Guru's writing
  • Guru's blogging
  • Welcome!
  • NEW RELEASE!
  • Books
  • Ten Twisted Tales
  • Boogadooga Stories for Children
  • Letting go of Ganapathy
  • How to create your e-commerce website in a day
  • All My Apps
  • Ramana Nool Thirattu Urai
  • Ramana Stuthi Panchakam
  • Bob Dylan and Kannadasan
  • RamanaMaharishiApp
  • MahaPeriyava
  • SingaporeDrivingQuiz
  • Advaita Masters
  • Ramana Maharishi Android App
  • GlucoTrak
  • gurucodes

aksharamana malai 98

23/12/2020

0 Comments

 
veLi vitaen un seyal veruthidadhun aruL 
veLi vittenaikaa Arunachala

Meaning
Arunachala! I have revealed to the world how you took me over and by your grace enacted the many secret, discreet, dramas in my heart, please don’t hate me for this. Manifest your grace and bless me  so I can merge with you (sayujyam - merge with the absolute) and protect me.

Explanation
In this verse Bhagavan reveals how he has exposed the grace of Arunachala in other verses of akshara mana malai, such as: ‘dheivamendr unnai saarave ennai’, pithuvittunai naer pithanaakinai’, ’paeithanam vida vidaa paeyai’, ‘yaarum ariyadhen madhiyinai marutti’, ‘latchiyam vaith aruL asthiram’. 

You destroyed my ego completely, blessed me with sayujyam (merging with the Absolute/Brahman), and are standing proudly as ‘achala’ (unmoving). While, I, on the other hand, unable to keep silent about the incredible acts of your grace, have told the world all about them. How different is your state and mine! Please ignore my act and protect me, prays Bhagavan.
0 Comments

aksharamana malai 97

23/12/2020

0 Comments

 
veedu vittu eerthuLa veedupukka payya un 
​
Veedu kaatinai aruL Arunachala


Meaning
Arunachala! By the power of your grace, you took me by force from my home and guided me into the heart which is home, and slowly, slowly, revealed your real home which is moksha (or oneness - kaivalya padham).


Explanation
For Arunachala to enter a devotee’s heart, it should totally devoid of attachments, and be completely pure. It is due to His inexplicable grace that He enters the human heart of a jiva (soul) and draws it out and guides it into wisdom which is the home of the heart (idhaya veedu). 


Not stopping there, Bhagavan says, you slowly revealed the permanent real home which is moksha and made it mine in ‘payya un veedu kaatinai’ (literally, slowly showed me your home). The mind/heart is a jiva’s home. ‘uLveedu’ (heart-home) is Divine space that’s the Heart where Arunachala resides. This Bhagavan calls as ‘veedu vittu eerthu’ meaning drawing me from my home.
0 Comments

aksharamana malai 96

22/12/2020

0 Comments

 
vittidir kattamam vittidadh unai uyir 
Vititida aruLpuri Arunachala

Meaning
Arunachala, in my last, dying moments, when I am not conscious of my senses or surroundings, if I die without thinking of you, I will be subject to this earthly life again. Please shower your grace so that I don’t forget you during my last minutes.
Explanation
‘Vittitdil’ means if you let go of me without showering your grace. Bhagavan points it out in padhigam also in the verse ‘karuNaial aanda nee enakku kaathci thandharuLilai endral …’ Also what one thinks of in the dying moments forms the cause of his next birth. To attain moksha (brahmapadham) remembrance of Arunachala is essential. This is what Bhagavan means by ‘unai vittidadhu uyir vittida aruL puri’  (meaning, without letting go of you let the soul* leave’).
In the throes of death, to be able to think of and remember Arunachala, one needs His grace, for that the heart/mind should have been soaking in His meditation, says Bhagavan.

My note: ‘uyir’ in Tamil has no equivalent in English. It is the life force that animates all beings without which there is no breath or life so to speak. In other Indian languages, it takes the form of ‘prana’ which is the subtle breath. ‘Uyir vidudhal’ is that life force leaving the body. 

This same sentiment of informing God about the possible inability to remember Him is expressed by Adi Shankara in Subhramanya Bhujangam, and by Periyazhwar  ‘appOdhaikku ippOdhE solli vaitthEn’, meaning I’m telling you now for later, where later refers to the last moments.

Also Lord Krishna says to Arjuna in Bhagavad Gita Chapter 8 (Attaining the Supreme) Text5:
anta-kale ca mam eva
smaran muktva kalevaram
yah prayati sa mad-bhavam
yati nasty atra samsayah

TRANSLATION
And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.
(Taken from https://asitis.com/8/5.html)
0 Comments

aksharamana malai 95

20/12/2020

0 Comments

 
vaavendru agampukkun vaazhvaruL endraeyen 
Vaazhvizhandhaen aruL Arunachala


Meaning
Arunachala, the very day you, by your grace, took me by my hand to the heart-home (idhaya veedu) and blessed me with direct perception of your form (swarupa sakshatkaram), I lost my sorrowful existence.

Explanation 
Unless God himself calls a devotee to the heart space by his grace, the individual soul (jiva) cannot do so by himself. The weak self cannot stop the monstrous waves of senses which are ever outward bound neither can it (the jiva) swim against this vicious current and reach the heart space. This is what Bhagavan means by ‘vaa endru agam pukku’ meaning ‘come you said into (the heart) home’.

Realisation of Siva bodham (knowlegde of Siva) and the false knowledge of the material world (jiva bodham) cannot co-exist simultaneously. Which Bhagavan points out in ‘un vaazhvaruL andre en vaazhvu izhandhaen’ meaning the day you showed me your Self through direct perception I lost my existence’.
0 Comments

aksharamana malai 94

20/12/2020

0 Comments

 
varumbadi sollilai vandhen padi aLa 
Varundhidun thalai vidhi Arunachala

Meaning
Arunachala, didn’t you, owing to your fate, make me come here by force? So now you look after me and my needs, and be responsible for my daily life. This is your duty. That you are suffering this is because of your fate as you brought this upon yourself.

Explanation
Fulfilling your duties as someone who is responsible and the consequent inconvenience (suffering)  is something you have to bear. If the result of what you have done (that of bringing me here) is suffering, that’s your fate. Whether it’s karma (vinai) or fate (vidhi), it is yours, says Bhagavan. Even though you are all-knowing, you have acted like you didn’t know what was the consequence of forcefully bringing me here, says Bhagavan. You are the sole reason for your mistake. (Thalai vidhi is the writing on one’s forehead, fate or destiny is called as ’thalai vidhi)

My note: ‘padi’ is a vessel people used in olden times to measure rice and grains (approximately 750 grams). ‘Padi aLathal’ refers to feeding and sustaining someone.
0 Comments

aksharamana malai 93

19/12/2020

0 Comments

 
laabanee igapara laabamil enaiutru 
​
Laabamen utranai Arunachala

Meaning
Arunachala, you are a great gain for those who come to you as refuge. What did you gain by accepting me (who has no value here or hereafter = iga param, where ‘Iga’ is this world and ‘param’ is  celestial world)? What did you gain by (possessing) me? 

Explanation
Arunachala, what did you gain by accepting me, a simple idler who is spending time doing noting due to past karmas (prarabdha)? asks Bhagavan. Since Arunachala is the ‘gain’ whether in this world or next, as He shines as the heart of all jivas, Bhagavan says ‘laabam nee’ meaning ‘gain is you’. (Laabam means gain, profit, advantage etc)
​

Since you are the whole form (Purana sorupan), you don’t gain anything as that which is whole does not gain when something else is added, so you did not get anything for accepting me, says Bhagavan.
0 Comments

aksharamana malai 92

18/12/2020

0 Comments

 
latchiyam vaithu marul asthiram vittenai
Pathcithai praNanodu Arunachala

Meaning
Arunachala! When there were so many people, you took me as a target, locked your sight on me and aimed  your sharp Brahmasthiram (a powerful arrow that has no corresponding weapon, hence deadly) at me, and devoured me while still alive. You are a life-eater (Uyir uNNi).

Explanation
While there were millions of beings in your creation on this earth, you aimed your arrow at me and devoured me completely. With your Brahmasthram you destroyed my ‘I am the body’ identification and devoured my ego (because of this trait you have a nickname as a ‘life-eater’). 

‘Latchiyam or lakshiyam’ means aim or objective. Earlier also Bhagavan said ‘kuriyaai ennai koLa kurai en seidhen’. Asthiram is the arrow/weapon which locks on the target with great accuracy and completes the job of destroying (the ego/body identification while the person is alive). Arunachala’s weapon of grace similarly has the divine capacity to target the ego and body consciousness and kill it, says Bhagavan.​

When Bhagavan says Arunachala devoured the jiva (uyir) while he was still alive he means the lord destroyed out the ‘I am the body’ identification and blessed him with moksha. He also says in Arunachala Padhigam, ‘innuyir bali koLum igdhen’ verse.
0 Comments

aksharamana malai 91

18/12/2020

0 Comments

 
raapagalilla veru veLi veetil
Ramithiduvom vaa Arunachala

Meaning
Arunachala! Let us be together, merge and become one enjoy ourselves and be happy in the heart space (chidakasaham) where there is no night or day.

Explanation
The space where there is only ‘I’ and nothing else, Bhagavan calls as ‘ ‘veru veLi’ (veru is empty and veLi is space/outside). Since there is no mind, the space does not have any of the accompanying (five) elements or the resulting combinations of those elements such as the world and the universe.

​The stage where attachments of ego and sensations such as I and mine is called ‘Veedu’ (which actually means home in regular parlance, and moksha in spiritual context). Let us be happy together in this non dual space, says Bhagavan to Arunachala.

0 Comments

aksharamana malai 90

17/12/2020

0 Comments

 
RamaNan endruraithaen rosam koLadhenai
​
Ramithida cheiyvaai Arunachala

Meaning
Arunachala! From the entitled feeling that comes from having taken you as my groom I have said this, so please do not get angry with me, and come make me happy.
(Note: rosham is injured pride, righteous indignation etc. Ramithal is being happy, joyous)

Explanation
Arunachala, I have declared to everyone what should be known only between the two of us. Please don’t be angry that I have called you my groom. In this type of poetry, the lady/bride gets indescribable thrill by telling others about her groom and what he did.

Bhagavan is praying to the lord to enable him to enjoy the bliss that comes from being the heart in heart space (idhayathil idhayamaaga). In true love springing from high devotion (para Bhakti), when two bodies/beings become as one,  whatever is said and done does not stain the relationship as it’s all done with overwhelming love.
0 Comments

aksharamana malai 89

16/12/2020

0 Comments

 
yaarum ariyadhu en madhiyinai marutti
evar koLLai kondadhu Arunachala 

Meaning
Arunachala! Who was it that came secretly, without even my closest people knowing about it,  bewildered my mind and robbed my heart? Who else but you could have done it?

Explanation
Arunachala resides inside devotees with ego-consciousness as atma (antaratma). What he does in their hearts with his grace, Bhagavan calls as secret ‘yaarum ariyadhu’ as no one knows about it.

Once the ego that acts out of its differentiated nature is destroyed and becomes one with pure wisdom of God/Self which looks different and new, Bhagavan says when one experiences it first time it feels like being bewildered (maruL pidithal, where maruL means deluded/bewildered etc), a state which Bhagavan refers to as ‘madhiyinai marutti’, meaning bewildering the mind. (Note: (TRK says vaalarivu which is wisdom gained from merging with God/divinity/Self. It’s different from ‘noolarivu’ which is knowledge gleaned from books - nool is book, arrive us knowledge).

Bhagavan also talks about this ‘maruL’ in Arunachala ashtakam. Who else can be the thief who can steal the hearts of those that think of you, asks Bhagavan.
0 Comments
<<Previous
Forward>>

    Author

    This is my attempt at translating T.R.Kanakammal's Nool Thirattu in English for those devotees who don't understand Tamil. Hope it helps you. Ramana Saranam! Periyava Saranam!

    Archives

    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020

    Categories

    All
    Aksharamana Malai
    Ramana Maharishi
    Ramana Nool Thirattu Urai
    Thiruvannamalai
    TR Kanakammal

    RSS Feed

My other sites:  Music is about memories: http://radiomemories.blogspot.com, http://radiomemories.weebly.com/
A site dedicated to the genius of Kannadasan:http://kannadasansongs.blogspot.com 
 A travel blog: http://guruwanders.blogspot.com