श्रीः
ॐ नमो भगवते श्रीरमणाय
Sri Arunachala Stuti Panchakam
Sri Arunachala Stuti Panchakam is the name given to the collection of 5 works on Arunachala, composed by Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. They are Arunachala Aksharamanamalai, Arunachala Navamanimalai, Arunachala Padigam, Arunachala Ashtakam and Arunachala Pancharatnam.
Arunachala is a manifestation of Paramatma's grace, a vibhuti. When we recognise this as a vibhuti, the ever-flowing grace from him has no obstruction because one is able to surrender to this vibhuti. The mind is cleansed and the intellect becomes one-pointed. Surrender happens naturally. External anchors are let go of.
Bhagavan Sri Krishna explains this in chapter 10.
एतां विभूतिं योगं च मम योग वेत्ति तत्त्वत:।
सोऽविकम्पेन योगेन युज्यते नात्र संशयः।।(10.7)
He who understands my manifested glory and creative power, is endowed with unwavering yoga or steady abidance in knowledge of the self.
Recognition of a vibhuti outside, leads to manifestation of yoga within by destruction of the ego through surrender and enquiry.
This process was evident in Bhagavan's life - hearing the name Arunachala and recognising it to be Paramatma, surrendering to it and eventual realisation by aatma-vichara.
Bhagavan had already had an indication of his realisation, much before he arrived in Arunachala. It was this that took him to the physical proximity of his Guru. In Arunachala Padigam, he says that he had been taken over by grace (he calls Arunachala the 'kaanta-parvatam' - the magnetic mountain, which pulls the seeker towards itself). It is a hill which has always attracted people dedicated to the tapas of knowledge.
This blog is an attempt to capture the (superficial) meaning of these highly esoteric literary works, purely for the sake of anusandhanam while doing parayanam. It is my belief and hope that deep contemplation on the verses, will serve as their own commentary.
In Arunachala tattvam, Sri Muruganar says Arunachala is the heart which rises and shines when the ego is vanquished. In Deepa Darshana tattvam, Bhagavan explains that experiencing the nondual light of the self by turning inwards, having rejected the notion that the body is the real "I", is the real significance of seeing the light on Arunachala.
Read Arunachala Tattvam and Deepa Darshana Tattvam https://vedantalearning.blogspot.com/2025/11/sri-arunachala-tattvam-deepa-darshana.html
In Arunachala Mahatmyam, Bhagavan recounts the puranic incident which led to the manifestation of Arunachala, and reiterates that merely by thinking of Arunachala, one is liberated.
Read Arunachala Mahatmyam https://vedantalearning.blogspot.com/2025/11/sri-arunachala-mahatmyam.html
Sri Arunachala Stuti Panchakam
1. In Navamanimalai, he describes the achala-tattvam of Arunachala. The crowning glory of this work is the 7th verse, where he says எனக்கோர் குறையுண்டோ? - can I have any complaint ever since you took me over. This teaches us how to surrender - to refuse to look at transient inconveniences but focus on the eternal truth. This is the way to contentment and peace. He reiterates that Arunachala had given him his own state by destroying his ego and individuality - உன் பதத்தில் இருத்தினை. When we allow the grace to fall upon us, he enters the mind and removes the ahankara - there is the realisation that I am purna / complete, and that I have always been purna.
Read Arunachala Navamanimalai https://vedantalearning.blogspot.com/2025/12/sri-arunachala-navamanimalai.html
2. Devotees frequently asked Bhagavan to compose literary works, but he usually declined to because he felt that many works had been created by the Nayanmars and other saints. Aksharamanamalai was composed when devotees requested him for something to chant during bhiksha-atanam. When someone handed him a sheet of paper, he simply wrote "Arunachala" because that was what he usually did when an empty sheet of paper was given to him. Later, he finished it pouring out both the highest nondual truth of Arunachala - that of oneness with Arunachala and also the highest level of bhakti, which is that of union with the Lord. Aksharamanamalai is a veritable symphony of bhakti and jnanam going hand in hand.
Read Aksharamanamalai Introduction and the subsequent blogs (verses 1 to 108) https://vedantalearning.blogspot.com/2024/09/aksharamanamalai-introduction.html
Aksharamanamalai - key learnings for contemplation https://vedantalearning.blogspot.com/2026/02/sri-arunachala-aksharamanamalai.html?m=1
3. On another occasion, the words 'karunaiyaal' had been reverberating in his mind for some time before and when it formed into a full verse, Bhagavan wrote it down as the first verse of Sri Arunachala Padigam. Subsequently, the rest of the verses spontaneously flowed one after the other by a similar sphuranam. This is fashioned as an 'anthaadi' - the last word of each verse is the first word of the following verse.
This is a work which predominantly overflows with bhakti. The highlight of Padigam is the total and unconditional surrender of Bhagavan, at the feet of his guru - Arunachala, who is Ishvara and also the self. He says from now onwards, your wish is my wish - nin ishtam en ishtam (# 2). He offers himself to the lotus feet of Arunachala.
4. In Arunachala Ashtakam, Bhagavan explains the process of Naan yaar vichara - self-enquiry. He starts with his own experience of turning inwards and asking "Who", which was followed by the disappearance of his ego and the manifestation of the one reality as the self.
As far as God-realisation goes, Bhagavan emphasises on not restricting Ishvara to a name and form. When one sees the self in all, he is a sama-darshi. This is the only way to see the divine everywhere. Thereby he worships the divine in every breath and his very life is enveloped by the divine.
The true nature of the self is understood to be the underlying truth of Ishvara - in the third shloka, Bhagavan says when I truly understand my self, it turns out to be you - என்னையான் அறிவுற என்னுரு வேறு ஏது. The separate "I" ceases to exist, only Paramatma exists. This is Advaita.
Read Arunachala Ashtakam https://vedantalearning.blogspot.com/2026/01/sri-arunachala-ashtakam.html
5. Arunachala Pancharatnam - Bhagavan outlines the role of self-enquiry, the importance of a pure mind, bhakti, dhyanam and total surrender. There is a synthesis of bhakti and jnanam in the last verse, by which we understand that the highest state of bhakti (ananya bhakti or aatma nivedanam) is the same as abidance in jnanam - the state where all differences between Ishvara and the jeeva vanish totally. This is why Krishna says repeatedly in the Gita - the jnani is the same as me (ज्ञानी त्वात्मैव मे मतम् - 7.18) and I am the dearest to him and he is the dearest to me (प्रियो हि ज्ञानिनोऽत्यर्थमहं स च मम प्रियः - 7.17).
Read Arunachala Pancharatnam https://vedantalearning.blogspot.com/2026/01/sri-arunachala-pancharatnam-sanskrit.html
When there is a deep desire for bhagavat-praapti but sadhana does not seem to be working, one feels like the bhakta who has left home but has not reached the temple. What we can do, is to ask the Lord to endow us with bhakti and the ability to surrender. This helps us to shed the ego, cleanse the mind of desires and remove the limited sense of 'I am this person - a man, a woman, a student, a mother, etc'. When the ripples in the mind (of desires and negativities, likes and dislikes) are silenced, knowledge dawns.
Paul Brunton writes in his book 'The search in secret India' - "There is a mysterious property in this man which differentiates him from all others I have met. I feel, somehow, that he does not belong to us, the human race, so much as he belongs to Nature, to the solitary peak which rises abruptly behind the hermitage, to the rough tract of jungle which stretches away into the distant forests, and to the impenetrable sky which fills all space. Something of the stony, motionless quality of the lonely Arunachala seems to have entered into the Maharishee." This achala-tattvam that he was, kept him in peace.
By the unlimited grace of Bhagavan, may we reach this achala state of abiding in the self, constantly contemplate on the sweet nectar of the Arunachala Stuti Panchakam and use it in our sadhana. There does not seem to be a more joyful way to approach sadhana than this.
सर्वं श्रीकृष्णार्पणमस्तु
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