श्रीः
ॐ नमो भगवते श्रीरमणाय
Sri Arunachala Aksharamanamalai – Verses 31 - 40
In the Gita, Bhagavan Sri Krishna says in 6.20 – आत्मसंस्थं मनः कृत्वा न किचिदपि चिन्तयेत् – Placing the mind in the self, cease thinking. When the mind is in the right place, the desired state is reached – this is the state of yoga. Bhagavan said - chumma iru. Just be. Turn the mind inwards and trace your way back to the self. There you will find ananda as your own very nature.
31 – சுகக்கடல் பொங்கச் சொல் உணர்வு அடங்கச்
O Arunachala! When the ocean of bliss surges forth, and as a result, my speech and thoughts subside, rise and rest there (in my heart)
This verse describes one of the most well-known teachings of
Bhagavan – chumma iru. Just be.
32 – சூது செய்து என்னைச் சோதியாது இனி உன்
O Arunachala! Without deceiving me and testing me anymore, show me your self-luminous form.
This is a prayer to Ishvara’s maya shakti – which stands in the way of self- realisation. The fact that the self-luminous jyoti is not seen, is the deceit. This jyoti is nitya-siddha, it cannot be blocked / obscured.
विद्यमानस्य आत्मनः तिरस्करणम् is deceit – when we ignore what is directly being experienced. What does this deceit do? It keeps us in ignorance, which limits us, makes us feel incomplete and imposes desires upon us. The mind is the force that creates divisions like you, I, he etc. This is maya at work. When we rein the mind inwards, we allow the self to manifest.
33 – செப்படிவித்தை கற்று இப்படி மயக்குவிட்டு
O Arunachala! Remove the power of maya which makes me look for delusory knowledge (worldly matters / siddhis) but guide me to true knowledge / para vidya, which gives lasting bliss through abidance in the self.
As long as we keep asking for worldly matters, Ishvara keeps giving it, so we should ask for what matters. ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तांस्तथैव भजाम्यहम्, says Bhagavan Sri Krishna in Gita shloka # 4. 11 – I bestow upon men, the objects that they desire.
Increase in external comforts does not translate to improvement in quality of happiness. It only enslaves us. Bhagavan’s prayer is for a higher state - to guide the devotee to ask for real knowledge, instead of worldly matters. This gives freedom, independent of external objects. It is said – सा विद्या या विमुक्तये - that is knowledge, which liberates.
34 – சேராய் எனில் மெய் நீராய் உருகிக் கண்நீர்
O Arunachala! If you do not join me, my body will melt into water, and I will drown in the river of tears - I shall be destroyed.
Advaita-bhakti is the sign of a seeker – the highest state of bhakti is that of oneness with Ishvara. The purpose of this birth, is to realise this. If Arunachala does not help the devotee by displaying his self-luminous form (Verse # 32), the purpose of human birth will not be met. So the devotee plunges into sorrow.
Bhagavan is believed to have been seated on Bhagavan’s bridge as he
sang this verse, looking at Arunachala, with tears streaming down his cheeks. It
demonstrates the anguish experienced by a jeeva when he is away from the state
of oneness with Ishvara.
35 – சை எனத்தள்ளில் செய்வினை சுடும் அலால்
(This is considered an important verse for mananam)
O Arunachala! If you spurn and reject me, my prarabdha will burn me. How then can I be saved? Show me the path of knowledge!
Knowledge of the self, is the only way to escape the bondage of karma. This verse, together with the previous one, demonstrates the fate of the sadhaka who strays away from Ishvara. The only real anguish is when one is separated from the self. All the other connections / relationships that we hold on to, are impermanent.
How does one get separated? தள்ளில் - Forgetting Ishvara means we forget our own svarupam, and enter the jurisdiction of sorrow and death. In samskritam we call this ‘pramada’ – Kathopanishad says in # 2.6.11 - तां योगमिति मन्यन्ते स्थिरामिन्द्रियधारणाम्। अप्रमत्तस्तदा भवति .....– when one is free from the vagaries of the mind and is instead constantly fixed on the aatma, he is not under pramada. This is the state of yoga. Merely controlling the sense organs does not suffice, because that sort of contrived control, is subject to ups and downs. Success is achieved only when the mind is irrevocably fixed on the aatma.
Every sorrow or trial is an opportunity to remember Ishvara. Sorrow gives us the ability to discriminate, equips us with strength and motivation, makes us meditate on Ishvara and stay close to him. The shastram tells us to accept sorrow and use it to gain knowledge and reach our svarupam.
For example, Arjuna’s sorrow converted itself into yoga. Bhagavan
Sri Krishna starts the Gitopadesha in # 2.11 with अशोच्यान् अन्वशोचस्त्वं प्रज्ञावादांश्च
भाषसे – you speak wise words, Arjuna, and grieve what ought not to be grieved.
If we forget Ishwara, and instead get attached to the body, we are bound by its problems and difficulties. The purpose of the body is to exhaust prarabdha (effects of past karma). The body being an impermanent entity, comes with sorrow, which latches on to us if we identify with it. This is what Bhagavan means by ‘my prarabdha will burn me’. We have to accept the result of our karma without a choice.
In Srimad Bhagavatam, Dattatreya talks about this incident - a vulture which flies holding a piece
of meat, is hounded by crows. When it realises that letting go of the meat is
the only release, it is free. Similarly, we must let go of the source of
trouble - the identity with the body.
This does not mean that we do not allow the body and mind to perform karma – it means we function in the state of naishkarmya. Bhagavan Sri Krishna calls is कर्मण्यकर्मदर्शनम् – seeing akarma in karma by renouncing agency / doership. By performing karma as a Yoga, the karma no longer binds us. Rather, by purifying our minds, it helps liberate us – the body can do its actions but there is no bondage due to ego. ज्ञानिना चरितुं शक्यं सम्यक्राज्यादिलौककम्, says Vidyaranya Swami in Panchadashi – a jnani can do all karma, including managing a kingdom.
36 – சொல்லாது சொல்லி நீ சொல்லற நில் என்று
O Arunachala! Saying “just be” without speaking it in words,
you stayed achalam yourself.
Arunachala communicates powerfully, he teaches incessantly without speaking, as Guru Dakshinamurthy. The teaching is சொல்லற நில் – to stay achalam like himself. It is paradoxical to communicate to the student to stay in silence (absence of vrittis), if the Guru uses words to communicate it. The sahaja samadhi state of the jnani is one in which words, mano-vruttis, including the I thought do not arise. The teaching is difficult to explain in words, it has to be realised. In Vivekachudamani, Shankaracharya says - अतीव सूक्ष्मं परमार्थतत्त्वं न स्थूलदृष्ठ्या प्रतिपत्तुमर्हति। (# 361) - The truth is very subtle. It cannot be understood by a superficial mind.
37 – சோம்பியாய்ச் சும்மா சுகம் உண்டு உறங்கிடில்
O Arunachala! Without doing anything, if I just remain
in the self, is there a way other than this? Please tell me.
Not doing anything here means the body and mind are not actively involved in what does not concern the aatma. They merely perform their ordained karma without selfish desires. In the bhakti path, they perform everything as instruments of Ishvara. The thoughts in the mind have therefore subsided, there is an indifference to all external triggers which work on the ego. The jnani is immersed in the bliss of the self, which is not contingent on external factors. Is there a state higher than this, is the question asked Bhagavan. The only desire is to hold on to Ishvara / brahma svarupam. When we desire anything else, Ishvara disappears. In Gita, the sthithaprajna is described simply as आत्मन्येवात्मना तुष्टः - he is happy in the self.
An easy way to internalise this is by the story of the camel and the traveller. When the camel enters the tent, it edges the original occupant out. Likewise when Ishvara enters the heart, the ego goes out. The seeker now forgets the non-self and remembers only the self. Remembering the non-self is in our samksara. The result of knowledge of the self, is to negate the effect of this samskara.
O Arunachala! You displayed your valour by destroying my ignorance.
After doing so, you seem to remain as an unmoving force.
The verse symbolises the life of all jnanis. When Ishvara showers his grace, the jeeva’s ego is destroyed. He longer feels that something has to be achieved / attained, he feels complete. Ishvara occupies his heart now, in an unmoving manner. There is no desire-driven action. He is achalam. Having accomplished the goal, Ishvara also returns to his natural achalam state.
When the ajnani goes about his worldly tasks, he is under the
impression ‘I am doing work’. This is the ego at work. Yoga Vashishta says – नाहङ्कारात्
परो रिपुः – there is no greater enemy than the ego. This ego (சழக்கு = the power of maya) is removed when Ishvara shows his prowess.
39 – ஞமலியில் கேடா நான் என் உறுதியால்
O Arunachala! Am I worse than a dog? I will approach you and attain you, holding on to your scent. I will seek you and remain one with you.
A dog has faith on the owner, and identifies him by his smell even if he changes his outward appearance. If separated from him, the dog uses his scent to retrace the route and locate him – this is the dog’s single-minded goal.
Bhagavan says that through self-enquiry as to from which source my
“I” thought arises, what my real svarupam is, I will use the route by which I ended
up in this state, to find my way back to you, O Arunachala. Using his shraddha
and detachment from non-essentials (vairagyam), the sadhaka can do this.
The simile of the dog holding on to the scent
has been used, to indicate that we need to trace our way back inwards and seek
the source from where the ‘I’ originates.
The stages until the goal is reached, are:
- Aham vritti – as a mental modification - this is seen and experienced as I do, I feel, I think, etc.
- Aham sphuranam - as a mere throbbing.
- Aham bodha - as bodha – known as aatma (my existence). This is known when we trace the vrutti back to its source
40 – ஞானம் இல்லாது உன் ஆசையால் தளர்வு அற
O Arunachala! I have a desire to attain you, even though I do not have knowledge. I am weary and suffering in samsara. Shower your compassion and grant me that knowledge with which I can attain you, let me experience you.
Ishvara’s grace puts us on the path of enquiry. Ignorance puts us on the road towards objectives which take us away from moksha and distracts us from seeking moksha. Knowledge is the only remedy. Bhagavan said சுங்கச்சாவடி தப்பாது - One cannot escape the toll gate. This is knowledge of the self.
Bhagavan often quoted the Kaivalya Navaneetam verse which says that one has to choose the aatma, and all the problems will vanish – உன்னை நீ தேர்ந்தையானால் உனக்கு ஒரு கேடுமில்லை. Choosing wisely is the first step.
यत्र योगेश्वरः कृष्णो यत्र पार्थो धनुर्धरः । तत्र श्रीर्विजयो भूतिर्ध्रुवा नीतिर्मतिर्मम ॥
सर्वं श्रीकृष्णार्पणमस्तु
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