श्रीः
ॐ नमो भगवते श्रीरमणाय
Sri Arunachala Aksharamanamalai – Verses 51 - 60
O Arunachala! Unless you touch me with your hand of grace and embrace me, my life will be wasted. Do bestow your grace on me.
As long as the jeeva-bhava remains, oneness with Ishvara cannot be realised. However, sadhana depends on jeeva-bhava. So how does one achieve the state by sadhana? Here is where grace of Ishvara plays a role. By this grace, I have to realise that the effort is not mine, and that all the shakti comes from Ishvara. This grace is what Bhagavan refers to as மெய் கட்டி – embrace me and bless me so that my spiritual effort will not be a failure. Life becomes a wasted one if this effort towards moksha is not undertaken.
52 – தோஷம் இல் நீ அகத்தோடு ஒன்றி என்றும்
சந்தோஷம் ஒன்றிட அருள் அருணாசலா (அ)
May you, who is devoid of faults, bestow your grace on me by becoming one with me, and we may be forever united in bliss.
The route to happiness is to unite with Ishvara by removing abhimanam. Then the antaryami is recognised. Abhimanam / identification with the non-self is the dosha. Removing it leads to bliss.
தோஷம் இல் – faultless - Ishvara is the creator of the universe but is unimpacted by his karma because he has no agency / expectation of result. Bhagavan Sri Krishna explains this in Gita Chapter 4 (4.14 to 4.23, where he explains the concept of performing karma without agency / doership - कर्मण्यकर्मदर्शनम्). Doshas accompany any activity – of the body, mind, etc. The main dosha is the ego, which is created by the mind, and is destroyed when Ishvara has been found as the aatma. This is why Bhagavan says by becoming one with me, make me happy. Bhagavan described his bhiksha-atanam days as the happiest. He lived as one with Arunachala, in anonymity and with no attachments.
53 – நகைக்கு இடம் இலை நின் நாடிய எனை அருள்
நகையிட்டுப் பார் நீ அருணாசலா (அ)
There is no room for mockery. Look at me (who has faults and has approached you for refuge) and adorn me with the smile of your grace. Equip me with the qualifications to receive the teaching and give me the teaching.
Rather than look at my faults (which I cannot remove on my own), adorn me with the ornament of your grace and lift me up, he asks. We observe a cycle of dependencies in the spiritual path - Until complete purity of mind is achieved, knowledge cannot be attained. How does the mind become pure? How do I keep performing my karma but without expecting results for myself? Who is my refuge? Can the journey start despite the doshas in me? Am I progressing? This is where Ishvara’s grace again comes in to lift me up. The journey starts with satsanga and Vedanta shravanam, which the sadhaka is drawn to only with His grace and it is the same ornament that Bhagavan asks Arunachala to adorn him with.
The important prerequisite for asking for this, is sharanagati.
Bhagavan Ramana never pointed out devotees’ faults – he only
focused on lifting them out of the faults by turning their minds inward. He
did not see anyone’s gunas / doshas but as saw everyone as the aatma.
In the Gita, Bhagavan Sri Krishna says
अपि
चेत्सुदुराचारो भजते मामनन्यभाक्।
साधुरेव स
मन्तव्यः सम्यग्व्यवसितो हि सः॥9.30॥
क्षिप्रं भवति धर्मात्मा
शश्वच्छान्तिं निगच्छति।
कौन्तेय
प्रतिजानीहि न मे भक्तः प्रणश्यति॥9.31॥
Even if a man of very bad conduct worships me with one-pointed devotion, he is to be considered verily good; for he has resolved rightly. He soon becomes possessed of a virtuous mind; he attains everlasting peace. O son of Kunti, my devotee does not get ruined.
When the flame of aatma vichara is lit and the devotee
thinks only of Ishvara, all sins are removed because he purifies himself in the
process of total surrender. All his karma as well, is done as an instrument of Ishvara.
54 – நாணிலை நாடிட நானாய் ஒன்றி நீ
தாணுவா நின்றனை அருணாசலா (அ)
I approached you without shyness, to unite with you (of my own accord). But you stand still like a pillar (motionless).
The sadhaka here is the jeeva, who is always seeking something. The shyness that Bhagavan refers to, is a result of bheda-bhavana, of seeing duality. When the highest goal is reached, he becomes achala, like a pillar, as one with Paramatma. His mind is at peace, like an ocean without rippples. The waves have merged with the ocean. It is the state of peace.
நின் அருள் மழை பொழி அருணாசலா (அ)
Before the fire (of your knowledge) burns me, and reduces me to
ashes, shower your grace on me to cool me.
In chapter 4 of the Gita, Bhagavan Sri Krishna equates knowledge to fire - it destroys both karma and past sins. In this verse, Bhagavan indicates that the grace of Ishvara is needed, to make the sadhaka equipped (with controlled sense organs, pure mind and one-pointed intellect) to receive this knowledge. Such a sadhaka can internalise the knowledge immediately.
An alternate interpretation of this is - The fire (distress) of intense longing, which results when one is apart from Ishvara, is put out only with his grace. Bhagavan seeks that grace.
56 – நீ நான் அறப்புலி நிதம் களிமயமா
நின்றிடும் நிலை அருள் அருணாசலா (அ)
By uniting with me, destroy false notions of you and I, and thereby bestow on me the state of remaining ever-blissful.
What a beautiful verse this is !
In verse # 43 we said நான் உதியாதுள்ள நிலை - the state in which “I” does not arise. Bhagavan also said that Arunachala gave him His own state தன் பதம் எனக்கு தந்தனன். This is the anugraha that is sought. Imparting this oneness is the characteristic of the enlightened Guru.
This verse communicates Advaita in a few words. Destruction of the
jeeva-bhava / individuality / ego is at the heart of all sadhana. Remove my ego
by merging with me, says Bhagavan. This is the state of no 'you' and 'I'.
57 – நுண்ணுரு உனையான் விண்ணுரு நண்ணிட
எண்(ண) அலை இறும் என்று அருணாசலா (அ)
When will my thought waves cease, so that I can approach you and unite with you, who are of the form of subtle space?
In Who am I, Bhagavan explains the concept of the mind – When the mind, which is the cause of all cognition and of all actions, becomes quiescent, the world will disappear. That which arises in this body as ‘I’ is the mind. The mind becomes quiescent by the enquiry Who am I. This thought will destroy all other thoughts and like the stick used for stirring the burning pyre, it will itself in the end get destroyed. Then there will arise self-realisation.
When there are ripples in the water, the reflection is not seen clearly. Similarly, the thought waves in the mind are like ripples - they pose obstacles for realisation. When the mind is falsified and the thought waves cease, the mind can rest in the aatma, which is its source. The aatma is experienced now. When the aatma is realised, the mind loses all its barriers for ever. In verse # 8, Bhagavan had asked for the roving mind to be made quiescent. Thought waves cease when this happens.
58 – நூலறிவு அறியாப் பேதையன் எந்தன்
மால் அறிவு அறுத்து அருள் அருணாசலா (அ)
I lack spiritual knowledge. I am deluded due to my identification as a jeeva. Remove this delusion and bestow your grace on me.
The delusion is the idea that I am the body / mind / ego - this is primal ignorance which is sought to be removed. Here we must remember that Bhagavan sang these verses on behalf of us, and hence they do not reflect his actual state. While not having gone through a formal scriptural training, Bhagavan still lived as a jnani but for most of us, both shastra jnanam and the guidance of the sadguru are needed.
59 – நெக்கு நெக்கு உருகி யான் புக்கிட உனைப்புக
நக்கனா நின்றனை அருணாசலா (அ)
Melting, I sought to merge with you, and took you as my refuge, and you stood unveiled (as pure chaitanyam).
The jnani is an impersonal principle appearing as a person. He works like the forces of nature - he works perfectly without the ego. The ego has nothing to do with karma, but we make the mistake of mixing them up. When the ego is shed, pure chaitanyam shines through, without damaging the jnani’s ability to perform his ordained karma using his body, mind and intellect as instruments.
60 – நேசம் இல் எனக்கு உன் ஆசையைக் காட்டி நீ
மோசம் செயாது அருள் அருணாசலா (அ)
Having roused desire for you in me (by showing me a glimpse of yourself),
who is devoid of love, you should bestow your grace upon me. Do not cheat me.
Grace awakens the yearning within, in the person who is on the spiritual path. When one yearns for God-realisation, and performs sadhana sincerely, the right environment is created for him, also by grace.
The word அருள் (grace, anugraha) appears in every verse, and sometimes more than once in a verse. This grace is ever-present but we block it with our ego. We attribute actions and results to ourselves. The jnani, on the other hand, attributes everything to grace. When we place the mind and ego (through sadhana), on Ishvara, we are connected to all beings through Him. We now invite him to swallow the ego. This awakens knowledge of the aatma-svarupam and does away with ego.
If we are not mindful of the need to do away with false identities and surrender the ego, our sadhana itself could enhance the ego - one starts feeling I am the greatest bhakta, I am the greatest yogi, etc. Hence clarity on the goal is paramount.
यत्र योगेश्वरः कृष्णो यत्र पार्थो धनुर्धरः । तत्र श्रीर्विजयो भूतिर्ध्रुवा नीतिर्मतिर्मम ॥
सर्वं श्रीकृष्णार्पणमस्तु
Read Verses 61 to 70 - https://vedantalearning.blogspot.com/2024/11/aksharamanamalai-verses-61-to-70.html
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