Tattuvaraya and Sorupananda

A few years ago T. V. Venkatasubramanian, Robert Butler and myself made a translation of Sorupa Saram and had it published in The Mountain Path (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.

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. The four sections cover the following topics:

Part one: The life of Tattuvaraya and the relationship he had with his Guru Sorupananda.

Part two: a full translation of Sorupa Saram. Though this has appeared both in The Mountain Path and on my site, there may be new readers here who have not seen this wonderful text before.

Part three: extracts from Amrita Saram, one of Tattuvaraya's works on Vedanta.

Part four: translations of songs from Paduturai by Tattuvaraya. The selections include advice to sadhakas, expressions of gratitude towards his Guru, and verses in which he declares his own experience of the Self.

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.

* * *

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 Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, talk no. 648, that he was ‘the first to pour forth advaita philosophy in Tamil’. Prior to his arrival on the Tamil literary scene, advaita texts in Tamil seem to have been translations of, or expositions on, texts composed in Sanskrit.

One of Tattuvaraya’s compositions was mentioned several times by Bhagavan. This is how he narrated the story in Day by Day with Bhagavan, 21st November 1945:

Tattuvaraya composed a bharani [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 bharani 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 mauna. 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 bharani in his honour!’

There is a very similar retelling of the bharani incident in Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, talk no. 262.

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.

In Letters from Sri Ramanasramam (letter dated 8th April 1948) Bhagavan gives a brief summary of how Sorupananda became Tattuvaraya’s Guru:

This afternoon when I [Suri Nagamma] went to Bhagavan, I found someone singing a song, ‘Gurupada Mahima’ [Greatness of the Guru's Feet].

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?’

‘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.

‘Yes. There is a story behind it,’ remarked Bhagavan. When I enquired what it was, Bhagavan leisurely related to us the story as follows:

‘Both Tattuvaraya and Sorupananda decided to go in search of a Sadguru in two different directions. Before they started they came to an understanding. Whoever finds a Sadguru first should show him to the other. However much Tattuvaraya searched he could not find a Sadguru. 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.

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 Sadguru.’

Having placed the burden on the Lord, he sat down in silence. By God’s grace, a Sadguru came there by himself, and gave him tattva upadesa (instruction for Self-realisation).

This story was originally published in Letters from and Recollections of Sri Ramanasramam as letter number five. The letters from this volume have now been added to the enlarged and consolidated edition of Letters from Sri Ramanasramam.

Though Tattuvaraya was a prolific author, only one work has ever been attributed to Sorupananda: Sorupa Saram, 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 Kaivalya Navaneetam, Ribhu Gita, Ashtavakra Gita, Ellam Ondre, and Yoga Vasishta, Sorupa Saram is in distinguished company.

Tattuvaraya realised the Self quickly and effortlessly in the presence of Sorupananda. The opening lines of Paduturai, one of his major works, reveal just how speedily the event took place:

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. (Tiruvadi Malai, lines 1-3)

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’. (Nanmanimalai verse 10)

Tattuvaraya attributed this near-instantaneous enlightenment wholly to the power and grace of his Guru, rather than to any intrinsic merit, maturity or worthiness:

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.

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 Sivam. All the sastras are seen to point towards reality.

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 jnana, and as one?

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? (Venba Antadi, vv. 12, 14, 60, 69)

Sorupananda’s mind-silencing ability is quite evident both from the story of the bharani 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:

[In order to convince the devas] 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 Vedas. 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 tattva jnana.’ 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 jnana on all as palpably as the gem on one’s palm. (Tiruvadi Malai lines 117-126)

‘Eighteen times’ refers to the chapters of the Bhagavad Gita.

The Brahma Gita 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:

96 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 Vedas, 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.’

97 He who sits upon the lotus blossom [Brahma] said, ‘[Gods, you who are] loving devotees [of Lord Siva], listen! The meaning of the Vedas, 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].

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.

Tattuvaraya made the claim in the Tiruvadi Malai lines that his Guru was more powerful and more capable of granting enlightenment than the trimurti 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 deva followers that his teachings were true; whereas Krishna, despite giving out the extensive teachings that are recorded in the Bhagavad Gita, wasn’t able to enlighten even Arjuna. Though this is a somewhat harsh assessment, the inability of Krishna to enlighten Arjuna through his Gita teachings was mentioned by Bhagavan himself:

Likewise, Arjuna, though he told Sri Krishna in the Gita ‘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 Uttara Gita. (Sri Ramana Reminiscences, p. 52)

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.

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 prarabdha – 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:

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 tapas, 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 jnana 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 jnana opened. [Prior to this] I was without the eye [of jnana], 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. (Nanmanimalai, v. 37, lines 28-50)

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].’ (Nanmanimalai v. 37, lines 24-26)

In the portion of the verse cited here Tattuvaraya emphatically backs up this claim by saying that when his own eye of jnana 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.’

There are other verses which reaffirm Tattuvaraya’s statement that after he had been liberated by Sorupananda he knew nothing other than the swarupa which had taken the form of Sorupananda to enlighten him:

All that appears is only the swarupa 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 maya? Where is ‘I’?

[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. (Nanmanimalai, vv. 38, 39)

Let some say that the Supreme is Siva. Let some say that the Supreme is Brahma or Vishnu. Let some say that Sakti and Sivam 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. (Venba Antadi, v. 8)

Tattuvaraya wrote of the consequences of his realisation in a poem entitled ‘Pangikku Uraittal’ (Paduturai, 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 Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, talk no. 648:

1

Our reward was that every word we heard or said was nada [divine sound].
Our reward was to have ‘remaining still’ [summa iruttal] as our profession.
Our reward was to enter the company of virtuous devotees.
My dear companion, this is the life bestowed by our Guru.

2

Our reward was to have the bare ground as our bed.
Our reward was to accept alms in the palms of our hands.
Our reward was to wear a loincloth as our clothing.
My dear companion, for us there is nothing lacking.

Bhagavan’s comment on this verse was:

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.

‘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?

The poem continues:

3

Our reward was to be reviled by all.
Our reward was that fear of this world, and of the next, died away.
Our reward was to be crowned by the lotus feet of the Virtuous One [the Guru].
My dear companion, this is the life bestowed by our Guru.

4

Our reward was the pre-eminent wealth that is freedom from desire.
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!’
Ah, my dear companion, tell me, what tapas did I perform for this?

There is an indirect reference in the first line to Tirukkural 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.’

The final verse says:

5

Our reward was to wear the garment that never wears out.
Our reward was to possess as ‘I’ the one who is present everywhere.
Our reward was to have [our] false devotion become the true.
My dear companion, this is the life bestowed by our benevolent Guru.

‘The garment that never wears out’ is chid-akasa, the space of consciousness.

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 and to set him on the literary path, he knew he had to coax him out of his near-perpetual samadhi state.

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 Paduturai, published by Chidambaram Ko. Chita. Madalayam. They appear on pages 8-16.

Sorupananda thought, ‘This Tattuvaraya is highly accomplished in composing verses in Tamil. Through him, we should get some sastras composed for the benefit of the world.’

He indicated his will through hints for a long time, but as Tattuvaraya was in nishta [Self-absorption] all the time, he could not act on the suggestions.

Sorupananda eventually decided to accomplish his objective by following a different course of action.

Pretending that he wanted to have an oil bath on a new-moon day, he turned to his attendant and asked, ‘Bring oil’.

Tattuvaraya, who was standing nearby, knew that it was amavasya [new-moon day]. He began to speak by saying ‘Am…’ and then stopped.

It is prohibited to have an oil bath on amavasya. This breach with custom was sufficient to bring Tattuvaraya out of his Self-absorption. He spontaneously uttered ‘Am…’, presumably as a prelude to saying that it was amavasya, 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:

As soon as he heard Tattuvaraya speak, Sorupananda pretended to be angry with him.

He said, ‘Can there be any prohibitions for me, I who am abiding beyond time, having transcended all the sankalpas that take the form of dos and don’ts? Do not stand before me! Leave my presence!’

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.’

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.

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:

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 Paramaguru [Sivaprakasa Swami]. These were noted down by some of Sorupananda’s other disciples.

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.

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.’

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.

Meanwhile, Tattuvaraya was pining and lamenting: ‘Alas, I have become unfit to have the darshan of my Guru. Henceforth, in which birth will I have his darshan?’

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 Paduturai. He was close to the edge of the sea and was about to die.

When the disciples went to Sorupananda and updated him about these events, he [relented and] said, ‘Ask the ‘Guruvukku Veengi’ [the one whose obsessive desire for his Guru is making him ill] to come here’.

When Tattuvaraya heard about this, he was completely freed from his bodily suffering, and he also regained the power to walk [forwards].

The Pulavar Puranam, 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:

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’.

Experiencing supreme bliss, he sang some more portions of Paduturai, and then returned to the presence of the Guru. He stood there, shedding tears, in ecstasy, singing the praises of his Guru.

Sorupananda merely said, ‘Iru’.

Iru 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.

Tattuvaraya lived happily there, serving his Guru.

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.

Then he thought to himself, ‘These sastras will be useful only for the learned and not for others’.

He told Tattuvaraya, ‘Son, you have sung all these sastras for your own benefit, but not for the benefit of the people of the world’.

The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the cooks who informed Sorupananda, ‘Swami, you should come to have your food’.

When Sorupananda went for his meal, Tattuvaraya, who was left alone, pondered over the words of his Guru. Concurring with his remarks, he composed Sasivanna Bodham 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.

The next incident is the story of the bharani 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:

Tattuvaraya composed some Vedanta sastras, but was mostly in samadhi. 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.

[They read the bharani and complained:] ‘A bharani 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?’

To this Tattuvaraya replied, ‘As our Guru kills the ego-elephants of disciples, I sang in this way’.

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?’

Tattuvaraya, thinking that they should be shown through a demonstration, resumed his samadhi state, without replying to them.

Under the power and influence of Sorupananda all the pandits who came remained in paripurnam [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.

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 to bring them all to maturity simultaneously.’

Then they composed their own verses in praise of the bharani and departed.

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 Venba Antadi (100 verses), Kalitturai Antadi (100 verses), Irattaimanimalai (20 verses), Nanmanimalai (40 verses), Jnana Vinodan Kalambagam (101 verses), Kali Madal (232 verses), Ula (393 verses), and many, many more. Then there was the bharani that Bhagavan mentioned: a 493-verse poem (Ajnavatai Bharani) on the annihilation of ignorance by the ‘hero’ Sorupananda. Mokavatai Bharani was another 850-verse bharani 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 Sasivanna Bodham. This is the work that Tattuvaraya composed while Sorupananda was having his meal.

There are, in addition, two long anthologies of Tamil poetry that contain more of Tattuvaraya’s verses: Peruntirattu (The Great Anthology), and Kuruntirattu (The Short Anthology). 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.

Muruganar, at Bhagavan’s behest, composed Sri Ramana Sannidhi Murai, modelling it on Manikkavachagar’s Tiruvachakam. In another interesting parallel Tattuvaraya composed Paduturai, a 1,140-verse collection of verses that are derived from contemporary folk songs. This work is also loosely based on Tiruvachakam. The ‘Lady Telling her Maid’ poem that appeared earlier in this article comes from this collection of verses.

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 Sri Ramana Stuti Panchakam, addresses Bhagavan himself as ‘Tattuvaraya’ in the second line of verse nine of ‘Kalaippattu’. This poem is chanted every Saturday evening in Bhagavan’s samadhi hall.

In addition to the original Tamil compositions and the anthologies he compiled, Tattuvaraya also translated Brahma Gita and Iswara Gita from Sanskrit into Tamil.

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:

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? (Jnana Vinodan Kalambagam v. 99)

The passing of both Sorupananda and Tattuvaraya is described in the traditional story of their lives:

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.

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] darshan before shining as akanda paripurna satchitananda [the undivided transcendent fullness, being-consciousness-bliss].

In the context of what follows, this is the author’s way of saying that Sorupananda took mahasamadhi.

After performing his Guru’s samadhi 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 mahasamadhi.

Tattuvaraya’s samadhi shrine is located at Irumbudur, which lies between Vriddhachalam and Chidambaram.

Tattuvaraya's samadhi shrine. The president of Sri Ramanasramam, Sri V. S. Ramanan, can be seen on the right.

Tattuvaraya: Amrita Saram

This installment in the series on Tattuvaraya and Sorupananda comprises a sample of verses from a vedantic work by Tattuvaraya entitled Amrita Saram (The Essence of Nectar). 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.

All the translations are by T. V. Venkatasubramanian, Robert Butler and myself.



1 Reverence to the Lord

To those who possess the eye of jnana, Sorupan, the reality, is the effulgence of jnana-ananda. 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.

In the first verse Tattuvaraya salutes his Guru, Sorupananda, equating him with the bliss of jnana.

5 The greatness of the jnani’s words

What does it matter to what caste they [jnanis] 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.

6 Name of the work

A whole lifetime will not suffice for anyone to comprehend clearly the truth through studying the Vedas and Agamas. By studying this work [though], the heart will abide in the ocean of amrita [nectar]. It is therefore given the name Amrita Saram [The Essence of Nectar].

7 Expression of modesty

When formerly the three gods explained the import of the utterances of the Vedas, 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’.

8 Declaring the good [or beneficial] path

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.

9 That which is rare

It is rare indeed to obtain a human birth. Even if one gets it, it is more rare to study the jnana scriptures. Rarer still is to become one who possesses renunciation. But rarer than that is to become one possessing knowledge of reality.

10 The characteristic of a jnani

The jnani 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 Vedas.

11 The jnani’s actions

For both the jnani and the ajnani external conduct in activities such as eating look identical. But the mind of jnani 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].

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 ajnani actions are undertaken to yield sensory pleasures, but those same actions, if performed by a jnani, yield the bliss of the Self.

12 The jnani’s conduct

Will he think ‘This is good,’ or ‘This is bad’? Is not the entire world food for the jnani? Could there be any rule whereby a fire raging in the forest might discriminate between trees, thinking, ‘One good and another bad’?

13 Greatness of the jnani

Space is extremely vast, but the great maya 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.

14 Greatness of service to the jnani

Whenever the powerful jnani 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 jnani?

15 Greatness of puja to the jnani

When the jnani eats, everyone in the universe has eaten. [Even] Brahma, Vishnu and Siva have eaten. He who worships a perfect jnani, regarding him as Sivam, has indeed feasted his eyes fully on the Supreme Being and worshipped Him.

16 Those who revile the jnani

Those who revile the powerful jnani, those who listen to it [the abuse], those who do not get angry hearing the abuse, those who permit the jnani 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.

17 Improper conduct

Those cruel hypocrites who have not removed the faults in their deluded minds, claiming, without having gained the true jnana 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].

‘For the sake of food’ denotes any kind of material benefit that is gained from pretending to be enlightened.

20 The cause of the world

They will say ‘Atoms are the cause’; ‘Great maya is the cause’; ‘A combination of atoms is the cause’; ‘The five elements are the cause’; ‘The gunas 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.

21 Cause and effect are not different

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.

22 Cause and effect are not different

The Lord is the underlying screen that is His one Self, which is the pure light of jnana ananda. 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.

25 The quality of all-pervasiveness

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.

Some Hindu texts posit that there are 8.4 million (84 lakhs) of species in which one can incarnate.

26 Destruction

The body comprising the five elements will be destroyed in the elements. The five elements, beginning with space, will be destroyed in maya. Great maya, the darkness, in which multiplicity has ended, will be destroyed by the jnana that arises here [in this world], saturated with the light of being.

27 The cause of birth

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.

35 The base nature of the body

When their prana 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.

37 The despicable nature of enjoyment

The asuna 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.

41 The base nature of swarga [heavenly worlds]

[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 devas are born and die, what is the glory that those who rule the deva world attain?

42 Impermanence

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.

44 Renunciation

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.

The verse includes an indirect reference to Tirukkural 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?’

80 The argument that prarabdha is supreme

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 prarabdha is ignorance.

82 Taking kaya kalpas

We have not known anyone who lived for ever in this sea-girt world through kaya kalpa 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?

Kaya kalpas are medicines that aim prolong the human lifespan or produce physical immortality.

83 Caste

Freedom from the primal ignorance is the caste of the rare tapasvins. Will they make even the slightest mention of differences in caste? Only those who possess jnana belong to the noble caste and lineage, and deserve to be worshipped. The rest are low-caste people.

84 Bathing in holy water

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.

85 Puja

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 abhishekam, gather flowers, cleanse the precincts with cow-dung, and eventually perform puja.

86 Knowing the many paths

You who are a tapasvin 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 Vedas, is the way of liberation.

87 Learning sastras

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.

88 Attempting to know by measurement

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.

89 Disputation

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.

92 The noble way

If the truth is known clearly, then that path which remains without conflict with any other path will be the path of becoming sat. If there is God’s grace, it is easy to attain. In the absence of God’s grace, it will be difficult for everyone.

95 Sathya [truthfulness]

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 Vedas, which speak a lot about purity, say that truth [sathya] is only the Supreme, the Imperishable One.

The first sentence refers to Tirukkural 291: ‘If you ask, “What is truth?”, it is to utter words that are entirely free of any harmful effect.’

Yamas and niyamas 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 yamas.

96 Ahimsa [non-violence]

Ahimsa 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 ahimsa to oneself.

97 Asteya [non-stealing]

They say that to steal a thing either through force or deceit is theft. But if we are to declare the doctrine of jnanis, stealing is to regard the body, which does not belong to one, as ‘I’ and ‘mine’.

98 Brahmacharya

Brahmacharya is to avoid the company of women, but those who truly possess brahmacharya are the ones who have become one with Brahman, which is extremely difficult to attain.

99 Arjava [honesty], dhriti [steadfastness] and daya [compassion]

Arjava [honesty] is to view completely as one mother, father, son, daughter, wife, and evil enemies. Dhriti [steadfastness] is conviction in the way of the Vedas. Daya [compassion] is to have love like a mother [towards her children].

100 Kshama [patience]

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.

103 Tapas

Tapas is curtailing one’s food through vows and tormenting the body. But the tapas 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 Sivam?’

Verses 103 and 104 elaborate on two of the ten niyamas.

104 Santosham [contentment]

Contentment is to be satisfied by acceptance of whatever one gets. But the Vedas’ 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.

117 Ridiculing siddhis

There will be trouble for those who contemplate the wealth of siddhis, beginning with anima. Without realising that ashtanga yoga is a step towards attaining jnana, they are crazy, like those who lift an iron wall, using [flimsy] sugarcane as a lever, and willingly gather bran.

Anima, the first of the eight listed siddhis, is the ability to shrink oneself to a minute form.

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 siddhis that ultimately have little or no use.

127 The six defects

Food and drink are the prana’s. 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.

129 The three malas

The three defilements anava [ego], maya and karma, which remain closely merged with the jiva, not allowing the jiva 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.

137 The three attachments

All relationships that arise constitute attachment to offspring. All the sankalpas constitute attachment to the world. All the sense objects enjoyed constitute attachment to wealth. These three attachments will leave if one sees the reality.

148 Tattvas

If one knows the truth of the indestructible reality, then the rest of the various tattvas 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?

159 The mahavakya

In the three words ‘That you are’ ‘That’ refers to Brahman, ‘you’ refers to jiva, the word ‘are’ refers to the union of Brahman and jiva, achieved through casting off the limitation, the body.

165 The difference between the jiva and the Supreme

In the body there are two, a knower and a witness, known as jiva and Iswara. The differences that can be ascribed as base and excellent qualities exist through limitations, but their swarupa is identical.

The implication of the original Tamil, which is hard to convey in a literal translation, is that once the jiva comes into existence with a limited outlook, the opposite and complementary entity, Iswara, comes into existence with no limitation on it.

167 The Supreme

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.

168 Jiva and the supreme are not different

If the limitations are destroyed, the jiva 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.

169 Cause of maya

If one seeks to know the fundamental cause of maya, 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.

171 The world

This world, a delusory dream, consisting of infinite differences, is seen as different from oneself, and as if real [in the sleep of maya]. When the sleep of maya ends, how can this world, which is destroyed in jnana, come into existence? Can there be dreaming after one wakes up from sleep?

172 The world

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 jnana, shines through [the grace of the] Sadguru. If fire is generated in wood, can the wood exist?

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 Sadguru, brings out the latent fire within the wood.

173 The primacy of jnana

If the three paths charya, kriya and yoga do not become steps towards jnana, 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 jnana.

The practices of charya, kriya and yoga are part of the Saiva Siddhanta tradition. Kriya is worshipping Siva inwardly and outwardly, charya is rendering service in a temple and worshipping there, and yoga denotes inward meditation on Siva.

174 The characteristic of jnana

Jnana 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.

175 The greatness of jnana

The rare Vedas position karma, which tosses one about, at the bottom. But they wear jnana on their heads without any contradiction and confusion. Only they know the greatness of jnana. The rest do not.

176 Jnana puja

To bathe in the tears of bliss, to worship strewing beautiful flowers of love, offering oneself as consecrated food, to view all the chid and jada appearing before one as Sivam – this is the puja to Siva.

178 The power of jnana

Do all the innumerable punyas and papas that attach to one exist when the fire of jnana is kindled? Is there anything that remains unburnt along with ignorance? When a forest is caught in a fire, does any tender tree survive?

179 Slipping from yoga

If a jnana sadhaka happens to die midway [through his sadhana] 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.

181 The means for liberation

Karma performed without desiring its fruits, listening to [expositions of] jnana scriptures, shanti, and renunciation are the means to attain a Guru. He is the means to gain the hard-to-attain liberation.

182 The Guru’s characteristic

O Lord! I am not any of those things beginning with the body, which is a prison, and ending with mind. The Vedas declared ‘You are That!’ But if you ask, ‘What am I?’, the Guru will declare, ‘You are this. See!’

183 The greatness of the Guru

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?

184 Incompetent gurus

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.

185 The mature disciple

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.

186 The immature disciple

They do not have tapas, 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.

187 The immature disciple

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.

Tattuvaraya: Paduturai

This fourth installment of the series on Tattuvaraya and Sorupananda comprises extracts from Paduturai, 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.

Paduturai 29: Nenjirku Amaivurai [Advice to the Heart on Being Still]

1

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?

2

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 prarabdha does not permit you to eat them, either through illness or for other reasons, will it not speedily annul all those enjoyments for you?

3

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.

[‘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.]

4

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?

5

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.

[Sadhus use wood ash to keep themselves warm in winter.]

6

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?

7

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.

8

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.

9

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]!

10

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.

11

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.

12

When in this life the embodied jiva 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!

13

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 jnana, which engenders forbearance, and [remaining] at their feet, carry out their commands in a single-minded manner.

14

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.

15

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!

16

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].

17

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.

18

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.

19

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.

20

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.

21

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.

22

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.


Paduturai 33: Arudi Uraittal [Definitive Declarations]

1

If this samsara does not end before giving up this body, we will again and again come, be born as a baby, suffer and die. See!

2

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!

3

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!

4

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!

5

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!

6

If you do not subside and abide [as the Self], knowing that consciousness is your form, thereby freeing yourself from all suffering, maya will plunder you, turn you into a body and make you dance as a leather marionette. See!

7

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!

8

Do not suffer extreme misery by placing your head under binding sankalpas. 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!

9

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!

10

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!


Paduturai 58: Sivaprakasa Swamigal Kuravai

When Manikkavachagar composed Tiruvachakam more than a thousand years ago, he used the motifs of children’s games and women’s pastimes to express the journey that the jiva must make towards union with Siva. Tattuvaraya adopted this literary form in many of the sections of Paduturai. 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.

The ‘Sivaprakasa Swamigal’ in the title is the Guru of Sorupananda. Kuravai 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.

1

Singing of the nature of those feet that,
though far beyond the Vedas’ reach,
came easily to wretched me,
raise the cry called kuravai.

That all the world may know the greatness of the grace
with which the Supreme Lord made me his,
raise the cry called kuravai.

Singing of how he bestowed his glance of grace,
so that in a trice births which grasp and cling were rooted out,
raise the cry called kuravai.

Saying, ‘All thought has perished,
learning has been destroyed.
Jnana itself became my eye,’
raise the cry called kuravai.

2

Singing of the richness through which,
with a single matchless word,
he revealed the whole [truth],
raise the cry called kuravai.

Singing of how in an instant
he wiped out the bonds of births
that endure for aeons of time,
raise the cry called kuravai.

Singing of the nature whereby a unique clarity,
impossible to describe,
suffused my mind with sweetness and remained there,
raise the cry called kuravai.

Singing of the perfect nature whereby he seeking came,
thinking us poor wretches to be worthy,
and bent us to his rule,
raise the cry called kuravai.

3

Singing of the radiant feet that consumed even that consciousness
which is the light that swallowed up the seven worlds,
raise the cry called kuravai.

Singing of the enduring state of Him who is the deathless reality,
which has become form, formless,
and neither with or without form,
raise the cry called kuravai.

Singing of the grace with which he transformed my mind,
which trembled like the moon reflected in water,
into Sivam, his own nature,
raise the cry called kuravai.

Singing of how his jnana utterances and smile
abolished the [so-called] wisdom of wretched me,
raise the cry called kuravai.


Paduturai 59: Sri Sorupananda Swamigal Kunalai

Kunalai is either a dance accompanied by shouting or a warrior’s shout of valour or defiance.

1

Proclaiming how the reality that the Vedas speak of
came in human form, cry kunalai!

Telling how he placed upon my head his feet,
which even Vishnu in delusion [could not find], cry kunalai!

Telling how my mind, which heaved like the thundering ocean,
in an eye’s blink was destroyed, cry kunalai!

Proclaiming how impossible it is to see [the mind],
except as the form of consciousness, cry kunalai!

2

Telling how the path we walk twixt birth and death was blocked,
and grass grew thereupon, cry kunalai!

Telling how, even while existing with this body,
we dwelt in the state of liberation, cry kunalai!

Proclaiming how we dwelt as consciousness,
free of forgetting and remembering, cry kunalai!

Proclaiming, ‘We shall not forget the might of the Liberal One
who granted us his grace,’ cry kunalai!

3

Proclaiming, ‘Even if we recite a crore of srutis,
[bliss] will not be revealed,’ cry kunalai!

Proclaiming, ‘With a single word from Sorupananda,
bliss will appear,’ cry kunalai!

Proclaiming, ‘We have seen with our own eyes the reality
that cannot be conceived by mind,’ cry kunalai!

Proclaiming, ‘Seeing his fair and compassionate feet,
we have beheld a vision of delight,’ cry kunalai!

4

Proclaiming, ‘We have freed ourselves from the agitating net of the scriptures,
that come to us in the form of words,’ cry kunalai!

Proclaiming, ‘We have experienced delight in the blissful ocean of the Self,
impossible to describe,’ cry kunalai!

Proclaiming, ‘We have forgotten the mind that values
the filth-ridden body,’ cry kunalai!

Proclaiming, ‘We value the understanding which comes
when [such a] mind is abolished,’ cry kunalai!

5

Proclaiming, ‘The flood of endless bliss abounds everywhere about us,’
cry kunalai!

Proclaiming, ‘The idea of “all” will not occur even though forgetfulness,’
cry kunalai!

Ever asserting his [Sorupananda’s] skill in saying
‘Remain still and see,’ cry kunalai!

Continuously praising the one who granted
that we should thus live and prosper, cry kunalai!


Paduturai 60: Pakati

Pakati is a masquerade dance, or a dance performed around a pole. The ‘he’ mentioned in all the verses is Sorupananda.

1

Saying, ‘He is the destroyer of the sins that, never leaving,
accompany us from age to age,’
dance pakati.

Saying, ‘He is the great mountain of compassion,
who has raised his banner,
vowing to bring me under his rule by revealing his feet,’
dance pakati.

Saying, ‘He is the Skilful One, who through his glance,
contrived that I should perish, becoming his own Self,’
dance pakati.

Saying, ‘He is the hero who, despite pervading them,
is not touched by the whole that consists of bodies,
worlds and jivas, all combined,’
dance pakati.

2

Saying, ‘He is the Wise One, who slew religious rituals
that rise in ten crore ways,’
dance pakati.

Saying, ‘He is the one who, for the four Vedas and the Three [trimurti],
was impossible to reach,
though they worshipped him with heads bowed low,’
dance pakati.

Saying, ‘He is the One
who came and subjected me forcibly to his rule,
as I lived in deceit with arrogant pride as my support,’
dance pakati.

Saying, ‘He bestowed upon me his own nature,
which no word can describe,
as clearly as the gem in my palm,’
dance pakati.

3

Saying, ‘Beautifully did he transmute the sorrow
that arises as the knower and the things known,’
dance pakati.

Saying, ‘Having revealed that the things
that are known exist in [objectified] consciousness,
he annihilated that consciousness in the knower,’
dance pakati.

Saying, ‘He gazed upon me so that the entities known as the senses,
the organs of sense and of action, jiva and Iswara,
assumed to be different, were all abolished,’
dance pakati.

Saying, ‘We have become the incomparable light,
the all-embracing fullness that knows no divisions,’
dance pakati.


Paduturai 62: Sorupananda Swamigal Ammanai

Ammanai 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 ammanai poem over a thousand years ago when he was at Adi-annamalai, on the western side of Arunachala. Muruganar has an ammanai poem in Sri Ramana Sannidhi Murai.


If we adorn ourselves with the twin feet of Sorupan, ‘Ammanai!’
We can cut through the entanglement of the five senses: ‘Ammanai!’
We can remain with nothing other than us existing: ‘Ammanai!’
We can wipe off persistent births: ‘Ammanai!’

They won’t think of seeing with closed eyes: ‘Ammanai!’
Those who close their eyes will not see the Self: ‘Ammanai!’
If the jyoti that obscures space shines, ‘Ammanai!’
Then we can just be, without waking up and going to sleep: ‘Ammanai!’

We saw time, direction and space, ‘Ammanai!’
But they cannot see ‘us’ who see ‘them’: ‘Ammanai!’
Know that swarupa is not other than consciousness: ‘Ammanai!’
We put an end to accepting and rejecting: ‘Ammanai!’

We are not aware of night and day: ‘Ammanai!’
We became the form of bliss itself: ‘Ammanai!’
We transcended words and their meaning: ‘Ammanai!’
This is the freedom of Sorupananda: ‘Ammanai!’