Sunday, July 26, 2015

THAYUMANAVAR’S POEMS.
எங்குநிறைகின்றபொருள்.

      அவனன்றியோரணுவு மசையாதெனும்பெரிய
            வாப்தர்மொழியொன்றுகாண்டா
      லறிவாவதேதுசில வறியாமையேதிவை
            யறிந்தார்களறியார்களார்
      மெளனமொடிருந்ததா ரென்போலுடம்பெலாம்
            வாயாப்பிதற்றுமவரார்
      மனதெனவுமொருமாயை யெங்கேயிருதுவரும்
            வன்மையொரிரக்கமெங்கே
      புவனம்படைப்பதென் கர்த்தவியமெவ்விடம்
            பூதபேதங்களெவிடம்
      பொய்மெயிரதமகிதமேல் வருநன்மைதீமையொடு
            பொறைபொறாமையுமெவ்விட
      மெவர்சிறியரெவர்பெரிய ரெவருறவரெவர்பகைஞ
            ரியாதுமுனையன்றியண்டோ
      விசபரமிரண்டிலு முயிரினுக்குயிராகி
            யெங்குநிறைகின்றபொருளே.                             1

GOD HEAD AS ALL-FILLING INTELLIGENCE.
89.       O Thou All-filling Intelligence, the Soul of souls† both in their bhanda and moksha conditions. Were I to ascertain the true meaning of the sages’ great maxim ‘not on atom moveth but by Him,’ I should be fully convinced of the sound reasons of thee manifestations: - Why are their knowledge and ignorance, the wise and the ignorant? Some are great yogins of abstract meditation in silence and some who are of my stamp resort to incessant controversies and exhortations as if born for nothing else. How to account for the origin of our mayaic* mind and its hardness and softness? Why was this world created and by whom? How is the differentiation of the subtle elements caused? How do we talk of virtue and vice – pleasure and pain – good and evil – envy and contentment – forbearance and resistance? Who are ‘great’ and who are ‘low’? Who are ‘friends and who are ‘enemies’?
            Directly or indirectly Thou art the Benevolent cause for all.
[† God is the Soul of souls (individuals) Because just as a soul’s physical body moves as a living thing when the soul is within it and is identified with the soul by being called as ‘John’ or ‘Rama’ or ‘Krishna’ &c., so the whole universe (body, mind and souls or he, she and it) moves as a living whole when its Soul (God), the Siva Sat united to His Sakti, pervades it (universe) as such, and not otherwise. It is then that the Universe or Nature is identified with God (its inner life) and is called God Himself. By ignorance or bigotry or prejudice some persist in saying that God is the universe in substance i.e., essentially. In other words, the essence of the God and the essence of the universe are one and the same which is God. This is Pantheism leading to nihilistic idealism or Sunyam (சூன்யம்).
* Mind or Manas is one of the 96 Tatvas and as such is matter called achit i.e. non-intelligent thing having no activity except in conjunction with the soul which is distinct from andakaranas Manas (Vide Tatvas under verse 48) c.f. 4th Sutra. Sivagnana Botham (Translation).]
      அன்னேயனேயெனுஞ் சிலசமயநின்னையே
            யையாவையாவென்னவே
      யலறிடுஞ்சிலசமய மல்லாதுபேய்போல
            வலறியேயொன்றுமிலவாய்ப்
      பின்னேதுமறியாம லொன்றைவிட்டொன்றைப்
            பிதற்றிடுஞ்சிலசமயமேற
      பேசரியவொளியென்றும் வெளியென்றுநாதாதி
            பிறவுமேநிலயமென்றுந்
      தன்னேரிலாத்தோ ரணுவென்றுமூவிதத்
            தன்மையாங்காலமென்றுஞ்
      சாற்றிடுஞ்சிலசமய மிவையாகிவேறதாய்ச்
            சதாஞானவானந்தமா
      யென்னேயெனேகருணை விளையாட்டிருந்தவா
            றெம்மனோர்புகலவெளிதோ
      விசுபரமிரண்டினிலு முயிரினுக்கெயிராகி
            யெங்குநிறைகின்றபொருளே.                             2

90.       O Thou All-filling Intelligence, the Soul of souls both in their bhanda and moksha conditions!
            Some systems of faith referring to Thy Female Principle (Arul Sakti) would address Thee ‘O mother! O mother! and some referring to Thy Male Principle (Siva Sat) would cry out ‘O Father! O Father’! While some would be grating like devils in an implacable manner to no purpose or aim of any kind. Some would say that Thou art the indescribable Brightness or Akas. Some assign to Thee the state of Natham (sound) &c. and some, the minuteness of an atom that finds no parallel. Some say that Thou art the three-fold divisions of Time – Past, Present and Future.*
            O! Thou art and Thou art not all these! O Thou Omniscient Gnana of Bliss, all are Thy noble acts of Benevolence worthy of our esteem and beyond speech.
[* c.f. verses 9 and 68. These 3 verses 9, 68, 90 contain the Vedic Truth ‘God is all and not all’ (எல்லாமாயல்லவுமாய்) hence any attempt to define Him here is futile.]
      வேமுடனாகம புராணமிதிகாசமுதல்
            வேறுமுளகலைகளெல்லா
      மிக்காகவத்துவித துவிதமார்க்கத்தையே
            விரிவாவெடுத்துரைக்கு
      மோதரியதுவிதமே யத்துவிதஞானத்தை
            யுண்டுபணுஞானமாகு    
      மூகமனுபவம்வசன மூன்றுக்குமொவுமீ
            துபயலாதிகள்சம்மத
      மாதலிளெனக்கினிச் சரியையாதிகள்போது
            மியாதொன்றுபாவிக்கநா
      னதுவாதலாலுன்னை நானென்றுபாவிக்கி
            னத்துவிதமார்க்கமூறலா
      மேதுபாவித்திடினு மதுவாகிவந்தருள்செ
            யொந்தைநீகுறையுமுண்டோ
      விகபரமிரண்டினிலு முயிரினுக்குயிராகி
            யெங்குநிறைகின்றபொருளே.                             3

91.       O Thou All-filling Intelligence, the Soul of souls both in their bhanda and moksha conditions!
            The Vedas and the Agamas, † the Itihasa, ‡ the Purana § and other Smritis and schools of religion and philosophy – all invariably preach either the Dvaita or the Advaita doctrines. And the indispensable Dvaita Gnana (Sariya, Kiriya and Yoga) is the sole path or means to the Advaita. This is the truth that can stand or answer to Sruti or authority, argument and experience and as such is acceptable to both Dvaitist and Advaitist.
            So I shall only pin myself to the sadhana || of Sariya, Kiriya, Yoga and Gnana.
            As a matter of fact I do identify myself by Bhavana or conception with anything I shall fix my thoughts on, I can therefore be certain of attaining the True Advaita Moksha of becoming one with Thee for ever by Thy contemplation alone with no sense of ‘I’¶
            O! My Benign Father, Thou will come and help me in the shape of any thing I would conceive of* and that and that alone will be my Summum Bonum.
[† Agama are 28 in number (Vide the list given in Sivagnana Botham).
‡ Itihasa (Mahabharata Ramayana) is spoken of as the 5th Veda c.f. note to Vedas in 49th verse.
§ Purana denotes 18 works treating chiefly of cosmogony and Divine genealogy. They are Skandam &c.
|| Sadhana – preparation or practice.
¶ This verse (91) explains the Supreme End of Sohambhavana (i.e. the Advaita End) holding at the same time the souls different from God and meets with no contradiction which other schools do. c.f. verses 36, 41 and 53 and Shvet. Upanishad Part 1, 10.
-          Over bot self and that which perisheth the one God rules.
-          By means of meditation and becoming one, in very truth.
-          With Him again and yet again, at last cessation of the whole creation (maya) comes.”
*          c.f. “Thou Oh! Author of Good! Art the sole creator of all. Thou, formless because of same form in all his infinite variety of forms, just as the sun though reflected by ‘many’ a piece of water is still one and the same. To none therefore but Thee, Oh, Lord, I fly of, refuge.” Kasi Khanda of the Skanda Purana. “Many are the names of God, and infinite the forms that lead us to know Him. In whatever name or form you desire to know Him, in that very name and form you will Know Him”. Precepts of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Deva.]
      சொல்லானதிற்சற்றும் வாராதபிள்ளையைத்
            தொட்டில்வைத்தாட்டியாட்டித்
      தொடையினைக்கிள்ளல்போற் சங்கற்பமொன்றிற்
            றொடுக்குந்தொடுத்தழிக்கும்
      பொல்லாதவாதனை வெனுஞ்சப்தபூமியிடை
            பேரந்துதலைசுற்றியாடும்
      புருடனிலங்காத பூவைபோற்றானே
            புறம்போந்துசஞ்சரிக்குஞ்
      கல்லோடிரும்புக்கு மிகவின்மைகாட்டிடுங்
            காணாதுகேட்டவெல்லாங்
      கண்டதாக்காட்டியே யணுவாகசுருக்கிடுங்
            கபடநாடகசாலமோ
      யெல்லாமும்வுலகிந்த மணமாயையேனழயா
            மென்னாலடக்கவசமோ
      விகபரமிரணடினிது முயிரினுக்குயிராகி
            யெங்குநிறைகின்றபொருளே.                             4

92.       O Thou All-filling Intelligence, the Soul of souls both in their bhanda and moksha conditions! How can I a poor dependent soul, think of ever controlling my mind myself? † Its mayaic nature is extremely turbulent. It would do and undo things with me constancy of purpose. Just like a foolish mother who would now choose to hush up her troublesome child by swinging it in a cradle and again would pinch its thighs and make it more annoying to herself. It (mind) does subject itself to the pains of seven avasthas‡ or conditions of ignorance. It would wander with independence and self-indulgence like a wicked uncontrollable wife. It is sometimes much harder that flint or steel. It would presume to have actually seen whatever could have been only heard of. In short it is capable of all magical arts and hypocrisies.
[† Here the Saint establishes the weakness of Rationalistic theory of the Monists or Idealist and the indispensability of God’s Grace to souls. A soul cannot get rid of its mala or pasa by itself as it is a universal law of nature that any thing like copper &c. cannot purify itself except by the help of an extraneous agent like the Alchemist’s stone &c.
The phrase in the text is “ஏழு அவஸ்தை” (seven grounds). The 7 avasthas are (1) Bindu Jagaram, (2) Mel-jagaram, (3) Maha-jagaram, (4) Jagarasvapnam, (5) Svapana, (6) Svapna-jagaram, and (7) Sushupti. They are respectively (1) the stage 67 God’s divifying of soul’s intelligence, (2) the condition in which the soul becomes conscious, (3) Waking state, (4) Dreaming in the wakeful state, (5) Dream state, (6) Watchfulness in dream and (7) Dead sleep. These 7 conditions are suffered in the soul when it is in sakala or worldly state in the course of evolution.]
      கண்ணாரநீர்மல்கி யுள்ளநெக்குருநாத
            கள்ளனேனானாலுமோ
      கைகுவித்தாடியும் பாடிரும்விடாமலே
            கண்பனித்தாரைகாட்டி
      யண்ணாபரஞ்சோதி யப்பாவுனக்கடிமை
            யானெனவுமேலெழுந்த
      வன்பாகிநாடக நடித்ததோகுறைவில்லை
            யகிலமுஞ்சிறிதறியுமேற்
      றண்ணாருநின்னதரு ளறியாததல்லவே
            சற்றேனுமினிதிரங்கிச்
      சாசுவதமுத்திநிலை யிதென்றுணர்த்தியே     
            சகசநிலைதந்துவேறொன்
      றெண்ணாமலுள்ளபடி சுகமாயிருக்கவே
            யேழையேற்கருள்செய்கண்டா
      யிகபரமிரண்டினிலு முயிரினுக்குயிராகி
            யெங்குநிறைகின்றபொருளே.                             5

93.       O Thou All-filling Intelligence, the Soul of souls both in their bhanda and moksha conditions!
            Though my tears gush forth from my eyes, yet my mind* is not moved and brought under my control. I should therefore be passed for a feigner only. All the same, O Merciful Lord, Thou knowest full well unlike this world, that I, taken in with love and devotion to Thee, danced and danced and clamored
            ‘O Lord! The Heavenly Light! O Father! Myself Thy slave!’
            Thou wilt bestow Thy Grace upon me to make me perceive the True Everlasting Mukti of Bliss and rest myself there in ceaseless ananda of total adhesion to none else but Thee.
[* It is indicated here that the invoking of emotional agitations in body is conducive to finally conquering and internalizing the mind towards the Supreme Grace. This occurs when there is the springing up of a “strong and genuine bhakti i.e., “Love and devotion to God.]
      காகமானதுகோடி கூடிநின்றாலுமொரு
            கல்லின்முன்னெதிர்நிற்குமோ
      கர்மமானதுகோடி முன்னேசெய்தாலுநின்
            கருணைப்ரவாகவருளைத்
      தாகமாய்நாடினரை வாதிக்கவல்லதோ
            தமியேற்கருட்டாகமோ
      சற்றுமிலையென்பதவும் வெளியார்ச்சுவினையெலாஞ்
            சங்கேதமாய்க்கூடியே
      தேகமானதைமிகவும் வாட்டுதேதுன்பங்கள்
            சேராமலியோகமார்க்க
      சித்தியேவரவில்லை சகசநிட்டைக்குமென்
            சிந்தைக்கும்வெகுதூரகா
      னேமாய்நின்னோ டிருக்குநாளெந்தநா
            ளிந்நாளின்முற்றுறாதோ
      யிகபரமிரண்டினிலு முயிரினுக்குயிராகி
            யெங்குநிறைகின்றபொருளே                             6

94.       O Thou All-filling Intelligence, the Soul of souls both in their bhanda and moksha conditions!
            Though innumerable crows are flocked together in a place, yet in a single pelting with a stone, they are all made to disappear at once. Likewise, the immense accumulations of Thy devotees past karma must completely dwindle away if they should feel an unremitting thirst for Thy Boundless Grace.*
            So I have to determine that I have not yet entertained a vehement taste for Thy Heavenly Grace. The gathered effects of my past karma do, as well, harass me and I am unable to free myself from the worldly tumults and remain fixed in yoga of peaceful concentration of mind. My heart is still very much unsuited to the true meditation of Divine Bliss.
            O for that day, my Lord, on which I will be one with Thee in blessed advaita union.
[* The Saint points out in this verse the extreme difficulty of procuring God’s Grace and Its supremest power solely to destroy our Karmic effects.]
      ஒருமைமனதாகியே யல்லறைநின்னருளி
            லொருவனான்வந்திருக்கி
      னுலகம்பொறாதோ மாயாவிசித்ரமென
            வோயுமோவிடமில்லையோ
      வருளுடையநின்னன்பர் சங்கைசெய்திடுவரோ
            வலதுகிர்த்தியகர்ததரா
      யகிலம்படைத்தெம்மை யான்கின்றபேர்சில
            ரடாதென்பரோவகன்ற
      பெருமைபெறுபூரணங் குறையுமோபூதங்கள்
            பேய்க்கோலமாய்விதண்டை
      பேசுமோவலதுதான் பரிபாககாலம்
            பிறக்கவிலையோதொல்லையோ
      மிருமைசெறிசடவினை யெதிர்த்துவாய்பேசு
            மோ யேதுளவுசிறிதுபுகலா
      யிகபரமிரண்டினிலு முயிரினுக்குயிராகி
            யெங்குநிறைகின்றபொருளே.                             7

95.       O Thou All-filling Intelligence, the Soul of souls both in their bhanda and moksha conditions!
            What will it matter to Thee if Thou would lets me, a single soul,* also seek Thy Blissful Grace and, with oneness of mind, be in Thy Happy contemplation? Cannot the ethereal region† sustain me? Or will be phenomena‡ of maya disappear with me, having no other work to do? Or will Thy beloved maktas raise any objection to it? Or will the Trinity gods who have to create and preserve the universe counsel against it? Will Thy great ubiquity be affected by it in any way? Or will the elements counterplead against the equality of my good and bad qualities? And consequently will my good Karma and bad Karma be bold to countermand your Supreme Will?
            O Benefactor, let me know the real secret of it.
[* The Saint alludes to the existence of an infinite number of souls and the Moksha state of a soul being. c.f. also Thiruvarutpayan chapter II, 1st coupletபிறந்தநாள் மேலும் பிறக்கும்நாள் போலும் துறந்தோர் துறப்போர் தொகை.” (The number of liberated souls and of those yet to be liberated will equal the number of days that are past since this creation and of the days that are yet to come; i.e., their number is endless). It is practically impossible to conceive or talk of God alone except in connection with plurality of souls, or jivas, or logos, or atmas, by whatever name we call them. “The knowers of Brahman dub, shadow and light.” Section III (1) Katha Upa. c.f. “Though all individual souls came from the Over-Soul (God), yet It (God) remains undiminished.” The Peace Chant: - “Om’ Whole is That, Whole is this; from whole, whole cometh; take whole from whole, (yet) whole remains. Om; Peace! Peace! Peace! Harih! Om!” – Isha. Upa. c.f. Mr. Subba Row’s discussion on the Bhagavad Gita, p. 9 edition of 1888. “It (Logos) has consciousness and an individuality of its own. I may as well say that it is the only personal God, perhaps, that exists in the cosmos. But not to cause any misunderstanding, I must also state that such centres of energy are almost innumerable in the bosom of Parabrahman. It must not be supposed that this Logo is but a single centre of energy which is manifested by Parabrahman. There are innumerable others. Their number is almost infinite.”
Ethereal intelligence perfect in the ethereal region which occupies everywhere and is occupied by Supreme Parabrahmam or Siva with no contradiction to conceive of. In as much as we see it as a fact that liquid permeates the solid, gas the liquid, air the gas, ether the air; so the Parabrahmam (Sukshmachit) permeates the souls (Sthulachita) as well as the other. Hence the Parabrahmam is called The Great Akas (c.f. “O The Great Akas where the ether rests” – 23rd verse supra).
Here the Saint refers to the distinct entity of the illusory and changeable matter called maya or nature or Prakriti. The maya is as a fact ever controlled by the Parama Siva and made to serve for Him as the material cause (pradhana) with which to give Thanu (body) – Karana (senses) – Bhuvana (world) and bhoga (sensations) for soul’s to undergo evolution towards spiritualization. c.f. Sivagnana Siddhiarகாரிய காரணங்கண் முதறுணை நிமித்தங் கண்டாம் பாரின்மண் டிரிகை பண்ணுமவன்முதறுணைநி மித்தந் தேரின்மண் மாயை யாகத் திரிகைதன் சத்தியாக வாரியன் குலாலனாய் நின்றாக்குவ னகிலமெல்லாம்i.e. – We see that causes are always threefold to effect a thing like a pot. For instance, God being the (1) First Cause (Potter) wills the whole world (pot) to come into a manifested existence out of (2) the material cause, sudda and asudda maya (mind) by the aid of (3) the Instrumental Cause. His own Arul sakti (potter’s wheel).
            We see that our Saint in this verse (95) points out the co-existence of the Three Padarthas, Pathi (Lord), Pasu (souls including of course the muktas, devas Brahma &c.), and Pasa (maya or matter) and does, indirectly, reveal the possibility of such co-existence without any contradiction. For, there is not wanting the unity of ABSOLUTE LORSHIP or control or government of the eternal Supreme Siva-Lord of subjective nature, over the individual souls and maya, both which being of objective nature are ever inseparable with and subordinate to Him either in bhanda or moksha states, and they can never affect His Omnipresence or Omniscience or Omnipotence &c. He has such power and nature. Who is to question it? When a soul becomes a mukta it assumes its subjective nature so far as pasa (matter) is concerned only. Even in its moksha state with pathi (Lord), the soul’s nature is objective only.]
      நில்லாதுதேகமெனு நினைவுண்டுதேகநிலை
            நின்றிடவுமெளனியாகி
      நேரேயுபாயமொன் றருளினையையோவிதனை
            நின்றனுட்டிக்கவென்றாற்
      கல்லாதமனமோ வொடுங்கியுபரதிபெறக்
            காணவிலையாகையாலே
      கையேற்றுனும்புசிப் பொவ்வாதெநாளுமுன்
            காட்சியிலிருந்துகொண்டு
      வல்லாளராயியும நியமாதிமேற்கொண்ட
            மாதவர்க்கேவல்செய்து
      மனதின்படிக்கெலாஞ்சித்திபெறலாஞானம்
            வாய்க்குமொருமனுவெனக்கிங்
      கில்லாமையொன்றினையு மில்லாமையாகவே
            யிப்போதிரங்குகண்டா
      யிகபரமிரண்டினிலு முயிரினுக்குயிராகி
            யெங்குநிறைகின்றபொருளே.                             8

96.       O Thou All-filling Intelligence, the Soul of souls both in their bhanda and moksha conditions!
            I know, indeed, the fleeting character of my physical body. Thou as mauni didst reveal to me the artifice of preserving it in tact for ever. And should I think of practicing this artifice, I could not befit myself to it by controlling my mind which tends always to concern itself in the prapancha.* I should no more, therefore, addict myself to the mundane habit of food taking. But I must endeavor to place myself at the service of Thy austere devotees, who, resting themselves in Thy Holy Presence, keep self-controlled always in the Siva-Raja-Yoga of eight parts, † yama, niyama &c. And I will, then, be able to merit myself with the desired siddhis‡ and the Supreme Sivagnana. §
            Hence, O The Supreme, do Thou at once grant me the only thing I am in need of: - Thy unbounded Grace of Blessedness.
[* Prapancha = world. † Vide ‘Ashtanga yoga’ under 61st verse.
i.e., powers.
§ c.f. 36th verse supra.]
      மரவுரிடுத்துமலை வனநெற்கொறித்துமுதிர்
            வனசருகுவாயில்வந்தால்
      வன்பசிதவிர்த்துமனங் வெயிலாதிமழையால்
            வருந்தியும்மூலவனலைச்
      சிரமளவெழுப்பியு நீரினிடைமூழ்கியுந்
            தேகநமதல்ல்லென்று
      சிற்சுகவபேக்ஷையாய் நின்னன்பர்யோகஞ்
            செலுத்தினாரியாம்பாவியேம்
      விரவுமறுசுவையினோடு வேண்டுவபுசித்தரையி
            ல் வேண்டுவவெலாமுடுத்தி
      மேடைமாளிகையாதி வீட்டினினிடனுவகியே
            வேறொருவருத்தமின்றி
      யிரவுபகலேழையார்கள் கையோகமாயினோ
            மெப்படிபிழைப்பதுரையோ
      யிகபரமிரண்டினிலு முயிரினுக்குயிராகி
            யெங்குநிறைகின்றபொருளே.                             9

97.       O Thou All-filling Intelligence, the Soul of souls both in their bhanda and moksha conditions!
            Thy devotees in the forest who bathe themselves in water and sit in Thy blessed contemplation, arousing upwards their innermost fire, would use barks of trees for their coverings and get their pain of hunger allayed by nibbling the wild-grown rice or with whatever dry leaves they might come across, and also undergo severe hardships through inclemency of weather such as heat and rain.
            But alas! we, the helpless, out of ignorance, simply yield ourselves to the pleasures of the beat nourishment of six tastes* and of fanciful dresses and clothing and of the sex, enriching ourselves with storied palatial where day and night are seldom felt and poverty does make no appearance.
            O God, how can we except by Thy worship, get over these incidental luxuries† of this life?
[* The 6 tastes are: - (1) கைப்பு or கசப்பு (bitterness), (2) தித்திப்பு (sweetness), (3) புளிப்பு (sourness), (4) உவர்ப்பு (Saltishness), (5) துவர்ப்பு (astringency), and (6) கார்ப்பு (pungency). These six tastes when combined in a fixed proportion produce best deliciousness for man.
Incidental luxuries of this life. The Saint points to the fallacy of misunderstanding the truth அவனன்றி யோரணுவு மசையாது(Not an atom moveth but by Him) to the effect that even our evil acts are ascribable to the Perfectest Lord. According to the Saiva Siddhanta School, each soul has its own consciousness and a moral responsibility, and it cannot shift itself from such responsibility by blindly attributing every one of its acts (including the diabolical murder) to God and escaping under the above saying ‘not an atom moveth but by Him’ misconstrued as above. Just as, in pursuing the Siva Rajah Yoga, though the eight siddhis or powers incidentally arise, still the Yogi is warned and enjoined not to indulge himself in them and lead himself astray from the Highest Goal to be aimed at; so also in the course of incarnation or evolution of soul; which is indispensable for their attainment of mukti the evils thereof due to this pasa world (maya prapancha) are incidental and must not be permitted by them to over come their moral faculty and retard their acquirement of the Divine Gnana. For, otherwise, our life will end in the miseries of a boatman, who, instead of rowing it, out of sportive mischief, bores the bottom of it. c.f. 89th verse supra.]
      முத்தனையமூரலும் பவளவாயின்சொலு
            முகத்திலகுபசுமஞ்சளு
      மூர்ச்சிக்கவிரகசன் னதமேற்றவிருகும்ப
            முலையின்மணிமாலைநால
      வைத்தெமைமயக்கியிரு கண்வலையைவீசியே
            மாயாவிலாசமோக
      வாரிதியி லாழ்த்திடும் பாழானசிற்றிடை
            மடந்தையர்கள்சிற்றின்பமோ
      புத்தமிர்தபோகம் புசித்துவிழியிமையாத
            பொன்னாட்டும் வந்ததென்றாற்
      போராட்டமல்லவோ பேரின்பமுத்தியிப்
            பூமியிலிருந்துகாண
      வெத்தனைவிகாதம்வரு மென்றுசுகர்சென்றநெறி
            யிவ்வுலகமறியாததோ
      விகபரமிரண்டினிலு முயிரினுக்குயிராகி
            யெங்குநிறைகின்றபொருளே.                             10

98.       O Thou All-filling Intelligence, the Soul of souls both in their bhanda and moksha conditions!
            Insuperable are here* the damnable pleasures of the sex. Their pretty pearl-like teeth, their sweet words passing through their coral lips, their bright shining countenance fresh with saffron yellow, their swelled breasts prominent with strings of gems glittering on and seeming too heavy for their slender waists – all these do excite a violent lust in men and, having wrapped them in the snare of their fierce eyes and look them up as it were, in the trance of charm, nay, they plunge them deep in the ocean of Lithe libidinous maya.† Not free from their influence even the celestial beings, who wink not their eyes and live by the sweet and pleasant drink of ambrosia.
            Therefore, to seek for emancipation from this world will be simply to employ ourselves in ceaseless struggle. That was reason why, we know, the great sage Sukha began to run up to the top of the Nidatha mount at once he was dropped from the womb.
[* The Saint wants to impress upon his followers or readers the plain fact of sexual love in this life being the strongest of evils the man in heir to and the consequent lesson for us, that we should try and try again all our life time to estrange ourselves from it by declaring and declaring in verse and prose its vicious results. Hence even the typical Saints like Apparswami &c., have often sung the injurious consequence of yielding ourselves to sexual appetite in us.
Libidinous maya is according to this school, an entity (matter with its own attributes or qualities illusory in their nature or kind but the attribute (illusion) is often confounded by the orthodox. Vedantins with the entity possessing such attribute. It may be asked here ‘what is then meant by a Saiva Siddhanti calling the maya to be false’? The Siddhanti fairly and without any fallacy answers the question thus: - ‘A Siddhanti calls ‘maya’ an entity and says it is false because it is literally false i.e. false=deceitful (Latin ‘falsus’=deceived), while an orthodox Vedantin calls ‘maya’ false (not an entity) because it is an illusion. I would ask any disinterested inquirer to ponder over here and answer me fair which must be correct. (Correctness means logical precision, absence of any fallacy and not open to reasonable questionings nor hostile to reason and experience). If the maya which is false (deceitful) is to be understood as a non-entity (which no best lexicon seems to support), then why are the systems of Prayer or Guru Darsana or Guru seeking or the doctrine of Divine Arul or the inspiring Mahatmas, or the temple worship on Vedic learning or the Vedas themselves, enjoined as necessary to, remove our ignorance, since ignorance due to mayaic manas cannot then arise at all? They are sometimes followed and adopted even by the orthodox Vedantins. If everything is non-entity, except their own ‘Self’, then their ‘Self’ can with safety damn these systems as they (Vedantins of this type) will have no things are entities to contend or struggle against with the weapons of the prescribed modes of Sadhana chathushtaya, Sariya &c. They preach against these systems and yet themselves adopt them.]
      உன்னிலையு மென்னிலையு மொருநிலை யெனக்கிடந்
            துளறிடு மவத்தையாகி
      உருவுதான் காட்டாத வாணவமு மொளிகண்
            டொளிக்கின்ற விருளென்னவே
      தன்னிலைமை காட்டா தொருங்கவிரு வினையினாற்
            றாவுசுக துக்கவேலை
      தட்டழிய முற்றுமில் லாமாயை யதனாற்
            றடித்தகில பேதமான
      முன்னிலை யொழிந்திட வகண்டிதா காரமாய்
            மூதறிவு மேலுதிப்ப
      முன்பினொடு கீழ்மே னடுப்பக்க மென்னாமன்
            முற்றுமா னந்தநிறைவே
      என்னிலைமை யாய்நிற்க வியல்புகூரருள்வடிவ
            மெந்நாளும் வாழிவாழி
      இகபரமிரண்டினிலு முயிரினுக் குயிராகி
            யெங்குநிறை கின்றபொருளே.                            11

99.       O Thou All-filling Intelligence, the Soul of souls, both in their bhanda and moksha conditions! Much glory and praise be to Thy Beneficial Manifestation* on my account.
            Most delightful were its immediate results. The deleterious anava, which had tempted me unperceived into the unholiness of babbling that Thy Subjective Nature and my objective nature were one and the same and not different,† was by Thy blessed light, subdued to a state of nullity,‡ like darkness before light; the changing samsara§ with its ebb and flow of rebirths dwindled away at once; the phenomenal appearance of the ‘magic maya’ ceased; and, above all, I was given the gnana of bliss, that led me into the Infinite State of Supreme Ananda where there would be for me (soul) neither before nor behind, nor above nor below nor within nor without nor sides.
[* The reference is to the Saint’s initiation by Siva through Mauni.
c.f. with notes verses 50, 89, 91, 92, 95 and 98.
‡ Anava (ignorance) mala – the origin of samsara – never ceases to exist even in the soul’s moksha state. It only loses its power for ever like the heated seed or the suppressed senses of a yogin or Jivan Mukta. c.f. Saint’s couplet பாசமக ராமற் பதியிற் கலவாமுன் – மாகில் சமத்து முத்தி வாய்க்கு (O for the day to be one with the Lord yet not the Lord, nor the pasa to discard! cf. 87th verse.
§ Samsara=cycle of existence full of transient pleasure and pain.]
            R. SHANMUGA MUDALIAR.