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Ramana Stuthi Panchakam Ponnolir Pathu 10

21/3/2021

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Nindridun choNa saila nilaithidum ramaNan vaazhi
Mindigazh sadayanodu virupaksha gugayum vaazhi
Vendridum thunbam poka vengada ramaNan sollum
Pondrigazh virutha malai polivura vaazhi vaazhi

Word meaning
Nindridum = that which is standing; choNa/soNa = golden; nilaithu = established; vaazhi = long live; mindigazh (min thigazh) = like lightning; vendridum = that which will win/conquer; thunbam = sorrow; pondrigazh (pon thigazh) = like gold; polivu = brightness, lustre; virutham = type of poem.

Meaning
Long live Ramana Bhagavan who is established in the ever-famous Arunachala! Long live the lord (Ramana) who shines bright as a streak of lightning! Long live Virupaksha Cave! Long live this poem written by me, named Venkataraman, to dispel the sorrows of devotees!

SV equates Bhagavan with Lord Shiva again as ‘mindrigazh sadayan’ meaning the matted-haired one who shines with the brightness of lightning strike. Usually ‘sadayan’ is used to describe Shiva, especially ‘thaazh sadayan’ meaning the one withe matted locks that hanging down’. As we observe, through this work of five poems, SV has made no distinction between Bhagavan and Lord Shiva. 

Nindridum soNa salami here means Arunachala the holy hill that is permanently established. The hill was pillar of fire in Satya Yuga and has transformed to what it is now, a seemingly ordinary hill, in this Kali Yuga. We can take it to mean that Arunachala is a constant through the ages and millennia. Since this is the last verse, it is a call to the longevity of the subject of the song, which is Bhagavan, itself, and those who read and recite it, the devotees. 

Long live Bhagavan (as Arunachala), long live Virupaksha Cave, long live the devotees for whose sorrow-eradication this is composed, and long live Ponnolir Pathu.
​
NOTE: This poem is composed in the ‘andhadhi’ format where the first word of the subsequent stanza takes off from the last word of the previous stanza. ‘Andhadhi’ is split as ‘andham’ meaning end  and ‘aadhi’ meaning beginning.

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Ramana Stuthi Panchakam Ponnolir Pathu 9

18/3/2021

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Devanae ramaNa paadham thedinen thevitta gnana
Paavana theedha moana paramboruL uruvinaane
Jeevanum sıvamam ondrai thaekkiye uLathinanae
Saavadhum pirappum illa thathhuva mudivaai nindroi


Word meaning
Devan = Lord, God; Paadham = foot; thedinen = I searched; thevitta = not cloying; (bh)paavanatheedham = beyond conception; monam = stillness/silence; param poruL = Supreme Being;  jeevan = individual soul; sivam = Siva, supreme state; thekkinan (he) stored, gathered; saavu = death; pirappu = birth; mudivu = end;

Meaning 
My precious treasure Ramana! I am always searching for your holy feet, you whose  sweet wisdom-form is not cloying in the least! You who stand (established) beyond all concepts (of the mind), as the form of Supreme Being! You who gathered jiva and siva as one, you stand as the beginning and end of all philosophy that is beyond birth and death!

SV calls Bhagavan ‘selvam’ which is wealth or treasure, because that is the only permanent wealth that is worth hoarding as everything else that is material is transitory, and will not lead us to the purpose of life, which is self realisation. Many devotees visiting Bhagavan when he was in his sthula sarira  have narrated how they would not want to leave his presence, some considering ‘sanyasa’ so they could be with him (to those Bhagavan said ‘to find our what real sanyasa is’). Ramanatha Brahmachari, one of the early settles in Bhagavan’s presence, wrote: 
‘Thiruchizhi naadhanai kandaene thirumbi varaamal nindraene’ meaning I saw the lord Tiruchizhi  (where Bhagavan was born) and stood without returning.

But not everyone could stay for various reasons, and those who left teary-eyed with a heavy heart, when they said how could they leave Bhagavan, were comforted bu Bhagavan’s words like, ‘Look he says he is going some place where I am not!’ Once Bhagavan told Krishnasamy that ‘even this Bhagavan will leave you one day, so hold on to the Bhagavan inside your heart, only that is permanent’.

SV refers to Bhagavan’s form as ‘thevittadha’ meaning that which doesn’t cloy your palate’ meaning that which you can have to your heart’s content, over and over.

‘Paavana (or bhavana) theetha’ (athhetham is extra, over, beyond) is taken to mean that which is beyond conception. Bhagavan himself said ‘I am where there are no words’ indicating the the Self he has asked us to find cannot be grasped by concepts and words or anything coming from mind. ‘Anything the mind comes up with when you ask ‘Who am I’ is not the truth he has advised one devotee. 

He has gathered the individual soul and Sivam in his heart from the minute he had the death experience in his uncle’s house as a young boy, a stage he has never deviated from till he shed his body in 1950. Consequently he transcended the metal cycle of birth and death and stands as the beginning and end of all ‘tatvam’ which can mean philosophy or it can mean ’tat vam asi’ which is a maha vakya of one of the Vedas meaning you are that. 

It also finds mention in aksharamana malai 42:
Thatthuvam theriyaadh athanai utraai
Thatthuvam idhuvenn Arunachala

Meaning
Arunachala! Without knowing the truth ‘You are that’, you helped me attain that state. Shower me with your grace so as to confirm that this is the state I have attained.
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Ramana Stuthi Panchakam Ponnolir Pathu 8

17/3/2021

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Vaazhndhidu mulaginoadu vadivuru nama mellam
Thaazhndhida gnana paarvai thazhaladhai thanakkuL vaithoi
Aazhndhidum yoga gnana ramaNane azhagin mikkoi
Soozhndhidun chudare soNa malai vaLar punidha devae


Word meaning
Vaazhndhium = living; ulaginodu = with the world; vadivu = shape, form; namam = name; gnanam = wisdom; paarvai = look (from a person, here Bhagavan); thazhal = ember; aazhndhidum = deepening; soozhndhidum = surrounding, enveloping, chudar/sudar = flame;

Ramana! You burnt (removed) this world I live in, with its names and forms, from my mind with the fire of your gnana and grace emanating from your eyes. You, the yogi who have become one with the Self, wise Ramana, (you are the) beauty of all that’s beautiful, you are the omnipresent flame of wisdom, my pure and holy lord who lives in Arunachala!

Everyone who met Bhagavan’s eyes for the first time felt the uprooting effect of His penetrating glance reaching into the bottom of their beings like a fire that burns everything except what is essential, which is the Self. 

It is what Arunachala does, in Bhagavan’s words from aksharamana malai, ‘Arunachala ena agamae ninappavar agathai vaer aruppai Arunachala!’, meaning the mere thought of the holy hill wipes out the ego of the one who is thus thinking of Arunachala. Bhagavan’s glance, his mere presence had that effect on those who have were blessed to be the recipients. 

In the process of receiving his benediction through his graceful glance, all that we hold onto, the world with its names and forms, affections and afflictions, joys and sorrows, everything is burnt without a trace. SV says ‘gnana thazhal’, where gnana is wisdom and thazhal is glowing embers (of a burning coal). 

N.R.Krishnamurthi says this about Bhagavan’s gaze:
There was a fierce glow in Bhagavan’s eyes that held my own eyes in a tight grip. Then a radiant smile of victory spread over his divine face. I lost awareness of both the body and the world as the insignificant ‘I’ was swallowed up in the pure Awareness  Being in which all names, forms, time, space and action are utterly lost. It was a state of utter silence without beginning or end, aglow with the self-effulgent ‘I am’.

We can see a similarity again in aksharamana malai:
55 Ninneri yerithenai neeraakidumun
ninnaruL mazhai pozhi Arunachala
Unless the heart is cooled sufficiently by the grace of divine power and ripened, it cannot stand the intensity of the flames (of initiation), and it will burn one down.

His presence cools us down while his glance burns the samskaras. By saying ’Soozhndhidun chudare’ SV comforts us with the understanding that Bhagavan’s grace is ever present and his grace surrounds us always, a reflection of what Bhagavan said on shedding his mortal coil, ‘They say I am going, where can I go? I am always here.’

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Ramana Stuthi Panchakam Ponnolir Pathu 7

12/3/2021

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Nindridu ninaivu thannai nimidathi neekki nenjai
Andrayan thirumal aayndhitt arindhida vazhagan paadham
Sendrida niruthun soma segara ramaNa murthi
En perun thuyara neekka yegane yoga vazhve

Word meaning
Ninaivu = memory; nimidam = minute; neekki = act of removing; Andru = that day; ayan, mal = Brahma and Vishnu; aayndhittu = searching; soma segaran (Shekaran) = Shiva; thuyar = sorrow.

Meaning
Ramana, Somashekara murthi! You wipe out, in a minute, the mind that’s holding onto desires, and place at the holy feet of Arunachala, which is not seen by Brahma and Vishnu! Please remove my sorrows, Oh Ramana, the one is established in the atma swarupa (form of Self).

Nisargadatta Maharaj says ‘it (the idea of you) is mere a habit built on memory, prompted by desire, you will think yourself to be a person …’ On another occasion, he says, ‘desire is the memory of pleasure and fear is the memory of pain, both make the mind restless.’

It is this cycle of desire and memory that SV is seeking to transcend in this verse. He appeals to Bhagavan to wipe out the desires, remembered and sought, based on past experiences, and lift him (and us) to the holy feet of Arunachala that was beyond the reach of Brahma and Vishnu.  

In the mythical lore, Lord Shiva appeared as a pillar of Light to resolve the argument between Brahma and Vishnu as to who was superior. Shiva said that whoever found his head or feet first will be superior. Vishnu took the form of a boar and drilled through the earth but admitted defeat as he couldn’t find Shiva’s feet. Brahma flew up in the form of a swan, and along the way he saw a flower (thazham poo - screw pine flower) falling from Shiva’s matted locks. He asked the flower to say that he saw Shiva’s head and the flower was proof that he did. On the ground, Brahma l and lied that he found the head and the flower backed up his story. Since the Shiva knew the truth, he cursed both Brahma and the flower saying there will be no temples for the former and that the latter will not be used in any pujas in Shiva temples. Even today, there are virtually no temples for Brahma and ‘thazham poo’ is never used in Shiva temples except in Uttarakosa mangai temple, one of the ancient Shiva temples in the south, that too only onMaha Shivarathiri nights. 

In the first song of Arunachala Stuthi Panchakam, Muruganar refers to this story :

Buddhi agangaaram pula peydha vongu
Madhdhi idhayandhaan marayavanum maalu
Naththa variyadhu nalan gulaya vannaar
Maththi oLir annamalayinadhu meyye


Here Brahma is ego (ahankara, in Tamil, agangaaram) and Vishnu is intellect (buddhi). When the ego and intellect stood bewildered in their failed attempt to reach the truth, the light that shone from the heart space is in their midst is the true meaning of Arunachala.

The great sorrow referred here is our samsara, the cycle of birth and death. The only way to escape this endless cycle is to seek Guru’s help to reach the feet of Arunachala, who offers moksha be mere thought of him. It is said in that to be born in Thiruvarur, to have darshan at Chidambaram, and to die in Kasi (Varanasi) will guarantee moksha but mere thought of Arunachala will bestow mukti. Since Bhagavan Ramana is not different from Arunachala, it is at his feet we will find salvation.
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Ramana Stuthi Panchakam Ponnolir Pathu 5

5/3/2021

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 MaNiyenap pugazhvadhallan matrondrum ariya ezhai
ANimayimayi nindru yaanum alaruvadhu arindhadaayo
ThaNiyena thagappae yindru sadukkena venai vittoda
ThuNiyadhai gnana vaaLal Sundarar ramaNa potri


Word meaning
maNi = gem; pugazh = praise; ezhai = poor person; alarudhal = hollering; thank = calm/cool down, douse; enadhu = mine; aga paey = mind ghost; thuNi = cut asunder.

Meaning
Except praising you as the Purest One I, a poor soul, don’t know anything else. Can’t you see me hollering (for your grace) sitting near you? Bless me with peace. Cut the ghost that is my mind with your sword of wisdom so that it departs from me this instance! Beautiful Ramana, I worship you always!

The poet laments his helplessness by saying that all he can do is praise Bhagavan as the purest one. [maNi has many meanings, from gem, pupil of one’s eye to time and an hour. Here, SV uses it to mean pure.] Although Bhagavan once said that prayers and praise does not get one very far, when one is helpless, especially when it comes to self enquiry, all  that can be done is offer our prayers and praise which eventually leads to the path of self enquiry. 

Once when a devotee asked if he could chant the Gayatri mantra, Bhagavan said definitely he could do that. Later that person said that when chanting he was trying to mediate on the meaning, Bhagavan said, ‘Who asked you to focus on the meaning? I said to focus on who is chanting the mantra’. Even when praising we are supposed to look at the one praising and praying. 

‘Aga paei’ is quite frequently used in Tamil works, there was even a Siddha called Agappaei Sidecar because all his verses ended with ‘agappaei’. The mind with its wavering and uncontrollable nature is likened to a demon/ghost. ‘ThaNi’ means to cool or calm something down. Here SV asks Bhagavan’s grace to calm down the feverish mind that is out of control.  The phrase has to be spit as ‘thanI enadhu aga paei’, meaning cool/calm down my demonic mind. 

Coincidentally, Bhagavan, in Aksharamana malai, asks for the very same boon from Arunachala:
71 paeythanam vida vidaa paeyai pidhithenai
Paeyanakkinai en Arunachala

Meaning
Arunachala! From time immemorial, the ghost of the ego was possessing me. To chase that demon away, you possessed me as Brahma- paei (brahma ghost) even more strongly, thus making me a ghost, what a great wonder is that? How great is your power/strength?

[Note: Paei means ghost, demon, apparition, other-worldly force usually malefic, that possesses human beings.] 

Explanation
The ego consciousness that makes one think of the body as self is referred to as ‘paei’ that is ghost or ghostly force. And the pure Self form that shines as ‘I’ or Brahman is called ‘vidaa paei’ (vidaa is not letting go, and paei is ghost, so the ghost that doesn’t let go of its grip). Since the ego has no form of its own, it attaches itself to other forms and lives,  and is called ego-ghost or agandhai paei.

To help me escape from the powerful shackles of this ego ghost, you possessed me as brahma-paei (Self/Brahman ghost) without leaving me even for a second, and thus transformed me into a ‘paeyan’ (ghostly person). What a wonder, marvels Bhagavan.

Your immeasurable grace chased away my ego-ghost and took over as brahman-ghost and made me very much like it, which Bhagavan says ‘paeyan’.

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Ramana Stuthi Panchakam Ponnolir Pathu 4

2/3/2021

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Thandhidai thaLir por paadhan thamiyanen sirathir choodi
Nondhida vaazhvadheidhi nodiyadhir pava noi pokka
AndhaNa vamarar kaaNaa varuNaivaazh ramaNa mona
Endha naaL adaivadhunnai iruvizhi maNiye sollar


Word meaning
thaLir = tender shoot; for Paadhai = golden feet;siram = head; choodi = to wear; nondhida = without hurt/pain; nodi = second (time); pava noi = sin disease; andhaNa = Brahmin, one who knows Brahman; Amarar = celestials;

Meaning
Oh Ramana, please give me your golden, soft feet. Me, your helpless devotee, will wear them on my head, and live joyously without any sorrow, and be liberated in a second from this disease called life (and body). Ramana, living in Arunachala in silence, you are not known even by Brahma and Vishnu, when will I reach you? You who are dear to me like the  pupils of my eyes, please tell me!

SV compares Bhagavan’s holy feet to ‘thaLir’ meaning tender shoot. There is an incidence to prove how soft his feet had become after Bhagavan came home to Arunachala. 

Bhagavan’s childhood friend and classmate had come to visit him in Virupaksha cave. As Ranga Iyer was reminiscing about the past days when they both used to swim together at Madurai, he received a series of kicks on his legs from Bhagavan’s leg. Yes, this was exactly how Bhagavan used to take a circular dash from behind and used to kick him on his legs. Ranga Iyer held with both his hands the sacred leg of Bhagavan with great reverence and remarked, ‘How is it your leg is so soft and tender now? It used to be sturdy like heavy steel in those days.’ Bhagavan replied, ‘Yes, yes,even the body has changed.’ 
(V, Ganesan. Glory of Ramana Maharshi . Sri Ramanasramam. Kindle Edition.) 

Bhagavan always insisted that he was not the body and that applied to his feet as well naturally, which is demonstrated in this incident:

A devotee once approached Bhagavan and asked him if he could prostrate to him and touch his feet.

Bhagavan replied: ‘The real feet of Bhagavan exist only in the heart of the devotee. To hold onto these feet incessantly is true happiness. You will be disappointed if you hold onto my physical feet because one day this physical body will disappear. The greatest worship is worshipping the Guru’s feet that are within oneself.’

SV prays to Bhagavan to bless him with His feet so he can keep them on his for liberation in a second. A few devotees have managed to touch his feet like this swami from the north:

The swami, with folded hands, said, ‘My first request is that I want to place my head on your holy feet and melt. I want to wash your feet with my tears.’ Bhagavan waited, without uttering a word. ‘The second thing, Bhagavan,’ continued the swami, ‘you have to put your holy hands on me and declare that you have given me atma sakshatkar – liberation.’ We all laughed within ourselves because the swami had put forth such requests to Bhagavan. But a miracle took place. Bhagavan got up from the sofa and stood in front of him, pointing to his feet. The swami fell at Bhagavan’s feet. We saw his tears drenching the feet of Bhagavan. After a while, Bhagavan lifted him up, put his hands on his shoulders and declared, ‘I have given you atma sakshatkar.’ Though his eyes continued to shed tears, the swami’s face glowed with fulfillment as he took leave of Bhagavan!”

The purport of such incidents is what SV says, that once we surrender to Bhagavan’s feet, we don’t have to worry about liberation from this earthly life and ‘pava noi’ which means this life (attached to the body) which is a result of sins. Bhagavan once said that the body itself is a disease when someone asked why he couldn’t cure himself of the affliction that would eventually Bhagavan’s earthly life.
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Ramana Stuthi Panchakam Ponnolir Pathu 3

27/2/2021

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Sirparaananda vaazhve sivathodun kalandha thaene
Arpudha ananda paagae agandanae ramana unnai
Karpaga thaaruvai naadi kadidhezhun thodi vandhaen
Virpana uruvae kaavai vimalane arut kand andhae

Word menaing
Chirparam / sirparam = God, divine principle; vaazhvu = life; thaen = honey; arpudham = wonderful, miraculous; paagu = sugar syrup; karpaga thaau = wish fulfilling tree; kadidhu = quickly; virpanan/virpannan = master, learned person

Meaning
Ramana, you who are the divine principle that’s omniscient! Honey that’s mingled with Siva, sweet sugar syrup! You who are everywhere and one with everything! I came running to you seeking as the wish fulfilling tree. You are the peak of wisdom. The Ever Pure One. Please protect me with your glance of grace.

SV is comparing Bhagavan with everything sweet such as holy and sugar syrup (paagu), because the grace of God that is Bhagavan is guaranteed to turn our bitterness into sweet bliss. Bitterness and sweetness emanating from our expectations of the pleasant and avoidance of the unpleasant owing to our duality driven view of life is destroyed by the merciful glance of Bhagavan. This helps us transcend the sufferings resulting from our materialistic views based on our separation of us into ego-induced ‘I’ and a world that’s separate from that ‘I’. In the ensuing state there is only the sweetness of bliss. 

Kalpa Taru or Kalpa vriskha is a wish fulfilling tree, which, according to  puranas, came as a result of the churning of the milky ocean along with Kamadenu, the wish fulfilling celestial cow. Bhagavan is depicted as Kalpataru as he fulfils the wishes of his devotees. There are many incidents that prove this, from blessing devotees with the conditions to ripen for self realisation to miracles on the material plane, here are just two incidents:

For instance, when Chagganlal Yogi was wanting to sell his printing press, Bhagavan appeared in his dream, showed him the person who will buy the press and the amount.  

When a mill-hand who had been blinded by a disease came to Bhagavan pleading with him to restore his sight, Bhagavan sat silently as usual. It so happened the two doctors from Chennai had come to visit Bhagavan before the mill-hand’s visit. The doctors who were at the car outside the ashram, for some reason, came back to the hall and offered their services to help the blind man and latermanaged to restore sight to one eye. 
​
Bhagavan said that there were siddhas and suddhas, the former knew they had powers, the latter, on the other hand, had no idea they had powers which worked through them, and in whose presence miracles happened.
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Ramana Stuthi Panchakam Ponnolir Pathu 2

25/2/2021

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Jodhiye vadivaai nindru soNama sailan thannil
Vedhiye uruvinodu virupaksha gugaiyin mevum
Aadiye anaadhi vaippe amalane ramaNa ennai
Sodhiyai dhaandu koLvai sirpara soruba neeye


Word meaning
Jodhi = Flame; soNama saiam = Aruncahala; aadhi = beginning; vaippu = savings/treasure;

Meaning 
Oh Ramana, the beginning (root) of all, shining as one who knows the Brahman in Virupaksha Cave of the Golden Hill of Light,! Lord who has no beginning, Pure One, please don’t test me any longer and take over me with your grace, Form of wisdom!

Arunachala assumed four different forms in the four different yugas (the 4 yugas or periods of time are, Krita Yuga also Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwapara Yuga and Kali Yuga). Arunachala  stood as a pillar of fire in Krita Yuga, as a hill of gems in Treta Yuga, as a golden hill in dwapara Yuga and as a stone hill in Kali Yuga. Which is one of the reasons it’s also referred to as Sonagiri meaning golden hill. It’s ‘Jodhi vadivu’ that is ‘Form of Fire’ as it represents the fire element, and it is the Agni sthala (there are five sacred places where Shiva is represented by the five elements). 

Bhagavan, praised as shining as Brahman here, had no idea what it was, as he had not read any of the scriptures when he had the death experience. In his own words to Viswanatha Swami (From ‘Devotees’ book): 
Before I came here I knew nothing and had learned nothing. Some mysterious power took possession of me and effected a thorough transformation. It was only years later that I came across the term ‘Brahman’ when I happened to look into some books on Vedanta which had been brought to me. I was amused and said to myself, ‘Is this [experience or state] known as ‘Brahman’?

‘Adi’ and ‘anadi’ mean beginning and without a beginning. It refers to a state of eternal being or Brahman (also represented by OM, the primordial sound reverberating through the creation). It could also mean Arunachala himself as he has no beginning or end, since Bhagavan and Arunachala are one and the same, it applies to both.

‘Vaippu’ means savings, wealth. SV calls Bhagavan as wealth that’s eternal. It is a wealth that does not diminish no matter how many draw from it, much like the Upanishadic sloka: 
Om Puurnnam-Adah Puurnnam-Idam Puurnnaat-Puurnnam-Udacyate |
Puurnnasya Puurnnam-Aadaaya Puurnnam-Eva-Avashissyate ||
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih || Meaning: Om, That is Wholeness, This Wholeness From Wholeness comes Wholeness
Though this Wholeness is taken from that Wholness
This Wholeness remains Whole
Om Peace, peace, peace

Further, SV pleads with Bhagavan not to test him (and the devotees reading the song) any longer and to come and take over/rule him. A sentiment reflected in Aksharamanamalai verse 32:
soodhu seidhennai soadhiyadhini yun
sodhi urukkaattu Arunachala


Meaning 
Arunachala! Please do not deceive and cheat and test me by making mega through various forms of sorrow  like you have done all this while, and reveal your natural form (swaroopam) to me.
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Ramana Stuthi Panchakam Ponnolir Pathu 1

23/2/2021

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PonnoLir vadivinaane poorana vadhanthane
Thannarun chuvanu bhuthi tharai elam maNakka yaezhai
Unnarum pugazhai kaettiv ulagelan thedi vandhaen
Ennaru Liraiye gnana Ramanane jothi kundre

Word meaning
Pon = gold, golden; vadivu = shape, form; pooranam = fullness; vadhanam = face; anubhuthi = realisation, experience of it; tharai = ground, earth; pugazh = fame; jothi = light, flame.

Meaning
Oh Ramana, with the golden-hued form, and a beautiful face like that of the full moon, the earth is fragrant from  the perfume of your self- realised experience. I came (after) searching for you in every corner of the world, oh Ramana, my lord full of grace, the form of wisdom and flame.

Here Sathyamangalam Venkatramana Iyer, again compares Bhagavan to Arunachala which is clear from the epithet ‘jothi kundre’. The holy hill is the pillar of light mentioned in the Puranas, and SV, like in the previous songs, sees no difference between Bhagavan and Arunachala. 

PonnaOlir vadivinan means he with a golden-hued body. Every description of Bhagavan by those have seen him for the first time tend to liken his appearance to burnished gold.  

Viswanatha Swami describes it thus: 
“When I first saw Bhagavan, he was standing in the open space in front of the ashram building. The very sight of him thrilled me. Something in that body, shone forth, without limitation, engulfing everything else.”

C.R.Rajamani says on seeing Bhagavan for the first time: Sri Bhagavan, his body luminous like burnished gold …”
(http://the-wanderling.com/collection03.html)

P.L.N. Sharma, a Gandhian, met Sri Ramana in 1932, says:
“In the subdued light of the hall Bhagavan’s body shone like burnished gold and his eyes were luminous … “

Poorana vadhanam refers to poorna Chandran, full moon [It is a simile used to describe Devi as well in Lalita Sahasranamam. It is not only a metaphor for beauty it also means fullness or wholeness - From The Glory of Alchemy].

As for the third line extolling how Bhagavan is spreading the fragrance of his experience, we find a curious parallel in Paul Brunton’s narrative of his first meeting: “Does this man, the Maharshi, emanate the perfume of spiritual peace as the flower emanates fragrance from its petals?”,  he wonders. 

SV ends the verse with how he came to Bhagavan after looking in every corner of the world, which is reflected by Bhagavan’s saying, “Everyone finally has to come to Arunachala”.  Annamalai Swami mirrors this sentiment in his Final Talks when replying to a lady wanting to go to other holy places, “If you’re attached to places, stay here in Tiruvannamalai for some time, the best place to discover the Self is here at Arunachala.” [Similarly, among Vaishnavaites there’s a saying, ‘engum paarthu Ranganai paar, Ranganai paarthu engum paaradhe’ meaning look everywhere and then look at Ranga (Lord Ranganatha in Sri Rangam), but once you’ve seen Ranga, don’t look anywhere else’.]
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    An attempt at translating Ramana Stuthi Panchakam into English for the benefit of Bhagavan Ramana's devotees who are not familiar with Tamil.

    You can buy PDF translations of Aksharamana Malai and all the songs from Ramana Stuthi Panchakam by clicking the images below. They are prices at 99 cents, but you can pay more if you feel like it.

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