Ramana Nool Thirattu Urai - Guru's writing

aksharamana malai post 18

28/8/2020

KeezhMel engum kiLaroLi maNiyen
Keezhmaiyai paazh sei Arunachala

Meaning:
Arunachala! Like the rays of the sun that illuminate all objects on earth equally, without bias, whether they are saints and criminals, temple towers and garbage dumps, ripe souls and unripe ones, you shine in the heart of every one, dispel the darkness of ignorance in us with your grace.
Explanation
Even though the jiva (soul) is in reality the Self, it is deluded into identifying with the body as I, this is the lowliest (keezhmaiyanadhu*). The reason for this delusion is ignorance (avidhyai or avidya). Bhagavan is asking Arunachala to destroy this ignorance, which is responsible for all the problems a jiva is beset with. Once this is destroyed what is left is the ever-shining Self and release from all ego-identified miseries.

(*Note: TRK says keezhmayanadhu, which means the lowliest, she doesn’t qualify it as a mistake or a sin but just leaves it at that.)

aksharamana malai post 17

26/8/2020

Giri uruvaagiya kirubai kadale
Kirubai koorndharuLuvai Arunachala

Meaning
Arunachala, even though to the flesh-eye (oonakaNN)you appear to be a hard rocky hill, to the wise-eye (gnana kaNN or mind’s eye) you are an ocean of mercy and compassion. Bestow your grace on me.

My note: Oonam usually means defective or non-functional organ. Here the sense organ is referred to as oonaKann perhaps because it cannot see without the mind. GananaKann literally means wisdom-eye, or eye of a wise person, or a gnani’s eye, even.
Explanation
In the first line Bhagavan says Lord is like a hard rocky hill, in the immediate verse after that he calls him an ocean of compassion. This is called ‘Virodha alankaram’, virodham is enmity/hostility and alankaram is literally ornamentation/embellishment in composing poems.
Instead of asking for what he wants, Bhagavan is saying do as you wish. Since Arunachala knows better than he himself does, it is advisable to let God decide what he wants. Anything Arunachala gives with his grace is what Bhagavan also wants.

Usually when we see a hill we see it as an immobile (achala) state. In daily life, when we approach someone for help in dire need, people say what can that person do, he sits a like a hill. At the same time, it is also said common parlance, ‘I trust you like a mountain’, meaning the person has a stature, a solid presence that can be relied upon. This is one of the ‘Virodha alankarams’ in real life.

aksharamana malai post 16

21/8/2020

Gaandham irumbu pol kavarndhenai vidamal
Kalandhennodu iruppai Arunachala

Meaning
Like a magnet attracts iron, you also draw me, whose mind is forever going outward, with your grace in such a way that you never leave me, and thus be one with me.

Explanation
In the previous verse Bhagavan said that intellectual strength is not enough to see Arunachala. As a helpless being with no control over anything, Bhagavan is asking the Lord’s grace to overcome him and become one with him (irand ara = without two). A jiva cannot come and attain you unless you bestow your boundless grace. Since I cannot come and be one with your grace, you please come and take me over, says Bhagavan.

aksharamana malai post 15

19/8/2020

KaNNukku kaNNai kaNNinidri kaaNunai
kaaNuvadhever paar Arunachala
Meaning
Arunachala! You are the light with which the eye sees everything in this world, in fact you are the eye behind the human eye. When you can see everything without that eye, who can see you and how? Shower your grace so I can see you.

Explanation
Arunachala, you cannot be seen with ego consciousness (jiva bodham). Without your grace it is not possible to see you. The five senses including the eye don’t have the power to see you. Since the mind bestows the light needed for the eye to see, Bhagavan calls Arunachala ‘eye of the eye’ (kaNNukku kNNai) .
Witness can see the jiva (jiva is ego and also the life force, Prana), but jiva cannot see the witness, hence Bhagavan says, Who is there to see you? (kaNuvdhevar paar Arunachala). In our day to day life, it doesn’t make sense to say seeing without our eyes, but what is seen by the “eye that is not the eye” (kaNNindri kaaNudhal = seeing without your eye), is a strange spectacle indeed! Since there is nothing outside of it to see, the eye sees itself, that is there is eye but no seeing.

aksharamana malai post 14

16/8/2020

Avvai pol enakkun aruLaithandhenai
AaLuvadhun kadan Arunachala
Meaning
Arunachala! It is your duty to take me over (aaLuvadhu = dominate) with your grace, compassion (which comes so naturally to you), and unconditional love like a mother. Because you are my mother and father to me now that I have surrendered to you.

Explanation
Avvai in TamilNadu usually refers to Avvaiyar, a wise old lady who was a great saint and poet. She was an ardent devotee of Lord Vinayaka. Avvai also means any elderly lady or a mother. Here Bhagavan is beseeching Arunachala’s grace which manifested when he blessed Avvayar with his darshan, and when he gave his left half to Parvati, his consort.

A mother’s love is second to none. Compassion and affection are ingrained in a mother. Bhagavan is asking Arunachala who is infinitely more compassionate and loving than a mother to take over and protect him who has surrendered.

[Note: In Tamil medium schools children start with Avvayar's Aathichoodi, a short poem written by Avvaiyar 2000 years ago, that teaches the letters of the Tamil alphabet with each letter presenting a moral lesson, for eg: aa which is the first letter has this: Aram seyya virumbu meaning Aim to do good. This way good thoughts enter a child’s mind when they are young and stay with them leading them and guiding them as they grow old.]

aksharamana malai post 13

15/8/2020

Ongarap PoruLoppuyarvilloi
Unai yaar arivar Arunachala
Meaning
Arunachala! You who are shining as the meaning of Omkara, the sound of Om, without equal or peers, who can understand you as you are?
Explanation
Omkaram is Ishwara (Lord)’s sound-form. It’s plenary, peerless, and beyond the reach of thought and word.
[*Note: Avvayar, the great saint also refers to this in her Vinayagar Agaval: ‘… vaakum manamum illa mano layam meaing the state in which there are no thoughts or words.] This form cannot be grasped by any means other than self-enquiry and total surrender. Nor can it be pointed out. It can be realised only in that peaceful , transcendental (aparoksham means invisible, not perceptible, transcendental) state where there is no body or self consciousness (jiva bodham). Bhagavan asks who has the skill or bravery (thiRam and Theeram where thiRam means skill or talent and Theeram means daring or bravery, a warrior like quality)?
That place where no word or thought can enter is where the realisation experience is. All mantras have a form/Murthy except Om. The sound itself is the form. Similarly the lingam is the formlessness in form or it’s the form of the formless. Lingam literally means symbol. From this we understand: among mantras that have no form is Om, among forms that have no form, is the Siva lingam. They both are venerated/celebrated because of their formlessness.

aksharamana malai post 12

12/8/2020

Oruvanam unnai oLithevar varuvar
Un soodhe idhu Arunachala

Meaning
Arunachala! Who is smart enough to enter surreptitiously when You, as One Form (ekatma swarupam), pervade every being? It must be your cunning/deceitful plan.

Explanation
Who can deceive the One who has eyes everywhere and stands as witness in every direction? How can anything or anyone hide the Sun that does not rise or set? This must be your deceitful plan.
OLithu means incandescent/bright, a property of light (OLithu usually means to hide something from someone). Your effulgent form alone will bring everything to light, how then is this possible for others to enter?
It is the mind’s imagination that results in duality such as good and bad, hiding and revealing. These don’t exist in the Pure Being that is Arunachala. So Bhagavan calls him ‘Oruvan’ meaning One (common meaning is a single male person, oruthi is one woman). He refers to the mind’s imagination as deceit. Even then the mind cannot wander without the complicity of Him. Avan indri our anuvum asiyadhu is an old Tamil saying meaning, Without Him not even an atom will move’. So Bhagavan says ‘idhu un soodhe’, that is, this is your deceit/cunning.
(*Note: Soodhu has two meaning, on his deceit, fraud etc, the other is to gamble which often involves deceit, maybe that could be a reason. TRK doesn’t say this, it’s just my additional note).

akshara mana malai post 11

11/8/2020

Aimbula kaLvar agathinil pugumbodhu
Agathil nee ilayo Arunachala
Meaning:
Arunachala! When the five thieves that are the senses enter my heart/mind which is where you reside, are you not there as witness?

Explanation
When the owner of the house is there how can robbers dare to enter? When you, the all pervading Lord, are standing as witness, how come you did not see the five thieves (Bhagavan implies the Lord was there by asking negatively)? So they must have your implicit consent.
The hidden meaning is that Arunachala is living in the heart of everyone. Those who have experiential knowledge will have no room for sense-thieves to enter and stay.

aksharamana malai 10

9/8/2020

Yaen indha urakkam enai pirar izhukka
Idhuvunaku azhago Arunachala

Meaning
Oh Arunachala! Why are you pretending to be asleep and indifferent while other men are dragging me (who is rightfully yours) away against my wishes? Does this look good on you?

(Azhagu while usually means beauty, takes on a slightly different meaning in other contexts. For instance when someone does something that’s out of character, usually a good person does something that doesn’t sit well with his character, others say ‘idhu unakku azhaga?’ Meaning ‘does it look good on you, for your character?’)

Explanation
Since Arunachala is pretending to be sleeping Bhagavan says ‘why this sleep (yaen India urakkam)? Arunachala is known as ‘imayaa aran’, ie. ‘One who does not sleep’ (Imai means both eye lid and to blink, imaya means unblinking/eyes open). And he is pretending to be asleep when his besotted lover is being dragged away forcefully by others! This is highly irresponsible and does not look good says Bhagavan.

The inner meaning is: When evil forces such as lust and anger are dragging away a mind that is devoting itself to higher purposes it is the responsibility of the Lord to intervene and rescue it. If he fails in that aspect, how can it look good, asks Bhagavan in wonderment.

aksharamanamalai post 9

6/8/2020

Enai azhith ippodhu enai kalavavidil
Idhuvo aaNmai Arunachala

Meaning
Arunachala! If you don’t become one with me now while I am ripe, and destroy my ego, is this sign of your masculinity?
Explanation
Kanakammal states there are two meanings to this verse, outer or on the surface and the inner, mystical meaning.
In the outer meaning of this song where the dominant theme is that of a woman besotted with her lover overcome by desire, lets go of her decorum and openly beseeches her indifferent lover for union by questioning his masculinity to provoke him into action.
The inner meaning: In this world very few give themselves up for destruction (of their egos) willingly . In this verse, Bhagavan declares to Arunachala that he is ripe and ready for the destruction of the ego and identification with the body and pleads with the Lord to merge with him in divine union. In the process he chastises the Lord by saying, if you are not capable of doing this, is this the sign of your masculinity?
Note: Destruction of the little self which results in merging with the Self is not possible unless under the grace of the guru.

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