buddhism and proliferated into a great variety in structure, size and ornamentation. Temple buildings reached fresh heights in the Gupta period. The Agama Sastras naturally came into existence to formalise and regularise temples and worship in temples.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 18a. So far as Southern India is concerned, in course of time by the 7th Century A.D. substantial temples in stones came to be constructed. The earliest well known Hindu temples in South India are those of Mahabalipuram in the Chingleput District.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> The inscriptions show that they were hewn out of the living rock by the Pallavas in the 7th Century A.D. There has subsequently been a ceaseless building of temples by the warrior kings and noblemen and men and women of piety of all castes. It is enough to mention here that one type of shrine was built at graves. The connection with the graves is seen not only in the case of the temple of the village deities but in that of temples of certain Gods like Siva-Smasaneswara.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> Shrines over and near the burial grounds called Palli-Padai are recorded in the inscription of the 9th Century A.D. at Selapuram in North Arcot Dt. recording that the Chola king Rasaditya caused a Siva temple to be built on the spot, where his father had been buried. Similar Inscriptions relate to Tondamanad in Chittoor Dt. and Cheleswara temple in Melpadi. We have already referred to the shrine of the 66 heroes who fell in battle. In South Arcot Dt. there are shrines in existence called Veerakkala commemorating the fallen village horses grappling with marauding tigers.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> Over the tombs of saints shrines have also been built and Guru Poojas performed. It is quite true that notwithstanding the non-conformity with the Agama Sastras, by reason of long public worship they have become temples. <span style="font-weight: bold;">But it has now become settled law so far as this State is concerned that a Samadhi by itself and not treated as a fitting object of public Hindu religious worship for over a long period does not evolve into a temple. Otherwise all of us can deify ourselves.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> In Ratnavelu Mudaliar v. Commr. for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments, a Bench of this Court had to consider whether an institution known as Apparswami Pagoda situated in Mylapore, is a temple. It is reputed to be the samadhi or tomb of one Apparswami. It attracted a concourse of worshippers and the building has got all the normal features of a temple in that it has got a Prakaram, Dhwajasthambam, Balipeetam and Nandikeswara, and there are shrines for Bhairavar, Kasi Visalaki, Chandikeswarar and other deities.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> It has a 16 pillar mandapam and there are Gopurams all over the shrines. Festivals are being performed and the deity is taken in procession and Archanas are performed by the worshippers. The Bench held that on account of the fact that this institution for over a century at least had been regarded as a place of religious worship by the public entitled thereof as a matter of right, though the institution had its reputed origin in a Samadhi and continued to retain traces of its origin and Guru-pooja was performed in the precincts, the institutions would be a temple.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:georgia;" > </span></span></div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> Reference was made in the judgment to the decision of Viswanatha Sastri J. in <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://indiankanoon.org/doc/1246002/">Ramaswami Servai v. Board of Commrs.</a> for Hindu Religious Endowments, Madras, where on account of the long public religious worship what were originally memorials for heroes or martyrs had subsequently developed into temples and come to be recognised as temples. <span style="font-weight: bold;">In Bodendraswami Mutt v. President of Board of Commrs. for Hindu Religious Endowments, it was held that a Samadhi of a holy man and a saint cannot ordinarily evolve into a temple for public religious worship and that the mere presence of idols of Gods, and recognised deities in the Matam round the Samadhi and the festivals which have grown up round such Samadhi inevitable in the case of all tombs of saints and great men in this country, would not bring it within the definition of a temple and that a Samadhi is not a temple.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> We have already referred to the Supreme Court decision in which it was held that the dedication of property for worship at a tomb is not sanctioned by Shastraic practices and is not valid amongst Hindus. A number of decisions of this court were referred to with approval, viz, <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://indiankanoon.org/doc/1678507/">Kunhamutty v. Ahmad Musaliar,</a> 68 Mad LJ 107 : (AIR 1935 Mad 28), <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://indiankanoon.org/doc/1077610/">A. Draiviasundaram Pillai v. Subramania Filial,</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> 1945-1 Mad LJ 328 : (AIR 1945 Mad 217), </span><a href="http://indiankanoon.org/doc/596682/"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Veluswami Goundan v. Dandapani</span>,</a> 1946-1 Mad LJ 354 : (AIR 1946 Mad 485), for the position that the building of a Samadhi or tomb over the remains of a person and the making of the provision for the performance of Gurupoojas and other ceremonies in connection with the same, cannot be recognised as charitable or religious purposes according to Hindu law.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">18b. That the institution in question called Mathrubhutheswaraswami is only a Samadhi and not a temple is established by the facts of this case. It is admittedly the Samadhi of a Hindu Brahmin widow viz., the mother of Sri Ramana Maharshi. It is elementary that a South Indian Hindu brahmin widow is not entitled to Sanyasam.</span> If support is required see Ex. A 28 and the deposition of P.W. 6.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">If that lady who was the Baktha of her own son was not entitled to Sanyasam, she is certainly not entitled to Samadhi, since our Hindu Sastras require that she should be cremated.</span> In fact the classical instance of the mother of the greatest Adi Sankaracharya can be remembered. That lady was a widow when her son wanted to become at very early age a Sanyasi and she would not give her consent which was necessary before a Brahmin can become a Sanyasi repudiating his obligations.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> It is said that one day while bathing a crocodile caught hold of the young Sankaracharya and his mother when she begged piteously from the shores of the river for the freeing of her son, she was told by him that the crocodile would free him only if she allowed him to become a Bala Sanyasi. The mother agreed on one condition viz., that on her death her son should perform her last obsequies and cremate her and not leave her to the tender mercies of the hostile Nambudiri reversioners.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> It is said that Sri Sankaracharya when the moment of his mother's death came to be known to him by his foresight, he managed to be at the spot and the cremation of the mother was done by him which normally he could not, having renounced the world, but for the promise made to his mother. So even Sri Ramana Maharshi could not confer Sanyasam on his deceased mother, in fact it must be said that he never thought of it even.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Such a Samadhi cannot be consecrated and Prana Prathishta done, which is essential for the installation of the idol. Otherwise, the Lingam would be a mere piece of stone and nothing else. It is only Prana Prathishta which makes it a living God a juristic entity, entitling it to be an object of gift.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Then there is another provision in the will for the installation of a statue or image or symbol of Sri Ramana Maharshi himself and certainly it would be idle to contend that this would evolve into a public temple. It is also seen that along with this Brahmin widow laid to rest, a cow by name Lakshmi, a dog and a monkey also be buried there.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-weight: bold;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> From the point of view of the Maharshi, who saw divinity in every thing, this is not bizarre, but certainly it would be outrageous to say that the burial place of the bipeds and quadrupeds would evolve into a public temple.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">In fact so far as Hindus are concerned, entering Rudra Bhumi causes pollution and has to be expiated by a bath and it need not be pointed out also that a burial place for cows, dogs and monkeys would certainly be considered by Hindus as being a sacrilegious adjunct to the temple.</span> In fact even if deaths are to occur incidentally inside the premises there can be no worship until Samprokshanam is performed. Then only worship will be presumed.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">19. In the circumstances of this case it cannot also be said that there has been a dedication exclusively to the Hindu public or a section thereof. In fact contrary to the notions of Hindus, Sri Ramana Maharshi, who was above all rules and restrictions and practices governing the lives of Hindus in the matter of religious worship, considered that the death of his mother did not cause any pollution. Similarly, the Bhagvan, universal in his outlook, threw open his Asramam to devotees of all religions.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">This Asramam itself, as mentioned before, has been built by contributions given largely by non-Hindus. The oral evidence shows that persons of other religions came to pay homages at the shrines. It stands to common sense that there would not have been an exclusively Hindu shrine in the cosmopolitan Asramam, inconsistent with Sri Ramana Maharshi's teachings and life.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> So, if there was a dedication, that dedication must have been to persons of all castes and creeds and not to the Hindus only or to any definite section thereof only. In fact, Ex. A. 12, the site plan of the Asramam, shows that the frontage is Sri Ramana's hall. This place was the magnet that attracted all the persons seeking self-realisation. It was in search of Bhagwan and the solace of peace that his presence gave that the devotees belonging to all castes and creeds came from all over the world.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> It is significant that for the celebrations within the Asramam invitations were not sent to all and sundry. But a list of invitees was kept, who were the devotees of the Asramam. This is borne out by Ex A. 4, the deposition of Sri Ramana Maharshi (Ex. A. 18), the deposition of Mr. K. Sundaram Chettiar (Ex. A., 37), Ex. B. 16 (pages 1 and 284), Ex. A. 29 (page 152)and Ex. A. 32 (pages 28 and 29) and the admission of Mouni, the contestant in the proceedings, and the other witnesses in the earlier case.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">20. To sum up, the Samadhi described as Mathrubhutheswara Swami is an adjunct to the Asramam and is certainly not the core around which the Asramam grew.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 21. This can be tested from another angle also. The properties have been acquired only personally by Sri Ramana Maharshi. According to them, himself and his institution "Ramanashramam" are one entity; vide Exs. A. 1, A. 3 and A. 6, documents relating to the acquisition of property and also the admission of D.W. 4. The Asramam accounts show that the monies were brought into the Bhagwan's accounts and then disbursed. Ex. A. 4 recognises that the Bhagwan held properties as his own. The Bhagwan's will Ex. A. 5 came into effect on his Siddhi. Nothing transpired on his Siddhi or thereafter to convert these private properties into public properties excepting by being registered under the Societies Registration Act.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">22. In fact, what has really happened is absolutely clear. The origin of the Shrine is a matter of yesterday's history. In this case we are fortunately in possession of information showing the circumstances under which the Samadhi came into existence and the other appanages were built around it from the Bhagwan's own mouth as well as of persons present at the foundation and construction. The remains of Sri Ramana Maharsbi's mother instead of being cremated were, by the devotees of Sri Ramana Maharshi, his brother and others, buried in a grave and a structure has been erected thereon and a Lingam, which has made available was installed thereon.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-weight: bold;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> This is in accordance with the practice of honouring the dead prevalent among several sections of the people in Southern India and to which a more detailed reference will be made when we come to deal with the learned Government Pleader's arguments. As pious and charitable people contributed funds for the glorification of this Samadhi, more and more appanages were built around. This Samadhi however continues to be a part of the various other places which have been erected within the Asramam compound and the frontage of the shrines, as mentioned before, is the hall of the Bhagwan with a dais for him to sit upon.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-weight: bold;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> Naturally, legends have grown up regarding what happened to the mother and her demise. These theological and philosophical aspects of what happened after the mother died do not constitute any solid basis for discussion especially in view of Sri Ramana Maharshi's own deposition Ex. A. 18 where there is no reference to any apotheosis of his mother. In Southern India it is the commonest thing that in announcing the death of elderly persons, it is generally stated that he or she has reached Sivapadam, or attained Mukthi or had become one with the divine.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">In fact all the Brahmin ceremonies beginning from the tenth day and ending with the annual shradha are all directed towards the soul merging in the divine. But stripped of all these embellishments, the body of the deceased practically illiterate Brahmin widow whose only claim to fame was devoted service to her ati-ashramite son was nothing more than a simple corpse buried there and in fact the pooja is stated to be only for the Annai or mother. All the Ashramam publications inclusive of the Kumbabisheka Patrika, emphasise that the so-called temple enshrines the remains of the mother only.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 23. In this connection we may refer to the following publications : Ex. B. 16 (1944 Edn) Self-realisation; Ex. A. 29 (1931) Edn. Self-realisation; Ex. B. 2 Kumbabisheka Patrika; Ex, A. 5 Sri Ramana Maharshl; Ex. B. 14 (1951) Tamil History of Sri Ramanashramam, Ex. A, 49 (1939) Sri Maharshi, Ex. A. 52 (1947) Sri Ramana Maharshi; and Ex. B. 15 (1951) Book on Sri Maharshi, in English. We may also refer to the oral evidence of persons present, viz, P.W. 4, Raju Sastri (whose deposition before the Deputy Commissioner is marked as Ex. A 28) and Sri Ramana Maharshi himself (Ex. A. 18).</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 24. The learned Government Pleader wants to get over this fact that the sanctum sanctorum enshrines only the mortal remains of Sri Ramana Maharshi's mother and constitutes nothing more than a Samadhi of recent origin and it could not certainly be stated to have evolved into a temple by three arguments, viz, (a) the extract from the Judgment or Varadachariar J., 1939-1 Mad LJ 134 : (AIR 1939 Mad 134); (b) the Samadhi contained all the indicia of a temple; and (c) the public worship is to the Sivalingam installed on the Samadhi, which is the deity and not to the Samadhi.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 25. The following is that extract from the judgment of Varadachariar J. relied upon by the learned Government Pleader :</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> "That what the evidence in this case describes as taking place in connection with the institution is public worship can admit of no doubt. We think it is also religious. The test is not whether it conforms to any particular school of Agama Sastras; we think that the question must be decided with reference to the view of the class of people who take part in the worship. If they believe in its religious efficacy, in the sense that by such worship, they are making themselves the object of the bounty of some super-human power, it must be regarded as a religious worship".</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 26. In regard to the actions of a public temple, he relies upon the decision of this court set out in Paragraphs 33 to 45 of the decision in 68 Mad LW 260 (2) and add to these decisions the subsequent decisions in <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://indiankanoon.org/doc/139875/">Ramanatha Iyer v. Board of Commrs. Hindu Religious Endowments, Madras,</a> , Mahadeva Gurukkaly. Commissioner to the Board of Hindu Religious Endowments, Madras, 1956-1 Mad LJ 309 : (AIR 1956 Mad 522), Commissioner of H. R. and C. E. v. Kal-yanasundaram Mudaliar, 1957-2 Mad LJ 463, and <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://indiankanoon.org/doc/667935/">Deoki Nandan v. Murlidhar, (S)</a> .</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> (26a) We have already discussed the scope of the observations of Varadachariar J. about the possibility of having temples not governed by the Agama Sastras. But this does not mean that when according to the learned Government Pleader a public temple was constructed as per Agama Sastras, viz, with a Dwajasthamba, Prakaram, Balipeetam etc., we can consider as irrelevant the established Shastraic injunction against constructing a temple over the tomb of a Brahmin window not entitled to Sanyasa.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> We cannot invoke the Agama Sastras for one purpose and ignore it for another purpose, in the teeth of the decisions of this court. Gopala Mooppanar v., Subramania Aiyar, 27 Mad LJ 253 : (AIR 1915 Mad 363) has laid down that Agama Sastras regulate the temple rituals etc. In 1946-1 Mad LJ 354: (AIR 1946 Mad 485) it was held that where a temple is only an adjunct to the tomb, a dedication of property for daily worship, Gurupooja and annual Annadhanam even though there is provision also for worship three times a day with offerings of Naivedyam etc. and a Sivalingam was kept and worshipped there, will be wholly unlawful and the gift invalid and it would not make it a temple and the Lingam would be regarded as an adjunct to the tomb. It is unnecessary to multiply other instances to show that such a Samadhi cannot evolve into a temple notwithstanding the rituals and appanages betokening the character of a temple.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 27. The learned advocate Mr. T. M. Krishnaswami Aiyar points out: Sivalingam is an emblem of the omniscient and all-pervading God Entity. It is a matter of common faith that God lives in every human being and God living in the limitations of the human body is described as the Jivatma. It is ordained according to the Sastras and the aphorisms of the great sages that the object of every worthy life must be to bring about the unification of the Jivatma, the human life, with the Paramatma, the Universal life.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> On the background of this faith, the achievement of a pure and purposed life is understood to be the union of the Jivatma and the Paramatma. Hence when a man dies, the remains of the body, wherever it is buried, are associated with the habitation of Jivatma which when it deserts the body is supposed to have coalesced with the Universal Paramatma, which is signified in the form of a Linga, which is being placed on the grave.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> The graves of religious-minded Hindus of the Saivite class are found to be mounted with Sivalinga. The indication is that a Jiva whose physical body lies buried has attained its Mukthi or union with the God of the universe which is represented in the word of form and names and matter as Sivalinga. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The installations of a Sivalinga on the graves of religious minded persons are not by themselves intended as dedications for worship of the Universal God Siva as He is described.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-weight: bold;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> They are not constructions of temples to God but are resting places of a Soul which by its own goodness, the mercy of God and the pious good wishes of relatives and friends interested in its attainment of Heaven reach sayujyam. It means no more than this: "Here lies the remains of one whose life has united with the Lord". </span>In fact, one has only to travel along the highway from Madras to Conjeevaram to see innumerable saliyar tanks with Sivalinga placed therein reverently tended with flowers, lamps etc., on either side of the road.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> Similarly on the road side of the Nandavanam of Nadars around Virudhunagar. In the case of a Vaishnavite, more often than not, a Tulasi plant is nurtured over the grave. In the case of pious Christians the Cross or the figure of the Virgin or some patron saint or a symbol of the deceased is placed on the grave or tomb. The magnificent public cemeteries in Geneva, Florence and the tombs in the Church of Saint Peter at Rome are a few of the places where such symbols adorn the graves and are often the handiwork of the great Italian sculptors like Canoova, Michael Angelo etc. They do not become churches notwithstanding the saying of prayers over the tombs by the pious Catholics or daily services like placing flowers, lighting lamps etc.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 28. The use and purpose of the symbol is twofold : (1) to set forth in visible or audible likeness what cannot really or fully be expressed to the physical eye or ear, or even clearly conceived by the limited faculties of the human mind. All language is in the last resort symbolic, and religious language in an especial degree, for it endeavours to present a mystery, a reality too deep for words. The Hindu faith had at its service a language of the utmost delicacy and flexibility, with a vigorous and fertile growth and an almost unlimited vocabulary and found itself in a world of tropical luxuriance, with a tropical wealth of beauty and suggestiveness.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> It was not to be wondered at that it became profuse in type and symbol and laid under contribution all the facts and phenomena of nature to serve its religious and priestly ends. All the great Gods had their resemblances, animal or material forms, in which they presented themselves embodied to human sight, which served to recall to the worshipper the deity, whose mind and character they more or less inadequately reflected. Other more rare and refined symbols were presentative of qualities or attributes, a Lotus, the emblem of spotless purity preserved under the most unfriendly conditions. All idols, totems fetishes are symbols. The wise man does not worship the symbol, the shape in clay or wood or stone, but is thereby reminded of the invisible substance or reality which they each represent.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> (2) The image or symbol serves the purpose also of providing in material and suitable form a convenient object of reverence, to meet the religious need of those whose minds, through darkness and ignorance, are unable to grasp the conception of an unseen formless deity. Such men, if left without a visible object to which their reverence and fear may attach themselves, will wander in a maze of doubt, disquiet and unbelief. It is better that they would worship erroneously, worship a thing, than that they should not worship at all. There is much that might be urged an favour of the Hindu view that regards the worship of the external symbol as a stepping-stone to higher, clearer forms of belief; it is a view unacknowledged perhaps but not unknown to other faiths. And in Hinduism, whatever may be said of or claimed by the wise and instructed thinker, the puja of the multitude to the image of the God is reverent and sincere. In some respect also and within definite limits the Indian contention has justified itself that the symbol has proved a signpost and a guide to better, higher thoughts and to a truer worship of Him whom no form can express or language describe. See Hastings, Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Vol. 12, p. 142).</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 29. For an exposition of the symbolism of Sivalinga, see pages 710 of Vol. 4 of Kalaikalanjiam published by the Tamizh Valarchi Kazhagham Sennai.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 30. Therefore, as repeatedly decided in the decisions of this court, the Sivaligam is only an art adjunct to a tomb and it will not evolve the tomb into a temple.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">31. The third point has already been discussed above and the mere fact that there are the appanages of a temple plus the front hall of Sri Ramana Maharshi, would not make this institution fall within the ambit of the cases set out above. A Samadhi of a Brahmin widow who died recently is a Samadhi and all the decisions of this court cannot make it into a Hindu temple wherein Hindus can congregate for the public religious worship as prescribed in the Sastras.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">32. The net result of this analysis is that the institution under consideration is not a temple but is a religious public trust of a cosmopolitan character.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">33. On that conclusion it follows that the issues have to be found as follows : under issue I that the Sri Mathrubhutheswarar shrine is not a temple within the meaning of Act XIX of 1951 and is only an adjunct of the Sri Ramanasramam, a public religious trust;</span> under issue 2 that the orders in O. A. No. 58 of 1952 and App., No. 36 of 1953 are illegal and have to be set aside; and under issue 3 that it does not advise for consideration.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 34. The decree and judgment of the learned Subordinate Judge are set aside and the suit is decreed for plaintiffs to the above extent. There will be no order for party and party costs in the circumstances of the case. The plaintiff will take their costs out of the estate.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">35. Having come to the conclusion that the suit institution is a public religious trust and not a temple, we are also of the opinion that this is an eminently fit case where a scheme should be framed under Section 92 of the Civil Procedure Code. The learned Advocate T. M. Krishnaswami Aiyar for the appellants unhesitatingly shares our view. In fact the learned Advocate General who appeared in Court at our instances was also agreeable to the framing of a scheme provided we came to the conclusion that this is a public religious trust and, secondly, indicated our view as to the necessity for the framing of a scheme.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> That if we came to the conclusion that the institution is not a temple as strenuously contended for by him but only a public religious trust, a scheme for the better management of the institution would be essential was not denied by the learned Government Pleader. Therefore, we direct that a copy of this judgment be forwarded to the learned Advocate General for his taking the requisite action at an early date in the light of the observations made above.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> Anantanarayanan, J</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 36. I find myself in entire agreement with the conclusions of my learned brother in the judgment just delivered, which I had the advantage of study. I think that the question whether the suit institution is a "temple" within the scope and definition of Section 6(17) of the Madras Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act (XIX of 1951), which is the crucial issue before us, is one that cannot be satisfactorily determined if we are to leave out of account, particularly when we remember that the foundation or dedication is so recent, the life and ideas of the founder himself, and the unique circumtsances of the Case, as evident in the record.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> As for the definition in Section 6(17) itself, I am unable to see how it can be construed and applied apart from the entire purpose of the legislation, or the scheme of the Act. I am in respectful agreement with the dictum of Balakrishna Aiyar J. in (W.P. No. 1054 of 1957 (Mad) ) that the Act itself is intended to apply only to religious institutions and endowments which are exclusively Hindu in character.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">It is with this broad perspective that we must approach the individual question of fact. In such a view, the words "used .....by the Hindu community or a section thereof, as a place of public religious worship" would be all important, in the definition. Clearly, we are not concerned here with a shrine, a place of worship, or by whatever other designation the place is known, which transcends Hindu credal categories altogether, or is non-Hindu in character.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span></div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 37. When this is borne in mind, I do not think that the case law presents any peculiar difficulties. <span style="font-weight: bold;">A Samadhi over one who comes to be regarded as of the illuminati, or even the tombs of heroes may evolve in course of time as a shrine of Hindu public religious worship. 1939-1 Mad LJ 134 : (AIR 1939 Mad 134) and relates to such instances. Nor is the existence or consecration of an idol, a prerequisite. But in all such cases, what must be essentially regarded, and never lost sight of, is the character of Hindu public religious worship evinced at such shrines, whether this has grown through the decades and attached itself to the institution, or whether it was the full-fledged purpose at the birth of the shrine. Where this is present and undeniable, it will not matter that the origin is unsastraic, that the temple evolved from a samadhi, though ordinarily this conception is not in harmony with Hindu concepts, as emphasised in or if the Agama Sastras had been adhered to or not.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> In my view it is with this background that we should comprehend and appreciate the dicta of Varadachariar J. in 1939-1 Mad LJ 134 : (AIR 1939 Mad 134) to the effect that the test was not whether the foundation conformed to any particular school of Agama Sastras, or of Viswanatha Sastri J. in that it was sufficient that the worshippers considered themselves likely to be the recipients of the bounty or blessings of a Divine presence, which they believed to exist at the place. Divorced from their contexts, such observations ought not to be interpreted as supporting a theory or thesis which would be opposed to the very purpose and scheme of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 38. But though Hinduism is a pervasive creed, with a genius for the assimilation of protestant movements which sprang up from its own field, where such movements still retain their individuality and character, they ought not to be confused with it. Thus, I do not think that it could be seriously maintained that a Jain or Buddhist temple is a "Hindu temple", though the founders of these creeds were Hindus conscious perhaps of a purificatory evangelism, but not of a mission to destroy the background of religion that gave them birth.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> Equally I do not think that it could be justifiably argued that a meditation hall of a Theosophical Society, or the Durga of a Muslim Saint with characteristic appanages (Firs) is a "Hindu temple" within the scope of the definition, merely because the Hindus also worship there in public on certain occasions. We must remember that the core of Hinduism is tolerance of all creeds, and a tendency to bow the knee at the shrines of all faiths. Surely, the legislature never intended that shrines or places of congregation and prayer or meditation, essentially non-Hindu in purpose and spirit, should be assimilated to Hinduism, or to Hindu religious institution by a kind of legal fiction. That is not the purport of the Act at all.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">39. Particularly in the case of this institution where the life and teachings of the founder are so recent, and still vividly available to us, it will be a great mistake to ignore these aspects, and to assume that this shrine was ever intended to be a Hindu temple by its founder, or that it has already evolved into this, because of certain insignia, or of ritualistic worship, or installation of a Sivalinga over the mortal remains of the mother of the Maharshi.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">My learned brother has already referred to, and discussed, these facts which so startlingly belie the interpretation that this shrine was ever intended to be a place of Hindu public religious worship, or that it could be permitted to evolve into a Hindu temple, without desecration of the universal principles and of realisation transcending all creeds including Hinduism, for which the Maharshi stood</span>: <span style="font-weight: bold;">and which he expressed in his life.</span> Certainly, these aspects which are definitely repugnant to Hindu notions of installation and worship ought not to be ignored, and this is no mere question of adherence to the Agama Sastras or perhaps unintentional and unknowing departures therefrom.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Samadhi of a Brahmin widow, even if she was a most worthy and excellent person who gave birth to one who was surely among the Illuminati, cannot be consecrated ground according to the Sastras.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Without Prana Pratishta, which spiritual descent cannot be invoked at such a place, there can be no idol; and the Linga installed can only be symbolic of a union (Sayujya), like the cross erected over a Christian tomb, as a symbol of redemption. The record is definitely against the interpretation that the Maharshi authorised the worship of his mother, as one who had attained realisation, a Mukta.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Certain words used by him support the interpretation on the contrary, that he considered all as Muktas, and even included the dumb creatures within the scope of his vast acceptance and affection. My learned brother has already referred to these facts which, if interpreted in the same mode, would authorise Hindu temple worship at the tomb of a cow or a pet monkey, which have equally found burial within the Ashram premises.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> 40. The Maharshi described himself as an Atiyasrami, literally one who has transcended the four Asramam of Hinduism, like Sukha or Jada Baratha. Thus, he could not even be described as a Sanyasi. His teaching was a method of introspection into the Centre of the self within each and all of us, the meditation "Who am I"? carried on with ceaseless vigilance until the dawn of a perfect awareness obliterates limitations.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> Such a teaching had its exemplary origin in the silence of Avatar Dakshinamurthi, rather than even the most refined metaphysics of Advaita Vedanta. Everything else appears to have been a concession to human frailties round him, which he did not care to meet with opposition. The record shows that the Maharshi could not be described as having devotees, for he gave no Diksha (Initiation) and acknowledged none as a disciple.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">He came away to Tiruvannamalai in his seventeenth year, penniless and friendless, and never accumulated wealth, personally speaking. He never married and had no family; even the provisions in his will relating to the continued management of the Shrine and Ashram after him by his Sanyasi brother Niranjanaudaswami (Sarvadhikari), and that line of descent, were clearly prompted by a concern to retain his abode at Tiruvannamalai as a spiritual centre, not for self-glorification or the security of dependants.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-weight: bold;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> Are we to seriously accept the hypothesis that such a person desired to exclude a Muslim, European or Parsee attracted to his teachings, from his shrine? The Maharshi was perfectly aware of the normal postulates of Hinduism. He must have been aware that such a shrine of him over the Samadhi of his mother, with a statue of himself as another symbol of adoration in the same hall, could be no Hindu temple. He was not an iconoclast, intent on a revolutionary transformation of Hindu creeds or practices.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">The probabilities are overwhelming that, as far as the founder's message, intentions and outlook are concerned, the Mathrubhuteswar shrine was not founded as a Hindu temple, but essentially as a public religious shrine or institution of a universal character. The evidence on record clearly establishes further that it is not a place of Hindu public religious worship, though the forms of puja or archana might be similar to those adopted in Hindu temples, but that it is a shrine in which all who are drawn to the Maharshi's teachings, whether Hindu, Christian, Parsee or Muslim, have equal rights of access and to the acquisition of spiritual benefit by prayer or meditation.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">41. For these reasons, I concur in the judgment of my learned brother, and further fully endorsed his view that it is most desirable in the interests of the wider public that a scheme should be framed under Section 92 of the Civil Procedure Code for the better management of the shrine and the public trust or endowments relating thereto, conserving the universal spirit and character of this foundation so clearly expressed in the life and teachings of the founder. I agree that this appeal should be allowed.<br /></span></span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span>* * *</span></span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify; font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span>The first and most important thing to note is that this decision emphatically removed the possibility that the HRCEB would end up running Ramanasramam. The judges accepted that Sri Ramanasramam met the requirements of a public religious trust and laid the framework for the constitution that governs the ashram to this day.<br /><br />A scheme was subsequently drawn up under which Ramanasramam would be recognised as a public religious trust, governed by a board of trustees, with the president of Sri Ramanasramam being a permanent member. He was allowed to designate two more trustees, while the government was allowed to nominate two. The four nominated trustees had fixed terms of office. This arrangement enabled the ashram president (originally T. N. Venkataraman and latterly V. S. Ramanan) to run the ashram with a three-to-two voting majority on the board. It may not be exactly what Bhagavan envisaged when the will was signed in 1938, but in practice it has meant that his original wishes are being respected: the ashram properties are in trust, and they are managed by the descendents of Chinnaswami.<br /><br />I remember speaking to Krishnaswami, chief attendant in the hall for most of the 1940s, in the 1980s. He told me he once broached the possibility with Bhagavan that the ashram might become a government-run trust after Bhagavan passed away. Krishnaswami was not a fan of Chinnaswami, and I think he was hoping his control of the ashram might lapse with Bhagavan’s passing away.<br /><br />Bhagavan clearly did not want that to happen. He remarked, ‘Let those who have worked for it look after it. If outsiders come in, they will not care about the place so much, and they might use it to make money for themselves.’ This, unfortunately, is often what happens when outsiders are brought in as trustees to manage religious bodies in India.<br /><br />I would take ‘those who have worked for it’ to mean Chinnaswami and his designated successors. Bhagavan’s ‘will’, in the general rather than the legal sense, has ultimately prevailed. The ashram remains open to all seekers who want to visit, and it has been managed since his <span style="font-style: italic;">mahasamadhi </span>by the people whom Bhagavan designated in the 1930s.<br /><br />The road to the final resolution of the case was a long and winding one. Bhagavan’s wishes on the future ownership of the ashram, expressed in his will, were considered by the Vellore judge to be legally unenforceable, and the ultimate battle was fought over what, to most devotees, were totally irrelevant issues: was the ashram a Hindu institution, and was the <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi </span>of Bhagavan’s mother a Hindu temple, and not just a <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi</span>?<br /><br />The evidence that the ashram catered to all religious communities was well presented by the Ramanasramam lawyers. Accounts were produced which demonstrated that non-Hindus were major supporters of the ashram’s projects, and in a nice touch the appeal itself has the following four devotees listed as ‘aggrieved persons’:<br /><br />S. S. Cohen [Jewish]<br />Framji Dorabji [Parsi]<br />Devaraja Mudaliar [Hindu]<br />Major Chadwick<br /><br />I think Chadwick was listed to give the impression that there was also a Christian on the ‘aggrieved’ list, but at that stage of his life, he was more Hindu than most Hindus.<br /><br />The question of who is and who is not a Hindu is one that has vexed both lawmakers and the leaders of Hindu spiritual movements. There are some who would maintain that one has to be born a Hindu, and that one cannot adopt it later on in life as a system of beliefs and practices. A caucasian foreign-born devotee of Bhagavan such as Chadwick would never be accepted as a Hindu by large swathes of the Hindu community, even though he devoted years of his life to promoting and preserving vedic traditions at Ramanasramam. I have spent thirty-five years in India associating with Hindu Gurus, practising their teachings, living in their ashrams and propagating their teachings, but that doesn’t make me a Hindu in most people’s eyes. In fact, I never claim to be one.<br /><br />Years after the Ramanasramam court case was concluded, the Supreme Court of India grappled with the competing ideas of ‘Who is a Hindu?’ and came up with the following marvellous judgement:<br /><br /></span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span>In principle, Hinduism incorporates all forms of belief and worship without necessitating the selection or elimination of any. The Hindu is inclined to revere the divine in every manifestation, whatever it may be, and is doctrinally tolerant, leaving others – including both Hindus and non-Hindus – whatever creed and worship practices suit them best. A Hindu may embrace a non-Hindu religion without ceasing to be a Hindu, and since the Hindu is disposed to think synthetically and to regard other forms of worship, strange Gods, and divergent doctrines as inadequate rather than wrong or objectionable, he tends to believe that the highest powers complement each other for the well-being of the world and mankind. Few religious ideas are considered to be finally irreconcilable. The core religion does not even depend on the existence or non-existence of God or on whether there is one God or many. Since religious truth is said to transcend all verbal definition, it is not conceived in dogmatic terms. Hinduism is, then, both a civilisation and conglomerate of religions, with neither a beginning, a founder nor a central authority, hierarchy, or organisation.</span></span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span>This remarkably tolerant and catholic expression of what constitutes a Hindu formed part of a 1977 judgement. I read it in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Hindu</span> newspaper in the early 80s, and was so impressed by it, I copied it out and had it reprinted in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Mountain Path</span> when I was briefly its editor. Many years later I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Papaji had read this particular quote in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Mountain Path</span> and taken the trouble to copy it out in one of his journals.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span>If one accepts this all-embracing definition, I would say that Ramanasramam is a Hindu institution, and that virtually all the devotees of Bhagavan who come here from abroad would qualify as Hindus. The quoted passage radiates the inclusiveness and tolerance that were hallmarks of Bhagavan’s life and teachings.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span>I am not qualified to comment on the other principal issue that the judges considered: is the building constructed over the <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi </span>of Bhagavan’s mother a temple as defined by Hindu law, or is it merely a <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi</span>? I can see from what the judges have written that the ultimate legal definition of this issue is determined by Hindu case law and agamic rules that I have no knowledge of. However, I will say that the two judges do appear to have derived their conclusion from the erroneous starting point that Bhagavan’s mother was merely a ‘brahmin widow’ and not a fully enlightened <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span>Let us consider the sequence of events from the point of view of Bhagavan and his devotees. Bhagavan is accepted as a <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani </span>by his devotees, and when his mother passed away he declared that she too had attained this rare and final state. He asked that she be buried in a way that is reserved for Saiva saints, in a specially constructed tomb whose specifications are laid out in a chapter of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Tirumandiram</span>. Since she was not a <span style="font-style: italic;">sannyasin</span>, this in itself indicated that she was not merely a brahmin widow. Years later Bhagavan ordered the construction of a vedic temple over her <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi</span>. The work took ten years and was done in accordance with the exacting standards laid down in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas</span>. To inaugurate the temple a <span style="font-style: italic;">kumbhabhishekam </span>was performed, supervised by the Sankaracharya of Puri. Bhagavan was also in attendance. Vedic rites were performed there every day by qualified brahmin priests. Did this make it a temple? Not in the eyes of the judges.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span>There is a saying, ‘If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it’s a duck’. It appears that one cannot apply this line of logic to buildings that appear to resemble temples, and which function in ways that are indistinguishable from ‘real’ temples.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span>If anyone is interested, I wrote an article in the early 1990s, entitled ‘The Evolution of the Mother’s Temple’, which chronicles the history of The Mother’s Temple and Bhagavan's intimate and prolonged association with it. It can be found at: <a href="http://www.davidgodman.org/rteach/evolmothertemp.shtml">http://www.davidgodman.org/rteach/evolmothertemp.shtml</a>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span>The sticking point for the judges appeared to be the spiritual status of Bhagavan’s mother at the time of her death. If she had simply been an unenlightened non-<span style="font-style: italic;">sannyasi </span>brahmin widow, their conclusions are probably correct. But what if they </span></span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span>had started from the premise that what Bhagavan said about her was true: that she was a fully enlightened being? What do the <span style="font-style: italic;">Agamas </span>have to say about this? Are there any agamic experts reading this who would like to offer an opinion?</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span>There are other factors that complicate this issue. Bhagavan’s mother was buried in a Hindu graveyard, traditionally a place where most vedic rites (including those done regularly at the Mother’s Temple) are not supposed to be performed. This created a problem for the Paramacharya of Kanchipuram, Chandrashekarendra Saraswati Swamigal. When the priests from Ramanasramam went to his <span style="font-style: italic;">math </span>in Tiruvannamalai, they were told that they must have a purificatory bath before they would be allowed on the premises. The Sankaracharya had decreed that since Bhagavan’s mother was not a <span style="font-style: italic;">sannyasin</span>, the structure over her body was not a temple. And since it was not a temple, it was still a Hindu graveyard, and anyone who went or worked there would need to take a purificatory bath after leaving it. This particular incident is narrated by Ra. Ganapati and can be found in an article he wrote entitled ‘The Maha-Svami and The Maharishi’. It appears online at: <a href="http://www.kamakoti.org/souv/5-58.html">http://www.kamakoti.org/souv/5-58.html</a>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span>In the same article Ra. Ganapati reports that the Paramacharya seemed to change his position once the <span style="font-style: italic;">kumbhabhishekam </span>had been performed in 1949. Although he is a little vague on this topic, Ra. Ganapati gives the impression that the Paramacharya hinted that some part of the ceremony sanctified the Mother’s <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi </span>in such a way that it had become a temple which could be visited by the orthodox.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span>The Paramacharya fully accepted that Bhagavan was a <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span>. Ra. Ganapati records this conversation in the same article:</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span><blockquote>He [the Paramacharya] went on, brimming with his admiration for the Maharishi.<br /></blockquote></span></span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span><blockquote>‘We have read in the books about the <span style="font-style: italic;">Atma Nishthas</span> (those absorbed in the Self), <span style="font-style: italic;">Brahma-Jnanis</span> (knowers of <span style="font-style: italic;">Brahman</span>) and <span style="font-style: italic;">Jivan-Muktas</span> (those liberated even while living in the body), to whom the existence and extinction of the body made no difference and who, fully one (with the Self) did not have an inkling of desire to see or hear anything. Ramana Rishi was among the few extraordinary (<span style="font-style: italic;">apurva</span>) persons of the recent times who have demonstrated all that as true. He is the one who has brought, for the world to see, the hoary <span style="font-style: italic;">Jnani</span>-tradition down to the present day.’<br /></blockquote></span></span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span><blockquote>‘Authentic saint?’ I said, partly in the affirmative, partly as a question.<br /></blockquote></span></span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span><blockquote>‘And a <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani </span>at that. Authentic <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span>,’ he amended. </blockquote></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span>Though the Paramacharya fully accepted Bhagavan to be a <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span>, there is nothing in his comments about Bhagavan and the Mother’s Temple that indicates that he regarded Bhagavan’s mother as a <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span>. I find it a little odd that he accepted Bhagavan’s credentials as a <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span>, but not his judgement on who else might be a <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span>. The notion that only a <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani </span>can determine who else is a <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani </span>is not one that appeared to carry any weight in this situation. The Paramacharya seemed to derive his position from the same premise as the Madras judges – that Bhagavan’s mother was a non-<span style="font-style: italic;">sannyasi </span>brahmin widow – and ended up in the same doctrinal place: that any building constructed over her body cannot be a temple.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span>I appealed earlier for expert agamic help. I make the same appeal again for vedic knowledge. If the Paramacharya had accepted that Bhagavan’s mother was a <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span>, would that have enabled him to change his opinion on the status of the Mother’s Temple in the years prior to its <span style="font-style: italic;">kumbhabhishekam</span>? According to the <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas</span>, could a <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani’s</span> body in a graveyard have a temple constructed over it that could be visited and used by orthodox Hindus?</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span>Ganapati Muni, an accomplished vedic scholar himself, fully accepted that Bhagavan’s Mother was enlightened and that she deserved the vedic worship that was bestowed on her <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi</span>. His disciple Kapali Sastri seemed to believe that it was the divine energy emanating from the Mother’s Temple that enabled Ramanasramam to expand the way it did in the decades that followed her passing away.<br /><br />Ganapati Muni’s position on the status of the Mother and the propriety of the temple are probably derived from answers he received from Bhagavan himself. Ganapati Muni's wife Visalakshi, asked her husband to obtain answers from Bhagavan to the following two questions:<br /><br /><blockquote>If obstacles confront women that abide in the Self, does the <span style="font-style: italic;">sastra </span>sanction renouncing the home and becoming ascetics?<br /><br />If a woman liberated while alive, happens to shed her body, what is the proper thing to do, cremation or burial?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bhagavan:</span> Since there is no prohibition in the <span style="font-style: italic;">sastra</span>, there is nothing wrong in women abiding in the Self and, fully ripe, becoming <span style="font-style: italic;">sannyasis</span>. As in <span style="font-style: italic;">mukti </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana </span>there is no difference between man and woman, the body of a woman liberated during life is not to be cremated, for it is a temple. (<span style="font-style: italic;">Sri Ramana Gita</span>, chapter thirteen, verses 5, 6, 8, 9)</blockquote><br />It should be noted that this was said several years before Bhagavan’s mother realised the Self. Kapali Sastri in his commentary on these verses (<span style="font-style: italic;">Sri Ramana Gita</span>, p. 177) concedes that <span style="font-style: italic;">smrti </span>'prohibits the fourth stage of life for women' but concludes that Bhagavan's authority to decide this matter is paramount. He remarked that Visalakshi's question was asked 'fully knowing that the authority of Sri Maharshi's words is mightier than the <span style="font-style: italic;">Dharma Sastras</span>'.<br /><br />Bhagavan clearly disagreed with the consensus that was reached by the judges in the 1959 case by stating clearly that <span style="font-style: italic;">sannyasa </span>was an option for spiritually mature women and furthermore, that it was perfectly correct to regard the buried body of a woman <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani </span>as a temple. However, Bhagavan’s views appeared to carry no weight in this legal discussion.<br /><br />T. K. Sundaresa Iyer, himself a student of Ganapati Muni, noted in an early issue of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Mountain Path</span> (1965, p. 136):<br /><br /><blockquote>Bhagavan was above formal orthodoxy or unorthodoxy. Whatever he did was orthodox because he did it, since he was higher than Manu and was himself the source of orthodoxy. People who failed to see that were putting the letter above the spirit. </blockquote><br />What we have here is two different sources of authority clashing. The Sankaracharya didn’t recognise the sanctity of the Mother’s Temple because his ultimate rule book said there were too many irregularities going on there. Bhagavan’s devotees, on the other hand, recognised that the Mother’s Temple was a genuine temple because Bhagavan had given his imprimatur to the spiritual state of his mother, on the structure that was erected over her body, and the rites that were conducted there. The devotees (quite rightly in my opinion) accepted that their Guru, a <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span>, had the authority to say what was and what was not acceptable in the spiritual world.<br /><br />This view is nicely summarised in verse 96 of <span style="font-style: italic;">Sorupa Saram</span>, a text I posted here a couple of months ago:<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> What is proper conduct and what is prohibited conduct for <span style="font-style: italic;">jnanis</span>?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> Actions they undertake are proper conduct; actions they abandon are prohibited actions.<br /><br />For the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani </span>who has become one, tranquil and blemishless, everything, beginning with space [and including the other elements] is his own form. The actions he abandons are prohibited actions, and the actions he takes up are proper actions.<br /><br /></blockquote></span></span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span>The Madras judges and the Sankaracharya have given their own respective verdicts on what constitutes a Hindu temple. The arguments of the former were backed by Hindu case law and agamic rules, the latter by vedic tradition. But when Bhagavan said, ‘The body of a woman liberated during life is not to be cremated, for it is a temple,’ (<span style="font-style: italic;">Sri Ramana Gita</span> 13.9) he was putting his authority behind a radically different idea about ‘What makes a Hindu temple a temple?’ <br /><br />Let us remind ourselves of what happened when Bhagavan’s mother realised the Self in her final moments at Skandashram. When someone commented ‘Mother has passed away,’ Bhagavan immediately interjected, ‘She did not pass away. She was absorbed.’ Here was the first public proclamation of her liberation.<br /><br />Then, in a very telling comment, Bhagavan addressed the devotees who were with him, saying, ‘We can eat. Come on; there is no pollution.’ (<span style="font-style: italic;">Self-Realization</span>, p. 129, 1993 ed.)<br /><br />Ordinarily, coming into contact with a dead body, or just being near it, puts one in a state of ritual impurity. Before one resumes one’s other activities, one needs to take a bath. In this case, though, Bhagavan said that, though dead, the mother’s body could not be a source of pollution. Why? Because her liberation had transformed her body into a temple.<br /><br />The body of Bhagavan’s mother was carried down the hill and interred the following morning. The site where she was buried did not ‘become’ a temple by having a building erected over it, or by having a <span style="font-style: italic;">kumbhabhishekam </span>performed there. It was a temple from day one because it contained the physical remains of a <span style="font-style: italic;">mukta</span>.<br /><br />According to Bhagavan, the mother’s body was not a source of pollution (as the judges and the Sankaracharya claimed); it was a temple in itself. It follows from this that the building which was subsequently erected over it was a geographical extension of the original body-temple in much the same way that the outer courtyards of a big temple merely extend the physical boundaries of the sacred terrain.<br /><br />If one accepts Bhagavan's verdict on the sanctity of a <span style="font-style: italic;">mukta's</span> body, then one might take exception to an assumption that is made in </span></span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span>Justice Ramaswami’s written judgement</span></span>:<br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span><blockquote>…it would be outrageous to say that the burial place of the bipeds and quadrupeds would evolve into a public temple. In fact so far as Hindus are concerned, entering Rudra Bhumi causes pollution and has to be expiated by a bath and it need not be pointed out also that a burial place for cows, dogs and monkeys would certainly be considered by Hindus as being a sacrilegious adjunct to the temple.</blockquote></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span>This may be the traditional scriptural view, but I, for one, would not consider it ‘sacrilegious’ if the authorities at Ramanasramam decided one day to erect a temple over the remains of cow Lakshmi. I accept Bhagavan’s judgement that she attained liberation shortly before she passed away, and this means (in my inexpert opinion) that her qualifications to have a temple erected over her remains are the same as those of Bhagavan’s mother.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span>There is one other aspect of this appeal case that particularly intrigues me: the junior member of the two-judge bench, Justice M. Anantanarayanan, had a strong connection with Bhagavan and by extension Sri Ramanasramam, which was one of the parties to the case. Four years before he made this concurring judgement he had made a free rendering of <span style="font-style: italic;">Upadesa Undiyar</span> (<span style="font-style: italic;">Upadesa Saram</span> in Sanskrit), wrote a commentary on it, and had it published by Sri Ramanasramam under the title <span style="font-style: italic;">The Quintessence of Wisdom</span>. The book had a brief foreword by Dr S. Radhakrishnan, who was Vice-President of India when the book was first published in 1955. This is what Anantanarayanan’s son, A. Madhavan, wrote about his father’s connection with Bhagavan in an online memoir (<a href="http://anantanarayanan.twobelugas.net/Pamani/Memoirs/MAbyAMViewV2.htm">http://anantanarayanan.twobelugas.net/Pamani/Memoirs/MAbyAMViewV2.htm</a>) that was published to commemorate Anantanarayanan’s birth centenary:</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span><blockquote>Appa’s [Anantanarayanan’s] next [judicial] posting, also at the same stagnant level, was to Vellore in North Arcot district, only a couple of hours by train or car from Madras. He varied his routine by visiting Tiruvannamalai, where Ramana, the great rishi lived and died. Appa had met Ramana and talked to him. The teachings and conversation of the sage had a deep influence on Appa’s mystical aspirations. We heard at home the basic question which Ramana wished everyone to reflect upon: ‘Who am I?’ It was here that Appa began his translation of Ramana’s ‘Thirty Verses’ from Tamil to English, with his own commentary and introduction. It was different from the usual run of books on Ramana, suffused by his reading of the Western philosophers. It was the first book he published. </blockquote></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span>Anantanarayanan’s connection with Bhagavan led him to the writings of Muruganar and Sadhu Om. He wrote an introduction to <span style="font-style: italic;">Sri Ramana Anubhuti</span>, one of Muruganar’s books of devotional poetry; he wrote another introduction to the first Tamil edition of Sadhu Om’s <span style="font-style: italic;">The Path of Sri Ramana</span>, and encouraged him to bring out an English edition of the book; he also actively encouraged Sadhu Om in his editing of <span style="font-style: italic;">Sri Ramana Jnana Bodham</span>, the nine-volume series of Muruganar’s poetry that was published in installments throughout the 1980s and 90s. Though he does not appear to have written about his personal connection with Bhagavan, he gave occasional public talks on Bhagavan and Muruganar in the 1950s and 60s. He eventually became the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, a position he retired from in 1963.</span></span></div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2da6Z2p_b-iQ2zmKainuiGIEYfMjUbF0jCWfFbFT9Znu-5GiSObAPPaJPrUvMBCIseQliFn3yEqJAl8t1WINlCJr0H7XRN-oueia3079SWASOqcZykyxSr6aqSfnCH62AsIIFypO-33U/s1600/MA_circa1945_455x580.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 314px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2da6Z2p_b-iQ2zmKainuiGIEYfMjUbF0jCWfFbFT9Znu-5GiSObAPPaJPrUvMBCIseQliFn3yEqJAl8t1WINlCJr0H7XRN-oueia3079SWASOqcZykyxSr6aqSfnCH62AsIIFypO-33U/s400/MA_circa1945_455x580.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630148945823548754" border="0" /></a></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >M. Anantanarayanan, sometime in the 1940s</span><br /></div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span><br /></span></span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span>Now I am not suggesting that his connection with Bhagavan biased him in favour of the legal arguments of Sri Ramanasramam, but I am wondering what the rules are in India about judges who find themselves presiding over cases in which they have a strong personal interest. If there are any lawyers reading this, I should like to know how close a judge needs to be to a party in an appeal case in India before he or she is obliged to recuse himself (or herself) from presiding over the case.<br /><br />T. N. Venkataraman, the president of Sri Ramanasramam while this court case was going on, did actually think that having Anantanarayanan on the bench would give him an advantage. I mentioned early on in this post that I would explain later why there was such a delay between the 1954 judgement in Vellore and the appeal that overturned it in 1959. Sadhu Om, who was intimately involved in the ashram’s affairs in the 1950s, told some of his devotees that the president was so uncertain about the outcome of the case, he repeatedly asked for and obtained six-month postponements to the appeal. However, when he heard in 1959 that Anantanarayanan would be on the bench for the appeal, he decided to go ahead on the assumption that he would never have a better chance of winning the case.<br /><br />There is one other amusing Sadhu Om anecdote from this era. Sri Ramanasramam knew that the HRCEB would attempt to prove that the Mother’s Temple was, in fact, a temple under the legal definition of the term. Sri Ramanasramam had always maintained that the building over the Mother’s <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi </span>was a temple, but while the court case was pending, it tried very hard to pretend otherwise. In the early 1980s Sadhu Om recalled that he had been employed by Ramanasramam in the mid-1950s to perform the rather quixotic task of going through all the ashram’s Tamil publications to prepare new editions of the works that would have the phrase ‘Mother’s Stone Building’ replacing the original term ‘Mother’s Temple’. I don’t know if these revised Tamil editions of Ramanasramam publications were ever printed. If anyone out there has a 1950s ashram book in Tamil that repeatedly mentions the ‘Mother’s Stone Building’, do let me know. It’s a wonderful story, and I would like to back it up with some hard evidence.<br /><br />There is one final story about Anantanarayanan that I would like to include. It has absolutely nothing to do with this court case, but it is so irresistibly entertaining, I cannot avoid the temptation of including it.<br /><br />In 1959 Anantanarayanan wrote a novel entitled <span style="font-style: italic;">The Silver Pilgrimage</span> and found a publisher for it in New York. This publisher managed to get the book reviewed in <span style="font-style: italic;">The New York Times</span>. There, the review came to the attention of John Updike, the famous American novelist. Though he never read the book, he immediately became captivated by Anantanarayanan’s name and promptly wrote a poem about it.<br /><br /></span></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span>I Missed His Book, But I Read His Name</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">by John Updike (1932-2009)</span></span><br /></div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span><br />Though authors are a dreadful clan,<br />To be avoided if you can,<br />I’d like to meet the Indian,<br />M. Anantanarayanan.<br />I picture him as short and tan.<br />We’d meet, perhaps, in Hindustan.<br />I’d say, with admirable elan,<br />“Ah, Anantanarayanan –<br />I’ve heard of you. The Times once ran<br />A notice on your novel, an<br />Unusual tale of God and Man.”<br />And Anantanarayanan<br />would seat me on a lush divan<br />And read his name – that sumptuous span<br />Of “a’s” and “n’s” more lovely than<br />“In Xanadu did Kubla Khan” –<br />Aloud to me all day. I plan<br />Henceforth to be an ardent fan<br />of Anantanarayanan –<br />M. Anantanarayanan.<br /><br />The poem was published in <span style="font-style: italic;">Telegraph Poles</span>, and appeared later in a volume of Updike’s selected verse.<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></p>David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com99tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-27231508475274533782011-05-25T11:21:00.002+05:302011-05-25T11:28:03.926+05:30Bhagavan Sri Ramana as I Knew Him<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">A few weeks ago I was hunting up some references in </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The Call Divine</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;"> when I came across a long section in a 1955 issue entitled ‘Symposium: Bhagavan Sri Ramana as I knew him’. The editor, Swami Rajeswarananda, had written to many devotees who had had personal contact with Bhagavan and asked for their recollections of the time spent in his presence. Many people responded, enough to fill almost one hundred pages of the January 1955 issue. I think this was probably the first attempt to collect and publish an anthology of accounts of people who had been affected by Bhagavan.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">I went though it and found many fascinating narratives, some of which I had not come across before. Many familiar names were there, along with some I had never heard of. I am presenting a selection of the accounts here.<br /><br />Since the style and the language were often of a very poor quality, I have rewritten and edited almost all of the accounts. When I have the time, I will go through the rest of the contributions and post another selection here.</span></span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">The order in which the accounts appear is the same as in the original anthology.</span></span><br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">Sri Devaraja Mudaliar, Sri Ramanasramam</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">It was in 1900 that I first cast my eyes casually on Bhagavan. From 1914 on I began visiting him, though my visits were few and far between. It was not till 1933 when I had my first great adversity that, true to the old adage, Bhagavan, our God, got his opportunity.<br /><br />From that time on I came more and more under his spell, got to know him better, and as a result have stuck to him for ever. In this long interval between 1933 and his <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi </span>in 1950 I am vain enough to imagine it has been given to me to know so much of him. It would be difficult to press it all into the compass of a small article, as a contribution to a symposium must necessarily be. However, I must try and do my best. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />The first thing that was borne in upon me, which subsequent closer acquaintance has thoroughly confirmed, was the fact that Bhagavan was no more anxious to annex any devotee who came to him than the devotee was fit to be annexed. Even to draw me nearer his spell took him nearly twenty years. He waited for time and circumstances to make me ready for him. In my long connection with him I have discovered this <span style="font-style: italic;">is</span> one of his traits, whether you hold to it to his credit or otherwise. Kavyakanta Ganapathi Sastri was so advanced in mantra <span style="font-style: italic;">japa</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">tapasya</span>, and had great devotion to Bhagavan. Bhagavan, in return, had great respect for him and showed him great consideration. But even in a case such as this, Bhagavan did not go out of his way to ripen him before his time was due. He was content to wait for the right moment. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />I have heard that when, after the Sastriar’s passing away, Bhagavan was asked whether, in his case, there was likely to be liberation from all further births. He replied, ‘How could it be? He had such a strong desire for more powers?’</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />However, it was well-known that this great person desired powers not for selfish purposes, but for the regeneration of the world and its betterment. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />This characteristic of Bhagavan is not to be wondered at. Tagore sings, ‘Time is endless in thy hands, my Lord. Thou knowest how to wait. Thy centuries follow each other, perfecting a small wild flower.’ </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />The reader should not, however, run away with the impression that Bhagavan does nothing. On the contrary, he does everything, each act in its own proper time, as he alone knows best. In the worst years of my domestic grief, which occurred at the same time as the end of my professional success, Bhagavan was a source of help and strength, past all description. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">In that period, a devotee, well known in ashram circles as Thiruppugazh Alamelu, was singing before Bhagavan a song from Bharathi’s ‘Kannan Pattu’, but substituting the name Ramana for Kannan. I felt then, and feel even more so now, that all that is said therein of Krishna is true of Bhagavan. The poem says:</span></span> <blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">If he wants to initiate a soul in the path of perfection, he can do it in a word. He will tell us how to overcome karma and get on in life. When earnestly sought for, he will come without a moment’s delay and without pretexts for holding off. To me, he is what the umbrella is against rain and food against hunger. He will give me money whenever I ask for it. Bear and forbear even when I scoff at him. Console me with dance and song and know without my telling him what is my heart’s desire. Among all saints, where is there one so kind? If I get conceited, he will bring me to my senses by sending a severe blow. He will contemptuously turn away from anything said in hypocrisy. In times of depression his words of grace will flood our soul with light and cheer. When we have our quarrel with him and feel he has neglected us, he will do something to gladden our heart and fill it with gratitude. When we are in great peril, he will come and stand by us and avert the catastrophe. By his grace all evils will be consumed like moths in a flame. </span></span></blockquote> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">From my experience and also the experience of some other devotees I can affirm all this of Bhagavan, though it must perhaps be added that such things happen to Bhagavan’s devotees more in the earlier stages of their affiliation with him than in the later years, after they had become seasoned followers. Has he not himself exclaimed in the first of his <span style="font-style: italic;">Five Hymns to Arunachala</span>:</span></span> <blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">You showed your heroic prowess, but having subdued, you do nothing at all now, O Arunachala.</span></span></blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br />This is not to say that nothing bad or painful will ever happen to a devotee. There would still be cases where some calamity, disaster, sickness or pain has to come, as per one’s <span style="font-style: italic;">prarabdha</span>, which it would not be proper even for great souls such as Bhagavan to prevent altogether. In such cases I have found Bhagavan greatly softens the blow, or at the very least grants all help and resources in various ways so as to enable the devotee concerned to tide over the crisis and bear it easily. I have seen all this happen in my own case, as well as in the case of others. Even now I am just passing through the effects of a small mishap which befell me recently. But while the mishap had to come, Bhagavan has seen to it that it came at a time and place, and under circumstances which were the best for one in my position to face. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Once when I asked Bhagavan how, in answer to our earnest prayers to him for help, we get relief, seeing that he has no mind which can desire to send us the required relief, he was pleased to say, ‘All will still happen. It will happen automatically.’</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />There is another trait that I have observed in Bhagavan. Though he was equally accessible and kind to all alike, and though thousands of visitors came and went over the years, there was a small coterie of followers among all this crowd whom he definitely took over for his special care. Here again it must be said that he was not making any choice, for where was there a mind in him to make a choice? Such things were happening automatically. However, to all alike he was immeasurably kind. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Now I must draw attention to another characteristic of Bhagavan. He was extremely humble, affable and accessible, and yet kept all at a distance. There was a royal dignity that clothed the naked Bhagavan, and few could ever allow themselves to forget it. Also, even in his kindest and most indulgent moods, even in dealing with children or grown-up children (which some of his disciples like me were), he would never make a concession in stating the truth or advising its pursuit. Kind and loving as he undoubtedly was, he was, unlike some saints, more the strict father than the indulgent mother. I myself used to call him my father-mother in all my letters to him. Whenever anyone used to sing a Tamil song in which that phrase occurred, Bhagavan would look at me and smile. I mention this here merely to illustrate what great attention he was always paying to his devotees. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />I wrote of Alamelu Ammal and the Kannan song she used to sing. About two years before Bhagavan’s <span style="font-style: italic;">mahasamadhi</span>, after she had passed away, somebody came and sang that song. Bhagavan said ‘Alamelu used to sing that song’. While apparently indifferent to the hordes who came and went, he was really closely attentive to all that was happening, and helping wherever he could. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Bhagavan has himself said that as soon as someone appears before him, that person was an open book for him. Nothing about us was hidden from him.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Though Bhagavan’s main teachings are well known and need no further publicity, I shall refer briefly to them here. His whole teaching was succinctly expressed in the biblical quote, ‘Be still and know that I am God’. That is to say, one should attain quiescence or real <span style="font-style: italic;">mauna </span>and realise the Self that is within each of us as ‘I am’. To attain this state of thoughtlessness Bhagavan asked us to concentrate on the question ‘Who am I?’ He wanted us to find the source of this I-thought, which is the root of all other thoughts. Through this enquiry, he said, the individual ‘I’ will disappear and the Self will emerge.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Though Bhagavan always said this <span style="font-style: italic;">vichara </span>method was the best, he almost always added, ‘If you say this method is too hard for you, or if you are too weak to follow it, you had better completely surrender to God. The same result will follow.’ </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Thus he advocated the <span style="font-style: italic;">bhakti </span>method almost in equal measure, saying that the <span style="font-style: italic;">bhakta </span>will eventually come to realise there is only the Self and not a dichotomy of God and devotee. I never, however, saw Bhagavan recommend either the karma yoga or <span style="font-style: italic;">raja </span>yoga methods.</span></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br /><br />Yogi Shuddhananda Bharati, Yoga Samaj, Vadalur</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />November 20th: Krithikai Day. The ashram is busy with the pouring crowds. Bhagavan is sitting outside his cottage. The ashram was then just a cottage of thatched leaves. I was sitting inside. I did not stir from my perch from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Even the call for food did not shake me. My friends had come that day to take me to Pondicherry. I was rather unwilling to leave the presence of this dynamic force. I could not even open my lips for permission. For my mission and its fulfilment were clear before me. I was hanging and swinging between ‘this’ or ‘that’, ‘here’ or ‘there’. My friends sat before me putting questions to me. Silence was my answer. They went to Maharshi and rolled out their conundrums. Silence was the answer. We were in silent heart-to-heart communion as my friends pestered him. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />What is the good of remaining mum like this? What is the goal of man? What is God? What is ‘I’? Why are we born? How to get <span style="font-style: italic;">swaraj </span>[self-rule] for the country? Violence or non-violence? What is Vedanta? What is Siddhanta? What is the meaning of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas</span>? A series of serried questions and a cascade of thrilling silence followed. One self-sufficient man lost his patience; he was a follower of modern education. His brain was full with Kant and Descartes. He had very poor opinion about our Sankaras and Gaudapadas. He had more regard for hatted and booted western armchair philosophers than for realised bald heads.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />He hurried up to me and remarked, ‘Swamiji, you, as a well-educated man, must not be like this. You must be more like Bergson, Berkeley, Jung, Huxley. You must go to America and London and acquire name and fame.' My reply: silence. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />At this time Maharshi rose up and came inside. The crowd was melting away for supper. The evening was solemn. Maharshi sat quite near me. I touched his feet, and then caught hold of his hands. His force was flowing into me. I saw his eyes; for Maharshi to me was his vision in and out. I saw the fire of knowledge radiating from those two red binocular-like eyes that saw the world around like a cinema show. His eyes darted into me. Tears flowed from my eyes. I did not move my tongue. Maharshi was reading my heart and mind, which were being saturated with divine consciousness. Silence for five minutes. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Then Maharshi spoke out in a calm, mellow, silvery voice: ‘Bharathi, take refuge in silence. You can be here or there or anywhere. Fixed in silence, established in the inner I, you can be as you are. The world will never perturb you if you are well founded upon the tranquility within. You have a <span style="font-style: italic;">sankalpa </span>– to write out your inspirations, to bring out the <span style="font-style: italic;">Bharata shakti</span> [power of India]. It is better to finish off <span style="font-style: italic;">sankalpas </span>here and now and keep a clear sky within. But do it in silence. Gather your thoughts within. Find out the thought centre and discover your Self-equipoise. In storm and turmoil be calm and silent. Watch the events around as a witness. The world is a drama of gold, women, desire and envy. Be a witness, inturned and introspective.’</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I wept and mumbled, ‘Do you want me to remain?’ I felt I must come back the next day. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Maharshi, after a deep silence, saw my face. After his gaze had sunk into me he whispered, ‘You must come back, and you will. For every one must come to this path. Wind wanders before returning to the silence of the <span style="font-style: italic;">akasa</span>.’</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">‘Are you saying that I will not return in a week?’</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Maharshi smiled now and said, ‘Why a week? Even after years you must come here. Only take refuge in silence. Allow karma to work itself out and march on in faith. You will not miss the goal.’</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />With this he fell into trance while I fell at his feet. One hour passed. Then half an hour more. My philosophically inclined friend also stood there, struck dumb. His questions were rushed into silence. I placed a lump of dates into the hands of the Maharshi. He took a piece and returned the rest to me. I understood, ‘Today’s date is a sweet one. It is the date when I received the message of silence. I must taste in silence each date of my life by having communion with the divine.’</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />For two decades I was silence itself. Years later I returned. The former simple ashram had disappeared; the body of the Maharshi had disappeared. But the vibrating presence whispered into me ‘Silence, yet more silence!’</span></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br /><br />Prof. V. B. Athavale, M.Sc., F.R.G.S., Kirloskarwadi<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I had the good fortune of meeting Sri Ramana Maharshi in April 1944 and observed for one week his state of supreme consciousness in which worldly knowledge appears insignificant and produces no worries. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />When Paul Brunton asked, ‘Will the world soon enter a new era of friendliness and mutual help, or will it go down into chaos and war ?’ Maharshi replied, ‘There is one who governs the world. He knows how to look after it. He bears the burden of the world and not you.’ </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Maharshi’s reactions to my unspoken intentions were, however, very tender and marvellous. I reached his Tiruvannamalai ashram with my wife on 16th April. To investigate the relation between <span style="font-style: italic;">Gita </span>and the Vedic literature with regard to the Vedic quotations explicitly referred to by Maharshi Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa, (the author of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Gita</span>) I had prepared a genealogical chart of some 350 persons mentioned in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Rigveda</span>. I intended to show this chart to Sri Ramana Maharshi and talk to him about my <span style="font-style: italic;">Gita </span>study. But when I found that no one talked in the hall, I dropped the idea and decided not to talk about it unless the Maharshi showed some interest himself.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Next day, when I entered the hall at 8 a.m., I was surprised to find that the Maharshi had asked Mr Iyer to hand over a <span style="font-style: italic;">Gita </span>book to me that contained 746 verses instead of the normal 700. Mr Iyer had also been asked to get my opinion on this difference. Thus I got the chance of opening the <span style="font-style: italic;">Gita </span>topic. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">To avoid disturbing the peace in the hall, Maharshi asked me to meet a pandit that afternoon to talk about the <span style="font-style: italic;">Gita</span>. The pandit was going to relay our discussion to the Maharshi later. I ended up talking to this pandit for four days.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Maharshi eventually saw my genealogical chart and asked me, via the pandit, what I had to say about ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">tenaiva rupena chaturbhujena</span>’, the reference to the four hands of Krishna in the 11th chapter. I explained to him that Arjuna has addressed Krishna twice as ‘Vishno’ in the 11th chapter. In the 10th chapter we are told that Krishna was Vishnu out of Adityas. Though this expression is usually interpreted to mean the sun in the twelve signs of the zodiac, it cannot be correct. Because, the next words say ‘I am the sun among the stars’. The Rigvedic expression ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Astau putraso Aditeh</span>’ tells that Aditi had eight sons and Adhvaryu Brahmana tells that Vishnu was one of the eight sons of Aditi. Yajurveda states, ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Narayanaya vidmahe Vasudevaya dhimahi tanno Vishnuh prachodayat</span>’. It means that Vishnu was called Vasudeva patronymically. Thus Krishna and Vishnu had the identical name Vasudeva patronymically.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">According to old traditions Vishnu holds in his four hands (1) <span style="font-style: italic;">Shankha</span>, (2) <span style="font-style: italic;">Chakra</span>, (3) <span style="font-style: italic;">Gada</span>, (4) <span style="font-style: italic;">Padma</span>. Krishna had in his normal two hands the famous <span style="font-style: italic;">Panchajanya</span> conch and the reins of the four horses. Arjuna first saw the four-handed form of Vishnu. Hence the 17th verse mentions only ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Gada</span>’ and ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Chakra</span>’ to be the two weapons, which were not in the hands of Krishna. The <span style="font-style: italic;">Mahabharata </span>states that Krishna had decided not to wield any weapon in the war. In verse 44 Arjuna says, ‘I am terrified by this thousand-fold form. Please show me your original form with four hands. Verse 45 again mentions the same two weapons ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Gada</span>’ and ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Chakra</span>’. Verse 51 refers to the normal human form of Krishna. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Maharshi was pleased when he heard the explanation. He gave me his blessings for the study and suggested that I should write a commentary on the <span style="font-style: italic;">Gita</span>. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">On 23rd April I was sitting as usual in the hall. One gentleman, who was sitting near me, was reading some English passage from a book in a loud whisper. I heard the sentence, ‘A <span style="font-style: italic;">siddha </span>is inferior to a conjuror’. I thought that the author of the sentence had committed a mistake, but didn’t intervene. On 24th April I went into the hall in the morning and informed Maharshi that I was leaving in the evening and requested him to give his autograph. The secretary told me that Maharshi never signed his name. I expressed regret for my ignorance of the rule and said that I merely wanted the handwriting of Maharshi and not his signature. The gentleman, whose sentence I had heard the previous day, was sitting near me. I was thinking of asking him the name of the author who had written that a <span style="font-style: italic;">siddha </span>was inferior to a conjuror. I wanted to point out the mistake and demand its rectification. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Meanwhile, Maharshi took a pen and a piece of paper in his hand and asked Mr Iyer to tell me that he was writing a reply to my query. Mr Iyer told me that my wish had been fulfilled and that Maharshi was giving his handwriting to me. The verse that Maharshi wrote was a reply to my unspoken query to the gentleman, as well as to my mental comments about the sentence I had heard. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />The book which the gentleman was reading was the English translation of a Tamil rendering by Maharshi of an old Sanskrit poem, called <span style="font-style: italic;">Rama Gita</span>. The verse says, ‘A conjuror deludes others by his tricks but he himself is never deluded. A <span style="font-style: italic;">siddha </span>who manifests his <span style="font-style: italic;">siddhis </span>is, however, deceiving others as well as deceiving himself.’<br /><br /></span>W</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">hen Maharshi handed over the Devanagari script to me, a flash in his eye suggested that I was free to point out the mistakes of the author of the statement.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3YYgP_qQQrqGsDIYaQcM5qpo0AmscizzlhuaC26CLaXu55aDSHtq8-RFA-uoAlsXzo0l-I9AOwR7-PjTy8YABan2wkeO7pCHe2feCpHfuQOMkK0D1Ve9UPj4q_MxwXAXjPQiE_rL9tXs/s1600/Rama+Gita+verse.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3YYgP_qQQrqGsDIYaQcM5qpo0AmscizzlhuaC26CLaXu55aDSHtq8-RFA-uoAlsXzo0l-I9AOwR7-PjTy8YABan2wkeO7pCHe2feCpHfuQOMkK0D1Ve9UPj4q_MxwXAXjPQiE_rL9tXs/s400/Rama+Gita+verse.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5609831153807128498" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >The handwritten verse that Bhagavan wrote for the professor</span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dr Hafiz Syed, M.A., Ph.D., D.Litt., Allahabad</span><br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">It was in March 1935 that a friend of mine, Mr. Bertram Keightly gave me a copy of <span style="font-style: italic;">A Search In Secret India</span> by Paul Brunton. I devoured it, felt interested in Ramana Maharshi, and longed to meet him. The same year during the Christmas week I paid my first visit to Madras to attend the Theosophical Society convention. From there I went to Mysore in response to the invitation of Sir Mirza Mohd. Ismail. On my return to Bangalore I accidentally met Maurice Frydman. His ascetic life made me curious to know who he was and what made him lead an austere life. It was he who told me a great deal about Ramana Maharshi and roused my sleeping interest in him.<br /><br />Through his good offices I arrived in Tiruvannamalai one morning and was ushered into Maharshi’s presence by Paul Brunton himself. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">After three days’ stay there, while taking leave of the Maharshi, I begged him to give me his <span style="font-style: italic;">ashirvad </span>[blessings] before I left him. He was gracious enough to nod his assent, which meant a great deal to me. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Next year, 1936, I visited him again during Dassara holidays. In 1937, the most momentous year in my life, I was attacked by a series of misfortunes. I had to stay in one of the rooms in the ashram itself for more than a month on account of a serious illness. It was during those days that I realised vividly his greatness as a divine man who was endowed with all spiritual and human qualities. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">While I was lying ill with a high fever, Maharshi was considerate enough to visit me three times and prepared <span style="font-style: italic;">upma </span>for me with his own hand. My eyesight was affected by the high fever. When parting with him to start for Madras for treatment, I took hold of his toes and touched my eyes with them. For me, that was a sufficient guarantee that my eyesight would not fail me. So it has not. I shall never forget the grace he gave me during my serious illness. I had no idea what it was till I returned to my place in North India and felt its purifying effect on my life. I never felt so light and free from all taint of desire as I did in those days. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />In 1939 I went on a sacred pilgrimage to him during the summer vacation. As there was a big crowd in the ashram, I could not take leave of Maharshi before leaving Tiruvannamalai. The result was that, somehow or other, I was deprived of the inestimable privilege of having Maharshi’s <span style="font-style: italic;">darshan </span>for three years. From 1943 onwards I never let a year pass without visiting him. I was present during his final illness and saw him undergoing an operation for sarcoma without any sigh, shriek or anaesthetic. The doctors were amazed at his composure and an unheard-of peace of mind. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />During his serious illness he was so considerate and thoughtful of the feelings of others that, despite his intense suffering, he did not deprive any one of the privilege of having his <span style="font-style: italic;">darshan</span>. His sense of humanity was as great as his sense of spirituality. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Once, during one of his birthday celebrations, I read out an article in the hall that contained the statement, ‘The more a person is spiritual, the more he is human’. I asked about this, and he agreed that it was true. The sight of suffering, or a mere tale of it, touched his heart.<br /><br />I invariably noticed during my close contact with him that he was indifferent to his body, as he believed that it was transitory. The real in him, and in others, was beyond any change.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">One of the plainest teachings he gave to seekers of truth was self-surrender to God or Guru. He recommended it because he himself had surrendered himself to the divine and reaped its fruit. This method of approach to truth, he said, was the easiest and the safest if one had an earnest desire to attain liberation. I have often felt strongly that his method of approaching truth was so definite, clear and direct, it must appeal to the modern mind because it is essentially scientific. Maharshi never expected anyone to pin his faith in any particular scripture, or practise any <span style="font-style: italic;">sadhana</span>, or repeat any mantra. All he expected of us was to closely and critically analyse the content of our own being, to discover what we really were to see if there was any thing in us which survived the decay of our bodily frame. His words went straight into our heart because he lived what he taught. His grace was ready for those who were ready for it; in other words, those who had made themselves fit recipients of his grace. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />The dominating feature of his philosophy was the unity of life, the oneness of the divine essence which is the indwelling Self of all. In view of this deep-seated conviction of his, we noticed that he made no distinction in everyday life between great and small, rich or poor, holy or profane. He treated all alike. He habitually saw the one life vibrant in all. Another remarkable and distinguishing feature of his life was that he showered grace on every one whom he considered eligible for it, whether they were frequent visitors to his ashram and attached to him or not. Those who came from other ashrams and were the disciples of other Gurus received the same transmissions of grace, if they were ready.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I heard him repeatedly say that there is one who governs the world and that it is his task to look after the world. He who has given life to the world knows how to look after it also. It is he and not us who bears the burden of the world. He would also say that each was helped according to his nature, in proportion to his understanding and devotion. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Yogi Ranganathan, Madurai</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">[This account is by Rangan, one of Bhagavan’s childhood friends. I included a chapter about him in </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The Power of the Presence</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;"> (part one, pp. 1-38). I took the first few pages of my account from a chapter in one of Chalam’s books. Going through this '</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Call Divine</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">' account, which I was not aware of when I compiled </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The Power of the Presence</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">, I can see that Chalam himself used it extensively in his Telugu version.]</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />My father, an Inspector of Police, was transferred to Tiruchuzhi in 1885. Bhagavan’s father Sundaram Aiyar was then practising there as a <span style="font-style: italic;">vakil</span>. The two became close and intimate friends. I was a classmate of Bhagavan. My elder brother was in the same class as Bhagavan’s elder brother. Our two families moved on the friendliest terms, almost as close relations.<br /><br />Around the middle of 1888 my father was transferred to another place and we left Tiruchuzhi. Bhagavan and his brother went to Dindigul for education and from there came to Madurai to continue their education. By that time we had also come to Madurai for our education. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Bhagavan was first reading in the Mission School, whereas I was attending the Native College. However, the institutions were adjacent to each other. If my school closed earlier I would wait for Bhagavan; and if his school closed earlier, he would wait for me. I and my brother, along with Bhagavan and his brother, would go to the Vaigai River, play on the sands and return home. Other boys would join us. I was just one year older than Bhagavan. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Bhagavan left Madurai in August 1896. After that, I didn’t see him again for a long time.<br /><br />When I saw him for the first time in Tiruvannamalai, I was accompanied by my wife, mother and daughter. I asked Bhagavan whether he recognised me. His reply sounded as if he was speaking from the back of his throat. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />‘Rangan,’ he croaked.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">In those days Bhagavan spoke rarely, and he had almost lost speech through lack of practice.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Turning to Palaniswami, he pointed out my mother and asked him ‘Do yon recognise this lady?’<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">‘Yes,’ he replied.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />She had visited Bhagavan when he had been living at Pavalakundru in the 1890s.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I spoke to Bhagavan for some time.<br /><br />As I was taking leave of him I remarked, ‘You have attained a great stage’. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />His reply was, ‘Distance lends enchantment to the view’.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />I learned later from the many teachings that he gave to me directly, and from advice given to other people that I overheard, that he was implying ‘A householder’s life was as good as that of an ascetic, and could equally lead one to <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span>’.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">On my next visit, when I was still ten or fifteen steps from Skandasramam, Bhagavan, who was then cleaning his teeth near the parapet wall, observed my coming and told his mother, ‘Mother, Rangan is coming’.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />She said, ‘Let him come. Let him come.’</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />When I got up after prostrating before Bhagavan, he said, ‘It is a rare privilege to get the <span style="font-style: italic;">darshan </span>of saints. It is good to go and visit them frequently. They will weave the cloth and give it to you.’</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />From this I gathered that if one had Bhagavan’s grace one could gain <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span>, even without any effort on one’s own part.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">During my next visit, when Bhagavan, his mother and I were alone together, I told Bhagavan’s mother, ‘I have also a right to a share in all that Bhagavan has gained’.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Mother asked Bhagavan, ‘Did you hear what Rangan said?’</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Bhagavan laughed and said, ‘Is he not also one of us? He has also a share.’</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">On another occasion I came to Bhagavan on my way to Madras where I wanted to try for a job.<br /><br />When I got up after prostrating, Bhagavan asked me, ‘Men can go anywhere and somehow eke out a livelihood. But what arrangements have you made for your wife and children?' </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />I replied, ‘I have provided for them’.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I stayed for a few days with Bhagavan and then went away to Madras. A few days later my elder brother visited Bhagavan. Bhagavan made kind enquiries of him whether my wife and children were getting on well, without any hardship. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />My brother had to tell him, ‘He left some money when he started for Madras. All that has been exhausted and they are now suffering great hardship.’<br /><br />Then he continued his journey to Madurai.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />When, after making some efforts for a job at Madras, I returned to Bhagavan, he asked me, ‘You told me you had provided for your wife and children. Your elder brother told me they are undergoing hardship.’</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I did not make any reply. Why? Because Bhagavan knows all and is also all-powerful. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I again went to Madras and, finding my efforts for a job there were in vain, returned to Bhagavan and stayed with him for some time.<br /><br />During that time, one night, when I was sleeping outside on a double cot that was lying there, Bhagavan suddenly came and sat near my feet. Seeing this I got up. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Bhagavan asked me, ‘What is the matter with you? Are you restless and not getting sleep because of your family troubles? Would it he enough for you if you get Rs 10,000?’<br /><br />I kept silent.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Once when Bhagavan and I were going round the hill he said, ‘There are herbs on this hill which can transmute base metals into gold’.<br /><br />That time too I kept silent.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Bhagavan used to often joke with me and laugh, asking, ‘Oh, are you suffering very much?’</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />He then told me, ‘When a man sleeps, he dreams he is being beaten and that he is suffering terribly. All that would be quite real at the time. But when he wakes up, he knows it was only a dream. Similarly, when <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana </span>dawns, all the miseries of this world will appear to be mere dream.’</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />A few days later I returned to Madurai and through a friend got a manager’s job in a motor company. Later, I was also appointed as agent for the sale of buses in Ramnad and Madurai by another company, with a commission of 5% on all sales effected by me. From this and in other ways I got Rs 10,000, which I spent on clearing off my debts and marrying two of my daughters. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />I never used to mention my family troubles to Bhagavan, nor ask him for anything. He was himself looking after me and my family. Why, then, should I make any requests for this or that particular thing? I left everything to him. It never occurred to me to ask him for any wealth.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />I frequently used to tell Bhagavan, ‘I have entrusted my body, possessions, soul, all to you. The entire burden of my family is hereafter yours. From now on I am only your servant, doing only what you ask me to do. I am a puppet moved by your strings.’<br /><br />Bhagavan would just laugh.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Once, at Skandasramam, when Bhagavan was standing, I felt his legs from the knee downwards, running my hands over them.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I remarked, ‘When in the old days we played together, I used to feel as if I was pricked with thorns whenever your legs came in contact with my body. Your skin in those days was rough and scaly. Now I find your legs are soft, like velvet.’</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Bhagavan responded by saying, ‘My body has completely changed. This is not the old body.’</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />One day Bhagavan told me, ‘Let us go to Pandava Tirtham and swim in it. Can you still swim?’</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />I told him I had not forgotten and that I would be happy to go with him. The next morning, at 3 a.m., we went and swam there, playing as we did in the old days. We returned before people came there for their early bath. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Bhagavan said, ‘Let us do it again tomorrow. But we have to go early and return before people come there for their morning baths.’</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />I agreed and we went swimming there every morning for the next few days.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />One day, before dawn, when I was restless in my bed, rolling from one side to another, Bhagavan came to me and asked, ‘Are you not getting sleep? What are you worried about?’ </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />I told him, ‘I am thinking of taking up <span style="font-style: italic;">sannyasa</span>. If I do it here my people would discover it. So, I want to go away to a distant place like Banaras and become a <span style="font-style: italic;">sannyasi </span>there.’ </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Bhagavan went away and came back with a copy of <span style="font-style: italic;">Bhaktha Vijayam</span>. He read from it the portion dealing with Vithoba’s determination to remain a <span style="font-style: italic;">sannyasi </span>in a forest, along with the advice from his son Jnandev that the same mind goes with a man whether he stays at house or retires into a forest. He told me I could attain <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span> while continuing to be a householder.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I asked Bhagavan, ‘Why then did you become a <span style="font-style: italic;">sannyasi</span>?’<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">He replied, ‘That was my destiny’.<br /><br />Then he added, ‘Though it is irksome to remain a householder, it is easy to attain <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana </span>that way.’<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Once at Skandasramam, after Bhagavan and I had taken a bath and he was drying his body with a towel, I noticed that from his knee to his ankle the skin had peeled off and blood was oozing. I asked him what the matter was with his leg.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">He said he didn’t know.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I asked, ‘Is it not your legs that blood is oozing from? You seem to know nothing about it!’<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">He replied very casually, ‘When I was sitting down, the fire from the charcoal brazier in which incense powder was being burnt might have burnt my skin and caused this sore’. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />I at once sent for some ointment and applied it to his legs. From this I learnt how completely detached from the body Bhagavan was. He lived only in the Self. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />One day, Bhagavan and I went round the hill by the forest foot path close to the foot of the hill. After I had gone a little distance on that path, which was full of thorns and sharp stones, I stepped on a thorn.<br /><br />As I was lagging behind, Bhagavan observed me, came back to me, removed my thorn, and said ‘Now, we can continue’.<br /><br />We carried on together but after a few yards he too stepped on a thorn. Noticing this, I ran up to him, lifted up his foot and saw the marks of several thorns there. I then examined his other foot and found several marks there too.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Bhagavan said, ‘Are you going to remove the new thorn or the old thorns?’ </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Then, with the greatest indifference, he pressed his foot on the ground, pushed it forward, and the thorn broke off. We then continued with our walk. It confirmed for me that he was living completely detached from his body. I further imagined that both of these incidents were somehow staged by Bhagavan to impress on me that he was not his body. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />On another occasion Bhagavan said to me, ‘You think you are undergoing great troubles. Hear some of mine. I was once climbing the hill up a precipitous track and when I caught hold of a rock above me. The rock dislodged itself and I fell on my back. The moving rock dislodged others, all of which fell on top of me while I was lying on the ground. I managed to remove the rocks that were covering me and climb out. I found my left thumb was dislocated and hanging loose. I forcibly brought it back to its place and reattached it there.’ </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />At that stage in the narration Bhagavan’s mother appeared and remarked, ‘Don’t ask for that horrid story. He came home with blood all over his body. It was too heart-rending a spectacle.’ </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />I cannot understand who came and removed the rock, treated his wounds and fixed up the thumb. Who was that doctor? </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />One day Bhagavan’s mother told me in his presence that once, while he was standing, she saw various kinds of snakes all over his body, round his neck, chest, waist, legs. She became very afraid, but after some time the snakes all went back to their places. I believe that this was one of the visions vouchsafed by Bhagavan to his mother to wean her from the belief that Bhagavan was her son and to impress on her that he was God Himself.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Once, at Skandasramam, when Bhagavan, his mother and I were the only people there, mother told the following story: ‘About ten days ago, at about this time, ten in the morning, I was looking at Bhagavan. His body disappeared gradually and transformed into a <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>like the one in Tiruchuzhi Temple. The <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>was lustrous. At first I could not believe my eyes. I rubbed them, looked again, and still saw the same sight. I became afraid because I thought he might be leaving us. But slowly and gradually his body reappeared in place of the <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam</span>.’</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />After hearing this account I looked at Bhagavan, who smiled at me. From this I gathered he was confirming his mother’s account. When I returned home I mentioned this to the members of my family. My eldest son, who was writing an account of what he called ‘Bhagavan’s marriage with his bride <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span>’, included this incident in it.<br /><br />Later, when that work was being read out before Bhagavan by my son and this incident came up, Bhagavan asked ‘Who told you this?’<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">My son, of course, replied ‘My father’.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Then Bhagavan said, ‘Oh, that fellow came and told you everything, did he?’</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Some of the devotees who were listening to the work being read out asked what exactly was the incident referred to. Bhagavan dismissed it, saying it was nothing. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I myself gathered from this vision of Bhagavan’s mother that Bhagavan was God himself, and that the vision was granted to mother to impress on her that she was no longer to think of him as her son, but as God Supreme. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />One day, when Bhagavan and I were climbing the hill, I told him that because I have had the good fortune to have Bhagavan’s <span style="font-style: italic;">darshan</span>, all my <span style="font-style: italic;">sanchita </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">agami </span>karma had been burnt away like a bale of cotton by a spark of fire, and that only my <span style="font-style: italic;">prarabdha </span>karma was left. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />He replied, ‘Even <span style="font-style: italic;">prarabdha </span>will remain only so long as the mind remains. If the mind is destroyed, to whom does the <span style="font-style: italic;">prarabdha </span>belong? Think over that deeply.’</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />From that I understood that once the mind is killed and <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana </span>is attained, there is no such thing as <span style="font-style: italic;">prarabdha</span>. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Once a devotee who had behaved improperly towards Bhagavan asked me what he might do to expiate his offence. I advised him to do <span style="font-style: italic;">pradakshina </span>round Bhagavan three times.<br /><br />He walked around him three times, prostrated before him and said, ‘Bhagavan should not keep in his mind the mistake I have committed’.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Bhagavan replied, ‘Where do I have a mind? Only if I have a mind can I keep something there’. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />It is clear from this that Bhagavan has attained <span style="font-style: italic;">mano nasa</span>, extinction of the mind. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />When Bhagavan was in Skandasramam, a gentleman from Malabar, greatly learned, and an expert in yoga <span style="font-style: italic;">sastras</span>, came and lectured for four hours on yoga. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />After he had finished, Bhagavan said, ‘Now, you have finished, I hope, everything that you wanted to say. The end of all your yoga is seeing lights and hearing sounds. The mind will be in <span style="font-style: italic;">laya </span>(a suspension of mental activity) while the sound or light is there. When they disappear, the mind will again emerge. The real thing is to achieve <span style="font-style: italic;">mano nasa</span> or extinction of the mind. That is what is called <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span>.’</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The other man said, ‘What you say is the truth,’ and took leave of Bhagavan.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sri Mouni Sadhu, Australia</span></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Those who ‘knew’ Sri Bhagavan Ramana know him forever. This is because even a single encounter with the great <span style="font-style: italic;">rishi </span>on our life’s path is an event that can never be forgotten or dimmed in our consciousness by the passage of time. For some of us, it meant a complete change in the course of our present and future lives, and this could never have happened otherwise.<br /><br />The scope of the subject is far too broad to be described in detail within the framework of such a short article. I am therefore compelled to condense it as much as possible. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />The first time I met him I had come directly from the cart that had brought me from the Tiruvannamalai railway station. Before visiting the ashram, I had been conversant with Sri Maharshi’s teachings for some four years and the many photographs I had seen had made his features quite familiar to me. When I was ushered into the dimly lit dining hall, I was therefore able to recognise him immediately, even though at that time his figure was much more meagre than in the pictures I had seen. He was sitting close to a wall, eating his evening meal. I bowed in greeting, and with an incomparable expression of kindness on his face, he asked me where the other devotee was who had come with me. I wondered at his very sharp memory because the letter announcing my proposed visit had been written many months before. My friend’s absence was explained; he had not been in a position to come. Sri Bhagavan then asked that supper be brought to me. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />When I became conscious that at last I had found what I had been seeking all my life, this knowledge did not come through conscious deliberation but via an intuitive flash. I immediately became absorbed into the presence of the Master. At first I was worried about his precarious physical state, but my grief quickly became dissolved in his spiritual radiation. The outer appearance soon merged into that mysterious inner link with him that has remained unbroken from that moment up to the present time. While I was at his feet, I learned to stop the thought-current in my mind, a thing that formerly had devoured long years of effort, and which had never been completely successful, despite the many exercises of various occult systems. I never returned to those exercises; they were quite inadequate in the sublime spiritual atmosphere surrounding the Master, which in itself permitted much faster development.<br /><br />The key to it – concentration – came of itself. Firstly, and most importantly, I became aware that there is a thing above all things that I had never known before. This cannot be adequately described in words, but nevertheless, perhaps some direct hints will give an idea about it. The eyes of the Master conveyed in silence that there is a state which is beyond and untouched by all human troubles, a state which is certainty and peace in itself, in which we know everything. For in that state everything is in us. This mysterious process in consciousness was induced by Sri Bhagavan, or rather by his presence, for he was himself all harmony and peace.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I tried to analyse the changes that arose in me when I meditated at his feet. I found that the mind was easily freed from thoughts, and that memory – in the usual meaning of the word – was no more. Also absent was the concomitant subdivision of time into past, present and future. Instead, there appeared something that cannot be properly described in words. Perhaps a conception of living eternity would be best. There were no visions but, strangely enough, one knew that there could be nothing unknown to him, for by completely directing the attention, one could know everything. These experiences have been more explicitly described in the book <span style="font-style: italic;">In Days of Great Peace</span>. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />In some wonderful way the Maharshi seemed to supervise these inner processes in us, just as an operator watches the work of complicated machinery that he knows thoroughly. Moreover, he mysteriously helped in these inner experiences, but how he did it still remains a mystery to me. At the same time, without any deliberation from my side, a potent love for him was created in my heart, simply because it could not be otherwise. Altogether, a man emerged from these experiences greatly changed and quite often with a totally different idea about everything in this world. I myself called it ‘the spiritual alchemy of the Master’. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">As time passed, I ceased to consider Sri Bhagavan as a being of flesh and blood. This was the most wonderful experience and conquest. From that time on the Master could never be lost to me, although I was only too well aware that his days on this earth were numbered and few remained. I saw the spiritual essence of the man, the indestructible core instead of just the mortal frame. This was the chief factor that enabled me to bear his physical departure without any inner catastrophe. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />The word ‘spirit’ is plainly misused by a world that cannot connect the term with anything real, often confusing it with emotional and mental impressions, creating from them an idea of something indefinite and dim. All his long life Sri Maharshi taught that the true reality is beyond all forms, no matter to which plane of existence they belong. And yet, for many people this remains merely a myth or theory. After the Master left this earth, I tried to analyse what it was in his manifestation amongst us that was the most important thing for future generations to remember him for. I reached the conclusion that it was that he himself showed the example of what final attainment is, thereby making it accessible to everyone else. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">An eternal wisdom lies in all his utterances. He confirmed the truth of them by being that wisdom himself. For example, Maharshi demonstrated that he was not the body and that his true Self never suffered when that body was attacked by a painful disease, one that would be terrifying for an average person to undergo. However, we all felt that, though he was detached from his bodily pains, he could have overcome the disease if such an outcome had been necessary.<br /><br />When such a sage testifies to the immaterial truth of being, and daily pointed us all towards it, how could I ever seek something apart from it? </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The Maharshi himself knew very well the decisive role he played in the lives of those who were fortunate enough in their karmas to come to him from all sides of the world.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">He says, ‘Association with the sages who have realised the truth removes material attachments. These attachments being removed, the attachments of the mind are also destroyed. Those for whom attachments of the mind are destroyed become one with That which is ever motionless. They attain liberation while yet alive. Cherish, therefore, the association with such Sages.’ </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Such a sage was and is Sri Ramana, and there are many of us who used to know and revere him.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">M. K. S., Karachi</span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />No man can be happy without the knowledge of God. Scriptures are our guides in the path to the Godhead. It is said in the Bible, ‘Many are called but few are chosen’. Religion is essential for all. Man needs spiritual bread for his sustenance in the struggle of life. A stage arrives in the evolution of a human soul when man is not satisfied with mere teachings and promises of a life hereafter. He longs for God. He thirsts for God. He gets intoxicated in his love of God. He sets aside his Bible, his Koran, his Gita, his Gathas. He wants to see God face to face. He yearns and pines for his visual revelation. He discards everything in life. He is prepared to go through all the trials, tests and ordeals that may be necessary for attaining the object of his heart. He starts on the journey in the quest of truth. He yearns to unravel the secrets of the universe and be merged in God.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">In July 1947 I was ordered by my Spirit Master to pay a visit to Tiruvannamalai and sit at the feet of the Sage of Arunachala, Bhagavan Sri Ramana. The journey was long but the longing to see the sage was greater. Accompanied by my wife, we embarked upon the journey, a distance of more than two thousand miles by rail. Passing through Bombay and Madras we arrived at Sri Ramana’s ashram with hearts gladdened by the prospect of attaining spiritual enjoyment. We arrived when the moon was shining in the sky, casting its shimmering, pale, silvery light through the foliage of trees, through which we passed to reach our destination. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">It was all so quiet.<br /><br />We stayed in a cottage, named ‘Detachment’. The very name of the cottage was enough to send thrills of delight through every nerve and fibre of our being. It appeared God was preparing in His subtle manner for the great future that was awaiting.<br /><br />The next day we were in the presence of the sage in the hall. Prostrating at full length, we sat near him on the floor. My friend Doraiswami, the Honorary Secretary of the Spiritual Healing Centre, Coimbatore, had also accompanied us from Madras. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">As I sat for hours and hours together without being fatigued or exhausted in that hall, with many other devotees squatting on the floor, my eyes were rivetted upon the magnetic personality of the sage. Naked, except for a loin cloth that he wore, his face kindled with the fire of the inner light, his deep, searching eyes that seemed to penetrate into the soul of every devotee gathered in that silent throng, his majestic look, his tall frame made slender by the years of abstinence and <span style="font-style: italic;">tapas </span>practised in the forests and the caves where he communed alone with his God – all this made a deep impression upon our minds. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Sri Ramana appeared to be the very soul of India. This country has been known as a land of <span style="font-style: italic;">rishis</span>. And it is India’s pride that in spite of the wave of materialism that is sweeping all over the world, this tradition of her spirituality has been maintained so beautifully. In fact, India’s greatest contribution to the world is her spirituality. We are living in an age of rush and crash. Passivity is decried and activity is hailed as a mark of progress in all phases of life. We do not deny the role of human activity in the economy of life. But it is incorrect to say that passivity is alien to progress and that it is tantamount to sin. The life of the sage of Arunachala is a most salient and solid rejoinder to this vile accusation. This man lived all his life in the vicinity of Arunachala. He lived a life of silence, seclusion and solitude, away from the maddening crowds, in utter renunciation, and he realised God. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">God-realisation is the only real goal of life.<br /><br />This is lost sight of by westerners, and passivity is wrongly criticised. By passivity, we mean, passivity of the right type, when man yearns for God and in his yearning, he is prepared to forego everything and seeks Him by the <span style="font-style: italic;">marga </span>of silence, seclusion and deep meditation. Ramana left his home, when he was just a lad studying in a school, when the longing came to him to give himself up solely to God. He went in search of his Lord and found Him in the seclusion of his heart in the midst of surrounding quietude of nature, away from the dust and din of a skeptic world steeped in ignorance of God’s light and beauty. To sit at his feet in that silent hall vibrant with the radiance of his soul pervading the whole atmosphere was a feast for the soul. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Devotees of various classes come for his <span style="font-style: italic;">darshan</span>. Some come in the hope of solving their difficulties. Some come for his blessings. Some come out of sheer curiosity. Some come with an understanding heart, that the sage in his invisible, subtle manner, would kindle a fire and let loose the soul from the bondage of the body. I was fully aware that this miracle would be performed by him.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">On the last day, before bidding adieu to the Sage, I sat for a long time, squatting on the floor and lo! to my surprise, I fell into a sort of <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi </span>– the first of its kind experienced. It was like awakening in a new world. It was all rapturously divine. The sage had worked his miracle. The secret purpose of my visit was understood. He opened the inner valves and gave me freedom. My soul was free. I left the sage of undying fame and his ashram with a heart bounding with joy and bursting with gratitude. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sri M. S. Madhava Rau, Mangalore</span></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />My claim to write is that of one who saw Him. I dare not say ‘I know Him’. Twice I and my wife had the beatific privilege of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi’s <span style="font-style: italic;">darshan</span>, with a space of ten years intervening. A decade after the last visit I am now writing of the deep and abiding impression he made on me.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">My first visit was in the company of Maurice Frydman from Bangalore. Suddenly one morning, early in 1934, he said that he was going to Tiruvannamalai that night. He asked us if we would like to accompany him. He had been there many times before but never invited us. Nor had we ever thought to ask if we could accompany him. This time, though, the question and our own wishes were beating in unison.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />The offer came at an unfortunate moment since we didn’t at that time have the money required for the trip. However, almost immediately, the post brought a letter from relations in Mangalore asking us to meet that day a person to whom some of our articles had been sent. We called on her and received the parcel. Inside, among other things, was an envelope containing some currency notes. An accompanying note said that in the haste and confusion of our departure from her house a few months earlier this money had been left in a cupboard in their home. We counted it out and discovered that the newly acquired sum would be just sufficient for a trip to Tiruvannamalai and back. And so we went with Maurice.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />At the ashram Maurice introduced us to the Maharshi. He welcomed us with a gracious smile and made enquiries about where we were from. When we replied ‘Mangalore’, the Maharshi said that M. S. Kamath (of the ‘Sunday Times’) was a frequent visitor to the ashram. He then told the other people in the hall a few interesting tidbits about the languages, customs and so on of that part of the country. When he learnt from us that for some years we had lived and worked in the Theosophical Society, Adyar, he smiled again and said that we would then easily make ourselves at home in the ashram. And we did, very happily too. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />The Maharshi’s serene and busy life reminded us of Dr Annie Besant in several respects. In the evening a visitor arrived, a big and prosperous-looking Punjabi Sikh gentleman, dressed completely in European clothes. Noting his discomfort while he was attempting to perform the full <span style="font-style: italic;">pranam </span>that Indian etiquette requires, the Maharshi immediately set him at rest, saying it was unnecessary. He also arranged for a chair for him to sit in. The gentleman said plaintively that he was pining for peace of mind. The Maharshi asked who it was that was pining. The visitor was puzzled. In humble and anxious tones he pleaded that he was too ignorant and busy for such deep introspection. However, he added that he would be grateful for some <span style="font-style: italic;">japa</span>, prescribed in the Maharshi’s own words, and conveyed with his blessings. He promised to do the <span style="font-style: italic;">japa </span>in whatever spare time he had.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />The Maharshi told him that devoting the same amount of time he had to spare for his <span style="font-style: italic;">japa </span>to enquiry instead would be more beneficial, and that, with practice, it would amply repay his efforts and could even be done at the times when he was busy at work. This was not what the Sikh visitor wanted to hear. After he had failed in his repeated attempts to persuade the Maharshi to give him some <span style="font-style: italic;">japa</span>, he asked, sadly, whether, having come with such high hopes, the Maharshi was now going to send him away empty handed. The Maharshi assured him in a compassionate way that he should not think in this way.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />The following morning the Maharshi cited some verses to the Sikh visitor that came from an edition of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yoga Vasishta</span> that had been printed by Maurice Frydman. This appeared to revive his spirits and he left for his train in a good mood.<br /><br />That evening Frydman and I took Bhagavan’s permission to return to Bangalore and come back. Bhagavan repeated the ‘come back’ part of the request in an affectionate and slightly quizzical way.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">We did come back, but not for another ten years.<br /><br />In 1944 my wife and I came with Mr and Mrs Sanjiva Rao. That time we put more planning and organisation into our trip. The ashram premises and the neighbourhood around it had expanded immensely in our absence. There were many more visitors, and more ashram activities had been added. The Maharshi had clearly advanced in age. He looked much older, and he had grown weak as well. We spoke to Dr K. Shiva Rao about it and he confirmed that Bhagavan’s health was in decline. We were told that he consistently refused to take any special food that might improve his condition, saying that he would only take what was offered to everyone else in the ashram.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">We were introduced to him again. He looked at us and said that the introduction was superfluous since we had been introduced by Frydman many years before. He remembered us. </span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Life in the hall was more active and varied than on our earlier visit. There were numerous visitors who had come from all over the world. Mothers frequently brought their babies for a blessing, which he bestowed on them with a tender smile. The morning and evening prayer times were silently vibrant with a power that stirred and pacified one’s innermost being. People mostly sat quietly or meditated, and as they did so Bhagavan’s eyes would impersonally scan the room, imperceptibly alighting for a moment on the people who were sitting there. Animals came and went freely and often left with food given by Bhagavan himself. One day I saw a brahmin woman, dressed in rags, come into the hall and begin to wail in a pitiful way. Bhagavan rose from his seat and met her half way. He enquired about the cause of her misery and learned that she was an ill-treated and abandoned wife who had been driven from her home. Bhagavan asked her to stop crying and invited her to sit down and have a rest. She followed his advice and shortly afterwards looked consoled and calm.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />On one afternoon there was discussion among a small group over an ignorant questioning of the Maharshi’s teaching in some British or American philosophical journal. The Maharshi joined in with a few brief remarks, and resolved the doubts of those who had raised questions about the contents of the article. He ended the discussion in a humorous way, speaking partly in English and partly in Tamil, by saying, ‘Indian philosophy begins where western philosophy ends’.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />The sublime and the mundane were readily mixed. Early one morning he was making a joke about a laxative he had concocted himself. He said that one devotee, in an excess of zeal, had taken an overdose and paid for it by having no rest for several hours.</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />One experience impressed itself on me indelibly. Before beginning meditation in his presence, I decided that at some point during that day I should ask the Maharshi about a personal problem I had been agonising over for some time. As I sat there meditating, the answer flashed before me, and along with it I was filled with an indescribable flow of happiness. Without needing to vocalise the problem to him, I had received both an answer and the experience of his power and grace. This experience in his presence was sufficient for me to sense the truth of both his message and his silent teaching.</span></span> </div>David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-34095515643789948492011-05-20T08:46:00.004+05:302011-05-20T09:06:49.969+05:30Tattuvaraya and Sorupananda<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">A few years ago T. V. Venkatasubramanian, Robert Butler and myself made a translation of </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Sorupa Saram</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;"> and had it published in </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The Mountain Path</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;"> (2004, pp. 75-103). It turned out to be highly popular. The issue sold out almost immediately, the only time this has ever happened. Once the last copy had been sold, xeroxed copies of the Word document I submitted to the magazine were given to those who could not obtain copies of the magazine itself.</span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >The man who composed this work, Sorupananda, had a disciple called Tattuvaraya who eventually became just as famous as his Guru. In this four-part post Venkatasubramanian, Robert and myself have collected all the known facts of Tattuvaraya’s life and translated some of his voluminous writings. </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >The four sections cover the following topics:</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >Part one: The life of Tattuvaraya and the relationship he had with his Guru Sorupananda.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">Part two: a full translation of</span> Sorupa Saram. <span style="font-style: italic;">Though this has appeared both in </span>The Mountain Path<span style="font-style: italic;"> and on my site, there may be new readers here who have not seen this wonderful text before.</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">Part three: extracts from</span> Amrita Saram, <span style="font-style: italic;">one of Tattuvaraya's works on Vedanta.</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">Part four: translations of songs from </span>Paduturai by Tattuvaraya. <span style="font-style: italic;">The selections include advice to </span>sadhakas, <span style="font-style: italic;">expressions of gratitude towards his Guru, and verses in which he declares his own experience of the Self.</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >Sorupananda and Tattuvaraya appear in several Ramanasramam publications, with their names being spelled in a variety of ways: ‘Tatvaroyar’,‘Tatva Rayar’ and ‘Swarupananda’ can all be found. I have standardised the spellings as Sorupananda and Tattuvaraya in all four parts of this post.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >* * *</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Tattuvaraya was a Tamil saint and poet whom scholars believe flourished in the late 15th century. He was a prolific author who wrote thousands of verses on a wide variety of spiritual topics. Bhagavan noted in <span style="font-style: italic;">Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi</span>, talk no. 648, that he was ‘the first to pour forth <span style="font-style: italic;">advaita </span>philosophy in Tamil’. Prior to his arrival on the Tamil literary scene, <span style="font-style: italic;">advaita </span>texts in Tamil seem to have been translations of, or expositions on, texts composed in Sanskrit. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">One of Tattuvaraya’s compositions was mentioned several times by Bhagavan. This is how he narrated the story in <span style="font-style: italic;">Day by Day with Bhagavan</span>, 21st November 1945:</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;">Tattuvaraya composed a <span style="font-style: italic;">bharani </span>[a kind of poetical composition in Tamil that features military heroes who win great battles] in honour of his Guru Sorupananda and convened an assembly of learned pandits to hear the work and assess its value. The pandits raised the objection that a <span style="font-style: italic;">bharani</span> was only composed in honour of great heroes capable of killing a thousand elephants, and that it was not in order to compose such a work in honour of an ascetic. Thereupon the author said, ‘Let us all go to my Guru and we shall have this matter settled there’. They went to the Guru and, after all had taken their seats, the author told his Guru the purpose of their coming there. The Guru sat silent and all the others also remained in <span style="font-style: italic;">mauna</span>. The whole day passed, night came, and some more days and nights, and yet all sat there silently, no thought at all occurring to any of them and nobody thinking or asking why they had come there. After three or four days like this, the Guru moved his mind a bit and thereupon the assembly regained their thought activity. They then declared, ‘Conquering a thousand elephants is nothing beside this Guru’s power to conquer the rutting elephants of all our egos put together. So certainly he deserves the <span style="font-style: italic;">bharani</span> in his honour!’</span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">There is a very similar retelling of the <span style="font-style: italic;">bharani </span>incident in <span style="font-style: italic;">Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi</span>, talk no. 262.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Sorupananda, his Guru, was also his maternal uncle. Early on in their life they had made an arrangement whereby they would both seek Gurus in different places. Tattuvaraya travelled to the north of India from Virai, their home town, Sorupananda to the south. The agreement further stipulated that whichever of the two attained the grace of the Guru first would become the Guru of the other. Sorupananda became the disciple of Sivaprakasa Swami and realised the Self with him. Then, to fulfil the agreement with his nephew, he became his Guru.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">In <span style="font-style: italic;">Letters from Sri Ramanasramam</span> (letter dated 8th April 1948) Bhagavan gives a brief summary of how Sorupananda became Tattuvaraya’s Guru:</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;">This afternoon when I [Suri Nagamma] went to Bhagavan, I found someone singing a song, ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Gurupada Mahima</span>’ [<span style="font-style: italic;">Greatness of the Guru's Feet</span>]. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">After the singing was over, looking at me, Bhagavan said: ‘These songs have been written by Tattuvaraya Swami. You have heard of the sacredness of the feet of the Guru, haven’t you?’</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">‘Yes. I have heard the songs. As the meaning of the songs is profound I thought some great personage must have written them,’ I said. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">‘Yes. There is a story behind it,’ remarked Bhagavan. When I enquired what it was, Bhagavan leisurely related to us the story as follows: </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">‘Both Tattuvaraya and Sorupananda decided to go in search of a <span style="font-style: italic;">Sadguru </span>in two different directions. Before they started they came to an understanding. Whoever finds a <span style="font-style: italic;">Sadguru </span>first should show him to the other. However much Tattuvaraya searched he could not find a <span style="font-style: italic;">Sadguru</span>. Sorupananda, who was the uncle of Tattuvaraya, was naturally an older man. He went about for some time, got tired, and rested in a place. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Feeling he could no longer go about in search, he prayed to the Lord, ‘O Iswara! I can no longer move about. So you yourself should send me a <span style="font-style: italic;">Sadguru</span>.’ </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Having placed the burden on the Lord, he sat down in silence. By God’s grace, a <span style="font-style: italic;">Sadguru </span>came there by himself, and gave him <span style="font-style: italic;">tattva upadesa</span> (instruction for Self-realisation).</span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">This story was originally published in <span style="font-style: italic;">Letters from and Recollections of Sri Ramanasramam</span> as letter number five. The letters from this volume have now been added to the enlarged and consolidated edition of <span style="font-style: italic;">Letters from Sri Ramanasramam</span>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Though Tattuvaraya was a prolific author, only one work has ever been attributed to Sorupananda: <span style="font-style: italic;">Sorupa Saram</span>, a 102-verse poem about the nature of the experience of the Self. This work was so highly valued by Bhagavan, he included it on a list of six titles that he recommended to Annamalai Swami. Since the other five were <span style="font-style: italic;">K</span><span style="font-style: italic;">aivalya Navaneetam</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Ribhu Gita</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Ashtavakra Gita</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Ellam Ondre</span>, and <span style="font-style: italic;">Yoga Vasishta</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Sorupa Saram</span> is in distinguished company.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Tattuvaraya realised the Self quickly and effortlessly in the presence of Sorupananda. The opening lines of <span style="font-style: italic;">Paduturai</span>, one of his major works, reveal just how speedily the event took place:</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;">The feet [of Sorupananda], they are the ones that, through grace, and assuming a divine form, arose and came into this fertile world to enlighten me in the time it takes for a black gram seed to roll over. (<span style="font-style: italic;">Tiruvadi Malai</span>, lines 1-3)</span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Black gram is the variety of dhal that is one of the two principal ingredients of iddlies and dosa. It is 2-3 mm across and slightly asymmetrical, rather than spherical. This property led Tattuvaraya to write, in another verse, that Sorupananda granted him liberation in the time it took for ‘a [black] gram seed to wobble and turn over onto its side’. (<span style="font-style: italic;">Nanmanimalai</span> verse 10)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Tattuvaraya attributed this near-instantaneous enlightenment wholly to the power and grace of his Guru, rather than to any intrinsic merit, maturity or worthiness:</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;">It is possible to stop the wind. It is possible to flex stone. But what can be done with our furious mind? How marvellous is our Guru, he who granted that this mind should be totally transformed into the Self! My tongue, repeat this without ever forgetting.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">When my Lord, who took me over by bestowing his lotus feet, glances with his look of grace, the darkness in the heart vanishes. All the things become completely clear and transform into <span style="font-style: italic;">Sivam</span>. All the <span style="font-style: italic;">sastras </span>are seen to point towards reality.</span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br />Most glorious Lord, if you hadn’t looked upon me with your eye of divine grace, how could I, your devotee, and the mind that enquired, experience the light that shines as the flourishing world, as many, as <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span>, and as one?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">To destroy me, you gave me one look in which there was no looking. You uprooted the ignorance of ‘I’ and ‘mine’. You brought to an end all the future births of this cruel one. O Lord, am I fit for the grace that you bestowed on me? (<span style="font-style: italic;">Venba Antadi</span>, vv. 12, 14, 60, 69)</span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Sorupananda’s mind-silencing ability is quite evident both from the story of the <span style="font-style: italic;">bharani </span>that Bhagavan told on several occasions and from the verses in which Tattuvaraya spoke of this transmission from his own direct experience. Tattuvaraya even stated in some places, somewhat hyperbolically, that Sorupananda, unlike the gods, bestowed instant liberation on everyone who came into his presence:</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;">[In order to convince the <span style="font-style: italic;">devas</span>] Brahma, [lacking the power] to make them experience directly the state of being, held the red-hot iron in his hand and declared, ‘This is the ultimate reality declared by the <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas</span>. There is nothing else other than this. I swear to it.’ Siva as Dakshinamurti declared, ‘In all the worlds, only the four are fit; they alone are mature for </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">tattva jnana</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;">.’ Lord [Krishna], holding the discus, had to repeat eighteen times to ignorant Arjuna, who was seated on the wheeled chariot. But here in this world [my Guru] Sorupananda bestows <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana </span>on all as palpably as the gem on one’s palm. (<span style="font-style: italic;">Tiruvadi Malai</span> lines 117-126) </span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">‘Eighteen times’ refers to the chapters of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Bhagavad Gita</span>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">The <span style="font-style: italic;">Brahma Gita</span> is the source of the story mentioned at the beginning of the verse. This text was translated from Sanskrit into Tamil by Tattuvaraya himself. His version of the relevant verses, taken from chapter five, is as follows:</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">96 </span> The four-faced One [Brahma], he who creates all the worlds and is their Lord, said, ‘You [gods] who love me well, listen! Since it is I who declare to you that this is the meaning of the arcane <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas</span>, this is the reality beyond compare. If you are in any doubt, I will have the iron heated till it is red hot and hold it in my golden hands to prove myself free of any falsehood.’</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">97</span> He who sits upon the lotus blossom [Brahma] said, ‘[Gods, you who are] loving devotees [of Lord Siva], listen! The meaning of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas</span>, as I have explained it, is just so. There is nothing further. In order that you should be convinced of this in your minds, I have sworn a threefold oath, holding onto the feet of Lord [Siva].</span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Holding a red-hot iron in one’s hand was ancient trial-by-ordeal way of affirming the truth. If the flesh of the hand did not burn, then the statement uttered was deemed to be true.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Tattuvaraya made the claim in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Tiruvadi Malai</span> lines that his Guru was more powerful and more capable of granting enlightenment than the <span style="font-style: italic;">trimurti </span>of Brahma, Vishnu in the form of Krishna, and Siva. Elaborating on this theme, Tattuvaraya stated that Siva, appearing as Dakshinamurti, only managed to enlighten the four sages (Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatkumara and Sanatsujata); Brahma had to resort to holding a red-hot iron and taking an oath to persuade his <span style="font-style: italic;">deva </span>followers that his teachings were true; whereas Krishna, despite giving out the extensive teachings that are recorded in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Bhagavad Gita</span>, wasn’t able to enlighten even Arjuna. Though this is a somewhat harsh assessment, the inability of Krishna to enlighten Arjuna through his <span style="font-style: italic;">Gita </span>teachings was mentioned by Bhagavan himself:</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;">Likewise, Arjuna, though he told Sri Krishna in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Gita </span>‘Delusion is destroyed and knowledge is imbibed,’ confesses later that he has forgotten the Lord’s teaching and requests Him to repeat it. Sri Krishna’s reiteration in reply is the <span style="font-style: italic;">Uttara Gita</span>. (<span style="font-style: italic;">Sri Ramana Reminiscences</span>, p. 52) </span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">While all this might sound slightly blasphemous, it is a long and well-established position in Saivism that, when it comes to enlightening devotees, the human Guru is more effective and has more power than the gods themselves. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Though Tattuvaraya knew that it was the immense power of his Guru that had granted him liberation, he was at a loss to understand why that power had ultimately singled him out as a worthy recipient of its liberating grace. In one of his long verses he ruminated on the mysterious nature of <span style="font-style: italic;">prarabdha </span>– why events had unfolded the way they did in various narratives of the gods – before chronicling the circumstances of his own liberation in a stirring peroration:</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;">When [even] the gods despair; when those who investigate the paths of every religion become confused and grow weary; when even they fail to reach the goal, they who perform great and arduous <span style="font-style: italic;">tapas</span>, immersing themselves in water in winter, standing in the midst of fire in summer, and foregoing food, so that they experience the height of suffering, I do not know what it was [that bestowed <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana </span>upon me]. Was it through the very greatness of the noble-minded one [Sorupananda]? Or through the nature of his compassion? Or was it the effect of his own [absolute] freedom [to choose me]? I was the lowest of the low, knowing nothing other than the objects of sense. I was lost, limited to this foul body of eight hands span, filled with putrid flesh. But he bade me ‘Come, come,’ granting me his grace by looking upon me with his lotus eyes. When he spoke that single word, placing his noble hands upon my head and crowning it with his immaculate noble feet, my eye of <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana </span>opened. [Prior to this] I was without the eye [of <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span>], suffering through births and deaths for countless ages. [But] when he commanded me ‘See!’, then, for me, there was no fate; there was no karma; there was no fiery-eyed death. All the world of differentiated forms became simply a manifestation of Sorupananda. (<span style="font-style: italic;">Nanmanimalai</span>, v. 37, lines 28-50)</span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">The lines that immediately precede this extract discuss destiny, karma and death, and mention a claim that it is impossible to destroy them. Tattuvaraya then disagrees, citing his Guru Sorupananda’s statement: ‘We have routed good and evil deeds in this world; we have destroyed the power of destiny; we have escaped the jaws of Yama [death].’ (<span style="font-style: italic;">Nanmanimalai </span>v. 37, lines 24-26) </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">In the portion of the verse cited here Tattuvaraya emphatically backs up this claim by saying that when his own eye of <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana </span>was opened through the look and touch of his Guru, ‘for me, there was no fate; there was no karma; there was no fiery-eyed death. All the world of differentiated forms became simply a manifestation of Sorupananda.’</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">There are other verses which reaffirm Tattuvaraya’s statement that after he had been liberated by Sorupananda he knew nothing other than the <span style="font-style: italic;">swarupa </span>which had taken the form of Sorupananda to enlighten him:</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;">All that appears is only the <span style="font-style: italic;">swarupa </span>of Sorupan[anda]. Where are the firm earth, water and fire? Where is air? Where is the ether? Where is the mind, which is delusion? Where indeed is the great <span style="font-style: italic;">maya</span>? Where is ‘I’?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">[In greatness] there is no one equal to Sorupan. Of this there is no doubt. Similarly, there is no one equal to me [in smallness]. I did not know the difference between the two of us when, in the past, I took the form of the fleshy body nor later when he had transformed me into himself by placing his honey-like lotus feet [on my head]. Now I am incapable of knowing anything. (<span style="font-style: italic;">Nanmanimalai</span>, vv. 38, 39)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Let some say that the Supreme is Siva. Let some say that the Supreme is Brahma or Vishnu. Let some say that <span style="font-style: italic;">Sakti </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">Sivam </span>are Supreme. Let some say that it is with form. Let some say that it is formless. But we have come to know that all forms are only our Guru. (<span style="font-style: italic;">Venba Antadi</span>, v. 8)</span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Tattuvaraya wrote of the consequences of his realisation in a poem entitled ‘Pangikku Uraittal’ (<span style="font-style: italic;">Paduturai</span>, v. 64), which can be translated as ‘The Lady Telling her Maid’. The second of the five verses, which speaks of the simple, ascetic life he subsequently led, was mentioned with approval by Bhagavan in <span style="font-style: italic;">Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi</span>, talk no. 648:</span><br /><br /><blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >1</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Our reward was that every word we heard or said was <span style="font-style: italic;">nada </span>[divine sound].<br />Our reward was to have ‘remaining still’ [<span style="font-style: italic;">summa iruttal</span>] as our profession.<br />Our reward was to enter the company of virtuous devotees.<br />My dear companion, this is the life bestowed by our Guru. </span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >2</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Our reward was to have the bare ground as our bed.<br />Our reward was to accept alms in the palms of our hands.<br />Our reward was to wear a loincloth as our clothing.<br />My dear companion, for us there is nothing lacking.</span></blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Bhagavan’s comment on this verse was:</span><br /><blockquote><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">I had no cloth spread on the floor in earlier days. I used to sit on the floor and lie on the ground. That is freedom. The sofa is a bondage. It is a gaol for me. I am not allowed to sit where and how I please. Is it not bondage? One must be free to do as one pleases, and should not be served by others.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">‘No want’ is the greatest bliss. It can be realised only by experience. Even an emperor is no match for a man with no want. The emperor has got vassals under him. But the other man is not aware of anyone beside the Self. Which is better?</span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">The poem continues:</span><br /><br /><blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >3</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Our reward was to be reviled by all.<br />Our reward was that fear of this world, and of the next, died away.<br />Our reward was to be crowned by the lotus feet of the Virtuous One [the Guru].<br />My dear companion, this is the life bestowed by our Guru. </span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >4</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Our reward was the pre-eminent wealth that is freedom from desire.<br />Our reward was that the disease called ‘desire’ was torn out by the roots. Our reward was the love in which we melted, crying, ‘Lord!’<br />Ah, my dear companion, tell me, what <span style="font-style: italic;">tapas </span>did I perform for this? </span></blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">There is an indirect reference in the first line to <span style="font-style: italic;">Tirukkural </span>363: ‘There is no pre-eminent wealth in this world like freedom from desire. Even in the next, there is nothing to compare to it.’</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">The final verse says:</span><br /><br /><blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >5</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Our reward was to wear the garment that never wears out.<br />Our reward was to possess as ‘I’ the one who is present everywhere.<br />Our reward was to have [our] false devotion become the true.<br />My dear companion, this is the life bestowed by our benevolent Guru. </span></blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">‘The garment that never wears out’ is <span style="font-style: italic;">chid-akasa</span>, the space of consciousness.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">After his realisation Tattuvaraya subsequently spent much of his time absorbed in the Self. Sorupananda knew that his disciple had a great talent for composing Tamil verses and wanted him to utilise it. However, to bring him out of his inner absorption<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>and to set him on the literary path, he knew he had to coax him out of his near-perpetual <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi </span>state. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">This is how the story unfolds in the traditional version of Tattuvaraya’s life. The indented biographical details in the account that follows are all taken from an introduction to a 1953 edition of Tattuvaraya’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Paduturai</span>, published by Chidambaram Ko. Chita. Madalayam. They appear on pages 8-16.</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;">Sorupananda thought, ‘This Tattuvaraya is highly accomplished in composing verses in Tamil. Through him, we should get some <span style="font-style: italic;">sastras</span> composed for the benefit of the world.’ </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">He indicated his will through hints for a long time, but as Tattuvaraya was in <span style="font-style: italic;">nishta </span>[Self-absorption] all the time, he could not act on the suggestions. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Sorupananda eventually decided to accomplish his objective by following a different course of action.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Pretending that he wanted to have an oil bath on a new-moon day, he turned to his attendant and asked, ‘Bring oil’.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Tattuvaraya, who was standing nearby, knew that it was <span style="font-style: italic;">amavasya</span> [new-moon day]. He began to speak by saying ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Am</span>…’ and then stopped. </span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">It is prohibited to have an oil bath on <span style="font-style: italic;">amavasya.</span> This breach with custom was sufficient to bring Tattuvaraya out of his Self-absorption. He spontaneously uttered ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Am</span>…’, presumably as a prelude to saying that it was <span style="font-style: italic;">amavasya</span>, but then he stopped because he realised that it would be improper of him to criticise any action his Guru chose to perform. This gave Sorupananda the opportunity he was looking for:</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;">As soon as he heard Tattuvaraya speak, Sorupananda pretended to be angry with him.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">He said, ‘Can there be any prohibitions for me, I who am abiding beyond time, having transcended all the <span style="font-style: italic;">sankalpas </span>that take the form of dos and don’ts? Do not stand before me! Leave my presence!’</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Tattuvaraya thought to himself, ‘Because of my misdeed of prescribing a prohibition for my Guru, who shines as the undivided fullness of being-consciousness-bliss, it is no longer proper for me to remain in this body. There can be no atonement other than drowning myself in the sea.’</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">With these thoughts in his mind, he walked backwards while still facing his Guru, shedding torrents of tears at the thought of having to leave his presence.</span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Other versions of this story make it clear that Tattuvaraya walked backwards away from his Guru’s presence because he felt that it was improper to turn his back on his Guru. Though it is not clear in this particular retelling, he apparently walked backwards until he reached the shore of the sea where he intended to drown himself. The narrative continues:</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;">Through the compassion he felt for other beings and through the power of the Self-experience that possessed him, he began to compose verses as he was walking [backwards towards the ocean]. These were the eighteen works he composed in praise of both his Guru and his <span style="font-style: italic;">Paramaguru </span>[Sivaprakasa Swami]. These were noted down by some of Sorupananda’s other disciples.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">As he continued to sing these eighteen works, the disciples who were following him took down what he said, [conveyed the verses to] Sorupananda, and read them in his presence.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Sorupananda pretended not to be interested: ‘Just as a woman with hair combs and ties it, this one with a mouth is composing and sending these verses.’</span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Another version of Tattuvaraya’s life states that Sorupananda had sent disciples to write down the verses that Tattuvaraya was composing, so his lack of interest should not be taken to be genuine. It was all part of a ruse to get his disciple to begin his literary career.</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;">Meanwhile, Tattuvaraya was pining and lamenting: ‘Alas, I have become unfit to have the <span style="font-style: italic;">darshan </span>of my Guru. Henceforth, in which birth will I have his <span style="font-style: italic;">darshan</span>?’</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Like a child prevented from seeing its mother, he was weeping so much, his whole face became swollen. At this point he was singing ‘Tiruvadi Malai’ from <span style="font-style: italic;">Paduturai</span>. He was close to the edge of the sea and was about to die.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">When the disciples went to Sorupananda and updated him about these events, he [relented and] said, ‘Ask the ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Guruvukku Veengi</span>’ [the one whose obsessive desire for his Guru is making him ill] to come here’.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">When Tattuvaraya heard about this, he was completely freed from his bodily suffering, and he also regained the power to walk [forwards].</span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">The <span style="font-style: italic;">Pulavar Puranam</span>, an anthology of the biographies of Tamil poet-saints, reports in verse thirteen of its Tattuvaraya chapter that he was already neck-deep in the sea when Sorupananda summoned him to return. The story continues:</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;">He [Tattuvaraya] told the disciples [who had arrived with the message], ‘Sorupananda, the repository of grace and compassion, has ordered even me, a great offender, to return’.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Experiencing supreme bliss, he sang some more portions of <span style="font-style: italic;">Paduturai</span>, and then returned to the presence of the Guru. He stood there, shedding tears, in ecstasy, singing the praises of his Guru.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Sorupananda merely said, ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Iru</span>’.</span><br /></blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Iru</span> is the imperative of a verb that means both ‘Be’ and ‘Stay’. In choosing this word Sorupananda was ordering him both to remain physically with him and also to continue to abide in the state of being.</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;">Tattuvaraya lived happily there, serving his Guru.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Sorupananda went through the works that Tattuvaraya had composed and was delighted with their depth of meaning and the grandeur of their vocabulary. However, he made no sign of the joy he felt.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Then he thought to himself, ‘These <span style="font-style: italic;">sastras </span>will be useful only for the learned and not for others’.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">He told Tattuvaraya, ‘Son, you have sung all these <span style="font-style: italic;">sastras </span>for your own benefit, but not for the benefit of the people of the world’.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the cooks who informed Sorupananda, ‘Swami, you should come to have your food’.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">When Sorupananda went for his meal, Tattuvaraya, who was left alone, pondered over the words of his Guru. Concurring with his remarks, he composed <span style="font-style: italic;">Sasivanna Bodham</span> before Sorupananda had returned from eating his meal. He placed it at the feet of his Guru [when Sorupananda reappeared] and prostrated. Sorupananda was delighted at the simplicity of its style and the speed with which Tattuvaraya composed poetry.</span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">The next incident is the story of the <span style="font-style: italic;">bharani </span>that Bhagavan narrated and referred to. There are several sources of Tattuvaraya’s life, and the details vary from text to text. The version that appears in this narrative is slightly different from the one Bhagavan told, and it also has a few extra details:</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;">Tattuvaraya composed some Vedanta <span style="font-style: italic;">sastras</span>, but was mostly in <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi</span>. Around that time some Virasaivas, who were on a pilgrimage, along with some pandits, came before Tattuvaraya, who was sitting in the presence of Sorupananda.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">[They read the <span style="font-style: italic;">bharani </span>and complained:] ‘A <span style="font-style: italic;">bharani </span>is [only] sung about great heroes who have killed a thousand male elephants on the battlefield. How is it that you have composed this [kind of poem] on your Guru who has not heard of or known heroic valour even in his dreams?’</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />To this Tattuvaraya replied, ‘As our Guru kills the ego-elephants of disciples, I sang in this way’.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">They responded, ‘The ego-elephant that you mention is not visible to the eye, so it is not proper [to compose in this way]. However, even to kill one ego-elephant would take many, many days. How did he manage to kill the egos of 1,000 disciples simultaneously?’</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Tattuvaraya, thinking that they should be shown through a demonstration, resumed his <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi </span>state, without replying to them.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Under the power and influence of Sorupananda all the pandits who came remained in <span style="font-style: italic;">paripurnam </span>[had the full experience of the Self] for three days, without knowing either night or day. On the fourth day Tattuvaraya opened his eyes. All the pandits arose and prostrated to both Tattuvaraya and Sorupananda.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">They said, ‘It was because of our ignorance that we objected. The power of your [Sorupananda’s] presence is such that even if 10,000 disciples happen to come, it [the presence] has the ability <span style="font-family: georgia;font-size:12.0pt;" > </span>to bring them all to maturity simultaneously</span><span style="font-size:130%;">.’</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Then they composed their own verses in praise of the <span style="font-style: italic;">bharani </span>and departed.</span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">It is not unreasonable or fanciful to compare the relationship of Tattuvaraya and Sorupananda with the one that existed between Muruganar and Bhagavan. Tattuvaraya and Muruganar came to their Gurus (who both liked to teach through silence) and realised the Self soon afterwards. They both subsequently composed thousands of verses that either praised their respective Gurus, or recorded some aspect of their teachings. Tattuvaraya’s poems in praise of his Guru (and Sivaprakasa Swami, his Guru’s Guru) include <span style="font-style: italic;">Venba Antadi </span>(100 verses), <span style="font-style: italic;">Kalitturai Antadi </span>(100 verses), <span style="font-style: italic;">Irattaimanimalai</span> (20 verses), <span style="font-style: italic;">Nanmanimalai </span>(40 verses), <span style="font-style: italic;">Jnana Vinodan</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Kalambagam</span> (101 verses), <span style="font-style: italic;">Kali Madal</span> (232 verses), <span style="font-style: italic;">Ula</span> (393 verses), and many, many more. Then there was the <span style="font-style: italic;">bharani </span>that Bhagavan mentioned: a 493-verse poem (<span style="font-style: italic;">Ajnavatai Bharani</span>) on the annihilation of ignorance by the ‘hero’ Sorupananda. <span style="font-style: italic;">Mokavatai Bharani</span> was another 850-verse <span style="font-style: italic;">bharani </span>on the killing of delusion that includes in its text 110 songs in which a goddess instructs her followers in Vedanta. These 110 songs are often published independently as a Tamil primer on Vedanta under the title <span style="font-style: italic;">Sasivanna Bodham</span>. This is the work that Tattuvaraya composed while Sorupananda was having his meal. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">There are, in addition, two long anthologies of Tamil poetry that contain more of Tattuvaraya’s verses: <span style="font-style: italic;">Peruntirattu</span> (<span style="font-style: italic;">The Great Anthology</span>), and <span style="font-style: italic;">Kuruntirattu</span> (<span style="font-style: italic;">T</span><span style="font-style: italic;">he Short Anthology</span>). Though these anthologies mostly contain works by other authors, Tattuvaraya contributed some verses to both collections, and he is also acknowledged as the compiler of both books.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Muruganar, at Bhagavan’s behest, composed <span style="font-style: italic;">Sri Ramana Sannidhi Murai</span>, modelling it on Manikkavachagar’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Tiruvachakam</span>. In another interesting parallel Tattuvaraya composed <span style="font-style: italic;">Paduturai</span>, a 1,140-verse collection of verses that are derived from contemporary folk songs. This work is also loosely based on <span style="font-style: italic;">Tiruvachakam</span>. The ‘Lady Telling her Maid’ poem that appeared earlier in this article comes from this collection of verses.<br /><br />Though Tattuvaraya clearly played a Muruganar-like role in the life of Sorupananda, it is interesting and a little intriguing to note that Satyamangalam Venkataramayyar, the author of <span style="font-style: italic;">Sri Ramana Stuti Panchakam</span>, addresses Bhagavan himself as ‘Tattuvaraya’ in the second line of verse nine of ‘Kalaippattu’. This poem is chanted every Saturday evening in Bhagavan’s <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi </span>hall.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">In addition to the original Tamil compositions and the anthologies he compiled, Tattuvaraya also translated <span style="font-style: italic;">Brahma Gita</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Iswara Gita</span> from Sanskrit into Tamil.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Despite this prolific literary output, it is fair to assume that Tattuvaraya regarded as his greatest accomplishment the state that was bestowed on him by his Guru Sorupananda:</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;">What if the world praises me henceforth or reviles me? What if Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, remains close to me or separate from me? What if the body assuredly exists without ever decaying or perishes? Will there be any gain or loss to me on account of them, I who have worn perfectly on my head the twin feet of immaculate Sorupananda? (<span style="font-style: italic;">J</span><span style="font-style: italic;">nana Vinodan Kalambagam</span> v. 99)</span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">The passing of both Sorupananda and Tattuvaraya is described in the traditional story of their lives:</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;">Sorupananda started to wander aimlessly, leaving Tattuvaraya behind. Tattuvaraya followed him. When Sorupananda reached the sea shore, the waters separated to let him enter. However, when Tattuvaraya tried to do the same [and follow him], the sea did not part.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Tattuvaraya stood on the shore, crying loudly, like a calf separated from its mother. He searched for his Guru in all directions. Finally, Sorupananda appeared to give him [a final] <span style="font-style: italic;">darshan </span>before shining as <span style="font-style: italic;">a</span><span style="font-style: italic;">kanda paripurna satchitananda</span> [the undivided transcendent fullness, being-consciousness-bliss].</span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">In the context of what follows, this is the author’s way of saying that Sorupananda took <span style="font-style: italic;">mahasamadhi</span>.</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;">After performing his Guru’s <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi </span>rites, Tattuvaraya was constantly thinking of Sorupananda. Either through the supreme love he felt for him, or through his inability to bear the separation, or because of the understanding that there was nothing for him to do apart from his Guru, he immediately attained <span style="font-style: italic;">mahasamadhi</span>.</span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Tattuvaraya’s <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi </span>shrine is located at Irumbudur, which lies between Vriddhachalam and Chidambaram.</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ESdp_uXC8PU1JB4ekc2GBp-xlSNxOxxL6gPfKQsEfzb4PPB4D18XMN0nyCu-LiZ4VpaHwHVnK5wBTee31GOb9hYHQS0scEWUqg8sF_qMPSF3Vov9xJM0VCtf4gFVMuYnFrE-FbR0KWc/s1600/Tattuvaraya+samadhi+entrance+site.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ESdp_uXC8PU1JB4ekc2GBp-xlSNxOxxL6gPfKQsEfzb4PPB4D18XMN0nyCu-LiZ4VpaHwHVnK5wBTee31GOb9hYHQS0scEWUqg8sF_qMPSF3Vov9xJM0VCtf4gFVMuYnFrE-FbR0KWc/s400/Tattuvaraya+samadhi+entrance+site.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5608635789720505714" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tattuvaraya's <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi </span>shrine. The president of Sri Ramanasramam, Sri V. S. Ramanan, can be seen on the right</span></span>.<br /></div><br /><br /></div>David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-18864381490810351182011-05-20T08:40:00.002+05:302011-05-20T08:45:28.407+05:30Sorupananda: Sorupa Saram<div style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">In the first installment of this four-part series I mentioned that Bhagavan had included </span>Sorupa Saram,<span style="font-style: italic;"> the only known work of Sorupananda, on a list of six books that Annamalai Swami should read. Seven years ago </span>The Mountain Path <span style="font-style: italic;">(</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >2004, pp. 75-103) published a translation of this work by T. V. Venkatasubramanian, Robert Butler and myself. Later that year I posted the translation on my site, with extra biographical details: </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><a href="http://www.davidgodman.org/tamilt/sorupasaram.shtml">http://www.davidgodman.org/tamilt/sorupasaram.shtml</a>.</span></div><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >I have decided to repost it here since there may be readers of this blog who haven</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">’</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >t yet come across the work.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >There are two components to the text: original verses by Sorupananda, and interpolated questions, answers and comments which were added by a later, unknown commentator.</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" > </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >These additional remarks have always been associated with the work and are now regarded as being an integral part of the text. </span><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">Benedictory Verse Addressed to the Self</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >1</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">May the unique Self, which appears as various objects in the same way that gold takes the shape of the mould into which it is cast, be our support and guide for composing this work, <span style="font-style: italic;">Sorupa Saram</span>, which proclaims that the nature of the world is only consciousness.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">Text</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">2 </span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Since the three kinds of differences do not exist, everything is only consciousness. The certainty of the existence of consciousness is stated in this way.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Since there is nothing at all that is different from consciousness, the five elements, along with the five senses and the five organs of sense, all these are consciousness only. Whatever is in the beginning, in the middle and in the end – all these are also consciousness. The indescribable illusion is also consciousness. The one who perceives everything and the act of perceiving are also consciousness.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">3</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Is there a logical way of concluding that everything is consciousness alone?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> Yes, there is.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br />All the world’s diversity, which derives from the misperceptions of the mind and which appears to be real – is it not the witnessing consciousness alone? Hence, everything – beginning with liberation and including purity and impurity, joy and misery, that which is and that which is not – is only being.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">4</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> If all is being, do objects appear as one’s own Self, which is being-consciousness-bliss.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> Yes, they do.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">In whichever direction I look there is absolute perfection. The real nature of all the holy waters is blissful consciousness. The real nature of all the verses praising the Lord is bliss. Apart from me, what other form can exist?</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">5</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Is the above statement merely verbal or is it experienced?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> It is experienced as well.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">My Guru instructed: ‘Sir, the world appearance and its substratum – all these are you. There is no one who does not say “I”. Therefore enquire thoroughly into the “I”.’ If this is known intently and thoroughly [one can say] ‘I myself am pure consciousness’. Hence, I am the primal entity.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">6</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Which entity had this experience of the Self, and when did the experience arise?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> It is experienced by myself and the experience is ever-present.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I saw my real nature as pure consciousness. I see only myself, and not the great multitude of the world. Simply because I had not looked at myself thoroughly, did I at any time cease to exist? </span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">7</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> If everything is only the Self, why are the names many?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> The many names do not make the Self multiple.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Since everyone abides as ‘I’ and declares himself to be ‘I’, right up to Iswara there is nothing other than ‘me’. The same person is addressed differently as son, brother and father; but for that reason will the body of the person become different?</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">8</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> If so, the known and the knower will be different.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> No, they won’t be different.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">It is my Self who remained as the [seer] ‘I’. Those objects that were rejected as ‘not I’ – these too are my Self. It is like someone who goes to sleep at night as himself, manifests [in dream] as the form of [the seer and] the world and then wakes up as himself. </span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">9</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> What is the inherent nature of the Self that shone as everything?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> It is ‘shining by itself as itself’.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The Self that shines as the body, as the beloved soul, as all the actions, as ignorance, as the enjoyment of true knowledge, as the blissful reality and as the one consciousness – that indeed is my own real nature.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">10</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Is it possible to give a true name to the Self that shines by itself.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> As it is a transcendental experience, it is not possible to give it a name.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">They will describe it as bliss, as transcendence, and as the witness of all that remains at the culmination of the four <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas</span>. What designation might I apply to my real nature, which all the treatises on <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana </span>are unable to track down?</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">11</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> If it is transcendent, there is no scope for enquiry. It is therefore necessary to indicate and signify it in some way.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> As it is everything and as it is nothing, it is beyond description.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Is it ‘I’? Is it That? Am I That? Is That ‘I’? Is it shining <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span>? Is it the source of all sounds [<span style="font-style: italic;">nadanta</span>]? Is it <span style="font-style: italic;">mauna</span>? Is it the pure state [<span style="font-style: italic;">suddha</span>]? Is it a void? The self-shining natural state is all these and none of them.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">12</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> If it is said like this, none can realise the Self, and so there can be no realisation. Hence, a name should be given.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> The following are the names given by the <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Abundance of knowledge; abundance of love; abundance of perfect bliss; abundance of being; abundance of consciousness; abundance of tranquillity; abundance of purity; the wonderful abundance beyond the scope of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas</span>; the abundance of pure consciousness that is the source of all.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">13</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Are all these descriptions experienced?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> They are experienced and also transcended.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">My son! I became and dwelt as the indescribable experience, transcendental joy, and everything else. I felt no need to declare, ‘I have rid myself of the misery-causing karma’. I recovered my Self and have been freed.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">14</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> What is the benefit arising from this experience?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> It is becoming the ruler of the kingdom of liberation.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I obtained the supreme lordship that is never lost. I burned up the pair of opposites – happiness and misery. I gave up the life of the body-forest, which tormented the mind. I entered and occupied the house of liberation.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">15</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> What play will this king witness on his stage?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> He will witness the dance of the three <span style="font-style: italic;">avasthas </span>[waking, dreaming and sleeping].</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">In the waking state I will witness the dance of the five organs of action and the five organs of sense. In dream I will witness the dance of the mind. In thought-free sleep I will dance the object-free void-dance. However, I will [always] remain as the exalted essence [the Self].</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">16</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Where was this experience when you were regarding happiness and misery as ‘I’?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> Then, too, I was remaining as the Self. I was nothing else.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Who was the one who remained as [the ego] ‘I’? If I see him, I will not allow him to take up the form of the body. Only the ‘I’ whose form is consciousness is the real ‘I’. All other ‘I’s will get bound to a form and go through birth and death.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">17</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> The Self is immutable. Will it not get bound if it gets involved in activities?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> As the Self remains a witness, like the sun, it will not get bound.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Even if I bear the burdens of the family and have them follow me like a shadow, or even if the cloud called ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">maya</span>’ veils, I am, without doubt, the sun of knowledge, self-shining as pure light and remaining as the witness [of the world].</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">18</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> But the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani </span>is not remaining motionless like the sun.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> He also remains actionless.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Whatever comes, whatever actions are performed, in whatever I may delight, I am only pure consciousness, remaining aloof and aware, without becoming any of them.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">19</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> All things move because the Self makes them move. Hence, is there bondage for the Self?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> Like the rope that makes the top spin, there is no bondage for it.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">In the same way that a top is made to spin by a rope, desires fructify in my presence. But, like the rope that is used to spin the top, I will not merge with them. I have rid myself of their connection. I became my own Self. My bondage is indeed gone.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">20</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> But what is the way by which knowledge and ignorance was destroyed?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> In one’s own experience of the Self neither attainment of knowledge nor removal of ignorance is seen.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">By what did ignorance get destroyed? Through what did knowledge gained through enquiry arise? How was the clarity, known as the experience of true knowledge, obtained? Other than my Self, what do I know?</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">21</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> If the dawn of knowledge and the removal of ignorance are not known, how can we call such a one a <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span>?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> With ignorance removed from knowledge, like unreal from real, becoming both and becoming neither – this indeed is the nature of the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">When, ultimately, the real shone as ‘I’, did the unreal, which became ‘I’, go anywhere? I myself became the base of both the real and the unreal, but remained beyond the reach of the conflicting pair of real and unreal.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">22</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Previously it was stated, ‘I am the possessor of the body, but not the body’. Now it is said, ‘I will remain different from the body and also be the body’. Which is true?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> The truth is remaining in but aloof from the body, like the kernel in the mango seed that remains within the seed shell, but aloof from it.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Oh, I said, ‘I am the body!’ I regarded wealth as mine! I felt, ‘I am the enjoyer!’ Are all these not false? Though I remained as everything, beginning with the body, the real ‘I’ always remained aloof without associating with anything, like the mango kernel in the seed of the sweet mango.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">23</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Is remaining like this [attached and detached] only in the period of ignorance, or also in the period of knowledge?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> It is in both.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The periods of <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">ajnana </span>were seen and passed like the periods in which intellect had not developed and in which intellect had developed. Everything that was a superimposition during practice has now become false.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">24</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Is there birth and death during the period of ignorance that exists prior to this experience?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> As these are illusory, they do not exist.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Oh, where was I born? What did I worship as God? Where did I seek refuge? When I became the blissful essence, the reality, experiencing unbroken bliss, were not all these [known to be] false? </span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">25</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> In what condition was the Self before the dawning of this experience?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> When I am redeemed by realisation of the truth, I am not confused any more.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I lived as ‘someone’. I laboured in vain for ‘somebody’. I underwent change, taking a thousand names. Now, enough of this! I have seen my Self, that which is hard for me to discover. Oh, now I am free!</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">26</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> What is obtained and experienced if one sees the Self?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> The mind dissolves in love and one becomes <span style="font-style: italic;">sat-chit-ananda</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I made the deceitful mind melt and dissolve. I knew myself as I really am. Since I am the substratum for everything, I became and dwelt as myself, the clear ambrosia of <span style="font-style: italic;">sat-chit-ananda</span>. </span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">27</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Is the statement ‘The world is only the Self’ figuratively true and not literally true?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> Anything seen cannot exist apart from the eye. Similarly, the world does not exist apart from the Self.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Can there be anything seen that is apart from the eye? Can there be anything heard that is apart from the ear? Did any of the other four elements manifest independently of space? Though the world may appear like a flowing mirage-river, when thoroughly examined, can the world exist apart from the Self?</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">28</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Seer and seen appear different.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> This is just like seeing gold as various ornaments. They are not different.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Here, other than myself, nothing else exists. I swear to this. A gold ornament does not exist separate from the gold. In the same way that one can change the shape of gold and give it different names, I described myself in various ways.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">29</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> What is the nature of this experience?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> It is the transcendence that arises, dissolving thoughts, and in which everything shines as the Self.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">It is beyond the reach of speech and it is beyond the reach of the mind. It is the clear ambrosia with which one does not get satiated, even when it overflows. Like saliva that secretes on the tongue, it springs forth from within me. Like a dumb pot it remained as ‘I’, without being another.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">[A dumb pot is a spherical, baked mud pot, without a mouth, that absorbs water through its porous skin.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">]</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">30</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> When everything exists as <span style="font-style: italic;">Sivam</span>, why should one become <span style="font-style: italic;">Sivam</span>?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> This is to enable the removal of all differences of ‘one’ and ‘two’ and to become perfect <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Do not question, ‘What is the bliss of Siva? What is Siva-nature? What is Siva’s activity?’ It is only the fullness of consciousness that does not get divided, does not unite, and does not become different.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">31</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> What is to be rejected as <span style="font-style: italic;">asat </span>[unreal], and what is to be accepted as <span style="font-style: italic;">sat</span> [reality]?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> Reject objects that are known as <span style="font-style: italic;">asat </span>and accept consciousness as <span style="font-style: italic;">sat</span>. This is tranquillity.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">All the <span style="font-style: italic;">tattvas </span>[principles] that one knows are foreign to oneself. While rejecting these objects as ‘not-Self’, realise the Self through the consciousness that remains as the one who rejects objects. This is tranquillity.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">32</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> If tranquillity is the one true thing, what is the witness?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> Tranquillity is itself everything, beginning from the witness right down to <span style="font-style: italic;">svanubhava </span>[one’s own experience]. It is <span style="font-style: italic;">Sivam</span>, the state of realisation.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Tranquillity is itself the witness-Self. The witness-Self is itself <span style="font-style: italic;">Brahman</span>. <span style="font-style: italic;">Brahman </span>is fullness. The pure fullness realised by enquiry is itself the ever-present <span style="font-style: italic;">svanubhava</span>. This is the state of realisation, which is itself <span style="font-style: italic;">Sivam</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">33</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Even if the mind subsides, <span style="font-style: italic;">sayujyam </span>[oneness, intimate union] is attained only when <span style="font-style: italic;">maya </span>is destroyed.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> The destruction of the mind is itself the destruction of <span style="font-style: italic;">maya</span>, and hence it is <span style="font-style: italic;">sayujyam</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I have seen the way of the birth of the mind that leads to the birth of the world and the birth of the doer, the ego ‘I’. The non-subsidence of the mind is itself <span style="font-style: italic;">maya</span>. The firmness of those who destroy this <span style="font-style: italic;">maya </span>is <span style="font-style: italic;">sayujyam</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">34</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> If this is <span style="font-style: italic;">sayujyam</span>, where will the past karmas go?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> In this experience they will disappear without leaving a trace.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I rid myself of the fear that arises from the misery of imagining, ‘I underwent an endless succession of births and deaths’. All of the ancient world has become the vast, empty expanse that is my own Self, since everything other than my Self is false.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">35</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> When there is such an experience, why perform karma?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> When this experience has not arisen, actions are performed.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Until I became the endless, blissful experience through the superior discrimination that regards all worship and similar things as the ‘not-Self’, I worshipped the gods at the prescribed times and observed all the vows.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">36</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Who will attain this experience?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> Only those who are pure and who have the prescribed qualifications will attain it.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The experience of reality – eternally abiding and shining as oneness, as freedom from impurity, as fullness, and as truth – is attained only by those who are most qualified, pure, who have a steady mind, and who are undergoing their final birth.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">37</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> What are the marks of a pure one?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> They are as follows:</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">[The answer is the content of verses 37-42]</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">They will not utter harsh words; they will not hate anyone; they will be of cheerful countenance; whatever things they relish, they will not use them for themselves but will offer them to the great ones; they will not associate with evil persons; they will not curse anyone; their eyes will not blaze with anger. These are the ones who will rid themselves of birth. </span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">38</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br />They will not value as real those things that are destructible; they will never speak out, saying, ‘This is good and this is bad’; they will not grieve over events of the past; they will not condemn anything; they are the exalted ones.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">39</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br />They will not speak contemptuously of the ordinances of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas</span>; they will not remain without chanting and melting with devotion as long as they live; they will not forget death; they will not get attached to this world through weakness of mind; they are the ones who will not be born again.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">40</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br />They will not experience at all sudden movements of the mind; they will only desire to know the path of salvation; their minds will not get immersed in attachments, saying greedily, ‘This is my wealth, my house, my wife and my children’. Such are the mature ones.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">41</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br />Will they care for things that are valued by others as desirable and not desirable? When one really looks, those who become tranquil and eternal, who experience truth and abide in the final state are few in number.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">42</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br />Those who do not see anything other than their Self here and in the hereafter, who are beyond both and without any division, will they degrade themselves by not regarding as trivial this phantom-like world appearance that is an illusory play of the <span style="font-style: italic;">sankalpas</span>?</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">43</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Sastra vasana</span> [a latent desire for scriptural knowledge], or the <span style="font-style: italic;">vasanas </span>of knowledge and ignorance – will these too not arise in those <span style="font-style: italic;">jnanis </span>even through forgetfulness?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> As these are <span style="font-style: italic;">vasanas</span>, they will not arise.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">During every superimposing <span style="font-style: italic;">avastha </span>the liberated one clearly knows that the illusion of sound and the illusion of real and unreal are only the illusion of the mind, because [he knows that] the superimposed <span style="font-style: italic;">avastha </span>that appears and disappears is false.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">44</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> If this is so, for such ones what is the worship of God for?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> Worship is only seeing the Self.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The great <span style="font-style: italic;">tapasvin </span>devotedly worships with the flower of tranquil space and with the mantra of aloneness the deity [who abides as] the expanse of consciousness in the temple of the body. Who can equal those who live forever, revering such <span style="font-style: italic;">jnanis</span>?</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">45</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Why does everyone not perform this worship?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> Because of ignorance.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">When the three prime fruits [mango, jackfruit and banana] along with rice pudding made with milk are right in front of them, they will long for food vomited by a dog. Without knowing that we ourselves are the great essence, the basis of all things and all powers, they become slaves of the mighty.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">46</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br />This concerns the fate of those who insult <span style="font-style: italic;">jnanis</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">They do not know fairness and rectitude; they do not know the phantom-like nature of the world; they do not know themselves; they do not realise the disgrace that arises from their ignorance. They are dark within themselves and without any reason insult those who are good, the righteous. Which way will these people go?</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">47</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Are all books, other than those that speak of supreme bliss, not true?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> No, they are not true.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The five flowers [of Kama] are his arrows. The six-legged beetle is the bowstring. The soft sugarcane is his bow. This bodiless cupid is a valorous warrior. He will infect everyone with powerful lust. All this is false. Similarly, is all this barren world-appearance true? You yourself reply.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">48</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Are time and so on false?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> To those who are not attached to anything, they are certainly false.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Be it time, or God, or karma, or illusory observances, the workings of the mind, the great enthusiasm that accomplishes things – to him who is not attached in any way, where is the question of taking them to be either good or bad?</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">49</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Are they [time and so on] at least necessary for the body?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> Since the body is not-Self, they are not needed.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Why are they born, those cunning ones who do not seek their Self? What is this body that has come into being through food? Who is the ‘I’? How many were the bodies that were discarded before? Innumerable were the bodies that were taken with delight again and again.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">50</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> But are all these [<span style="font-style: italic;">jivas</span>] reflected consciousness?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> As there is no knowledge without the Guru enabling one to know, they are only reflected consciousness.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">To reveal the unreal as unreal and to make the real real, truly a Guru was needed. Alas! All the <span style="font-style: italic;">jivas</span>, becoming kings and achieving greatness, are only reflected consciousness.</span></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br />[</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >‘</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >Achieving greatness</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >’</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" > can be taken to mean ‘arrogantly strutting around’. It can also be translated as ‘flourishing and becoming like little children’.]</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">51</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Why should the one <span style="font-style: italic;">Brahman </span>appear differentiated as many, as reflected consciousness?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> To those who do not see it as one, it appears as many.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">What is the truth of the world reflection that appears in the one [<span style="font-style: italic;">Brahman</span>] but does not appear as one? Like the scenes that appear to the vision of a bewildered person, the world appears as many only to those with defective knowledge and who therefore do not see it as the one reality.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">52</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> When all is one like this, what is the reason for not seeing it as one?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> I do not know the reason for not knowing the Self that exists as one’s own Self.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">What a wonder it is that one seeks the Self without knowing the Self! What can I say of this? Know that this is like a person in this world standing [neck-deep] in water having his thirst unquenched. What else can we say?</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">53</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> What is the way to see the Self?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> By abiding still in the Self. This is the essence of enquiring into the scriptures.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">You who, babbling the scriptures, become haughty! You who accumulate karma with your caste and lineage! Can you not become sattvic, know your Self through your Self, give up unceasing activity and remain still?</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">54</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Can devotion to God be <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span>?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> There can be no devotion apart from the devotee.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Those who are wallowing, identifying with the body, will perform <span style="font-style: italic;">puja</span>, wave lights and bring their palms together in salutation before the idol of the god with much longing, but they will not enquire whether the true God is the worshipper or the idol.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">55</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Is it not necessary to go and see the car festival?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> No. The one who sees the car festival should be seen.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">They will go, see, and salute the car on the auspicious day of the car festival. Alas! Leaving their Self, whom are they going to worship? The god seen in the car is not fullness. Does anyone not know this?</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">56</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> If so, is yoga good?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> For knowing consciousness it is not necessary.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">They will practise the highly respected yoga, remaining in a corner and controlling their breath and speech. For seeing and abiding as supreme consciousness, why this <span style="font-style: italic;">sadhana</span>? They are attempting to eat and live here for a long time by making the body strong.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">57</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> In that case, can <span style="font-style: italic;">sannyasa </span>be good?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> True bliss, which is present in those who renounce the ego, is not there in <span style="font-style: italic;">sannyasa</span>. How, then, can it be good?</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Without any difficulty they will take up a begging bowl in their hands; they will shave their heads and wear only a loincloth; and they will appear to be great ones. But will they also experience the bliss of sleeping without sleeping that is experienced by those who have renounced the ego.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">58</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> In that case, are scriptural study and spiritual practice not necessary?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> To those who have seen the Self, which is their true import, they are not necessary. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">To see one’s Self, what <span style="font-style: italic;">sastra </span>is needed? What <span style="font-style: italic;">sadhana </span>is necessary? Is not all this a mad game? Those who regard as real the illusion that has arisen – like the imaginary imp created to scare simple-minded people – will not see the Self.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">59</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Is not <span style="font-style: italic;">sadhana </span>necessary to know the Self?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> What use is a <span style="font-style: italic;">sadhana </span>that does not enable one to see the <span style="font-style: italic;">sadhaka</span>?</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The objects, which are seen to be many, such as male, female and neuter, and the seer who remains as one – all this is only the manifestation of the excellence of consciousness. Can they exist apart from consciousness? However much <span style="font-style: italic;">sadhana</span> they practise, how will it be of use for those who do not know this clearly?</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">60</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question: </span>Why do they suffer instead of enquiring and realising the Self?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> They suffer because what they have known to be one by studying has not been experienced.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">What does it matter [to the realised one] who lives and in what way? What does it matter [to the realised one] who goes where and in what manner? His solitary state is like that of a bat in its roost. He will be detached in every way and will sleep experiencing the blessed state that never leaves. Bliss is only for him.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">61</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Is it not necessary to know the nature of God and creation?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> Since <span style="font-style: italic;">Sivam </span>is non-dual, it is not necessary.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">They will say that Iswara is infinite and that <span style="font-style: italic;">jiva </span>is finite. They will say that <span style="font-style: italic;">jiva </span>is like the eye and that Iswara is like the sun. These two definitely cannot be non-dual. Pure consciousness, which is neither of these two, alone is <span style="font-style: italic;">Sivam</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">62</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Then what is the way to attain <span style="font-style: italic;">Sivam</span>?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> The way to see one’s Self is by rejecting everything else as <span style="font-style: italic;">maya</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The inert semen became the foetus and then became alive by mixing with the conscious principle. It appears to be real. When this happens, he who contemplates his real nature, regarding all this as illusory, is <span style="font-style: italic;">Sivam</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">63</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Will not those who know the past, present and future become <span style="font-style: italic;">Sivam</span>?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> Only those who have seen the Self, which is beyond time, are <span style="font-style: italic;">Sivam</span>, not those who know the three periods of time.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The self-effulgent Self destroys both night and day, the two that determine yesterday, today and tomorrow. Hence, he alone is <span style="font-style: italic;">Sivam </span>who has become the Self and who consequently worships the auspicious day that remains perpetually as the one unique day.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">64</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> If one renounces the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana sastras</span>, how can one attain the bliss of liberation?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> Liberation is only delighting in the Self through tranquillity and without anxiety. When this is attained, what is the use of books?</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">One may know the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana sastras</span>, or take up good <span style="font-style: italic;">sannyasa</span>, or attempt to experience <span style="font-style: italic;">mauna samadhi</span>, but the indescribable delight of liberation is simply to become the Self, remaining free of all anxiety, experiencing bliss.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">65</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">[Continued from verse 64.]</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">He may be endowed with learning, or established in great yoga, or his body and senses may be active, but he who does not merge with supreme grace will not know tranquillity and will not obtain the final reward, the bliss of liberation that never fails.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">66</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> If so, do they not have to experience even <span style="font-style: italic;">prarabdha</span>?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> If one remains without movement as the Self, like the column supporting the windmill, the <span style="font-style: italic;">prarabdha </span>will exhaust itself.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">You base, ignorant ones, wallowing in the three types of <span style="font-style: italic;">prarabdha</span>. If you understand that those who accepted alms will now be donors, you can be like the column that supports the windmill. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><blockquote style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">[Bhagavan: </span>Prarabdha <span style="font-style: italic;">[the actions the body has to perform in this life] is of three categories,</span> iccha, anichha, and parechha <span style="font-style: italic;">[personally desired, without desire and due to others’ desire]. For him who has realised his Self, there is no</span> iccha-prarabdha. <span style="font-style: italic;">The two others, </span>anichha <span style="font-style: italic;">and </span>parechha <span style="font-style: italic;">remain. Whatever he does is for others only. If there are things to be done by him for others, he does them but the results do not affect him. Whatever be the actions that such people do, there is no</span> punya <span style="font-style: italic;">[merit] and no</span> papa <span style="font-style: italic;">[sin] attached to them.</span> (Letters from Sri Ramanasramam<span style="font-style: italic;">, 3rd June 1946, p. 65.</span>)</blockquote><span style="font-style: italic; font-family:georgia;" >The column that is necessary for the existence and operation of the windmill remains unaffected. Only the sails of the windmill move. Similarly, the Self is unaffected by </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">prarabdha</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family:georgia;" >. Only the body is affected by it.]</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">67</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> But will not this experience come to everyone?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> If one becomes inward-turned instead of being externalised, this experience will come for everyone.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I declare: ‘If their minds are directed inward, attending to the light [the Self], and do not become outward-turned, all those upon this earth are capable of seeing the Self, just as I have seen my Self.’</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">68</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Don’t <span style="font-style: italic;">jnanis </span>have to perform karma?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> Since they have seen the truth of both action and the one who performs the action, they do not have to perform activities.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">He who has clearly seen in his mind both the performer of actions and the actions themselves, who has thus redeemed himself and become the reality, will he perform, without fail in every birth, every action at the prescribed time?<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">[This is a rhetorical question for which the assumed answer is ‘no’.]</span><br /></span></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">69</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Will the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnanis </span>hate the <span style="font-style: italic;">karmis </span>[the performers of activities] when they see them?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> They will delight in seeing the <span style="font-style: italic;">karmis</span>, in the same way that they witness conjuring tricks, but they will not hate them.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Seeing the deceitful ones who cannot see and enjoy reality as it is and who cannot melt by experiencing it, I rejoiced. However many illusory lotus flowers bloom, is there any anger on the part of the moon? </span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">70</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> How did this experience arise?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> It was obtained providentially through the grace of the Guru.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Like a sweet mango fruit appearing under the thorny karuvelam tree, the divine lotus feet of the Guru – who has the power to bestow the grace to transform me into the reality that is sought by everyone, everywhere – came to me who was replete with evil, taking birth over and over again.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">71</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Is getting this experience so difficult?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> It is extremely difficult.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Where is my [state of] remaining as the ego? Where is my attachment? Where is my desire to rule heaven and earth? Siva! Siva! Where is the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana </span>Guru? Where is liberation? How can I express this?<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">[The wide disparity between his previous wretched state and the state of knowledge makes the author wonder at the greatness of the Guru’s grace that accomplished the transformation, and how little he deserved it.]</span><br /></span></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">72</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> What is the benefit of this experience?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> It is obtaining the Self that is beyond the mind.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I did not obtain anything other than my Self. I had my Self in my possession all the time. Separate from me, there is no bondage or release. If one sees [this], even the mind that enquires into these is non-existent.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">73</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> As soon as one obtains this experience, who should be worshipped?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> The Guru, one’s own Self and the body should be worshipped, seeing them as the reality.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I will worship as my own Self the gracious Guru who showed everything to be like a conjuror’s trick, or the Self that is realised after thus scrutinising everything, or the body-temple that came [into being] to terminate the evil of birth.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">74</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> How to get rid of the <span style="font-style: italic;">vasana </span>of the gross body?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> It should be rejected by seeing it as the form of food.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">You body who remain as the sheath of food! If you do as I tell you, you will experience bliss as long as you live. I swear to this. Do not go near evil and useless <span style="font-style: italic;">vasanas</span>. Whatever comes according to <span style="font-style: italic;">prarabdha</span>, remain a mere witness.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">75</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> How to remove [or be rid of] the senses of perception?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> They should be removed by seeing them as the Self.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">O senses! You cherished and nourished me all these years. Now I have become blissful consciousness. Even you, who [appear to] become different from me, I have come to know as my Self. Henceforth, remain one with me, without becoming divergent.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">76</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> How to be rid of desires?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> Through desire for realisation of the truth.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">O desire! Though I suffered much through you, on account of your help I dwelt in the Self. I reached the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sadguru </span>through you. In liberation I have, along with you, become the Self. I swear to this.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">77</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> How to destroy anger?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> Through tranquillity.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">O anger! Through you I rid myself of my deficiency. Because of the weariness experienced by your rising that invariably produced misery, I rid myself of this danger and dwelt in supreme tranquillity. Even in dream, do not rise up in lamentation, but remain calm.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">78</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> How to get rid of avarice?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> By abiding peacefully in the Self.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">O avarice! I took you as my relation. Those who do not know the truth say that your form is only sin. You will exert yourself hard merely to accumulate. O sinner! Because of you I am now possessed by peace.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">79</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> How to dissolve the mind?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> It should be dissolved in the Self, which is its basis.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">O mind! I myself am you. You yourself are me. Despite being so, deceitfully you forgot me. That I am surrendered to you is also true. But do not remain different from me, the reality.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">80 </span> </span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">[The same answer continues in verses 80, 81 and 82.]</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">My mind! You roamed about, laboured hard and learned many arts, seeking a way to make a living. You sought and gave me a <span style="font-style: italic;">Sadguru</span>. To you who were so considerate to me, what help did I render in return?</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">81</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br />O mind! Just as I once remained, assuming your form, now you have come and merged with me as my own form. Is there anyone like you who values the virtue of gratitude? Dwell henceforth in the loving care of the supreme state, without returning to your prior form.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">82</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br />O mind! You remained, right from the beginning, without renouncing love towards me. Through that love you gave me the benefit of cultivating all the virtues of a devotee, beginning with forbearance. You removed desire and its progeny. Now, like me, you remain still through good and proper discernment.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">83</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Will the mind subside through the above means?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> If it is firmly established in the experience of the Self, it will then shine as consciousness and remain still.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">As my mind roamed about, I too was similar to it, thus allowing myself to remain in an unquiet state. With my mind remaining still and motionless, I too remained similar to it, shining and dwelling like gold.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">84</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Are there no likes and dislikes in this experience?</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> Since everything is experienced as the Self, these do not exist.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Whatever is to come, let it come. Whatever is to leave, let it leave. I will not reject even a life of living on alms as defective. Neither do I desire even the state of Brahma. I became all actions.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">85</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Will he worship God?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> He has no worship other than the worship of seeing everything as his own Self. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">What I extol everywhere is only my Self. What I worship everywhere as God – that too is only my Self. In all places, sitting, lying down and running are all performed only in my Self. I myself am the enjoyer and that which is enjoyed.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">86</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Is this the experience of all <span style="font-style: italic;">jnanis</span>?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> There is no experience other than this experience of the Self.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">He who has attained liberation will see, as not different from his Self, all this world that rises in the Self, which remains in the Self, and which merges in the Self. Will he see it as opposed to his Self?</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">87</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Will likes and dislikes arise in him?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> As everything has become his Self, they will not arise in him.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">For what will he desire? For what will he rise as ‘I’? For what will he experience envy and malice? He will dwell as the unmoving support for everything, as the sum of all things animate and inanimate, like the great Meru mountain that is the axis for the seven worlds.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">88</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Will not this experience cease?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> Even if the creations of Iswara falter, this experience will not cease.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Even if the cardinal points change, even if the moon emits heat, fire becomes cold, or the sun travels north to south, the Self-state of the liberated one who has enquired thoroughly into the primal state will not cease.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">89</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> How to determine those with such experience?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> They remain unruffled in joy and misery. They should be known by taking this as the hallmark.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Only he is a <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani </span>whose mind does not get agitated, who does not identify with and desire objects before him, and whose state of purity never wavers whether he lives on alms in poverty or enjoys the illusory state of being Brahma.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">90</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Will they not care for praise and slander?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> No, they will not.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Some may utter praises and worship, or evil and cruel ones may utter words of slander and insult, but the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani’s</span> mind will not associate with them. He will remain without thoughts, like the sky that remains the same whether the sun rises or a vast collection of clouds appear.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">91</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> What is food for the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span>?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> Whatever happens to come to him is food for him.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Whatever experiences present themselves to him, and in whatever measure, he will undergo those experiences. Like the sun that spreads its rays, he will remain free of bondage in the unique and natural state.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">92</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Will not the ego-nature, beginning with desire, touch these <span style="font-style: italic;">jnanis</span>?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> As they have attained total destruction of <span style="font-style: italic;">vasanas</span>, it will not.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Desire, anger and so on will not touch the liberated one – who has become the form of consciousness and the witness of the world – since he has uprooted and destroyed all the base <span style="font-style: italic;">vasanas</span>, and is therefore without <span style="font-style: italic;">sankalpas</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">93</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> Do they not need to stay in a holy place, or take baths in holy waters, and so on?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> The place where they reside is the holy place. Their look is holy water.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The place where the unique <span style="font-style: italic;">jivanmukta </span>– who exists everywhere equally – resides is itself the holy place. His look itself is holy water. The service to his lotus feet is itself liberation.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">94</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> What are the eternal attributes of a <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span>?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> They are soft words, and so on.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">They are soft-spoken; their look is free of desire; they experience everything to be <span style="font-style: italic;">sat</span> alone; they have a measured gait, and their mind is filled with a joy that never diminishes. The characteristic of a <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span> is to be ever firm in these.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">95</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> What does the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani </span>think?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> There are only thoughts that everything is the Self.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The <span style="font-style: italic;">jivanmukta </span>is he who has become one [with the reality] through the experience ‘I have seen myself everywhere; I have seen everything in me’; who possesses intensely and clearly the experience of having learned ‘unlearning’, and who has renounced everything.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">96</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> What is proper conduct and what is prohibited conduct for <span style="font-style: italic;">jnanis</span>?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> Actions they undertake are proper conduct; actions they abandon are prohibited actions.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani </span>has become one, tranquil and blemishless. Everything, beginning with space [and including the other elements] is his own form. The actions he abandons are prohibited actions, and the actions he takes up are proper actions.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">97</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> What are the disciplines and <span style="font-style: italic;">pujas </span>for the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span>?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> They are meditating on the Self, and so on.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Meditating on consciousness is bathing for a <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span>. Whatever external appearances he delights in, that is noble discipline. Whatever he obtains as alms and eats without ego, that is his supreme <span style="font-style: italic;">puja</span>. His faultless movements are pure <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">98</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> The actions that should be performed, and the actions that should be avoided: are these not necessary for <span style="font-style: italic;">jnanis</span>?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> As they remain as <span style="font-style: italic;">Sivam</span>, they do not exist for them.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">To the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani </span>who has become <span style="font-style: italic;">Sivam</span>, having seen all the universe as his Self and as the form of consciousness, for him, what is there that should be sifted and rejected, and what is there that should be accepted as proper?</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">99</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> What is the state attained by those who criticise the conduct of <span style="font-style: italic;">jnanis</span>?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> It is the hell of transmigration.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Know that those cruel ones, who view as faulty the life of the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani </span>who has attained supreme bliss, will experience <span style="font-style: italic;">crore </span>upon <span style="font-style: italic;">crore </span>of births like the silkworm that never gets detached from its cocoon.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">100</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> What is the benefit obtained by those who worship them?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> It is becoming the non-dual Self.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Those who are able to obtain the grace of the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani </span>– who remains as the eternal, formless, blemishless, blissful and pure non-dual reality, and for whom everything is his own Self – will become <span style="font-style: italic;">jnanis</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">101</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question:</span> How will the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani </span>shine?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Answer:</span> He will shine as everything and as different from everything.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">They have rid themselves of the blemish of the mind; they have rid themselves of the mind; they have rid themselves of the entity within the mind; they have transcended the shore of <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span>; they have rid themselves of the blissful state of consciousness, the supreme; they have rid themselves of the experience of <span style="font-style: italic;">Sivam</span>. They have also rid themselves of all concepts.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">The Benefit of Studying this Work</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">102</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br />Those who are able to enjoy through their two ears the savour of <span style="font-style: italic;">Sorupa Saram</span>, which describes the experience attained at the proper stage of ripeness, will be able to see the entire world as their own Self.</span></span><br /><br /><br /></div>David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-54539542700810512422011-05-20T08:34:00.002+05:302011-05-20T08:39:23.424+05:30Tattuvaraya: Amrita Saram<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">This installment in the series on Tattuvaraya and Sorupananda comprises a sample</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;"> of verses from a vedantic work by Tattuvaraya entitled </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Amrita Saram </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">(</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The Essence of Nectar</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">). The work (over 280 verses) is too long to include in full, but I think the selection we have chosen is representative of Tattuvaraya’s basic message. Many common vedantic images and ideas are there, but once in a while Tattuvaraya comes up with some quite novel ideas and interpretations. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">All the translations are by T. V. Venkatasubramanian, Robert Butler and myself.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">1 Reverence to the Lord</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">To those who possess the eye of <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span>, Sorupan, the reality, is the effulgence of <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana-ananda</span>. But to those who possess only the physical eye, he [that reality] is the world. His golden feet which are unattainable even by the gods in heaven are, on this day, easy for me to attain.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">In the first verse Tattuvaraya salutes his Guru, Sorupananda, equating him with the bliss of </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">jnana</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">5 The greatness of the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani’s</span> words</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">What does it matter to what caste they [<span style="font-style: italic;">jnanis</span>] belong? What does it matter which religion they belong to? What does it matter which type of verses they have sung? Only the words of those who have renounced the mind are pure words. All the rest lead only to rebirth.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">6 Name of the work</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">A whole lifetime will not suffice for anyone to comprehend clearly the truth through studying the <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">Agamas</span>. By studying this work [though], the heart will abide in the ocean of <span style="font-style: italic;">amrita </span>[nectar]. It is therefore given the name <span style="font-style: italic;">Amrita Saram</span> [<span style="font-style: italic;">The Essence of Nectar</span>].</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">7 Expression of modesty</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">When formerly the three gods explained the import of the utterances of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas</span>, the world could not comprehend. Now, if I claim that I am going to declare this truth for the world to know, I will be like the firefly that says, ‘I will dispel and destroy the dense darkness that exists as high as heaven’.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">8 Declaring the good [or beneficial] path</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Knowing them to be transient, renounce the thought of life here and hereafter. Walk the path of virtue. Turn back the mind. Seek the Self-realised. Hasten to know the true nature of reality.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">9 That which is rare</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">It is rare indeed to obtain a human birth. Even if one gets it, it is more rare to study the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana </span>scriptures. Rarer still is to become one who possesses renunciation. But rarer than that is to become one possessing knowledge of reality.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">10 The characteristic of a <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani </span>knows that consciousness alone exists, and that there is nothing that is not consciousness. He knows consciousness entirely through consciousness. He is the Lord who exists without knowing or not knowing. He is indeed the Supreme Reality declared by the <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">11 The <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani’s</span> actions</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">For both the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani </span>and the <span style="font-style: italic;">ajnani </span>external conduct in activities such as eating look identical. But the mind of <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani </span>is quite different. Though the breast of a woman is the same for both her baby and her husband, their mental development [leads to] different [results].</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">Elsewhere in his writings Tattuvaraya expands on the idea in the last sentence by saying that when a lady’s breast is fondled by her baby it gives milk, but when it is fondled by her husband she feels intense joy, and she desires immediate union with him. For the </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">ajnani </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">actions are undertaken to yield sensory pleasures, but those same actions, if performed by a </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">jnani</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">, yield the bliss of the Self. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">12 The <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani’s</span> conduct</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Will he think ‘This is good,’ or ‘This is bad’? Is not the entire world food for the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span>? Could there be any rule whereby a fire raging in the forest might discriminate between trees, thinking, ‘One good and another bad’?</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">13 Greatness of the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Space is extremely vast, but the great <span style="font-style: italic;">maya </span>that gave birth to it is mere clay in the hands of Iswara. If one ponders over it, there is no one greater than Siva, but the one who has contained Siva in his mind is greater than Siva Himself.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">14 Greatness of service to the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Whenever the powerful <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani </span>asks God to manifest, God, eager to appear, will be waiting expectantly to serve him wherever he goes. Who indeed is there equal to those who serve the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span>?</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">15 Greatness of <span style="font-style: italic;">puja </span>to the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">When the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani </span>eats, everyone in the universe has eaten. [Even] Brahma, Vishnu and Siva have eaten. He who worships a perfect <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span>, regarding him as <span style="font-style: italic;">Sivam</span>, has indeed feasted his eyes fully on the Supreme Being and worshipped Him.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">16 Those who revile the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Those who revile the powerful <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani</span>, those who listen to it [the abuse], those who do not get angry hearing the abuse, those who permit the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnani </span>to be abused, and those who do not leave the company of these four, thinking it best to keep away from them – these are the five deadly sinners.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">17 Improper conduct</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Those cruel hypocrites who have not removed the faults in their deluded minds, claiming, without having gained the true <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana </span>born of yoga, that they are abiding as the one reality merely for the sake of food, will not attain liberation, and neither will those who hold them in their thoughts [their followers].</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">‘For the sake of food’ denotes any kind of material benefit that is gained from pretending to be enlightened.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">20 The cause of the world</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">They will say ‘Atoms are the cause’; ‘Great <span style="font-style: italic;">maya </span>is the cause’; ‘A combination of atoms is the cause’; ‘The five elements are the cause’; ‘The <span style="font-style: italic;">gunas </span>are the cause.’ Let them say any cause to be the cause. Not asking ‘What is the cause of this world?’ is the real cause of the world.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">21 Cause and effect are not different</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Do not say that this impermanent world is apart from the eternal reality. Before becoming an ornament, when it is an ornament, and when the ornament is remelted and made again into a lump of gold, it is only gold.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">22 Cause and effect are not different</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The Lord is the underlying screen that is His one Self, which is the pure light of <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">ananda</span>. On it He, the Self, traced, by means of Himself, the picture of the world of multiplicity, girt by the roaring ocean. He looked upon it and was well pleased.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">25 The quality of all-pervasiveness</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The Eternal One creates the 84 lakhs of different species and abides within them all, just as empty space enters into and occupies all the countless pots that have [ever] been made.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">Some Hindu texts posit that there are 8.4 million (84 lakhs) of species in which one can incarnate.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">26 Destruction</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The body comprising the five elements will be destroyed in the elements. The five elements, beginning with space, will be destroyed in <span style="font-style: italic;">maya</span>. Great <span style="font-style: italic;">maya</span>, the darkness, in which multiplicity has ended, will be destroyed by the <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana </span>that arises here [in this world], saturated with the light of being.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">27 The cause of birth</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Like the transparent, shining and colourless crystal which takes on the colour of the object that is adjacent to it, the knower [the crystal] becomes [i.e. takes on the appearance of] the adjacent objects [body and mind]. Since births come to an end when the knower knows his real nature, the fundamental cause of birth is ignorance of one’s real nature.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">35 The base nature of the body</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">When their <span style="font-style: italic;">prana </span>leaves men who are getting attached to land [wealth and women], they are given the name ‘corpse’ and removed for burial. In an instant worms come and infest this body. Is there in this body any place as tiny as the tip of the sesame seed that remains free from fault.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">37 The despicable nature of enjoyment</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The <span style="font-style: italic;">asuna </span>bird, the elephant, moth, fish and bee get ruined respectively by a craving for sounds, touch, sight, taste and smell. How disgusting! Won’t humans, possessed by worries, lose their power through their appetite for not one, but all these five cravings, beginning with sound.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">41 The base nature of <span style="font-style: italic;">swarga </span>[heavenly worlds]</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">[Lying with celestial damsels is] lying with prostitutes. Drinking ambrosia is nothing but getting drunk on intoxicating liquor. When in one day of Brahma crores of <span style="font-style: italic;">devas</span> are born and die, what is the glory that those who rule the <span style="font-style: italic;">deva </span>world attain?</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">42 Impermanence</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">There is not a single thing that remains permanently in this world. This is what all the three gods declared. This is also the doctrine of those other religions that war with each other. Therefore, only impermanence is permanent.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">44 Renunciation</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Those who want to bring to an end this birth in which one is caught in ignorance should realise that even the body is superfluous, and renounce completely. For those who do not, it is not easy to attain liberation, which is freedom from taking birth and dying.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">The verse includes an indirect reference to </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Tirukkural </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">345: ‘For those who seek an end to birth, the body itself is a superfluous burden. What then can we say of other forms of attachment?’ </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">80 The argument that <span style="font-style: italic;">prarabdha </span>is supreme</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">If the body is a result of karma, then it would mean that the body existed before to perform the karma. If karma is eternal, then liberation will never be attained. The fundamental cause of <span style="font-style: italic;">prarabdha </span>is ignorance. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">82 Taking <span style="font-style: italic;">kaya kalpas </span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">We have not known anyone who lived for ever in this sea-girt world through <span style="font-style: italic;">kaya kalpa</span> medicines. Why are you afflicting yourself, strengthening the body, which is as unstable as a water bubble, and which causes ruination to one and all?</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Kaya kalpas</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;"> are medicines that aim prolong the human lifespan or produce physical immortality.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">83 Caste</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Freedom from the primal ignorance is the caste of the rare <span style="font-style: italic;">tapasvins</span>. Will they make even the slightest mention of differences in caste? Only those who possess <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span> belong to the noble caste and lineage, and deserve to be worshipped. The rest are low-caste people.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">84 Bathing in holy water</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Will the defilement of a mind that is not established in dharma be cleansed through water that is external [to itself]? The holy rivers are for the body only. Otherwise they are powerless. For the mind to become cleansed of defilement and to shine, the holy water one bathes in is consciousness.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">85 <span style="font-style: italic;">Puja</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Those lacking wisdom and thirsting for bliss, while standing in the flood of endless supreme bliss that abides in the heart, will bathe in water, collect water for <span style="font-style: italic;">abhishekam</span>, gather flowers, cleanse the precincts with cow-dung, and eventually perform <span style="font-style: italic;">puja</span>. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">86 Knowing the many paths</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">You who are a <span style="font-style: italic;">tapasvin </span>seeking the truth! Let all the many paths declare ‘This alone is the way! This alone is the way!’ What is the path through which the consciousness that knows all these paths can be known? That path, which is declared by the <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas</span>, is the way of liberation.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">87 Learning <span style="font-style: italic;">sastras</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Those who have failed to grasp the true import of the holy scriptures they read and have therefore not come to know consciousness as it really is will not go anywhere near the truth, even if they read crores and crores of scriptures. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">88 Attempting to know by measurement</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">It is through consciousness that all measures have to be known. He who desires to know consciousness through measures, all of which have to be known through consciousness, is like one who wants to burn fire with firewood.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">89 Disputation</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">In the way of disputation, when one wins, pride greatly swells. When one loses, sorrow waxes a lot. [The conclusions of] disputation are not something that remain permanent. The only benefit is tearing one’s head off and getting a sore throat.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">92 The noble way</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">If the truth is known clearly, then that path which remains without conflict with any other path will be the path of becoming <span style="font-style: italic;">sat</span>. If there is God’s grace, it is easy to attain. In the absence of God’s grace, it will be difficult for everyone.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">95<span style="font-style: italic;"> Sathya</span> [truthfulness]</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">If you ask ‘What is the practice of truthfulness?’ then they say it is to utter that which does not cause harm to any being. But those who have realised the truth declared at the end of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas</span>, which speak a lot about purity, say that truth [<span style="font-style: italic;">sathya</span>] is only the Supreme, the Imperishable One.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">The first sentence refers to </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Tirukkural </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">291: ‘If you ask, “What is truth?”, it is to utter words that are entirely free of any harmful effect.’ </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Yamas </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">and </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">niyamas </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">are codes of conduct for dealing with people and the world. In this selection verses 95-100 explain the inner significance of some of the </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">yamas</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">96 <span style="font-style: italic;">Ahimsa </span>[non-violence]</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Ahimsa </span>is not to inflict suffering on any living being. The Self-realised know that realising that the Self is not destroyed by weapons, wind, water, fire, etc. is <span style="font-style: italic;">ahimsa </span>to oneself.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">97 <span style="font-style: italic;">Asteya </span>[non-stealing]</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">They say that to steal a thing either through force or deceit is theft. But if we are to declare the doctrine of <span style="font-style: italic;">jnanis</span>, stealing is to regard the body, which does not belong to one, as ‘I’ and ‘mine’.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">98 <span style="font-style: italic;">Brahmacharya</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Brahmacharya </span>is to avoid the company of women, but those who truly possess <span style="font-style: italic;">brahmacharya </span>are the ones who have become one with <span style="font-style: italic;">Brahman</span>, which is extremely difficult to attain. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">99 <span style="font-style: italic;">Arjava </span>[honesty], <span style="font-style: italic;">dhriti </span>[steadfastness] and <span style="font-style: italic;">daya </span>[compassion]</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Arjava </span>[honesty] is to view completely as one mother, father, son, daughter, wife, and evil enemies. <span style="font-style: italic;">Dhriti </span>[steadfastness] is conviction in the way of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas</span>. <span style="font-style: italic;">Daya</span> [compassion] is to have love like a mother [towards her children]. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">100 <span style="font-style: italic;">Kshama </span>[patience]</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">If you want to conquer those who have done evil to you, always bear with them patiently without entertaining hatred. If you have to entertain hatred [towards something], kill that one thing ‘anger’. He who can do it will be freed from all dangers.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">103 <span style="font-style: italic;">Tapas</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Tapas </span>is curtailing one’s food through vows and tormenting the body. But the <span style="font-style: italic;">tapas </span>to end births is enquiring ‘Who am I?’ ‘Through what did I get this birth?’ ‘What is the nature of liberation in which one becomes <span style="font-style: italic;">Sivam</span>?’</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">Verses 103 and 104 elaborate on two of the ten </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">niyamas</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">104 <span style="font-style: italic;">Santosham </span>[contentment]</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Contentment is to be satisfied by acceptance of whatever one gets. But the <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas</span>’ words say that contentment is the happiness of experiencing truly the Supreme in the heart, forsaking all the states that are spoken of, beginning with Brahma Loka.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">117 Ridiculing <span style="font-style: italic;">siddhis</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">There will be trouble for those who contemplate the wealth of <span style="font-style: italic;">siddhis</span>, beginning with <span style="font-style: italic;">anima</span>. Without realising that <span style="font-style: italic;">ashtanga </span>yoga is a step towards attaining <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span>, they are crazy, like those who lift an iron wall, using [flimsy] sugarcane as a lever, and willingly gather bran.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Anima</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">, the first of the eight listed </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">siddhis</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">, is the ability to shrink oneself to a minute form.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">Bran is the skin of the rice seed that is removed during milling. The combination of the two images in the final sentences indicates that an immense amount of pointless activity is invested in gaining </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">siddhis </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">that ultimately have little or no use.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">127 The six defects</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Food and drink are the <span style="font-style: italic;">prana’s</span>. Happiness and misery are for the mind. The trouble of growing old and dying are for the body. If one [knows the truth, one] knows these are not for the Self.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">129 The three <span style="font-style: italic;">malas</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The three defilements <span style="font-style: italic;">anava </span>[ego], <span style="font-style: italic;">maya </span>and karma, which remain closely merged with the <span style="font-style: italic;">jiva</span>, not allowing the <span style="font-style: italic;">jiva </span>to know his real nature, are like the tip [germ], bran and husk. These jointly constitute the seed of birth which gives rise to embodiment.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">137 The three attachments</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">All relationships that arise constitute attachment to offspring. All the <span style="font-style: italic;">sankalpas</span> constitute attachment to the world. All the sense objects enjoyed constitute attachment to wealth. These three attachments will leave if one sees the reality.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">148 <span style="font-style: italic;">Tattvas</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">If one knows the truth of the indestructible reality, then the rest of the various <span style="font-style: italic;">tattvas</span> cease to exist. Then why are these mentioned and discussed? If people with defective vision see the moon as many, does it become many for that reason? Is not the cool moon one only?</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">159 The <span style="font-style: italic;">mahavakya</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">In the three words ‘That you are’ ‘That’ refers to <span style="font-style: italic;">Brahman</span>, ‘you’ refers to <span style="font-style: italic;">jiva</span>, the word ‘are’ refers to the union of <span style="font-style: italic;">Brahman </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">jiva</span>, achieved through casting off the limitation, the body.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">165 The difference between the <span style="font-style: italic;">jiva </span>and the Supreme</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">In the body there are two, a knower and a witness, known as <span style="font-style: italic;">jiva </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">Iswara</span>. The differences that can be ascribed as base and excellent qualities exist through limitations, but their <span style="font-style: italic;">swarupa </span>is identical.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">The implication of the original Tamil, which is hard to convey in a literal translation, is that once the </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">jiva </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">comes into existence with a limited outlook, the opposite and complementary entity, Iswara, comes into existence with no limitation on it. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">167 The Supreme</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">He is the cause of everything and the Lord of everything. He is the source, sustainer and destroyer of everything. He is none of these many things, but they cannot exist apart from him. He pervades within and without, and knows all. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">168 <span style="font-style: italic;">Jiva </span>and the supreme are not different</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">If the limitations are destroyed, the <span style="font-style: italic;">jiva </span>and the supreme are identical. Their limitations of base and excellent are only an appearance. It is like seeing the space within a pot and unlimited space as different. But look, consciousness is one only.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">169 Cause of <span style="font-style: italic;">maya</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">If one seeks to know the fundamental cause of <span style="font-style: italic;">maya</span>, which is not known [directly], it will be impossible to know it through consciousness. If you can know and tell me the cause of darkness with the help of a lamp, then you can know the cause of ignorance through consciousness.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">171 The world</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">This world, a delusory dream, consisting of infinite differences, is seen as different from oneself, and as if real [in the sleep of <span style="font-style: italic;">maya</span>]. When the sleep of <span style="font-style: italic;">maya </span>ends, how can this world, which is destroyed in <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span>, come into existence? Can there be dreaming after one wakes up from sleep?</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">172 The world</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Despite fire existing within wood, it rots on earth, becoming a prey to white ants. This is similar to what happens in the absence of the shining of the Self. Will the miseries arising from the world exist if the Self, which is <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span>, shines through [the grace of the] <span style="font-style: italic;">Sadguru</span>. If fire is generated in wood, can the wood exist?</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">The fire within the wood denotes the hidden power of the Self within each being. The ‘shining of the Self’, channelled through the form of the </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Sadguru</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">, brings out the latent fire within the wood. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">173 The primacy of <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">If the three paths <span style="font-style: italic;">charya</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">kriya </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">yoga </span>do not become steps towards <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span>, then they will become inferior states of liberation and be destroyed. To merge with the liberation that destroys identification with the body, there is no way other than the eye of <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">The practices of </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">charya</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">, </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">kriya </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">and yoga are part of the Saiva Siddhanta tradition. </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Kriya </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">is worshipping Siva inwardly and outwardly, </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">charya </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">is rendering service in a temple and worshipping there, and yoga denotes inward meditation on Siva.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">174 The characteristic of <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Jnana </span>is to know consciousness without the knowing that takes the form of knower, knowing and object of knowledge. This occurs when knowledge of the mind and the senses, which know though the various sense organs, have all subsided.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">175 The greatness of <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The rare <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas </span>position karma, which tosses one about, at the bottom. But they wear <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana </span>on their heads without any contradiction and confusion. Only they know the greatness of <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span>. The rest do not.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">176 <span style="font-style: italic;">Jnana puja</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">To bathe in the tears of bliss, to worship strewing beautiful flowers of love, offering oneself as consecrated food, to view all the <span style="font-style: italic;">chid </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">jada </span>appearing before one as <span style="font-style: italic;">Sivam </span>– this is the <span style="font-style: italic;">puja </span>to Siva.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">178 The power of <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Do all the innumerable <span style="font-style: italic;">punyas </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">papas </span>that attach to one exist when the fire of <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana </span>is kindled? Is there anything that remains unburnt along with ignorance? When a forest is caught in a fire, does any tender tree survive?</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">179 Slipping from yoga</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">If a <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana sadhaka</span> happens to die midway [through his <span style="font-style: italic;">sadhana</span>] without merging with the reality through yoga, he will not enter the evil worlds but will gain and experience all the fruits attained by those who have performed virtuous sacrifices. Thereafter, he will be born again and attain liberation through yoga.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">181 The means for liberation</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Karma performed without desiring its fruits, listening to [expositions of] <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span> scriptures, <span style="font-style: italic;">shanti</span>, and renunciation are the means to attain a Guru. He is the means to gain the hard-to-attain liberation.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">182 The Guru’s characteristic</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">O Lord! I am not any of those things beginning with the body, which is a prison, and ending with mind. The <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas </span>declared ‘You are That!’ But if you ask, ‘What am I?’, the Guru will declare, ‘You are this. See!’</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">183 The greatness of the Guru</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">God remains in the heart concealing himself, but the Guru, dispelling ignorance, reveals God. Tell me, who is the liberal benefactor? Is it he who bears the formless form, or he who took the form of the Guru, so that that formless form might be seen?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">184 Incompetent gurus</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The office of guru performed by those who do not have knowledge of reality is like the following: achieving pregnancy though intercourse in a dream, trying to make a cloth from the hair of a sea-turtle, trying to light a fire with a firefly, trying to make a bow with the horn of a hare, and obtaining milk from a bull.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">185 The mature disciple</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">He who has realised in his mind the impermanence of the body, he who feels like one caught in a raging fire, or like the frog in the mouth of an angry cobra – his heart is like the prey caught in the tiger’s clasp. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">186 The immature disciple</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">They do not have <span style="font-style: italic;">tapas</span>, purity, truth and compassion. They do not worship the feet of the Guru. They do not believe in reality. They are eager to make money. Their thoughts are on enjoyments. It is not proper to bestow grace on these.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">187 The immature disciple</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The teaching which for some leads to clear attainment will for some others lead to perverse understanding. Though pure water is all the same, when the cow consumes it, she yields milk, but when the cobra consumes it, it yields poison.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-64383974984719465702011-05-20T08:17:00.002+05:302011-05-20T08:33:09.136+05:30Tattuvaraya: Paduturai<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">This fourth installment of the series on Tattuvaraya and Sorupananda comprises extracts from </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Paduturai</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">, a work of Tattuvaraya's that includes poems on his teachings, praise of his Guru Sorupananda, and many expressions of his own enlightened state. The translations are by Robert Butler, T. V. Venkatasubramanian, and David Godman.</span></span><br /><br /><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">Paduturai </span>29: <span style="font-style: italic;">Nenjirku Amaivurai</span> [<span style="font-style: italic;">Advice to the Heart on Being Still</span>]</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >1</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Heart of mine! Hunger will be appeased even if one consumes unsalted, watery gruel. Thirst can be quenched by drinking water from wells, tanks and rivers. Supporting yourself in this way, be satisfied and be still. Even if you get up and rush around [looking for food], will the rewards be different or better than what is ordained for you?</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">2</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Heart of mine! Even if the whole land is full of sumptuous food, consisting of rich curry, seasoned with many condiments, milk, ghee, fruits and rice – if your <span style="font-style: italic;">prarabdha</span> does not permit you to eat them, either through illness or for other reasons, will it not speedily annul all those enjoyments for you?</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span>3</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Heart of mine! The six delicious flavours exist only in the tip of the tongue. Its extent is two finger breadths and no more. When you are not able to cross slowly this two-finger breadth, you will still go forth and cross the tumultuous ocean. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">[‘When you are not able to cross slowly’ means ‘when you are not able to transcend or go beyond’. It is a common image in Tamil poetry that food is only attractive and appealing when it is in contact with this narrow zone on the tongue. Once it has been swallowed, processed by the body, and ejected either as vomit or excrement, it no longer holds any attraction.</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >]</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span>4</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br />Heart of mine! Greatly desiring a well turned-out appearance, you suffer a great deal, running around to earn wealth for that purpose. Even if you get it, though, don’t you realise the trouble that will arise from washermen, rats, the need to find a safe place where they will not get stolen, and other such matters?</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span>5</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br />When cold weather comes there already exist ragged clothing, white ashes, mountain caves and many desolate temples [for shelter and warmth]. And in the sweltering heat of summer, even a loincloth is a burden. This alone is the function of clothes.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">[</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Sadhus </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">use wood ash to keep themselves warm in winter.</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >]</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span>6</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br />Heart of mine! Be yourself and remain still. By running about thinking [about your food], and then being disappointed at not getting [it], you have brought a lot of trouble upon yourself. People of the lowest kind will tire their legs for the sake of [appeasing] burning hunger. But will not those who are wise remain settled in stillness?</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >7</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Mind of mine! Instead of remaining satisfied with what you get, wherever you get it, thinking it sufficient, you get up, not giving yourself the time to blink, and run around. Realise that this is the seed of a poverty that can never be eradicated. It is also the veiling [that will appear in or cause] the next birth.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >8</span><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">A cow will seek out the apparent [lushness of the] greenery on the opposing river bank, [preferring it] to the one it is on, and do this repeatedly. My heart, in much the same way, your reward for this [kind of] activity is only running about, wandering around and getting distressed. </span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >9</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The hallmark of greatness is to stand firm where one is, and face up to whatever comes one’s way, is it not? Wretched and foolish heart, even if you go to the doors of those who are sweet like nectar, they will not extend their hospitality. Know that this is the nature of things. See [if it is not]! </span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >10</span><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Those who have understood the world have truly declared through their understanding that for the wise the body is an affliction. Even if you renounce all of the possessions you own and are associated with, having love for the unreal body, my heart, is getting deluded again.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span>11</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">When we examine the conviction of the wise – that what is not cannot be, and that what is, cannot fail to be – what need is there for this agitation, my heart? All happens as it is ordained to happen. [The wise] recognise the things that are destined for them.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span>12</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">When in this life the embodied <span style="font-style: italic;">jiva </span>is perceived without error, then all will be as it has been ordained. This being so, my heart, why do you run every which way, traversing forests and oceans, suffering for the sake of your body? Tell me!</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >13</span><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">If you wish to know the means for remaining at peace, my heart, seek out the company of those great Self-realised ones who have tasted the sugarcane of <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana</span>, which engenders forbearance, and [remaining] at their feet, carry out their commands in a single-minded manner.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >14</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Even if you stand with your head on the ground and your feet in the air, nothing will happen that is not destined to happen. The best course, my heart, is to remain still, and be relaxed, viewing what comes to pass exactly as it is, without dashing about and tormenting yourself.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >15</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">When there is good present in the virtuous, do not go to their presence and pay attention to negative things [you see] there. My heart, do everything as per the commands of the Guru and eschew evil ways. The way of truth is not other than this. Henceforth keep to it!</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >16</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Mind of mine! It is not good for you to be distressed, imagining praise or abuse [towards yourself] in the words [of others]. Realising that these are just sounds coming from the windpipe through the medium of air, do not attach any great value [to them].</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family:georgia;" >17</span><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Those who lovingly praise the defective, unclean, fleshy body that generates filth through all its nine orifices, and which is therefore malodorous, are actually looked upon as abusers by those who are on the path to realisation. Those who revile them [those on the path] are regarded as friends.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span>18</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Heart of mine! You neither feel love nor hatred for the effects arising from insentient causes such as air, fire, water, disease and many, many more. Therefore, regard the sentient causes also in the same way.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >19</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Do not exhibit friendship or animosity towards anyone. Taking the view that there is something to be learned from every situation, stand firm, taking care not to act contrary to the words of virtuous people of mature understanding. This is the path for you.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >20</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Contenting yourself with what you have, be not disheartened even over great calamities. Do not indulge in malicious talk about what is good, and what is evil. Furthermore, do not speak idle words. My heart, seeing the perfect behaviour of the virtuous, conduct yourself without forgetting it.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span>21</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Until the body, which is like an unreal dream or a mirage, comes to its end, adorn yourself with the holy feet of the Guru, holding on tightly with a melting heart. Without letting go, remain there singing his praises, my heart, in order that you may never be born again.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >22</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Melting through dwelling over and over again on the nature of the Guru who subjected you to his rule, entreating him intensely more and more for true love, adorn yourself solely with his feet and be still, my heart, constantly sipping the rare ambrosia of peace.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Paduturai</span> 33: <span style="font-style: italic;">Arudi Uraittal</span> [<span style="font-style: italic;">Definitive Declarations</span>]</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span>1</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br />If this <span style="font-style: italic;">samsara </span>does not end before giving up this body, we will again and again come, be born as a baby, suffer and die. See!</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span>2</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br />If you do not realise your true nature so that you can put an end to the evil of birth and death, this swinging on the golden swing, going back and forth, will not cease, ever! See!</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >3</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">If you do not extricate yourself from birth and death with full awareness by realising your true nature, ignorance will catch hold of you in this world and the next and torment you. See!</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >4</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">If you do not realise your true nature as it really is, giving up the idea that your body is your [true] form, the powerful birth will not end for you, even if [Lord Siva] appears before you with deer and battle axe. See!</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span>5</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">If, in this birth, you do not realise the [the truth] of yourself and thereby become free of all future births, you will die, repeatedly assume a body and stand with [baby] anklets on your feet [again and again]. See!</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >6</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">If you do not subside and abide [as the Self], knowing that consciousness is your form, thereby freeing yourself from all suffering, <span style="font-style: italic;">maya </span>will plunder you, turn you into a body and make you dance as a leather marionette. See!</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >7</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">If you do not recognise your Self, without saying ‘We will know [it] later,’ the devil of desire will unbalance you and trample you down. See!</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >8</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Do not suffer extreme misery by placing your head under binding <span style="font-style: italic;">sankalpas</span>. If you wear the feet of our Lord [the Guru] on your head, then you can abide [as the Self], saying, ‘What does it matter where the sun rises!’ See!</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >9</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">If, without seeking the feet of the Guru, placing them on your head, and realising your true nature, you take the body as ‘I’, hosts of relatives will gather and place fire on your head [on the day of your cremation]. See!</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >10</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Those who do not accept this definitive declaration of truth will be like the beast and the devil. They will, alas, never cross the ocean of birth. I swear to this, never! </span></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Paduturai</span> 58: <span style="font-style: italic;">Sivaprakasa Swamigal Kuravai</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">When Manikkavachagar composed </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Tiruvachakam </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">more than a thousand years ago, he used the motifs of children’s games and women’s pastimes to express the journey that the </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">jiva </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">must make towards union with Siva. Tattuvaraya adopted this literary form in many of the sections of </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Paduturai</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">. However, in the four examples we are giving here, the theme is not a longing for union with the divine but a celebration of the definitive final state that is attained once that union has been consummated. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">The ‘Sivaprakasa Swamigal’ in the title is the Guru of Sorupananda. </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Kuravai </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">is the name of a dance, performed in a circle. It is also a shrill celebratory shout exclaimed by women on auspicious or festival occasions.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >1</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Singing of the nature of those feet that, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">though far beyond the <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas</span>’ reach,</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">came easily to wretched me, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">raise the cry called <span style="font-style: italic;">kuravai</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">That all the world may know the greatness of the grace</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">with which the Supreme Lord made me his, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">raise the cry called <span style="font-style: italic;">kuravai</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Singing of how he bestowed his glance of grace, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">so that in a trice births which grasp and cling were rooted out, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">raise the cry called <span style="font-style: italic;">kuravai</span>. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Saying, ‘All thought has perished, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">learning has been destroyed. </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Jnana </span>itself became my eye,’ </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">raise the cry called <span style="font-style: italic;">kuravai</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >2</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Singing of the richness through which, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">with a single matchless word, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">he revealed the whole [truth], </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">raise the cry called <span style="font-style: italic;">kuravai</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Singing of how in an instant </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">he wiped out the bonds of births</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">that endure for aeons of time, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">raise the cry called <span style="font-style: italic;">kuravai</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Singing of the nature whereby a unique clarity,</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">impossible to describe, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">suffused my mind with sweetness and remained there, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">raise the cry called <span style="font-style: italic;">kuravai</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Singing of the perfect nature whereby he seeking came, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">thinking us poor wretches to be worthy, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">and bent us to his rule, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">raise the cry called <span style="font-style: italic;">kuravai</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >3</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Singing of the radiant feet that consumed even that consciousness</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">which is the light that swallowed up the seven worlds, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">raise the cry called <span style="font-style: italic;">kuravai</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Singing of the enduring state of Him who is the deathless reality, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">which has become form, formless, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">and neither with or without form, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">raise the cry called <span style="font-style: italic;">kuravai</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Singing of the grace with which he transformed my mind,</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">which trembled like the moon reflected in water, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">into <span style="font-style: italic;">Sivam</span>, his own nature, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">raise the cry called <span style="font-style: italic;">kuravai</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Singing of how his <span style="font-style: italic;">jnana </span>utterances and smile </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">abolished the [so-called] wisdom of wretched me, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">raise the cry called <span style="font-style: italic;">kuravai</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Paduturai</span> 59: <span style="font-style: italic;">Sri Sorupananda Swamigal Kunalai</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Kunalai </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">is either a dance accompanied by shouting or a warrior’s shout of valour or defiance. </span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >1</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Proclaiming how the reality that the <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas </span>speak of</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">came in human form, cry <span style="font-style: italic;">kunalai</span>!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Telling how he placed upon my head his feet, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">which even Vishnu in delusion [could not find], cry <span style="font-style: italic;">kunalai</span>!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Telling how my mind, which heaved like the thundering ocean, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">in an eye’s blink was destroyed, cry <span style="font-style: italic;">kunalai</span>!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Proclaiming how impossible it is to see [the mind], </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">except as the form of consciousness, cry <span style="font-style: italic;">kunalai</span>!</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >2</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Telling how the path we walk twixt birth and death was blocked, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">and grass grew thereupon, cry <span style="font-style: italic;">kunalai</span>!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Telling how, even while existing with this body, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">we dwelt in the state of liberation, cry <span style="font-style: italic;">kunalai</span>!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Proclaiming how we dwelt as consciousness, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">free of forgetting and remembering, cry <span style="font-style: italic;">kunalai</span>!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Proclaiming, ‘We shall not forget the might of the Liberal One </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">who granted us his grace,’ cry <span style="font-style: italic;">kunalai</span>!</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >3</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Proclaiming, ‘Even if we recite a crore of <span style="font-style: italic;">srutis</span>, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">[bliss] will not be revealed,’ cry <span style="font-style: italic;">kunalai</span>!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Proclaiming, ‘With a single word from Sorupananda, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">bliss will appear,’ cry <span style="font-style: italic;">kunalai</span>!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Proclaiming, ‘We have seen with our own eyes the reality </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">that cannot be conceived by mind,’ cry <span style="font-style: italic;">kunalai</span>!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Proclaiming, ‘Seeing his fair and compassionate feet, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">we have beheld a vision of delight,’ cry <span style="font-style: italic;">kunalai</span>!</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >4</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Proclaiming, ‘We have freed ourselves from the agitating net of the scriptures, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">that come to us in the form of words,’ cry <span style="font-style: italic;">kunalai</span>!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Proclaiming, ‘We have experienced delight in the blissful ocean of the Self, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">impossible to describe,’ cry <span style="font-style: italic;">kunalai</span>!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Proclaiming, ‘We have forgotten the mind that values </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">the filth-ridden body,’ cry <span style="font-style: italic;">kunalai</span>!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Proclaiming, ‘We value the understanding which comes </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">when [such a] mind is abolished,’ cry <span style="font-style: italic;">kunalai</span>!</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >5</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Proclaiming, ‘The flood of endless bliss abounds everywhere about us,’ </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">cry <span style="font-style: italic;">kunalai</span>!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Proclaiming, ‘The idea of “all” will not occur even though forgetfulness,’</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">cry <span style="font-style: italic;">kunalai</span>!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Ever asserting his [Sorupananda’s] skill in saying </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">‘Remain still and see,’ cry <span style="font-style: italic;">kunalai</span>!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Continuously praising the one who granted </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">that we should thus live and prosper, cry <span style="font-style: italic;">kunalai</span>!</span></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Paduturai</span> 60: <span style="font-style: italic;">Pakati </span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Pakati </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">is a masquerade dance, or a dance performed around a pole. The ‘he’ mentioned in all the verses is Sorupananda.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >1</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Saying, ‘He is the destroyer of the sins that, never leaving, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">accompany us from age to age,’ </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">dance <span style="font-style: italic;">pakati</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Saying, ‘He is the great mountain of compassion, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">who has raised his banner, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">vowing to bring me under his rule by revealing his feet,’ </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">dance <span style="font-style: italic;">pakati</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Saying, ‘He is the Skilful One, who through his glance, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">contrived that I should perish, becoming his own Self,’ </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">dance <span style="font-style: italic;">pakati</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Saying, ‘He is the hero who, despite pervading them, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">is not touched by the whole that consists of bodies, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">worlds and <span style="font-style: italic;">jivas</span>, all combined,’ </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">dance <span style="font-style: italic;">pakati</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >2</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Saying, ‘He is the Wise One, who slew religious rituals </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">that rise in ten crore ways,’<br />dance <span style="font-style: italic;">pakati</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Saying, ‘He is the one who, for the four <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas </span>and the Three [<span style="font-style: italic;">trimurti</span>], </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">was impossible to reach, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">though they worshipped him with heads bowed low,’</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">dance <span style="font-style: italic;">pakati</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Saying, ‘He is the One </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">who came and subjected me forcibly to his rule, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">as I lived in deceit with arrogant pride as my support,’ </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">dance <span style="font-style: italic;">pakati</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Saying, ‘He bestowed upon me his own nature, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">which no word can describe, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">as clearly as the gem in my palm,’ </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">dance <span style="font-style: italic;">pakati</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span>3</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Saying, ‘Beautifully did he transmute the sorrow </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">that arises as the knower and the things known,’ </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">dance <span style="font-style: italic;">pakati</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Saying, ‘Having revealed that the things </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">that are known exist in [objectified] consciousness, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">he annihilated that consciousness in the knower,’ </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">dance <span style="font-style: italic;">pakati</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Saying, ‘He gazed upon me so that the entities known as the senses, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">the organs of sense and of action, <span style="font-style: italic;">jiva </span>and Iswara, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">assumed to be different, were all abolished,’</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">dance <span style="font-style: italic;">pakati</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Saying, ‘We have become the incomparable light, </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">the all-embracing fullness that knows no divisions,’ </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">dance <span style="font-style: italic;">pakati</span>.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Paduturai </span>62: <span style="font-style: italic;">Sorupananda Swamigal Ammanai</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Ammanai </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">is the name of an ancient game played by young girls, and also a cry that is periodically shouted during the game. It is believed that the game involved lots of clapping and was played standing in a circle. Manikkavachagar composed the original </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">ammanai </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">poem over a thousand years ago when he was at Adi-annamalai, on the western side of Arunachala. Muruganar has an </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">ammanai </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">poem in </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Sri Ramana Sannidhi Murai</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">If we adorn ourselves with the twin feet of Sorupan, ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Ammanai</span>!’</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">We can cut through the entanglement of the five senses: ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Ammanai</span>!’</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">We can remain with nothing other than us existing: ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Ammanai</span>!’</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">We can wipe off persistent births: ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Ammanai</span>!’</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">They won’t think of seeing with closed eyes: ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Ammanai</span>!’</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Those who close their eyes will not see the Self: ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Ammanai</span>!’</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">If the <span style="font-style: italic;">jyoti </span>that obscures space shines, ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Ammanai</span>!’</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Then we can just be, without waking up and going to sleep: ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Ammanai</span>!’</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">We saw time, direction and space, ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Ammanai</span>!’</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">But they cannot see ‘us’ who see ‘them’: ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Ammanai</span>!’</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Know that <span style="font-style: italic;">swarupa </span>is not other than consciousness: ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Ammanai</span>!’</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">We put an end to accepting and rejecting: ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Ammanai</span>!’</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">We are not aware of night and day: ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Ammanai</span>!’</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">We became the form of bliss itself: ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Ammanai</span>!’</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">We transcended words and their meaning: ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Ammanai</span>!’</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">This is the freedom of Sorupananda: ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Ammanai</span>!’</span></span><br /><br /><br /></div>David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-1741964719397958222011-05-12T12:38:00.000+05:302011-05-14T02:04:03.624+05:30Open Thread<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The previous 'Open Thread' appear to be malfunctioning by posting each comment twice. I am starting a new one to see if that solves the problem.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">I omitted to mention earlier that a new feature has been added to the 'Recent Comments' box. Near the top there is an icon of two people. If you click on it, you will see a list of the users who have made the last twenty-five comments. If you then tick the white box to the left of the user's name, the recent comments of that particular user will be featured. You can then open them all with the 'expand all' option, or open them one by one by clicking on the plus sign.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">If you want to do a search for older comments, click on the 'next' box and comments 26-50 will display. Click again and 51-75 will appear. And so on. The same search facility is available inside each twenty-five comment block.</span><br /></span></div>David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com5000tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-64221456539923489212011-04-21T11:06:00.001+05:302011-04-21T11:07:46.373+05:30Arunachala Puranam, Chapter Two<div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The </span>Arunachala Puranam <span style="font-style: italic;">is a 16th century Tamil work that chronicles the principal divine stories associated with Arunachala. It belongs to a class of texts known as </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">sthala puranas</span><span style="font-size:130%;">’</span><span style="font-size:130%;">, puranas <span style="font-style: italic;">that bring together all the religious stories of a particular holy place. It was composed by Saiva Ellappa Navalar, although some sources attribute the work to Ellappa Nayinar, a contemporary of his who also composed many Tamil works.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The author has taken material from several sources including the</span> Arunachala Mahatmyam <span style="font-style: italic;">and a lesser known Sanskrit text entitled</span> Kodi Rudra Samhita. <span style="font-style: italic;">It also contains original material, such as a whole chapter on the quest of a famous Tiruvannamalai king (Vallalan the Third) for a son, something he achieved when Siva intervened on his behalf.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify; font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">Robert Butler has been working on a translation of the whole text and hopes to have it completed in a few months</span><span style="font-size:130%;">’</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> time. His version will be published by Sri Ramanasramam in India, and will also be available as an ebook. I will give a notification here when it becomes available.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify; font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">As a </span><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">preview of forthcoming attractions</span><span style="font-size:130%;">’</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> I am posting chapter two, minus verses 83-94 which comprise a rather dense disquisition on several obscure aspects of Hindu mythology. The story resumes with Brahma beginning his famous dispute with Vishnu. All the notes are by Robert.<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">The chapter is entitled </span></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >‘</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">The Holy Mountain</span></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >’</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >.</span><br /></span></p><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b style="">79 & 80</b></span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">My Father! Most gracious Nandi! You who are easily accessible to your devotees! My mind is overcome with joy on hearing of Arunai’s glory. Pray tell us now, O you who possess the great wealth which is to serve Kailash’s king, who is clad in the skin of a rutting elephant with its warring trunk, how in that great city Lord Siva manifested in the form of fire, how later that fire became a mountain, and how Mal [Vishnu] and Ayan [Brahma] suffered, seeking in vain, one the foot, the other the head of that mountain of fire, until the Lord afforded them his grace!</span><span style="font-size:130%;">’</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> To which Nandi replied:</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >Arunai is an ancient name of the town of Tiruvannamalai. It is also used to denote the mountain of Arunachala. </span><br /></span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <b style="">81</b></span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Were a man to entertain in his mind the thought of going to that holy place to commit the five heinous sins, the thought of that place would prevail and the succour of final liberation would be his. Such is the pronouncement of the holy <i style="">Vedas</i>. For those who sweetly sing its praises, what reward might be too hard to win?</span></p><p style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">82</span><span style=""> </span><span style=""><br /></span></span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">In telling this there is profit, not only for you who listen but for myself also. Now I shall tell as best I may how he who uproots sorrow and joy equally [Siva] became, for the good of Mal and Ayan, a vast flame, growing upward till it pierced the very heavens, and then, how he took the form of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Bhoga Lingam</span><i style=""> </i>[Enjoyment <span style="font-style: italic;">Lingam</span>]....</span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">95</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">[Brahma] The Lord of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas</span>, seated upon a lotus blossom, surveyed his work, and became consumed with pride, thinking, </span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">All this world is my own creation</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:11pt;">”</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;">. Rising in fury, he confronted Hari [Vishnu] in his own city, intent on war with the one who wears a fair garland of <i style="">tulsi</i> leaves about which clouds of bees sweetly hum. Reviling him, he began to speak:</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">96</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">It is I who made the seven upper and lower worlds, the seven clouds, seven oceans and seven principal mountains. Then, in order to create all living things according to their species, I brought forth out of my mind sons, the first of which was great Marichi.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >At the time of the creation of the universe, Brahma first created ten sons, called </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">Prajapatis, </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">to help him with the work of creation, the first of whom was Marichi.</span><br /></span></span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">97</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">The children of these sons of mine are the gods themselves with their priests, the Moon and Sun, the Sons of <i style="">Danu,</i> the <i style="">Gandharvas, Kimpurusas</i>, and <span style="font-style: italic;">Siddhas</span>, the Chiefs of Siva’s Hosts, and with Indra at their head, the Guardians of the Eight Directions.</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">98</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Forget your claim that you are the Supreme Being in whom nothing is lacking, and that I am your ‘lotus-born’ son. Had I not created the world with my own hands, how might you then have been able to preserve it? How could a picture exist unless there were sound walls to paint it on?</span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">99</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">If you do not abandon in your heart your arrogant claim to be the guardian of all things, I will call into existence another to take on this work of preservation. Therefore submerge yourself in the chilly ocean and hide yourself there, before the hordes of my divine progeny come to dispatch you!</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">100</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Through incurring the displeasure of the wise sage Bhrigu, you entered upon a series of ten incarnations. Do you not comprehend? Just look how my hands have been defiled in the creation of those very forms!</span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">101</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Do not insult me by saying that I am the one who was born from the lotus blossom in your navel! Formerly, you sprang into being from a pillar. Are we to say that that pillar was your father? Or that it was your mother? Speak! When a bright red flame is kindled, it can consume the bamboo stem that gave it life, can you not see?</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:11pt;">”</span></span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">102</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">These words of Brahma entered his ears, burning into him like a well-honed weapon, heated upon the fire. Smoke issued from the mouth of Vishnu as he smiled bitterly, paused briefly in thought, then rebutted him in the following manner:</span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">103</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">You quite forget the manner in which you came to be. You overlook the fact that my navel is your own mother! Perhaps you spoke these words like a small child who believes that his father will be indulgent towards his misdeeds. However, this lack of respect is something I will not tolerate.</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">104</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">When they held me in contempt, I slew both the raging <i style="">Madhu</i><sup> </sup>and the elephant-like <i style="">Kaitabha</i>, even though they were my own children. After committing such a heinous sin, can a son remain a son? For who would hesitate to cut out the canker in his own body?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >Madhu and Kaitabha were two </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">asuras </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >born from the ear wax of Lord Vishnu, and eventually slain by him on account of their arrogance.</span><br /></span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">105</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">When the divine madman, Lord Siva, tore off one of your heads and cast it aside, were you not powerless to restore it, and make it your own again? <span style=""> </span>What kind of Supreme Being are you? Is this the kind of power that will enable you to call into being this world which rests upon the hooded serpent Adisheshan’s head?</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">106</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Incarnating in the form of a fish, I recovered the entire corpus of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas</span>. Those wily sons of Danu, I defeated and put to death. Even so, I am loath to slay you, just as one who has planted a tree [that turns out to be] poisonous might be loath to cut it down. However, it would be no great task for me to do so.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:11pt;">”</span></span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">107</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">So many angry words flew back and forth from one to the other, as they angrily smacked each other</span><span style="font-size:130%;">’</span><span style="font-size:130%;">s shoulders with the flat of their hands. Rising up, they leapt down into the world of men, shrinking themselves down, then rising up tall again, shooting dense streams of fire and sparks from their narrowed eyes.</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">108</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Mountains were ground into dust. The cosmic shell exploded into fragments. Many, many suns with their hot rays, and suns with their cool beams were blotted out. Even the serpent Adisheshan<sup> </sup>writhed in pain, unable to bear the weight upon his head. The [unblinking] gods themselves blinked, thinking that the end of a world age must be at hand.</span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">109</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">The stars in their constellations and the massed clouds fell from the sky like falling leaves, as the dust rose up and the tormented world fell into total disorder. Bhagirathi<sup> </sup>and all the lesser rivers ran dry and the Elephants of the Eight Directions bellowed in terror.</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">110</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Now they tossed each other up in the air and fell down again, only to charge at each other once more, bending towards one another to exchange their barbed retorts. Now they traded blows and grabbed at each others’ clothing, whirling hither and thither like a thousand tornadoes. It was as if ruddy evening and black night were spinning round, one alternating with the other.<br /></span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" class="Notes"><span style="font-size:130%;">Brahma’s body colour is red, like the evening, and Vishnu’s, black, like night.</span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">111</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">All creatures that crawled, hopped or walked took to the air and flew. Anything that stood was toppled. Trees of all the manifold species were snapped off and destroyed. Thick blackness enveloped everything. Mount Meru itself trembled, as the seven oceans turned to mud.</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">112</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">At the height of all this destruction, the gods went in fear to Indra, but before they could explain what had happened, Indra himself recounted to them all the troubles he had himself endured, after which he asked them the reason for their visit, to which they replied in detail:</span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">113</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Brahma and Vishnu together are waging a mighty battle upon the earth. For our salvation we have no other recourse; we must go and pay homage to Lord Siva, the creator of us all.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:11pt;">”</span></span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">114</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">On receiving the assent of their king, the hosts of heaven went to pay homage at the pure lotus-like feet of the Supreme Lord, saying, </span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">You who share your form with the Maiden Divine! We beg you to end the suffering being wrought by the trickster Mal and Ayan. For who is there to help young children upon this earth, if not their own mother?</span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">115</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">To escape the darkness of birth and death, which follow one upon the other on this earth like a rolling cartwheel, we have sought refuge in you, so that we may realise the final truth, and seeking the shelter of your feet, may bathe in the boundless sea of your grace.</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">116</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">You who bestow the grace of true knowledge to dispel the defiling ignorance of those unable to bear the burden of their maggot-ridden physical forms! To dispel this base impurity, which could not be removed even were we to bathe each day in an entire ocean of water, we have sought refuge in you.</span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">117</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">You are our only hope; show us your compassion.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:11pt;">”</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"> Even as the gods told their story to him who bears a third eye upon his forehead, the Lord already knew what had happened. Indeed, how could he fail to know, he who permeates all life forms as oil permeates a sesame seed?</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">118</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">To dispel the fear of all the trembling gods and <span style="font-style: italic;">rishis</span>, to put an end to the conflict between holy Mal, who has a serpent for a sleeping couch, and Ayan, whose throne is a lotus blossom, and to ensure that all the worlds in their established order were preserved, avoiding destruction, he bent his divine will upon compassion, and, taking the form of an invincible mountain of fire, set off to restrain the two of them.</span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">119</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">In the lowest of the subterranean realms the serpents who dwell there trailed about it like hanging tendrils, whilst its thick roots plunged down far below. Growing upwards through the earth, it expanded through all the realms of the gods, bursting through the lofty vault of lotus-born Brahma’s sphere. Going out beyond the universe’s enclosing shell, it traversed the furthest limit of the vast ethereal region, looking for all the world like a Mount Meru of pure fire.</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">120</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Rushing out beyond all the worlds, far beyond the reach of those seven horses who draw the sun’s chariot as he spreads the rays of the dawn, dispelling the enveloping sapphire-like darkness, it shone out like a bright beacon set on high, so that all the oceans glowed blood red, as if the immeasurable submarine fire at the world’s end had spread abroad; the seven great mountains resembled naught so much as tiny sparks, which had showered down from its summit.</span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">121</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Seeing this fire extending to the limit of the heavens, lotus-born Brahma and flute-playing Krishna stood back in fear, unable to see its limit. For lest they possess the eye of true knowledge, could it be easy for those having only the flawed and defective physical eye to perceive our Lord?</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">122</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Seeing that bright effulgence, beyond the eye’s power to measure, they were both much troubled. <span style=""> </span>Both agreed that he who could reach the head or foot of this measureless apparition would be the greater of the two. </span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">I shall know the foot of this mountain,</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:11pt;">”</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"> cried the great one who sleeps upon a hooded serpent, transforming himself into a boar. </span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">And I shall traverse the heavens to find its summit,</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:11pt;">”</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"> cried Ayan, adopting the form of a swan and flying swiftly heavenward.</span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">123</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Swiftly taking flight, Ayan traversed a thousand leagues<sup> </sup>in a mere fraction of a second whilst in an instant Vishnu tunnelled down a thousand leagues into the earth which rests upon the serpent Adisheshan’s spotted hood. To comprehend what occurred, imagine the long bar of an irrigation machine, made of pure gold and studded with gems, with small pots attached at either end, one set with bright pearls, and the other with dark sapphires.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">What is being described here may be an irrigation machine, consisting of a long beam, pivoting on top of a tall pillar, and known in English as a</span> piccottah. <span style="font-style: italic;">These structures were quite imposing, as one can see from the following description of their use in North Arcot district in the early 20th century: ‘In the comparative treelessness of the landscape the </span>picottahs <span style="font-style: italic;">stood out conspicuously, with two or three men plodding patiently on the swinging beam that works this primitive pump, alternately towards and away from the wooden pillar, some 15 or 20 feet high, on which it hinges, but always, in either direction, climbing upwards, for the</span> picottah c<span style="font-style: italic;">ombines the characteristic features of the see-saw and tread-mill.’ </span></span></p><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >124</span></div><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Burrowing down beyond the earth, Hari entered the nether worlds, traversing each in turn. Passing through the city of <i style="">Bhogavati</i>, watched over by the demon <i style="">Mahabali</i><span style="font-style: italic;">, </span>he forged on, paying homage with hand and head to <i style="">Hatakesvara</i>, whose supreme effulgence the gods adore. In former times he had measured the three worlds, yet now, though he fathomed all seven lower worlds, he could not find its foot.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"> </p><div style="text-align: justify;font-family:courier new;"><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">Mahabali was the </span>Asura <span style="font-style: italic;">tricked by Vishnu, in his incarnation as Vamana, a brahmin dwarf, out of his dominion over heaven and earth, and banished to dwell in the nether worlds. </span></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Hatakesvara is Siva’s form as Lord of the nether worlds. </span></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Another reference to Vishnu’s Vamana incarnation, in which he tricked Mahabali by growing so great that he covered heaven, earth and the lower worlds in two steps.</span><br /></span></span></div> <div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">125</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Those long pointed tusks, like the waxing moon, soon began became blunted, like the moon on the wane, and even as his enthusiasm for the task faltered, his hooves and finely-honed fangs grew ever thinner and weaker. After a thousand years of unimaginable suffering he turned to the Lord in praise, and setting aside his fatigue and exhaustion, returned through the seven nether worlds, emerging at last from an ocean of woes.</span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">126</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Seeking out that holy place where the First One had risen up in the form of a column of flame to put an end to their struggle, he realised with absolute certainty that lotus-born Brahma too could never reach its upper limit, and remained there paying homage over and over to Lord Siva, he who is far away and impossible to reach for those who have no faith, and about whose neck garlands of fresh flowers are draped, along with his very own eye.<br /></span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" class="Notes"><span style="font-size:130%;">The final line refers to the incident in which Vishnu, being short of a single flower to complete his worship of Siva, used one of his own eyes as the final offering.</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">127</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Whilst all this was happening, he who had just now flown up in the form of a swan to seek that fiery mountain’s head, traversed full one thousand leagues in the twinkling of an eye.</span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">128</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Piercing even the universe’s outer shell and leaving it far below, he rose on upward, travelling for a thousand years. And though he traversed ten millions of leagues on his search, still there was no end to that column of fire.</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">129</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">His feathers fell away and his impetus began to fail. <span style=""> </span>Overwhelmed with suffering his sighs grew long, and as his woes increased and his sense of isolation grew, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas’ </span>Lord began to mull over certain things in his mind:</span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">130</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Will great Mal reach the foot, and then return? Or will he give up his quest midway and come back, unable to reach it?</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:11pt;">”</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"> Thus did his anguished mood swing back and forth, as his thoughts ran away with him, like wax over a flame.</span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">131</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">I did not realise that this could only be Lord Siva himself,</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:11pt;">”</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"> he reflected. </span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">By confronting Hari I have forfeited his friendship also. Ever since I have been drowning in this ocean of sorrows. Is this due to my own stupidity? Or perhaps it is the fruit of former misdeeds?</span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">132</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Thus far have I travelled, still unable to discover its upper limit. If I were to lie about it, there would be no other verbal evidence to support me,</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:11pt;">”</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"> he sobbed sorrowfully. Just then he noticed a screwpine flower falling towards him.</span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">133</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">He hardly had time to think where it could have come from before it reached him, and he caught it in his hand. </span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Let me go at once,</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:11pt;">”</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"> it said with a heartfelt sigh, since it was a faded flower which had fallen from the crown of our sovereign Lord.</span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">134</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Fair screwpine flower,</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:11pt;">”</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"> said Brahma, </span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">whence have you come, and on what errand?</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:11pt;">”</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:130%;"> </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="">I</span> have slipped and fallen from the flower-wreathed head of the Primal Lord, whose measure neither the <span style="font-style: italic;">Veda’s</span> Lord nor Narayana can know,</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:11pt;">”</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"> said the flower.</span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">135</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >‘</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >“</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >Since slipping from that head, which is graced by a bright garland <i style="">of kondrai </i>flowers, I have been falling for forty thousand years. Agree to my request, and let me go.</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:11pt;">”</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"> However Brahma, dismissing any hope of seeing our Father, began to speak:</span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">136</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Screwpine flower, dear companion! Be my friend and help me escape the torment of any further wandering. Other than you, there is no one whom I can trust with my life. I am no stranger, nor am I really a swan.</span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">137</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">My name is Brahma. I and Vishnu set our minds on revealing the extent of this wondrous object.<span style=""> </span>Off he went burrowing into the earth, whilst I, for my sins, sought and failed to reach its holy summit.</span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">138</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Well, that’s the top and bottom of it, so to speak. Why dwell any further upon the matter? Due to your auspicious arrival, what I was thinking about has come to pass. You must speak to him who measured the earth in three strides<sup> </sup>and tell him that I, Brahma, adopting the form a swan, reached Lord Siva’s head.</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" class="Notes"><span style="font-size:130%;">Vamana (Vishnu) tricked Mahabali by requesting three steps of land on which to live. The request was granted. Vamana covered the whole of the earth, the heavens and the underworld in his first two steps. Seeing that there was nowhere else to place the foot for the third step, Mahabali offered his own head as a stepping place, thus gaining immortality and dominion over the nether regions.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify; font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" class="Notes"><span style="font-size:130%;">The story is also referred to in verse 124. </span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >139</span></div><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Do not call this deceit and despise me. It is permissible to tell the greatest falsehoods in order to save the lives of those who suffer. These are not unworthy words which one should fear to speak. Those who prize their friends will agree even to drink poison for their sake.<br /></span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="Notes"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The idea in the last sentence is taken from </span>Tirukural<span style="font-style: italic;">, verse</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">550.</span></span></p><div style="font-family: courier new; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >140</span></div><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Screwpine flower, you who live upon the head of him whose forehead bears a third eye! There is no need to give this any further thought,</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:11pt;">”</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"> he said, and the screwpine flower assented and went along with him. Dropping swiftly down from the heavens, he came into the presence of Lord Vishnu, he whose strides measured the earth.</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >141</span></div><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Bearer of Lakshmi, hear the exploits which brought me here! Travelling a hundred thousand leagues in a mere instant, I perceived the head of the Primal Lord, and returned,</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:11pt;">”</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"> he claimed, and the screwpine flower attested that it was so.</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >142</span></div><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">At that precise moment, the mountain of fire exploded. The gods and <span style="font-style: italic;">rakshasas</span> fainted away at the sound of the detonation. The elephants of the eight directions vomited blood, believing that the sun itself had melted. Then in the midst of that scene, eclipsing the ruddy glow in the sky, making even the beautiful flower of the <i style="">murukku</i> tree look soiled, the Three-Eyed One rose up, his radiant red form all covered in white ash, with a smile on his lips like the one he wore when he burned up the three cites of the <span style="font-style: italic;">asuras</span>.</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >143</span></div><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Lotus-born Brahma, you have spoken out of sheer arrogance. A fine thing indeed!</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:11pt;">”</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"> said the Lord, and began to laugh, whereupon this world and all the worlds beyond trembled and grew dim. The radiance of all the heavenly bodies faded. Clouds disappeared from the sky. All that was fair and beautiful perished, and all that was worthless flourished and grew. The eight directions were twisted from their stations, and vast forests of trees were blackened, scorched and burned.</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >144</span></div><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">The gods were fearful, thinking, </span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Ayan has been destroyed!</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:11pt;">”</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"> and poured down a vast rain of flowers, as if the earth had been dug hollow. But joy blossomed in the heart of tall Mal as the black stain of arrogance departed from lotus-borne Brahma.</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >145</span></div><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Realisation dawned upon fair-eyed Mal. He sang and offered up prayers. He danced in a transport of joy, running hither and thither. Becoming a worthy devotee of the immeasurable First One, he wondered to himself what boon he might ask of Lord Siva.</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >146</span></div><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Seeing how the heart of Hari melted with devotion for him, the Lord graciously granted him many a boon. Then, turning to Brahma, </span><span style="font-size:130%;">he commanded, </span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">You</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> who dwell upon a fragrant lotus-blossom, all your temples and all worship of you will vanish from this earth</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:11pt;">”</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:130%;">.</span></span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >147</span></div><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Screwpine flower, for joining Brahma in this deception, I shall never touch you again.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:11pt;">”</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"> Thus did he decree. Brahma himself, distraught on observing the depths of the Lord’s fury, fell at his feet, prostrating his body upon the ground and offering praises.</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">148</span><br /></span></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />‘“You whose form is like fire, smeared with white ashes! Since my soul has been foully shrouded by the loathsome cloak of <span style="font-style: italic;">anava malam</span>, I wander helpless here. How am I, a mean wretch, of any significance? Fair One! Heaven’s infinite sphere! You who are the four <span style="font-style: italic;">Vedas</span>, and more than that, the Vedas’ ultimate import! Peerless First One! Let your anger against me cease! Let it cease!<br /><br />Anava malam <span style="font-style: italic;">is the principle of egoity inherent in the unenlightened soul or </span>jiva, <span style="font-style: italic;">which prevents it from recognising that God alone is the source of all its actions. </span><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">149</span></span></div></div><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p face="georgia" style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">If the seven oceans, into which all the earth’s waters flow, were mixed together and heated up, would there be any other water to cool them down? And if your anger remains at such a pitch, how will life here be able to survive? <span style=""> </span>You who in former times drank the poison from the Milk Ocean! Let your anger against me cease! Let it cease!</span></p><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">150</span><br /></span></div><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘“Crescent moon! Moon at the full! You who appear in female form! And again, as a man! Honeyed one! Fragrant blossom! Great mountain! Divine grace! Munificent cloud! Melodious sound! These are among the myriad forms in which you manifest yourself. Is this just? Over and over again I beg you, let your anger cease! Let your anger cease! </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span></div><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >151</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span></div><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘“I am not the hunter Kama with his bow and flowery arrows which sting! I am not that raging elephant with curving tusks, its temples streaming with the juices of the rut! I am not that red-hot fire, nor death-dealing Yama! Nor am I the three cities of the <span style="font-style: italic;">asuras</span>! Do not consider me to be of sufficient importance to merit your anger!<br /></span></div><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >152</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span></div><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘“The moment I conceived the idea of reaching your unknowable summit, I assumed the form of a bird. Must I go on suffering further? Show your compassion to one who has been disgraced!” These words he spoke, and the Lord, who is like a warm fire to those who suffer in the cold, joyfully replied:<br /></span></div><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;">153</span></div><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Lotus-born Brahma, be no longer afraid! That <span style="font-style: italic;">puja </span>performed by brahmins upon the earth will henceforth be your <span style="font-style: italic;">puja</span>. And you may continue to ordain the seven worlds which are supported upon golden Mount Meru.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span lang="EN-GB">”</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"> Such was the decree of that gracious Ocean of Compassion, who swallowed the poison from the conch-strewn sea.</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >154</span></div><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">Since I have granted you both such boons in this holy place, may it flourish, to a distance of three <span style="font-style: italic;">yojanas </span>[about 30 km] all around, as the pure and sacred dwelling place of divine knowledge. This great column of flame, assuming a lesser form, shall become a mountain with the power to grant boons. That mountain, which unfailingly confers the bliss of glorious final liberation, shall be known as <i style="">Arunaipuri</i>.</span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >155</span></div><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">‘</span><span style="font-size:130%;">“</span><span style="font-size:130%;">I ended the suffering of Indra and the other gods the moment that, in their affliction, they turned their thoughts to me. Therefore I shall abolish the suffering of birth and death for those who fix their thoughts on this holy place. This mountain and this <i style="">sthala</i> shall possess the quality of being indestructible, even at the universe’s ending, and the winds from it shall blow in all directions bringing final liberation to all beings, animate or inanimate.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">156</span><br /></span></p><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >‘</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >“</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >Desiring to confer sweet salvation upon those of the earth who have performed arduous penance, we shall grant them the boon of birth in this fair and holy city. Here a single offering will be increased in worth a thousand fold. Wickedness and sin will not prosper here. For those who doubt, there will be no salvation. For such is my command.</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span lang="EN-GB">”</span></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">157</span><br /></span></div><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >‘</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >When the Lord had finished speaking, that pillar of fire shrank and became a mountain. When holy Mal and Ayan saw how it shone out spreading its beautiful rays far and wide, they made obeisance to the Lord and said, </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >“</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >It is not possible for the gods and ourselves to approach and gaze upon its brilliance. Let it be a simple mountain, concealing within itself all those countless fiery rays.</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span lang="EN-GB">”</span></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">158</span><br /></span></div><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >‘</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >“</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >Immaculate Lord, conceal this beauteous light and make of it a mountain like all others,</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span lang="EN-GB">”</span></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" > cried He whose vehicle is a swan, and He whose vehicle is Garuda. Whereupon the Lord made of it a mountain like all others. And when those two devotees said, </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >“</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >May you gracefully grant that each day a bright light be seen upon its summit,</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span lang="EN-GB">”</span></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" > the Lord in his compassion spoke these words:</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >159</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span></div><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >‘</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >“</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >In the month of <span style="font-style: italic;">Karttikai </span>when the moon is in the constellation of <span style="font-style: italic;">Kritika </span>I shall mount a bright beacon upon the summit of that mountain. They who see that most excellent light will endure and prosper upon the earth, free of disease and hunger. The obstacles confronting kings and great ascetics will be removed. We shall grant the boon of liberation to the kin of those who have praised or gazed up it down to the twenty first generation.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >160</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >‘</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >“</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >This mountain shall have the power to cure the affliction of birth and death. Therefore one of its names shall be </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >‘</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >Medicine Mountain</span><span style="font-size:130%;">’</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >. Since it is red in colour, </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >‘</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >Red </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >Mountain</span><span style="font-size:130%;">’</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" > will also be one of its names. For those upon the earth who recite its name but once, it will be as if they had pronounced the five holy syllables, [<span style="font-style: italic;">Namasivaya</span>], thirty million times.</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span lang="EN-GB">”</span></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" > On hearing the pronouncement of the Lord whose throat is black with poison, Brahma and Vishnu were filled with joy. Bowing down to him, they began to speak:</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >161</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >‘</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >“</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >Red Mountain Lord, except for the rains that fall from the sky, who will be able to approach you and bathe you with water? Who, apart from the starry constellations, will be able to place about your holy neck a garland of pearls? You whose throat poison adorns, who will there be to show a bright lamp before you, other than the Sun with his rays? Accordingly we beseech you to manifest yourself in the form of a <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>at the foot of that mountain, that we may make obeisance and perform <span style="font-style: italic;">puja </span>to you.</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span lang="EN-GB">”</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">162</span><br /></span></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >‘</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >“</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >Then such shall I become. May you worship according to the precepts of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Kamika Agama</span>,</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span lang="EN-GB">”</span></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" > said the Lord, withdrawing into the mountain. And so a Siva <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam</span> manifested there, whose praises are sung in every land. Seeing this, they bowed down in worship, pouring down a dense rain of flowers, and dancing for joy in transports of bliss. Then they summoned Mayan who saw to the construction of <span style="font-style: italic;">gopurams</span>, halls, and great walls, without equal anywhere.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">Mayan is one of the Danavas, who served the</span> devas <span style="font-style: italic;">and</span> asuras <span style="font-style: italic;">as their architect and builder. </span> </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">163 </span><br /></span></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >‘</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >He built a rich and deathless city, with three hundred and sixty holy tanks, and made it beautiful. In its wells flowed the heavenly river whose waters never fail, and in its groves grew the celestial trees of Svarga. Gods and <span style="font-style: italic;">rishis </span>in unending succession took birth there, and the courtesans of heaven incarnated there as dancing girls with eyes as black as the poison <span style="font-style: italic;">halahala</span>.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">164</span><br /></span></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >‘</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >Rising in the morning and bathing, Brahma and Vishnu put on clothing of bark, matted their reddened hair, covered their bodies in holy ash, put on necklaces of <span style="font-style: italic;">rudraksha </span>beads and performed Siva <span style="font-style: italic;">puja</span>, with ritual bathing, much sandalwood paste and garlands of flowers. Then they performed <span style="font-style: italic;">pradakshina </span>of Annamalai, devotedly praising him until fourteen thousand years had passed, whereupon they assumed their divine forms once more.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >165</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >‘</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >Once its construction was complete, holy Arunai’s city became so desirable that even the Lord’s affection for Mount Kailash faded away. Since here was a mountain of pure gold, of what value was a mountain of silver only? The seven holy sites with Kasi at their head, whose glory is widely praised, and the golden realm of the gods all lost their allure, just as the stars lose their radiance as the pure rays of the Sun appear.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >166</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >‘Though it is hard indeed to tell of the qualities of a mountain whose measure even Brahma and Vishnu could not know, I have tried in a small way to describe it insofar as my knowledge permits. Is there anything further I might need to speak of?’ said Nandi. At that, the <span style="font-style: italic;">rishi </span>Markandeya, feeling greatly honoured, bowed down in worship and said, ‘May you show us your grace and recount to us the tale of how Uma appeared from the [Himalaya] mountain and merged with the left side of Lord Siva as his consort’. Whereupon Nandi began to speak…</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><br /></div><br /><div style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;"> <br /></div>David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-32837963978512889722011-03-06T19:40:00.002+05:302011-03-06T19:42:55.999+05:30Open Thread<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It looks as if the Open Thread is full again. Please continue with your comments here. I am about to install a modified version of the 'Recent Comments' box that may stop this problem happening in future.</span></span>David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com993tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-30485213765611846482011-02-12T11:38:00.002+05:302011-02-12T11:51:53.511+05:30Tales from the life of Guhai Namasivaya<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;font-family:georgia;"> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">On February 7th Subramanian asked for a new post and an update on my Guhai Namasivaya project. I can say that it is going along quite nicely, and that I hope to have the whole thing in print later this year. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Today I can give a preview by posting one of the biographical chapters that will appear in the book. It comprises two narratives: the traditional one that has appeared in several published accounts, along with a second, copied and preserved by Ramana Maharshi, that has never, to my knowledge, appeared in print in either Tamil or English. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Both of these versions are hagiographic, the second markedly more so than the first. In a subsequent chapter I will attempt a more systematic analysis of Guhai Namasivaya’s life, opinions, spiritual practice, accomplishments and character by analysing the hundreds of verses to Arunachala that he composed during his long stay in Tiruvannamalai.<br /><br />Like <span style="font-style: italic;">Padamalai </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">Guru Vachaka Kovai</span>, the book is a collaborative effort between myself, Dr T. Venkatasubramanian and Robert Butler.<br /></span><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;">* * *</span><br /></div> <span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br />Guhai Namasivaya was a Saiva poet-saint who came to Tiruvannamalai in either the 15th or the early 16th century and then spent most of the remainder of his life living in a cave on Arunachala that still bears his name. His title ‘Guhai’ is the Tamil word for a cave. <br /><br />The information about his life that has survived is highly hagiographical. The first attempt to chronicle his life was a Tamil biography, <span style="font-style: italic;">Guhai Namasivaya Leelai</span>, composed about 1700 AD by Velaiyer Swami, one of the co-authors of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Kalatti Puranam</span>. This work seems to have disappeared completely. Since none of the more recent accounts of his life refer to this biography, it is not possible to tell whether they derive their information from it, or whether they have tapped into other sources.<br /><br />The oldest published account of his life appears in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Pulavar Puranam</span>, a 19th century anthology of the lives of distinguished Tamil spiritual authors. Both Guhai Namasivaya and his most well-known disciple, Guru Namasivaya, had their lives chronicled in Tamil verse in this book.<br /><br />Palm-leaf manuscripts of Guhai Namasivaya’s most well known poem, <span style="font-style: italic;">Arunagiri Antadi</span>, can be found in the Tanjore Saraswati Mahal Library. In 1967 the library brought out an edition of this work that was preceded by a biography of the author which brought together all the incidents that comprise the traditional story of his life. No sources are cited, but the general outline of the narrative is very similar to the one that appears in <span style="font-style: italic;">Pulavar Puranam</span>. The following subsection, a reconstruction of Guhai Namasivaya’s life, has been assembled from events narrated in these two sources.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Guhai Namasivaya: the traditional story </span><br /><br />There is one agreed date in the life of Guhai Namasivaya: 1548 AD. Kamil Zvelebil in his <span style="font-style: italic;">Lexicon of Tamil Literature</span>,[1] associates the date with the poem <span style="font-style: italic;">Arunagiri Antadi</span>, which suggests that a colophon of one of the palm-leaf manuscripts contains this date.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">[1] </span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">Lexicon of Tamil Literature</span>, by Kamil Zvelebil, 1995 ed. p. 368. I will place all the footnotes in red at the end of the sentence in which they appear</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;" >.</span><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br />The poem itself comprises 100 verses in praise of Arunachala. It is generally accepted that Guhai Namasivaya came to Tiruvannamalai as a young man and began composing poetry about the mountain of Arunachala shortly afterwards. This would indicate a birth date in the 15th century or the early decades of the 16th century. This is consistent with the death dates of his two known disciples, Guru Namasivaya and Arumuga Swami, both of whom passed away in the mid-to-late 17th century.[2]<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >[2] An epitaph verse on the death of Guru Namasivaya gives a date of 1637 AD. A manuscript in Chennai University library (<span style="font-style: italic;">Sri Guhai Namasivaya Charittiram)</span> states that Arumuga Swami passed away in 1673 AD. The three dates 1548, 1637 and 1673 are reasonable if one assumes that Arumuga Swami met Guhai Namasivaya when the latter was an old man.</span><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br />Guhai Namasivaya was born in Karnataka to a pious Virasaiva couple.[3]<br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" > <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">[3] Part of this narrative has been taken from an article that first appeared in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Mountain Path</span>, 1990, pp. 115-23. It was co-authored by myself and Nadhia Sutara. The material first published there was primarily a translation of the introductory biography that appeared in 1967 Tamil Tanjore Saraswati Mahal Library edition of <span style="font-style: italic;">Arunagiri Antadi</span>. This was supplemented by explanatory notes on the nature of Virasaivism and translations of some of Guhai Namasivaya’s verses. </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">All the verses that appeared there have been retranslated for this chapter. </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br />His spiritual nature became evident at an early age: he was virtuous in his conduct, adept at his studies and evinced no attachment to worldly matters. Feeling a great longing to receive the grace of the Lord, he embarked at an early age upon a search that led him to Sivananda Desikar, a famous Virasaiva Guru who lived at Sri Sailam, a major pilgrimage centre in southern Andhra Pradesh. He became a disciple of this Guru and began to serve him with fervent and selfless devotion. <br /><br />The origin of Virasaivism, an offshoot of Saivism, can be traced back to the twelfth century. Its philosophy has grown out of the twenty-eight Saiva <span style="font-style: italic;">Agamas </span>and the writings of its early exponents. Virasaivas are also known as Lingayats on account of the immense importance they attach to their conception of the term ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">lingam</span>’. For them, <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>is not merely a physical object, it is synonymous with <span style="font-style: italic;">chaitanya</span>, or consciousness, and can be taken to be Siva himself. In their philosophy, the term <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>can be equated with the <span style="font-style: italic;">parabrahman </span>of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Upanishads</span>, but it has other connotations as well. It is the cosmic principle that is the source of the universe and, in its physical form, it is the visible symbol of the consciousness that exists in all beings. In addition, and this is particularly interesting in view of the years Guhai Namasivaya spent at Arunachala, it is often conceived of as a mass of light or a column of blazing fire. Worship of the <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>in all its forms is central to Virasaivism. <br /><br />The goal of Virasaivas is the attainment of oneness with Siva. To reach this exalted state, Virasaivas believe that one must submit to and serve a Guru who has already attained that oneness. Thus, in the Virasaiva tradition, the Guru is given immense importance, for it is he alone who can initiate the disciple, purify him, and lead him to unity with Siva. <br /><br />For a devout Virasaiva, the spiritual path begins when he approaches a competent Guru and asks him for initiation. Usually, the Guru will first test him for a year to see how serious his spiritual inclinations are. When the Guru is satisfied that the disciple’s desire is genuine, he agrees to initiate him and accept him as a disciple. The initiation given by the Guru activates the power of <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>in the three bodies, the causal, the subtle and the gross, and removes some or all of the taints or imperfections that reside in each of the three bodies. Virasaivas believe that these taints, called <span style="font-style: italic;">mala</span>, prevent the disciple from becoming established in <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam</span>, the Supreme Siva-consciousness. In the prescribed initiation ceremony the Guru draws out the power of <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>from the heart of the devotee, establishes it in a physical <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam</span>, which is called <span style="font-style: italic;">ishtalinga</span>, presents it to the disciple and commands him to worship it as if were Siva himself. The handing over of the <span style="font-style: italic;">ishtalinga </span>removes the taints (<span style="font-style: italic;">mala</span>) that are attached to the physical body. The Guru then commands the devotee to wear the <span style="font-style: italic;">ishtalinga </span>on his body at all times and to worship it three times a day. The Guru also tells him that the <span style="font-style: italic;">linga </span>must on no account be separated from the body since such a separation is equivalent of spiritual death. In the Virasaiva tradition, it is not permitted to worship Siva in any other form except that of the <span style="font-style: italic;">ishtalinga </span>or the <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>installed over one’s Guru’s <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi</span>. Virasaivas are therefore forbidden from worshipping forms of Siva that have been installed in temples. <br /><br />We can assume that Guhai Namasivaya underwent this initiation ceremony since it is a compulsory rite of passage for all Virasaivas. He probably went through it quite early in his life, for it was not uncommon for eight-year-olds to be initiated in this way. Sivananda Desikar, Guhai Namasivaya’s Guru, was an adept in a Virasaiva yoga system known as Siva yoga. When Sivananada Desikar noticed what a mature disciple Guhai Namasivaya was, he initiated him into its practices. From then on, Guhai Namasivaya alternated his time between physical service to the Guru and the practice of Siva yoga. In the course of time he too became an accomplished Siva yogi. <br /><br />The goal of Siva yoga is to find Siva in everything and to discover the fundamental root of that immanent Siva manifestation in one’s heart. Though Siva yoga has a strong <span style="font-style: italic;">bhakti </span>component, it is primarily a variety of <span style="font-style: italic;">kundalini </span>yoga. The Siva yogis aim to make contact with the power of the Lord. They believe that the contact finally takes place after the <span style="font-style: italic;">prana</span>, rising through the <span style="font-style: italic;">sushumna</span>, has passed through all the six <span style="font-style: italic;">chakras </span>and moved on to the <span style="font-style: italic;">bramarandhra</span>, located at the top of the head. Accomplished Siva yogis, at the time of their death, voluntarily send all their <span style="font-style: italic;">pranas</span> out of their bodies through this <span style="font-style: italic;">brahmarandhra </span>and merge into the all-pervading consciousness of Siva. <br /><br />Guhai Namasivaya practised this system of yoga for many years. When he had thoroughly mastered it, Lord Mallikarjuna, the presiding deity of Sri Sailam, appeared to Guhai Namasivaya in a dream and commanded him to go to Arunachala and remain there as a Guru, giving teachings to mature disciples who approached him. When he related this dream to his Guru, Sivananada Desikar gave him his blessings and told him to carry out the order. Shortly afterwards, Guhai Namasivaya set out on horseback for Tiruvannamalai. <br /><br />There is a tradition in Tiruvannamalai that Guhai Namasivaya was accompanied on his journey by Virupaksha Deva, the man who gave his name to Virupaksha Cave. Ramana Maharishi occasionally told his devotees that the two of them were Virasaivas who came from Karnataka to Tiruvannamalai at the same time. It is reported that both of them had served Sivananada Desikar for twelve years. Very little is known about the life of Virupaksha Deva except that he lived in Virupaksha Cave for a long time, and that when he died there his body transformed itself into <span style="font-style: italic;">vibhuti </span>(sacred ash). That <span style="font-style: italic;">vibhuti </span>is still kept in the cave and <span style="font-style: italic;">puja </span>is done to it every day. <br /><br />On his journey to Tiruvannamalai Guhai Namasivaya came one evening to a village where a wedding was in progress. The head of the house where the wedding was taking place greeted him respectfully, invited him into the house, gave him the place of honour and performed <span style="font-style: italic;">puja </span>to him. At the conclusion of the <span style="font-style: italic;">puja </span>everyone present received some <span style="font-style: italic;">vibhuti </span>from the hand of Guhai Namasivaya. Shortly afterwards, the house was completely destroyed by a fire.<br /><br />Some people, associating the fire with Guhai Namasivaya’s visit, poured scorn on him by saying, ‘The ash given by this yogi has turned the house itself into ash’. <br /><br />Guhai Namasivaya was deeply hurt by this taunt, not personally, but because of the ridicule to which the Lord’s <span style="font-style: italic;">vibhuti </span>had been subjected. He therefore meditated on Siva and through His grace was able to restore the house to its former unburnt state. Subsequently, those in the village who had formerly reviled him began to praise and worship him as if he were Siva himself. Guhai Namasivaya, perturbed by all the fuss his visit had caused, then took a vow that wherever he went in future, he would never again stay in any house. <br /><br />On reaching Tiruvannamalai he stuck to his vow and lived in public halls, temple flower gardens and occasionally in the surrounding forest. He devoted himself to the practice of Siva yoga and became so accomplished in it that he was able to spend long periods in <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi</span>, immersed in his inner <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam</span>. Each day he visited the entrance of the Arunachaleswara Temple but went no further because, as a Virasaiva, he was prohibited from worshipping there. It seems that Guhai Namasivaya either had a desire to worship in the temple, or felt that he would benefit by doing so, for each day he would gesture with his hands in the direction of the shrine and to say to himself, ‘Are you well without worshipping Him?’ <br /><br />There was a <span style="font-style: italic;">sadhu </span>called Sivakkira Yogi who noticed that Guhai Namasivaya never went through the temple entrance, but merely made strange gestures there. He interpreted this strange behaviour as deliberate irreverence and decided to punish him by striking him on the back with his cane. Guhai Namasivaya made no attempt to retaliate, nor did he even reproach his attacker. He merely composed an extempore verse in Tamil to the effect that the Lord had struck him in order to drive out his evil propensities.<br /><br />When Sivakkira Yogi saw Guhai Namasivaya responding in such a humble way, he immediately realised that he had failed to recognise the latter’s greatness. After this incident Guhai Namasivaya began to feel that it would be appropriate for him to enter the temple and worship there. While he was contemplating this breach with tradition, his Guru, Sivananda Desikar, unexpectedly appeared, surrounded by a retinue of his devotees. Guhai Namasivaya greeted him with great love and devotion. In return, Sivananda Desikar spoke to him in a friendly and intimate way. Then to Guhai Namsivaya’s surprise, his Guru entered the temple with his disciples, walked straight to the inner sanctum and began to worship Siva there. Guhai Namasivaya, who had accompanied his Guru into the temple, followed his Guru’s example. He threw himself full-length on the ground and, filled with ecstasy, mentally worshipped the image of Siva that was enshrined there. When he stood up he could see no sign either of his Guru or his fellow disciples, but when he looked at the <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>he had been worshipping, he saw only the form of his Guru. Two of his verses (282 and 127)[4] refer to this epiphany:<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >[4] All verse numbers refer to the numbering scheme we have adopted for the published version of the book. These numbers correspond to those that appear in the Sri Ramanasramam edition of the Tamil verses of Guhai Namasivaya. </span><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /><blockquote>In the <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>of the sanctum sanctorum at Arunai,<br />which is the <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>for all directions,<br />the One whose feet devotees bow to and praise<br />stands perpetually revealed to my eyes as the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sadguru</span>.<br /><br />Arunesan!<br />When You revealed to me Your compassion-filled holy form<br />in the <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>within Arunai’s holy of holies,<br />I grasped and held the feet of the Guru as the true reality.<br />No more will I approach Brahma and Yama.[5] </blockquote></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >[5] I have capitalized the initial letters of pronouns that refer to Siva and His consort Parvati since this reflects Guhai Namasivaya’s conviction that They, and none other, are the supreme beings. Since, in his scheme of things, other deities are inferior beings, I have not accorded them the same status. On a more practical level this system occasionally helps to sort out who is who in some of the more complex verses.</span><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br />Arunesan is the Lord of Arunai, an old name of both Tiruvannamalai and the mountain of Arunachala. Brahma is the god of creation, while Yama is the god of death. In saying that he will ‘No more … approach Brahma and Yama’ Guhai Namasivaya is indicating that the experience liberated him from birth and death. <br /><br />Guhai Namasivaya, realising that the appearance of his Guru had been the play of the Lord, interpreted his vision to mean that he now had permission to enter the temple and worship there. In Virasaivism, the authority of the Guru is paramount. If the Guru sanctions a practice, it immediately becomes acceptable even if it contravenes traditional rules and regulations. After this incident Guhai Namasivaya decided to take up residence in the entrance to the temple. Each day he was there, he composed a verse in praise of Arunachala-Siva and put together a flower garland. He would then offer both of them to the <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>of Lord Siva in the inner shrine. In verse 456 he described the joy he took in these activities: <br /><br /><blockquote>The world praises Lord Sonachala.<br />The desire of this dog is a thousand eyes<br />to keep Him ever in my sight,<br />adorning Him with flower garlands,<br />garlanding Him with verses, many times over,<br />and singing His holy name to a thousand tunes.</blockquote> <br />Sonachala, meaning ‘Red Mountain’, is another ancient name for Arunachala. <br /><br />During this period of his life Guhai Namasivaya supported himself by begging for his food. He seemed quite content with his spartan existence. The following verse (459) appears in his writings:<br /><br /><blockquote>To worship continuously the One [Siva]<br />who wears the poisonous serpent as his ornament,<br />to live in harmony with His wishes,<br />to go for <span style="font-style: italic;">bhiksha</span>, eat it,<br />and come to the temple entrance to sleep,<br />this is happiness indeed! </blockquote><br />To go for <span style="font-style: italic;">bhiksha </span>is to beg for one’s food. This verse is not one of Guhai Namasivaya’s; it was composed by the Tamil saint Pattinathar. It probably ended up in a collection of Guhai Namasivaya’s verses because it resonated so well with his own outlook.[6] <br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >[6] The dates of Pattinathar, a distinguished <span style="font-style: italic;"> siddha</span>-poet, seem to be in dispute, but all except one of the experts I have come across place him well before Guhai Namasivaya.</span><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br />After he had lived like this for some time, Lord Siva appeared in one of his dreams and commanded him: ‘Remain in a cave on the slopes of our mountain and carry on your yoga practice there.’ <br /><br />Guhai Namasivaya accepted the order and moved into a cave on the lower slopes of the eastern side of the hill. This cave was his base for the rest of his life. The mountain soon became the main focus of his spiritual activities. To understand how this came about, it will be instructive to compare certain aspects of Virasaivism, particularly the teachings on the nature of <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam</span>, with the spiritual traditions that are associated with Arunachala. The Virasaivas conceive of <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam</span>, in its unmanifest form, as a blazing mass or column of light in the heart of each devotee. At the time of initiation, the Guru draws out this power, installs it in a physical form, the <span style="font-style: italic;">ishtalinga</span>, and instructs the disciple to worship it as if it were Siva himself. In the case of Arunachala, Siva initially appeared as a dazzling, limitless column of light and then later transformed himself into the physical <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>of Arunachala. As Ramana Maharishi remarked on several occasions, the hill is not the abode of Siva or a symbolic representation of him; it is, like the <span style="font-style: italic;">ishtalinga </span>of Virasaivas, Siva manifesting in a <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam</span>-shaped form. This is what he had to say to someone who enquired which portion of the hill was the holiest and most sacred: <br /><br /><blockquote>The whole hill is sacred. It is Siva Himself. Just as we identify ourselves with a body, so Siva has chosen to identify Himself with the hill. Arunachala is pure wisdom in the form of a hill. It is out of compassion for those who seek Him that He has chosen to reveal Himself in the form of a hill visible to the eye.[7]</blockquote> <br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" > <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">[7] <span style="font-style: italic;">Ramana Pictorial Souvenir</span>, p. 7. </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br />There is a tradition in Tiruvannamalai that the <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>in the Arunachaleswara Temple and the mountain <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>of Arunachala are one and the same. Thus, when Sivananda Desikar manifested and superimposed his image on the temple <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam</span>, Guhai Namasivaya, who had been worshipping that image, received the message that his Guru and Arunachala were identical. This understanding is mentioned in the verse he immediately composed. Furthermore, realising that the vision had authorised him to regard Arunachala as his Guru, he began to worship the mountain as a Guru <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam</span>. He described this new relationship and the effect it had on him in the following verse (546): <br /><br /><blockquote>Taking into my heart as my Guru Lord Arunagiri,<br />who now stands formless before me,<br />I have put to flight two-fold karma,<br />impossible to describe,<br />my soul’s threefold impurity,<br />so difficult to destroy,<br />and my unparalleled suffering. </blockquote> <br />In Virasaivism it is the Guru’s job to cleanse the devotee of the ‘soul’s threefold impurity’ (the ego, karma and <span style="font-style: italic;">maya</span>) and the ‘two-fold karma’, which are good and bad deeds and their consequences. This process would have been initiated by Guhai Namasivaya’s human Guru, Sivananda Desikar, but as the above verse clearly states, it was Arunachala-Siva who completed the job. <br /><br />By channelling his devotional fervour towards the mountain, he was able to generate a level of love that he had never experienced from worshipping his <span style="font-style: italic;">ishtalinga </span>and practising Siva yoga. In verse 548 he sang: <br /><br /><blockquote>Except for the ineffable Lord Annamalai<br />and His consort Unnamulai, His left side,<br />I have known no other gods,<br />or even if I have known them,<br />I have never sought them in my heart of hearts,<br />believing them to be beneficial. </blockquote><br />Unnamulai is the consort of Siva (Lord Annamalai) in Tiruvannamalai. They are deemed to be a joint entity with a shared body. Unnamulai is the left side of the body; Siva the right. When Guhai Namasivaya was living in the temple <span style="font-style: italic;"> gopuram </span>in town, he had begun the practice of composing a verse to Arunachala each day. To show his love and gratitude to his Guru Arunachala for the grace he had bestowed on him, he continued this practice for the rest of his life. This devotional habit was mentioned by his disciple, Guru Namasivaya, in several of his verses:<br /><br /><blockquote>Mountain to whom [Guhai] Namasivayan,<br />performer of great and severe <span style="font-style: italic;">tapas</span>, makes obeisance,<br />daily adorning Him with a garland of one <span style="font-style: italic;">venba </span>verse. <br /><br />Mountain who ripens as a harvest of <span style="font-style: italic;">venba </span>verse<br />in the affectionate thoughts of His devotee Guhai Namasivayan.<br /><br />Mountain where dwells my Guru, Om Namasivayan,<br />he who is like garnered treasure,<br />daily praising [Annamalai] in chaste Tamil.[8] </blockquote><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >[8] Extracts from verses 7, 14 and 16 of <span style="font-style: italic;">Annamalai Venba</span>. The practice of composing daily verses to Arunachala is reported in several other verses of this poem. </span><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br />The <span style="font-style: italic;">venba </span>was the format of the Tamil verses he composed: three lines, followed by a slightly shorter fourth. Guhai Namasivaya utilised this metrical form in all his verses that praised Arunachala. Annamalai, meaning ‘unreachable or unapproachable mountain,’ is a common Tamil name for the mountain. The town of Tiruvannamalai combines the word ‘Annamalai’ with an honorific prefix.<br /><br />Guhai Namasivaya developed the <span style="font-style: italic;">siddhi </span>of being able to witness events that were taking place in far-off places. His disciple Guru Namasivaya not only mastered the same skill, he was also able to change events that were occurring in the visions he was having. The one incident of this kind that is reported in the life of Guhai Namasivaya occurred when he witnessed in Tiruvannamalai the strange behaviour of a Vaishnava guru from Kanchipuram who was travelling to Tirupati on a pilgrimage. Both places are about a hundred miles from Tiruvannamalai. The guru was being carried in a palanquin by his disciples. As they approached Kalatti (modern-day Kalahasti) the guru asked his disciples about the hill he could see through his window. When he was told that it was the famous Siva shrine of Kalatti, he immediately asked his disciples to hold a cloth across the window so that he could avoid seeing the hill. Observing this irreverent conduct from afar, Guhai Namasivaya composed the following verse (289):<br /><br /><blockquote>Is the Vishnu devotee the equal of Him<br />who destroyed the <span style="font-style: italic;">tripuras</span>,<br />Narasimha, warring Kama and Yama?<br />Answer me!<br />Why is he ruining himself by failing to praise and worship<br />the Guru at Sonagiri, where bees build their hives? </blockquote><br />Sonagiri, meaning ‘Red Mountain’, is one of the many names of Arunachala. ‘The Guru at Sonagiri’ is Siva in the form of Arunachala. It was Siva who destroyed, in separate incidents, the <span style="font-style: italic;">tripuras </span>(the flying cities of the <span style="font-style: italic;">asuras</span>), Narasimha, Kama and Yama. As a divine punishment for his narrow-mindedness the Vaishnava guru became completely blind. However, when he arrived at Tirupati and worshipped there, Lord Venkateswara asked him to go back to Kalatti and sing praises to Siva. After he had sung Siva’s praises there, his sight was restored. <br /><br />The <span style="font-style: italic;">rishis </span>and yogis of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Puranas </span>would often do <span style="font-style: italic;">tapas </span>for years to accumulate great powers. Then, if they were roused to anger, they would often curse people who had offended them. This would inevitably result in dire consequences for the victims of the curses. At least one incident of this kind occurred in the life of Guhai Namasivaya. One day, while he was living on the hill, he took pity on a poor man whose only goat had been killed by a snake just before it was about to give birth. Guhai Namasivaya asked the man to leave the goat’s body with him and to collect it the next day. When the goatherd returned to pick up the corpse, he found that not only had the goat been restored to life, it had also given birth to two kids. As news of this miracle spread around the town, some boys from the local weaving community decided to play a joke on Guhai Namasivaya.<br /><br />One boy, pretending to be dead, was carried into the presence of Guhai Namasivaya by his friends. The boys claimed that their friend had died of a snake bite and asked the saint to restore him to life. Guhai Namasivaya, who could see that they were merely making fun of him, cursed them with such vehemence, the boy who was pretending to be dead actually did die. Then, still angry, Guhai Namasivaya composed the following verse (455):<br /><blockquote><br />This is a town in which <span style="font-style: italic;">kolar </span>live.<br />This is a town where no one asks questions<br />when murders are committed.<br />This is a town in which young men stand alone<br />and cry out in pain.<br />This is a town that daily bears a burden of opprobrium.<br />This is a town where people<br />who have committed heinous crimes live.<br />This is Annamalai, which itself never suffers destruction.</blockquote><br />‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Kolar</span>’ is a contraction of the Tamil word ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">kaikolar</span>’, a common term for weavers. Guhai Namasivaya lumped them together with all the other unsavory characters listed in the following lines, and then cursed the whole Tiruvannamalai weaving community, saying that it would never prosper or flourish in Tiruvannamalai again. The curse took effect: all the weavers were forced to leave town or take up other occupations because none of them could make a living by weaving in Tiruvannamalai. In the years that followed, all attempts to re-establish weaving businesses in the town failed. <br /><br />There is a local tradition that Guhai Namasivaya was about to curse the mountain itself in the last line, but just before he uttered it, Siva appeared and said ‘I am here’. Guhai Namasivaya then changed the ending of the verse to ‘which itself never suffers destruction’. <br /><br />The ancient <span style="font-style: italic;">rishis </span>who had the power to curse, as a result of their <span style="font-style: italic;">tapas</span>, often also had the ability to approach the gods and demand, successfully, that they intervene in worldly matters. Guhai Namasivaya was credited with this power as well. A barbarian chieftain, Agittu, once invaded and looted the town of Tiruvannamalai. He murdered many of the inhabitants, abducted a large number of the town’s young women and, in an act of deliberate desecration, set up camp in one of the temple courtyards and roasted an ox there. When news of this reached Guhai Namasivaya, he became angry and rebuked Lord Arunachaleswara (the presiding deity of Arunachala) in the following manner (452): <br /><br /><blockquote>Sonesa!<br />Have all the three eyes,<br />including the one on Your forehead, fallen asleep?<br />Have the battle axe and the trident<br />that You hold in Your hands been plundered?<br />Do You not have the least regard for Your devotees?<br />Should they all die an accursed death? </blockquote><br />Arunachaleswara accepted the justness of the complaint and, for the sake of Guhai Namasivaya, decided to intervene in the matter. That night the Lord appeared to Agittu in a dream in the form of a <span style="font-style: italic;">sadhu </span>and struck him on the back with his stick. Agittu woke up immediately and noticed that on the spot where he had been beaten there was a rash that soon grew and developed into a large, swollen abscess. He consulted some of the elders of the town, recounting his dream to them. They all advised him that he could only save his life by leaving the temple. Agittu, not wanting any further punishment, abandoned the temple to the <span style="font-style: italic;">pujaris </span>and the town’s devotees who cleared up his mess and reconsecrated the holy shrine. However, Agittu could not escape the wrath of Guhai Namasivaya and Lord Arunachaleswara. His abscess grew and worms appeared in it, which gnawed away at his healthy flesh. All remedies failed, including one horrific experiment in which he applied foetuses, taken from pregnant women he had slaughtered for the purpose, to the wound. When he eventually died in great agony, his death was celebrated throughout Tiruvannamalai. <br /><br />There is another similar miraculous intervention attributed to Guhai Namasivaya. The story has many parallels with the one just narrated, but it purports to chronicle an entirely different incident. A Muslim ruler invaded Tiruvannamalai. After he had overrun the town, he began to harass and injure many of its inhabitants. Some devotees went to Guhai Namasivaya and appealed to him to help. In response, Guhai Namasivaya sang a verse (450) to Arunachala, asking for His intervention:<br /><br /><blockquote>Sonesar has in His hands the trident and the shining battle axe.<br />He has the saving grace that was revealed<br />when He consumed the poison.<br />The eye that burned Kama is there on His forehead.<br />Why then, today, does He dally and remain still? </blockquote><br />This story has a less gory ending than the previous one. That night Vinayaka (Ganesh) appeared in the Muslim king’s dream in the form of an elephant and frightened him. When he woke up, he came to the conclusion that Vinayaka was criticising his behaviour in the town and decided to make amends. As a token of his repentance he organised a big <span style="font-style: italic;">puja </span>at the Vinayaka shrine that is located just to the left of the entrance to Kili Gopuram in the Arunachaleswara Temple. During the ceremony the king offered a large number of elephants to Vinayaka. The shrine is now known as ‘Yanai Tiraikonda Vinayaka Shrine,’ ‘The-elephants-accepted-as-tribute Vinayaka Shrine.’<br /><br />Guhai Namasivaya mentioned this miracle in the first verse of <span style="font-style: italic;">Arunagiri Malai</span>:<br /><br /><blockquote>Ganapati, you who are the child [Pillaiyar]<br />who accepted a herd of elephants as tribute!<br />You who possess all the extolled virtues!<br />You it is whose aid and blessing we invoke<br />for this garland in praise of Him<br />who became a column of fire,<br />sought by the swan and the boar,<br />and who now abides in the world as Arunagiri. </blockquote><br />While this incident has traditionally been accepted as being a part of Guhai Namasivaya’s life story, its authenticity is problematic since it is referred to in one of the poems of Arunagirinatha, a saint who lived in Tiruvannamalai for about eighty years, probably between 1370 and 1450 AD.[9]<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >[9] Zvelebil summarises the pros and cons of dating Arunagirinatha on page 71 of <span style="font-style: italic;">Lexicon of Tamil Literature</span>, and comes up with this 1370-1450 span. His dates can be fixed with some degree of accuracy since he was a court poet who worked for rulers of Tiruvannamalai whose dates are fairly well established. </span><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br />Sivaprakasa Swamigal, a 17th century Tamil poet who composed verses on Arunachala, and who lived for a time in Tiruvannamalai, mentioned this incident in the invocatory verse of <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonasaila Malai</span>, a hundred-verse poem in praise of Arunachala:<br /><br /><blockquote>Holding in my heart the One<br />whose feet ringing anklets adorn,<br />who as tribute received an elephant herd,<br />and who is praised as He who receives the tribute of steeds<br />that are the minds of devotees whose words are sweet,<br />I shall praise Sonasailan [Arunachala], wise and fair! </blockquote><br />The two commentaries on this work that I have come across both state that the ‘elephant herd’ incident is the Guhai Namasivaya version I have just outlined. It seems that the incident is widely believed to belong to the life story of Guhai Namasivaya.<br /><br />The traditional account of Guhai Namasivaya’s life states that he lived to be 200 years old. If one accepts this improbable age, one could possibly locate him in the span of 1420 to 1620 and have this Vinayaka story happen while Arunagirinatha was still alive. This would mean that <span style="font-style: italic;">Arunagiri Antadi</span>, known to have been composed in 1548, would have been written when Guhai Namasivaya was about 130 years old. A possible death date of 1620 would just about make it possible to have a disciple (Arumuga Swami) who is known to have passed away in 1673. Alternatively, one could come to the conclusion that the whole narrative is merely a somewhat garbled variant of the story of the barbarian chief.<br /><br />Guhai Namasivaya’s immense age is referred to in the final incidents that are narrated in the traditional story of his life. When he reached 100 years of age, the thought occurred to Guhai Namasivaya: ‘The span allotted to man by Brahma is 100 years. That is enough for this worldly life.’<br /><br />He had his disciples prepare a <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi </span>pit for him, intending to enter it and give up his life there. He composed what he thought would be his final verse to Arunachala (241):<br /><br /><blockquote>If one enquires into the matter<br />it will be found that Arunesan is even more compassionate<br />than either a mother or a loving father.<br />Now tell me, will He allow the illusory body of this devotee<br />to go on suffering, even though it has lived for a hundred years,<br />or will He allow it to die? </blockquote><br />However, just as he was lowering himself into the tomb, Lord Siva spoke to him, ordering him to stay a further 100 years on earth. His resigned response to the Lord’s intervention is recorded in one of his verses (441): <br /><br /><blockquote>Sonesa!<br />You who come and bestow Your grace on those who say:<br />‘Guru who, out of grace, dispenses samba rice,<br />sugar, honey, ghee, milk to nourish me!’<br />After allotting me one hundred [more] years of age,<br />bestow Your feet. </blockquote><br />In saying ‘bestow Your feet’ Guhai Namasivaya is asking Siva to guarantee union with Him at the moment of his death. One hundred years later, a similar tomb-side scene was enacted. In the traditional story of his life Guhai Namasivaya voluntarily gave up his body by sending the <span style="font-style: italic;">prana </span>(life force) out through the <span style="font-style: italic;">brahmarandhra </span>on the top of his head. This was a practice he probably mastered during his early years as a Siva yogi. Just before he entered his <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi </span>pit he composed his final two verses in which he expressed how happy he was to abandon his sick and old body. He also declared that had crossed the ocean of birth and death and no longer needed to incarnate again (451 and 97): <br /><br /><blockquote>We have reached as our refuge<br />the feet of our Sonagiri Father.<br />We have crossed the ocean of demeaning births.<br />We will have no regard for that lotus-seated creator [Brahma],<br />nor will we pay any attention to Yama [the god of death],<br />that cruel one who rides a powerful buffalo. <br /><br />No more shall I endure this body <br />that is the dwelling place of three hundred and sixty maladies, <br />and which dies. <br />Arunesar, You whose matted locks <br />are adorned with the crescent moon and the River Ganga! <br />Henceforth, abolish births for myself, Your devotee. </blockquote><br />Siva granted his request. An anonymous verse, presumably composed posthumously by one of his disciples, narrated that Siva (Arunesar) had enabled Guhai Namasivaya to move on from being a divine ‘walking <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam</span>,’ in human form to a <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi </span>shrine on the slopes of Arunachala (437): <br /><br /><blockquote>On that day Arunesar enabled Namasivaya,<br />he who is the form of the walking <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam</span>,<br />through grace, to attain the divine state<br />as a <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi </span>shrine on the tall divine form<br />which, in ancient times,<br />was impossible for Brahma and Vishnu to know. </blockquote><br />The phrase ‘walking <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam</span>’ could also be translated as ‘dancing <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam</span>’. The phrase translated as ‘attain the divine state’ is also used to denote physical death. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">An alternative biography of Guhai Namasivaya</span><br /><br />Most of the verses by Guhai Namasivaya that are featured in this book were originally found in a notebook in Ramana Maharshi’s handwriting that was discovered in the Ramanasramam archives in the 1980s. Since most of these verses do not appear anywhere else, we have surmised that Ramana Maharshi copied them from palm-leaf manuscripts that were stored in the Guhai Namasivaya Temple. Ramana Maharshi lived there briefly around 1900, and then occupied the nearby Virupaksha Cave for a further fifteen years. The Guhai Namasivaya Temple did have a collection of palm-leaf manuscripts, but they disappeared without trace several decades ago. I spoke to the owner of the Guhai Namasivaya Temple in the 1980s about these manuscripts. He informed me that they had been given to someone who had promised to publish them in Tamil, but both the man and the manuscripts disappeared and have never been traced. This notebook, now the only surviving record of much of Guhai Namasivaya’s output, contains an introductory prose biography of Guhai Namasivaya that differs substantially from the account given in the previous section. The primary topic is an extensive pilgrimage that Guhai Namasivaya took from Sri Sailam to Tiruvannamalai. The narrative also takes great pains to stress how committed he was to the Virasaiva faith. The source of this alternative version is unknown since it was written anonymously and has no title. However, the prose format gives a clue to its age. Tamil biographies of saints were almost invariably written in verse until the beginning of the 19th century. Though this would indicate a composition date several centuries after Guhai Namasivaya passed away, it does not rule out the possibility that the information it contains is derived from an earlier poetic source. I am giving a translation of this previously unpublished biography here. Some portions that elaborate on Virasaiva philosophy have been omitted since they are overly technical and not germane to the narrative. The original text is in roman. My own explanatory notes are interpolated in italics.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> * * * </span><br /></div><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br />Chenna Mallikarjuna Devachariyar was the occupant [<span style="font-style: italic;">athibathi</span>] of the Srisaila Simhasana [Peetam]. He had obtained the <span style="font-style: italic;">anugraha </span>[grace] of Allama Prabhu.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Sri Sailam is the pilgrimage centre in Andhra Pradesh where Guhai Namasivaya went from Karnataka to meet his Guru in the traditional account of his life. In this version, though, the Guru is not Sivananda Desikar but someone else. The presiding deity of Sri Sailam is Chenna Mallikarjuna. Chenna Mallikarjuna Devachariyar was the head of a </span>math <span style="font-style: italic;">(monastic institution) there. We can assume that it was a Virasaiva institution of some sort. Allama Prabhu, the other person mentioned, was one of the founding saints of Vairasaivism. </span><br /><br />At that time there lived a devotee called Nanjaiyar. He was a <span style="font-style: italic;">sangama</span>.<br /><br />Sangamas <span style="font-style: italic;">are Virasaiva devotees. The term also denotes the community of devotees. </span><br /><br />Nanjaiyar had a desire for a son. After prostrating in the prescribed way to Chenna Mallikarjuna Devachariyar, he informed him about this desire. The Guru asked him to return the following day.<br /><br />After Nanjaiyar had left, the Guru prayed to his <span style="font-style: italic;">ishtalinga </span>and in response received the following divine command: ‘Nanjaiyar does not have the good fortune of a child in his own line. However, as he is a crest-jewel of Guru-<span style="font-style: italic;">linga</span>-<span style="font-style: italic;">sangama</span>, through the <span style="font-style: italic;">upadesa </span>of <span style="font-style: italic;">sthula panchakshara</span> [the five-syllabled mantra ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Om Namasivaya</span>’], beginning with <span style="font-style: italic;">pranava</span>, I, who am the import of this will myself be born to him.’<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> There are eight shields (</span>ashtavarana<span style="font-style: italic;">) that protect the Virasaiva. The first three on the list are the Guru, the </span>lingam <span style="font-style: italic;">and the </span>sangama<span style="font-style: italic;">. Virasaivas believe that these are the three forms of Siva. Calling Nanjaiyar ‘a crest-jewel of Guru-</span>linga-sangama<span style="font-style: italic;">’ denotes that he embodies the highest aspirations of the Virasaiva faith. </span> Sthula <span style="font-style: italic;">means ‘physical’ or ‘material’. The </span>panchakshara <span style="font-style: italic;">is the sacred five-lettered mantra ‘</span>Namasivaya<span style="font-style: italic;">’, meaning ‘Obeisance to Siva’. </span>Pranava <span style="font-style: italic;">is the sound of </span>Om.<span style="font-style: italic;"> The five-lettered mantra that begins with </span>pranava <span style="font-style: italic;">is ‘</span>Om Namasivaya<span style="font-style: italic;">’.<br /><br />I think the text is suggesting that the holy mantra ‘</span>Om Namasivaya<span style="font-style: italic;">’ is going to take physical form in the incarnation of the Guru who would become known as ‘Om Namasivaya’. Throughout this account Guhai Namasivaya is referred to as ‘Om Namasivaya’ rather than ‘Guhai Namasivaya’. His own disciple Guru Namasivaya also called him ‘Om Namasivaya’ in his verses. This would indicate the title of ‘Guhai’ was either given much later in his life, or possibly even after his death. </span><br /><br />Ten months later Nanjaiyar’s son was born. He was taken to Sri Marula Siddheswarasiriyar, who was also known as Avadhuta Asiriyar. This Guru was shining as the head of the Ujjain Simhasana.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Marula Siddheswarar was one of the semi-mythical founders of Virasaivism who, if he lived at all, lived many centuries before these events took place. He is associated with Ujjain, a noted pilgrimage city in modern-day Madhya Pradesh. The Marula Siddheswarar of this story is not the original Guru but the head of the Ujjain Simhasana Math. </span><br /><br />From him [Marula Siddheswarar] the child received <span style="font-style: italic;">lingadharana </span>initiation and the name ‘Om Namasivaya’. In his fifth year Om Namasivaya started his studies under Chenna Mallikarjuna Devar [the Guru mentioned in the first paragraph]. <br /><br />Lingadharana <span style="font-style: italic;">is the initiation ceremony in which the Guru sanctifies a </span>lingam <span style="font-style: italic;">and gives it to a disciple. In Virasaiva families this is often done very early in life, and is often combined with the ceremony in which a name is given to the child. </span><br /><br />At the age of eleven Marula Siddheswarar Deva initiated him into various Virasaiva traditions, after which he shone with the eight ornaments, beginning with <span style="font-style: italic;">vibhuti</span> [sacred ash].<br /><br />Om Namasivaya then appealed to his Guru, ‘Swami, the Arunachala <span style="font-style: italic;">paramjyoti lingam</span> [the transcendent <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>of light], which confers liberation on thinking, which was beyond the comprehension of Brahma and Vishnu, which is the central lordly <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>among the <span style="font-style: italic;">panchabhuta lingams</span>, which shines in the south in this universe, as in this body, is attracting my heart [<span style="font-style: italic;">ullam</span>]. Therefore, my Lord, you should give your consent [for me to go there].’<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The </span>panchabhuta lingams<span style="font-style: italic;"> are the five Siva temples in South India whose </span>lingams <span style="font-style: italic;">are associated with one of the five elements. The Tiruvannamalai </span>lingam <span style="font-style: italic;">is the fire </span>lingam<span style="font-style: italic;">. </span><br /><br />The Guru replied, ‘The divine grace gives its consent’. Tents, palanquins and other items were collected. Three hundred and sixty <span style="font-style: italic;">sangamas </span>set off on the trip, which began with many musical accompaniments. The idea was to perform a <span style="font-style: italic;">pradakshina </span>of Indian sacred places that went first towards the sacred places of the West, and then towards those of the north. Later on, it would turn south. <br /><br />On his journey Om Namasivaya went to a village full of Siva <span style="font-style: italic;">bhaktas</span>. One Siva <span style="font-style: italic;">bhakta</span>, in whose house a wedding was taking place, humbly invited him in. Om Namasivaya accepted the invitation, went inside and blessed the newly married couple. That night a fire broke out and the house and its occupants, including the bride and bridegroom, were burnt to death. The next day Om Namasivaya stood before the house with his <span style="font-style: italic;">paduka </span>and asked for <span style="font-style: italic;">bhiksha</span>. Both the house and its occupants were miraculously restored to their former state. The bride and bridegroom came out, prostrated to him and offered <span style="font-style: italic;">bhiksha</span>. The onlookers thought that Om Namsivaya was Parasivam itself. They all prostrated to him and praised him.<br /><br />Paduka <span style="font-style: italic;">are the sandals of the Guru. The term also denotes one of the eight Virasaiva aids (</span>ashtavarana<span style="font-style: italic;">) to faith: the practice of drinking water that has bathed the </span>lingam<span style="font-style: italic;"> or washed the Guru’s feet.<br /><br />This story is one of the few that is common to both versions of Guhai Namasivaya’s life. In the earlier version Guhai Namasivaya offered </span><span>vibhuti </span><span style="font-style: italic;">(sacred ash) to the householder before his house was reduced to ashes in a fire. In both cases the house and its occupants were restored to their former state. </span><br /><br />From there he travelled to the following holy places and had <span style="font-style: italic;">darshan </span>of the deity in each one: Siva Gangai, Sambulingamalai, Ummattur, Nanjunda Koodal, Subramaniam, Tiruvanjaikkalam, Mookambikai, Gokarnam, Tareswaram, Seccheswaram, Koluveswaram, Mrideswaram, Kalyana Pattanam, Kottur, Kolipakam, Ambai, Virupakshi, Hemakootam, Vanavaasa Maanagaram, Uluva Maamalai, and Koodal Sangameswaram. In each place he accepted offerings and help from local devotees.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">These are mostly old names for towns. The ones that are recognisable are in western India.</span><br /><br />Om Namasivaya’s group eventually reached Delhi and camped there. When the Muslim fakirs of the place heard that Om Namasivaya was camping near Delhi, many of them came to see him. Om Namasivaya heard from his devotees that they had arrived. He went out to meet them and gestured to them that they should sit down. Om Namasivaya did not speak, but remained instead absorbed in meditation [Siva-<span style="font-style: italic;">dhyana</span>]. All the fakirs who had come became motionless and mentally silent. Before they left they reverentially offered varieties of fruit and prostrated to him, as they would have done to their own Guru. The silence they experienced with Om Namsasivaya did not last, and they soon reverted to their usual mental state. The fakirs went and informed the Badushah about Om Namasivaya. After he had heard the fakirs’ positive report, he invited, with many ritual courtesies, the whole group to stay in a <span style="font-style: italic;">math </span>that he controlled. He attended to all their needs with reverential devotion.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">‘Badushah’ is a generic name for a Muslim ruler. It does not denote any specific known historical figure. </span><br /><br />Some of the fakirs wanted to test Om Namasivaya. They showed the Badushah an iron pillar and suggested that this iron pillar should be heated to a red-hot temperature. They then declared that if Om Namasivaya could embrace this pillar without harming himself, they would accept him as being superior to all of them, and they would prostrate to him. The Badhushah was initially frightened when he heard about this challenge. However, he decided to go ahead with it and promised that if Om Namasivaya could accomplish this feat, he would offer one half of his kingdom to him, and the other half to Om Namasivaya’s entourage. Om Namasivaya was informed of the challenge and accepted it. <br /><br />As it was being heated, Om Namasivaya asked the head of his <span style="font-style: italic;">sangamas </span>to check if the pillar, which was being heated by a bellows, had become sufficiently hot. The man checked and reported that it was not yet hot enough. When the fat iron pillar was glowing red and emitting sparks, Om Namaisvaya took hold of it and embraced it, remaining all the time in his natural [<span style="font-style: italic;">sahaja</span>] state. All those who witnessed this fell at his feet and praised him as ‘Om Namasivaya with the Pillar’. One of the followers of Om Namasivaya later cut up the pillar into many pieces, made them into ornaments, and wore them on his person. <br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The main elements of this story reappear in yet another account of Guhai Namasivaya’s life. In this variant version the story of hugging the pillar took place in Poonamalee, a town near Chennai. I will give this alternative version in the notes that follow the description of Guhai Namasivaya’s visit to that town. </span><br /><br />The Badushah informed Om Namasivaya about the vow he had made. Om Namasivaya told him, ‘Since I am a <span style="font-style: italic;">sannyasin</span>, I don’t need a kingdom. I am going on a pilgrimage to Kedaram [Kedarnath]. Afterwards, I will go to Kasi and spend some time there. If you want to help me, you can arrange for a <span style="font-style: italic;">math </span>and other facilities to be available for me when I finally reach Kasi.’ <br /><br />A few days later he started for Kedaram, worshipped for six months by <span style="font-style: italic;">devas </span>and for six months by Virasaivas. <br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Kedarnath Temple is located at an altitude of 3,584 metres. It is snowbound and inaccessible for six months of the year. </span><br /><br />After staying there for some time, Om Namasivaya went on to North Vaidhyanatham and had <span style="font-style: italic;">darshan </span>there. From there he went to Kasi and stayed for five years in the <span style="font-style: italic;">math </span>that the Badushah had arranged for him. At the end of that period Marula Siddheswara, the chief of the Ujjain Simhasana, came to see Om Namasivaya in Kasi and requested him to visit Ujjain. Om Namasivaya accepted the invitation and started for Ujjain. The officers of the Badushah, who were looking after Om Namasivaya on the Badushah’s behalf, informed him of the departure. The Badushah came to Kasi in an attempt to persuade him to stay. Om Namasivaya was determined to make the journey to Ujjain. However, he asked the <span style="font-style: italic;">sangamas </span>who had accompanied him on his travels to remain in the Kasi Math. The <span style="font-style: italic;">math </span>there was renamed ‘Sangamapuram’. Om Namasivaya asked the Badushah to return to Delhi, which he agreed to do. However, the Badushah felt that something that had been gifted to a great being [his kingdom] should not be taken back. He gave it up and from then on earned his living through tailoring.<br /><br />Om Namasivaya went to Ujjain with Avadhuta Asiriyar [Marula Siddheswara] and stayed with him for a few days. While he was there, he began to get ready for his journey to Arunachala. Marula Siddheswara asked Om Namasivaya to accept as an offering income to which he, Marula Siddheswara, was entitled to in several places, including Kalatti. Om Namasivaya accepted the offer.<br /><br />On his journey south a <span style="font-style: italic;">sangama </span>came up to him and said, ‘I live in Raacchudi. My name is Vireswaran. You should spend some time with me.’<br /><br />He took Om Namasivaya to a nearby temple and looked after him with great love. Vireswaran then allowed him to continue his journey. Om Namasivaya promised him, ‘I will come when I want to’.<br /><br />Later, he fulfilled his promise and went to Raacchudi. From there he went to Kalatti [Kalahasti] and had <span style="font-style: italic;">darshan </span>of the holy feet of Guru Swarupa in the <span style="font-style: italic;">vayu lingam</span> [wind <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam</span>]. He stayed there for a few days. Then he went to Poovirundavalli [Poondamalli, near Chennai] and placed the lotus flower offered first to the <span style="font-style: italic;">ishtalinga </span>on his hand on the head of the Siva <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>in the temple. The <span style="font-style: italic;">archaka </span>[temple priest] went and told the king that a <span style="font-style: italic;">kumbhabhishekam</span> should be performed. <br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Flowers can only be offered to a deity that have not been smelled or previously offered to anyone else. If such offerings are made, the </span>lingam <span style="font-style: italic;">becomes ritually impure and an elaborate cleansing ceremony (the </span>kumbhabhishekam<span style="font-style: italic;">) has to be performed.</span> <br /><br />The king asked Om Namasivaya to explain his behaviour. Om Namasivaya replied that the flower offered to the conscious earth temple <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>[<span style="font-style: italic;">chit prithvi alaya lingam</span>] can be offered to the insentient earth temple <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>[<span style="font-style: italic;">jada prithvi alaya lingam</span>]. <br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Virasaivas believe that the body is a conscious temple, and that in offering a flower to an </span>ishtalinga <span style="font-style: italic;">one is making an offering to a living </span>lingam<span style="font-style: italic;">. The ‘insentient earth temple </span>lingam<span style="font-style: italic;">’ is the stone </span>lingam <span style="font-style: italic;">in the temple. </span><br /><br />This explanation was not acceptable to the <span style="font-style: italic;">archaka</span>. <br /><br />He replied<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>with a challenge: ‘If the garland on the temple <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>flies through the air and falls around Om Namasivaya’s neck, I will accept that Om Namasivaya is correct on this point. It will then be a victory for Om Namasivaya. If he accepts this challenge, he must also accept that the loser should offer as a fine twelve human heads and 12,000 gold coins.’<br /><br />Om Namasivaya accepted the challenge and agreed to the terms. The priest secretly arranged for a young brahmin boy to be hidden behind the <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam</span>. The boy was given a rope and a stick, which were attached to the garland to ensure that it did not fly off. The priest also declared that only officials of the temple would be allowed to stand in front of the <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>while the test took place.<br /><br />The boy who was hidden behind the <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>unexpectedly died while he was there. This in itself necessitated a <span style="font-style: italic;">kumbhabhishekam </span>since the death of the boy while he was attached to the garland ritually contaminated the <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam</span>. The boy was taken away to the cremation ground while the brahmins of the temple began to make preparations for the <span style="font-style: italic;">kumbhabhishekam</span>. Meanwhile, the garland itself had manifested, through Siva’s grace, around Om Namasivaya’s neck, and the cap which had adorned the head of the <span style="font-style: italic;">lingam </span>appeared on the top of his head. The king and the others present prostrated to Om Namasivaya with reverential devotion. Om Namasivaya had won the challenge.<br /><br />The priest accepted defeat and offered his property in lieu of the gold fine. The king reminded him about the requirement of offering twelve heads. Om Namasivaya intervened and said that the king could return the property to the priest, adding that the heads were not required by him either. The king returned the property to the priest. Then, miraculously, the dead boy, who had already been cremated, came back to life from the ashes. The priest and all the others who were present offered loving prostrations to Om Namasivaya. <br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I mentioned in the traditional account of Guhai Namasivaya’s life that he was accompanied on his journey from Sri Sailam to Tiruvannamalai by Virupaksha Devar. </span></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >V<span style="font-style: italic;">irupaksha Devar</span></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;"> is involved in an alternative version of this Poonamalee story, one that conflates the miracle of the iron pillar in Delhi with the incidents just described.<br /><br />Once the contest had been decided in favour of Guru Namasivaya, the king announced that he would become his devotee and prostrate to him if he could pass a further test. The king announced that he would heat an iron bar until it became red hot. Then Guhai Namasivaya would have to hold the bar aloft and proclaim that Saivism was the one true religion. Guhai Namasivaya nodded in the direction of Virupaksha Devar, indicating that he should take up the challenge on his behalf. Virupaksha Devar agreed. The iron bar was heated and pronounced ready. Virupaksha Devar, though, felt that it was not glowing red enough to convince bystanders that the rod was definitely too hot to hold. Twice the king’s servants declared that the bar was ready, and twice Virupaksha Devar asked them to make it hotter. When it finally became hot enough for him, he picked up the bar, gripped it tightly, held it aloft, and made the required declaration of faith. His hand remained unburnt. Then, in an unscripted encore, he put the red-hot rod in his mouth and swallowed it, without suffering any ill effects. The satisfied king prostrated to Guhai Namasivaya and announced that he was ready to follow the tenets of the Saiva faith. <br /><br />The origin of this particular variant of the hot-iron story is not known, but it must have had some currency in Tiruvannamalai at some point since Virupaksha Devar is still known to some people there as ‘Hot-iron-bar Virupaksha’ in honour of his victory in this trial by ordeal.[10] </span><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >[10] This version of the red-hot pillar story was recorded in <span style="font-style: italic;">Arunachala Puranam</span>, a Tamil collection of Arunachala texts and stories that was edited and compiled by Panduranganar. As with all stories about Guhai Namasivaya, no sources are cited.</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">The next place on Om Namasivaya’s journey was Tiruttani. Lord Kumara, the presiding deity, came in the form of a </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >sangama </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">and accompanied Om Namasivaya to the temple, chatting with him the whole way. When he reached the sanctum sanctorum, the deity appeared in his real form to Om Namasivaya. Om Namasivaya spent a few days there. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">He then travelled to Kanchipuram, where he asked Kamakshi, the presiding goddess, ‘How did you embrace Siva in the past?’ </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">She gave him a demonstration of how it had been done. Om Namasivaya, delighted in his eyes, his mind and his consciousness, spent a few days there. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >Kamakshi was doing penance under a mango tree on the banks of a river near Kanchipuram. She was worshipping a </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">lingam </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >made of sand. When a flood came, she hugged the </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">lingam </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >to protect it from the flood. <br /><br />Kamakshi is the consort of Siva in Kanchipuram. In that particular temple he is known as ‘Ekambaranathan’. Guhai Namasivaya later composed a verse that described the experience he had when Ekambaranathan manifested in front of him (71): </span><br /><br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic; font-family: georgia;">Arunesar, He who shares His form with Mother, <br />[appearing] once as Ekambaranathan <br />declared me to be His slave <br />and placed His feet upon my head before my very eyes – <br />yet still I cannot believe how this could have been. </blockquote><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">From there Om Namasivaya went to some of the towns that hosted the ‘element’ </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >lingams</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">. He had </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >darshan </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">of the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >akasha </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">[space] </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >lingam </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">in Chidambaram, the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >prithvi</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> [earth] </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >lingam </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">in Tiruvarur, and the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >appu </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">[water] </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >lingam </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">in Jambukeswaram. After that he came to Tirtha Malai [close to Tiruvannamalai] and had </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >darshan </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">of the Lord there.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Tirthagiriswami, the presiding deity, came in the form of a Virasaiva brahmin, brought food and drink on a plate, fed everybody and entertained them. Om Namasivaya pointed to a nearby place and asked what it was. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">The local people told him, ‘That is the Paramanandaiya Math. It has four </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >gopurams</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> and sixty-four entrances.’ </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >This </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">math </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >is located between Chengam and Tirthamalai.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">‘If that is so, let us go and have a look,’ said Om Namasivaya. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Paramanandaiya [the head of the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >math</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">] learned about the proposed visit and said, ‘Those who have taken food from Virasaiva brahmins should not come here.’ </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Om Namasivaya responding by saying, ‘Then, let no one come here’. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">The place was soon abandoned, becoming a forest. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Om Namasivaya’s party had a scout who went ahead to look for suitable places to stay. This person, who had gone to look for a campsite, reported back to Om Namasivaya: ‘Chengandaiamman Temple [in or near Chengam] has all the facilities, and it lies on the border of Chengammavur. However, only those whose ordained life has come to an end will go there on non-festival days.’</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Om Namasivaya was undaunted. He asked that his tent be pitched there. When he went stay in it, Kali came up to him and saluted him. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Om Namasivaya asked her, ‘Who are you?’ </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">‘The title given to me is “Chengandai Amman who takes humans as a sacrifice,” ' she replied. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Om Namasivaya asked, ‘How and why did you get this name?’ </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">She said, ‘I remain meditating on the divine feet in solitude. However, if people come here at any time other than the scheduled festival times, not knowing the consequences of their acts, they all die through the agency of the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >saktis </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">that surround me. This is how I acquired the name.’ </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Om Namasivaya asked, ‘Can you assume many forms?’ </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">‘Yes,’ she replied, and showed him many forms. When Om Namasivaya asked if she could take </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >viswarupa </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">[the cosmic form, or the form of the whole universe], she assumed it. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">After this demonstration she became a thirteen-year-old beautifully bedecked girl and said to Om Namasivaya, ‘We shall now be husband and wife’. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Om Namasivaya replied, ‘I am a </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >sannyasin</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">, so this should not happen.’ </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">He refused the invitation. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Then she said, ‘Even if devotees offer poison, it is your duty to accept it. You should spend at least six months here and let me entertain you.’ </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Om Namasivaya said, ‘This is acceptable’. But then he added, ‘It will be good for your </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >tapas </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">if you can persuade the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >saktis </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">surrounding you to remain peaceful, without getting angry’. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">She agreed to try, received </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >tirtha prasad</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> from Om Namasivaya, and lovingly entertained him and all his party. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">That same day Lord Annamalai came in the form of a </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >sangama </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">and said, ‘I live in Tiruvannamalai. My name is Arunachalesan [Lord of Arunachala]. Knowing that you come from Sri Sailam, I have come here to escort you.’ </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Om Namasivaya told him, ‘I have given my word to Mother here that I will spend six months in her place. I can come at the end of that period. Until then, you should give me </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >darshan </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">every day.’ </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Arunachalesan agreed and gave him </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >darshan </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">every day. After six months Om Namasivaya started for Tiruvannamalai. While he was journeying there, Lord Annamalalai appeared simultaneously in the dreams of Tiruvannamalai devotees, asking them to decorate the town and welcome Om Namasivaya with many gifts. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">On his arrival Om Namasivaya alighted from his palanquin near the flagpole in the temple. Accompanied by the welcoming devotees, he went to the temple, embraced the Siva </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >lingam </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">and feasted on it fully with his eye of </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >jnana</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Then he blessed it by saying, ‘Annamalai Father, live happily!’</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">He also went to the Mother’s shrine and blessed Mother Unnamulai. Afterwards, he went and stayed with the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >sangamas </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">in a place near the temple. One devotee who came to have Om Namasivaya’s </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >darshan </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">was an eighty-five-year-old leper who was full of devotion to the Guru-</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >linga-sangama</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">. He prayed to Om Namasivaya for relief from his disease. Om Namasivaya looked at him with his eye of grace and gave him </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >vibhuti</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">. Once he had smeared it upon his body, he became free from both his disease and his old age. He turned into a young and healthy youth. All who saw this, including the leper’s wife, were wonderstruck. His wife wanted to look young so that she could remain attuned to her husband. When she mentioned this to him, he took her to Om Namasivaya and informed him of her desire. She saluted Om Namasivaya reverentially and applied the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >vibhuti </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">that he had given her as an act of grace. She was immediately transformed into a thirteen-year-old girl. Both she and her husband subsequently spent their time in service to the Guru-</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >linga-sangama</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >The manuscript ends abruptly at this point, so none of the subsequent events of Guhai Namasivaya’s life in Tiruvannamalai are recorded. Ramana Maharshi was generally a patient and industrious copier of texts. If further instalments had been available, I feel sure that he would have copied them. The most reasonable conclusion for this abrupt ending is that the palm-leaf manuscript of the biography he was copying from was incomplete.</span><br /><br /><br /></span> </div>David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-20226717017910629202011-02-07T12:14:00.002+05:302011-02-07T12:16:45.277+05:30Open Thread<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The previous Open Thread is now reaching the point where new comments may start to disappear. I will pre-empt that moment by starting a new one . Please continue all your discussions here.</span></span><br /></div>David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com748tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-88560080724177084742011-01-11T17:45:00.002+05:302011-01-11T17:48:39.665+05:30Open Thread<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It seems that the previous Open Thread was getting too large. New comments were not appearing. Thanks to those who pointed this out to me. From now on, please continue your discussions here.</span><br /></span></div>David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com674tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-26223304727355059072010-11-19T11:36:00.005+05:302010-11-23T12:15:30.300+05:30The former 'Recent Comments' system has been restored<div style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;">I have restored the old 'Recent Comments' system to the sidebar since the new one was neither popular, nor did it work properly or efficiently. Unfortunately, this means that comments made over the last few days (since the installation of Disqus) have disappeared since they were saved on the Disqus server, but not the Blogger one. Apologies to contributors such as Ravi and Broken Yogi who have lost several long posts from the last few days. If you kept copies of them, please resend.<br /><br />I notice that in the transfer from the Blogger server (Google's) to Disqus and back the dates of the comments have been scrambled in the 'Recent Comments' box. There are now thousands there, all dated from a couple of days ago. The comments under the posts still seem to be there, though, and in the right order. I assume that from now on, all new comments will appear in the right order in the 'Recent Comments' sidebar.<br /><br />Please let me know if anything else has gone awry in this transfer.<br /><br />Finally, apologies to everyone who has been affected by this technical misadventure. I am keeping the moderation 'off' to facilitate speedier discussions, but I am going to add a flag so that readers can send me messages if they find any comments that they feel should be removed.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">23rd November postscript</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The comments of anonymous posters will no longer be displayed in the 'Recent Comments' sidebar. I hope this will encourage a few of you to think about getting a user name for this blog.</span><br /></span></div>David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-3710468058489756142010-11-17T10:11:00.004+05:302010-11-17T10:14:20.850+05:30Open Thread<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Please continue all your 'Open Thread' discussions here. The thread I started in July has close to 600 comments and is loading very slowly with the new comments' system. I will renew the thread every time it it passes 200 comments to facilitate loading times.</span></span><br /></div>David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com906tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-71030557559952462662010-11-15T14:01:00.006+05:302010-11-15T15:15:05.710+05:30New Commenting System<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">A couple of weeks ago I asked if anyone knew of a good programme that would enable visitors to the blog to reply to specific comments. One of our readers (Gautham) suggested 'Disqus'. I tried it out on a trial blog and it seems to work quite well.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I will be introducing this system later today. From now on you can either comment on a particular post or on a specific reply to it. This should bring some clarity to discussions between people who insist on remaining anonymous.<br /><br />I<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>am going to remove moderation for a trail period. However, comments that include links will still be subject to moderation since these may contain spam. If any offensive comments appear, readers can flag them. These will remain in place, but an email will be sent to me containing the contents of the offending comment. I will then decide whether to keep it or not.</span></span> <span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >If you accidentally post a comment two or more times, you can flag it, and I will remove it.</span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >You can also make your views known by hitting the 'like' or 'dislike' button.</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >This will give me useful feedback from the many people who read the posts but never make any comments.</span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >I am going to attempt to import all the comments from earlier posts into this new system. </span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >Let me now how the new system works for you, and if you are experiencing any problems with it.</span><br /><br /><br /></div>David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961358105214008284.post-5959850310625173442010-11-07T10:10:00.005+05:302010-11-07T10:23:16.401+05:30New photos for Living by the Words of Bhagavan<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >Sometime last year I decided to give the photos in </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >Living by the Words of Bhagavan</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" > a complete makeover. Some were taken from old scratched prints that have since been cleaned up in the ashram archives. Others were not reproducing well for technical reasons that I won't go into. I asked the President of Ramanasramam if I could take new files from the ashram archives for the next edition, and he happily gave his permission. </span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">I picked up one batch of photos a few months ago. Yesterday I went back to have a longer look at what was available. The ashram archives is doing a great job in locating new photos and preserving the existing ones. During my search I discovered many pictures that I didn't even know existed. I ended up taking copies of several new photos that were not in any of the previous editions of the book. The new pictures mostly show the state of the ashram and the surrounding area in various periods of their development from the 1920s to the 1940s, a time when Annamalai Swami was actively involved in building projects.<br /><br />As a 'preview of forthcoming attractions' I have decided to share a few of them here.<br /><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbpZJawGhRJ-2eC0xGoN-7p86V2gfCwb0gB9vdy6V2NcxpQrGOinADtahuDEZljVbxh6GGbFQ1kcRrnTm_ntTQvKLj8hLYnQlBeHqGMX20XMqre_EuwvZWHzhNquvLDkYpfbZYWyPjROw/s1600/six.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 252px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbpZJawGhRJ-2eC0xGoN-7p86V2gfCwb0gB9vdy6V2NcxpQrGOinADtahuDEZljVbxh6GGbFQ1kcRrnTm_ntTQvKLj8hLYnQlBeHqGMX20XMqre_EuwvZWHzhNquvLDkYpfbZYWyPjROw/s400/six.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536420146732493026" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">This tiny old print comes from the earliest days of Sri Ramanasramam. The thatched hut on the right of the photo was the original 'temple' over the <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi </span>of Bhagavan's mother. This photo is one of a pair that were taken at the same time. The other is more well known. It has Bhagavan standing near this hut, reading. The caption </span><span style="font-size:130%;">'hermit and hermitage' on the other photo is in the same handwriting as the caption (<span style="font-style: italic;">Samadhi</span> Tiruvannamalai) on the bottom of this one. Both photos were probably taken in either 1922 or 1923. On the day they were taken this small hut was the only construction that Ramanasramam had. Bhagavan lived and slept there for several years until the old hall was completed in 1928. Just to give a sense of scale, the tree on the left would have been more or less on the spot where the door to the new hall is today.<br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9QRaaVwiGcmBG3sI3j7ChOFKwpTod6oByDtTSSdzAAaQI52gBeiMj5fRaHhvYDuPRfmni3ovIcDpWRBfuym_aDSkCSsuMpE5GdK8_2DL062eMAxG_CqLOMJd04-dQO1YVLkIhQA_gjDQ/s1600/eleven.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 263px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9QRaaVwiGcmBG3sI3j7ChOFKwpTod6oByDtTSSdzAAaQI52gBeiMj5fRaHhvYDuPRfmni3ovIcDpWRBfuym_aDSkCSsuMpE5GdK8_2DL062eMAxG_CqLOMJd04-dQO1YVLkIhQA_gjDQ/s400/eleven.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536418813808416098" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />This is an interesting view that I hadn't seen before. In the foreground it looks as if work is about to start on the 'tank room' (next to the ashram well in front of the dining room) and possibly the old ashram office and bookstore block as well. The end of the old hall can be seen behind the lamp post. In the early 1930s the ashram had a tiled dining room that was located more or less on the spot where Bhagavan's <span style="font-style: italic;">samadhi </span>is today. This was connected to the old hall by an awning that protected transiting devotees from the sun and the rain. A portion of the wall that runs round the ashram well can be seen on the right.<br /><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjC4PNqW4jAiqk7Xyi53TfJSnhqo-RZWQykBJD_eIAVHDn01-u9qnx0flfKesc1ufm5oMAUPXwc3tnzjMQKZNjQ-31eazGMfDrIK9iBqc8ngWZrQfnTxxg6HLnANQ9Pd3jq8v5LM5ac2o/s1600/four.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 274px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjC4PNqW4jAiqk7Xyi53TfJSnhqo-RZWQykBJD_eIAVHDn01-u9qnx0flfKesc1ufm5oMAUPXwc3tnzjMQKZNjQ-31eazGMfDrIK9iBqc8ngWZrQfnTxxg6HLnANQ9Pd3jq8v5LM5ac2o/s400/four.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536418820443649266" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">This follows on from the previous photo. The new dining room and kitchen have been completed. A corner of the dining room can be seen in the top right-hand corner of the photo. The old dining room was then demolished and a shady awning was constructed on the south side of the old hall. The photographer in this picture is probably standing on the spot where Bhagavan was eventually buried. In the 1930s the entrance to the old hall was on the south side of the building (the one furthest away from the mountain). To get into the hall Bhagavan and the devotees had to climb a few stairs. When Bhagavan found it difficult to climb the stairs in the 1940s (no one was allowed to help him) a new entrance was made on the Arunachala side of the hall, the same one that is still used today.<br /><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBadaS19nPNm2FEhoIcOoJXAEm0A4QbzYDRATE8qbe_vq60OwjikCfisKmMZ3OWDgd9ZYC8cZq_ZPZVeHLf-LEELHaPGkfwoKgMdSJTR0lhIyRg374l4qnIFjO3PvYwIO4eosWcVmG0bE/s1600/ten.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 275px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBadaS19nPNm2FEhoIcOoJXAEm0A4QbzYDRATE8qbe_vq60OwjikCfisKmMZ3OWDgd9ZYC8cZq_ZPZVeHLf-LEELHaPGkfwoKgMdSJTR0lhIyRg374l4qnIFjO3PvYwIO4eosWcVmG0bE/s400/ten.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536420150374557602" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">This gives an interesting insight into construction methods of the 1930s. Huge granite boulders were dumped on the lower slopes of Arunachala, behind the ashram. Stone cutters and stone masons then came and turned these huge shapeless masses into the square building stones that were used to build the cowshed, the Veda Patasala, the dining room and kitchen, and the old ashram office. All the shaping work was done by hand, with hammers and mild steel chisels that had to be sharpened at regular intervals by an onsite blacksmith who would reforge the cutting ends of the chisels over a charcoal fire that was kept hot by a bellows.</span> <span style="font-size:130%;">This photo is dated 1935, so the stones produced by these workers probably ended up in the dining room or the kitchen.</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihvcgASwzukbT4TfY2eyBYTSuMAUkeyuyJlkD5SyYtfhkQvf1sCH3BLi-CRYL37pze6tCFBPeDVdA0SkdtY9PELRhjz2KrUXhSADDTdj2elNxhevtj9w2NX_AWSjQDVmIEjGIk1uyv7bQ/s1600/nine.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 380px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihvcgASwzukbT4TfY2eyBYTSuMAUkeyuyJlkD5SyYtfhkQvf1sCH3BLi-CRYL37pze6tCFBPeDVdA0SkdtY9PELRhjz2KrUXhSADDTdj2elNxhevtj9w2NX_AWSjQDVmIEjGIk1uyv7bQ/s400/nine.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536418824124358754" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Annamalai Swami told me that Chadwick had arranged for several photos of the two of them to be taken, but until yesterday I had never seen any of them. This one turned up in an album that comprised photos taken by Dr Mees in the 1930s. Chadwick took many photos of Annamalai Swami supervising the ashram building work, but none of these pictures seems to have survived</span><span style="font-size:130%;">.</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6OeKTQXlpjqw1mwLF7p6KTy8KmxHq5jMueQpgp393aomE5YJYRQHVVJs722J6v_N3QS5-YeIwHvROU2re0U9FBq-TCeBcTJSJ5DZSzWNZPmG_Z1G0N9PiK5zhUIOVH3bikfNUQ5malKs/s1600/two.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6OeKTQXlpjqw1mwLF7p6KTy8KmxHq5jMueQpgp393aomE5YJYRQHVVJs722J6v_N3QS5-YeIwHvROU2re0U9FBq-TCeBcTJSJ5DZSzWNZPmG_Z1G0N9PiK5zhUIOVH3bikfNUQ5malKs/s400/two.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536420790361559554" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">On page 173 of <span style="font-style: italic;">Living by the Words of Bhagavan</span> (second edition) Annamalai Swami described how he constructed a house for Chadwick inside the ashram, and how Bhagavan attended the <span style="font-style: italic;">grihapravesam </span>(opening and consecration) ceremonies. I didn't know the event had been recorded until I serendipitously came across this photo yesterday. I was looking for a copy of the photo of Chadwick's house that has appeared in past editions of <span style="font-style: italic;">Living by the Words of Bhagavan</span>. The archives didn't seem to have one, but half an hour later, when I was searching for something else, I found this file. The head of Bhagavan (he is the one with a stick and a water pot) is obscured by the shade of the overhanging thatch; Chadwick's head (two to Bhagavan's left) is also obscured for the same reason. However, out in front, on the right there is S. S. Cohen (shading his eyes) and Paul Brunton, wearing a western jacket.</span> <span style="font-size:130%;">I have played with the brightness and contrast on the original scan, and studied all the faces at a high resolution, but I could not see anyone I thought might be Annamalai Swami.<br /></span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDlQNE3tmIkH_OwzG35XfuA-OJf-GEL2RnMqjCEggFlD1cHItw48mvI3oTrP9-2CXs-z06cWAqCarq0uwb4GdkRlq6ZL3kOvOK6sCdNyuyvmfNZknGD2FRV1xaM83nG8aLO45xkMFrkK0/s1600/seven.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 318px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDlQNE3tmIkH_OwzG35XfuA-OJf-GEL2RnMqjCEggFlD1cHItw48mvI3oTrP9-2CXs-z06cWAqCarq0uwb4GdkRlq6ZL3kOvOK6sCdNyuyvmfNZknGD2FRV1xaM83nG8aLO45xkMFrkK0/s400/seven.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536420140784733394" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">I love this photo! A gloriously sunlit Bhagavan is slowly walking to the steps that lead to the path to Skandashram. On his left is a thatched building that was later demolished to make way for the ashram dispensary that Annamalai Swami built.</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC4uP8gJkscmcX3DTqEd_lA7eUdBANBg-bZ7JtTdPGQMRpyNI59JcT_d_-ghyphenhyphenchOa_M4rOMfK_9FYdvI-gLm_bsJcDtI6u6a2FR9kOEAUKCnaXf-6Q814aOAsGMTv-CFFTdxwDbjEIzbE/s1600/one.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 316px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC4uP8gJkscmcX3DTqEd_lA7eUdBANBg-bZ7JtTdPGQMRpyNI59JcT_d_-ghyphenhyphenchOa_M4rOMfK_9FYdvI-gLm_bsJcDtI6u6a2FR9kOEAUKCnaXf-6Q814aOAsGMTv-CFFTdxwDbjEIzbE/s400/one.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536420133600602914" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">This is an idyllic early 1930s shot of Arunachala, with the Palakottu tank in the foreground. The house peeping between the trees is the one that was started by B. V. Narasimha Swami in the late 1920s. Its most famous tenant, though, was Paul Brunton, who lived there in the mid-1930s.</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb3FA21YsBsoXJTtgDZEGE2pIzkHritQ2wioUdQQtaC_0FOcM5RB0kBfHCkJwNR9qb_1_Yie7CMNfinbqJCTaEA6-hiCdjQnlOoID11eJ5Du9itxCuLWBt1xaokYlmMzXVEPAWr0EipJ0/s1600/palakottu.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 394px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb3FA21YsBsoXJTtgDZEGE2pIzkHritQ2wioUdQQtaC_0FOcM5RB0kBfHCkJwNR9qb_1_Yie7CMNfinbqJCTaEA6-hiCdjQnlOoID11eJ5Du9itxCuLWBt1xaokYlmMzXVEPAWr0EipJ0/s400/palakottu.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536449538765413858" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Here is another lovely shot of the Palakottu tank, taken in an era when it was much better maintained than it is now. For many decades the <span style="font-style: italic;">sadhus </span>who lived on its banks used it only for drinking water. In the early days of Ramanasramam devotees would carry buckets of water from this tank to the ashram since it did not have enough water of its own. The shrine visible on the top right is the original Ganapati temple that accommodated both Ganapati Muni and Viswanatha Swami in the 1920s. I say 'original' because it fell down (or was demolished) in the 1960s. The current temple was reassembled from bits of the original that had ended up on the properties of several local people who had used the old temple as a source of building material.</span> <span style="font-size:130%;">The man on the rock is Dr Mees</span>.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhywzsZRfIsVDMsAXoMAUQcUkSCN6y5CRT_4n79nn1tBChn8SpoEOtiudeZCznKECyA9E049bc73MKbFgZQ_eg0ke0qHmR-cHsziyUB3njjGnjf0m4NgWfkpbAs7wIdY9zpzPdUwAW1nC0/s1600/eight.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 334px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhywzsZRfIsVDMsAXoMAUQcUkSCN6y5CRT_4n79nn1tBChn8SpoEOtiudeZCznKECyA9E049bc73MKbFgZQ_eg0ke0qHmR-cHsziyUB3njjGnjf0m4NgWfkpbAs7wIdY9zpzPdUwAW1nC0/s400/eight.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536418806169578898" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />This is the original wall-less entrance to Sri Ramanasramam. The arch seems to be the same one that is still there today. I am including this photo in the new edition because it illustrates one of the incidents in which Perumal Swami tried to take over the ashram. The ashram heard that Perumal Swami was planning to come to the ashram in the middle of the night to build a hut next to the iluppai tree that still exists by the ashram entrance. He apparently planned to move into it to wage his campaign to take over the ashram from inside the ashram itself (<span style="font-style: italic;">Living by the Words of Bhagavan</span> pp. 134-5). On the advice of a local police inspector, the ashram built a barricade of bamboo and rope on either side of the gate to demarcate the ashram's boundaries. This was the first fence around the ashram. Prior to that night it looked as it does in this photo. The inspector whom the ashram consulted also agreed to post two policemen at the gate to prevent Perumal Swami from entering. The temporary barricade was not converted into a permanent wall until the late 1940s. I would guess that this photo dates from the early 1930s.</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHYrL0BCQ8_L2OVhnx4DIPu2kVSNTa-700Q6Pxm1hUBuAYtQQ1yVK7JWgEgdPWzqhMIHVZ0aQtRyJmldZOxEe2cUOtkp7zH3GldoHjgVR0zWitehbnlGx28qC2_RVcTxw51u1HV3qG8Fk/s1600/three.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 386px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHYrL0BCQ8_L2OVhnx4DIPu2kVSNTa-700Q6Pxm1hUBuAYtQQ1yVK7JWgEgdPWzqhMIHVZ0aQtRyJmldZOxEe2cUOtkp7zH3GldoHjgVR0zWitehbnlGx28qC2_RVcTxw51u1HV3qG8Fk/s400/three.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536420157807166514" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">This is the <span style="font-style: italic;">kumbhabhishekam </span>of the Mother's Temple that took place long after Annamalai Swami left the ashram. I am including the photo in the new edition because the steps in the foreground are the ones that Annamalai Swami built at Bhagavan's behest. Bhagavan insisted that he work late into the night to finish the work. Within hours of the work being completed, there was a torrential downpour that filled Pali Tirtham </span><span style="font-size:130%;">in hours. </span><span style="font-size:130%;">It collects run-off from the mountain, and when Annamalai Swami was planning to stop work for the day at the usual time, the tank was completely empty. If the work had stopped at that time, it could not have been resumed until the tank emptied, several months later.</span><br /><br /><br /></div>David Godmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10354181925332694222noreply@blogger.com22