ஐம்புலவேடரின் அயர்ந்தனை வளர்ந்தெனத்
தம்முதல் குருவுமாய்த் தவத்தினி லுணர்த்தவிட்டு
அந்நிய மின்மையின் அரன் கழல் செலுமே.
Sutra. The Lord appearing as Guru to the Soul which had advanced in Tapas
(Virtue and Knowledge) instructs him that he has wasted himself by living among
the savages of the five senses; and on this, the soul, understanding its real nature
leaves its former associates, and not being different from Him, becomes united to
His Feet.
Commentary
This explains the Path of attaining Gnanam, and consists of four arguments.
First Argument
Churnika. – Souls will obtain wisdom from Tapas.
Varthikam. – Moksha cannot be obtained when performing Sariya, Kriya, and Yoga, unless the supreme Gnanam is attained by Tapas effected in all previous births.
Illustrations. –
(a) Those who have performed Tapas enjoy its fruits in the various Tapalokas (Heavens). And then they attain good births, so that they may get rid of even these desires, by eating the fruits of these desires, and attain Gnanam. This is what the learned in the Shasters say.
(b) The bliss secured by the much-praised sacrificial acts will be like the pleasure derived by the hungry man after eating and who again becomes hungry. The soul will join its Gnana Guru when by its indestructible Tapas (Sariya, Kriya and Yoga) its good and bad Karma become perfectly balanced.
Second Argument
Churnika. – He who comes as the Sarguru of the souls is Hara.
Varthikam. – It is established that the Lord appearing as Guru will teach the souls,
as not being separate from the souls, He shines in the light of the souls as His body.
Illustrations. –
(a) God imparts Gnanam to Vignanakalars as they dwell in Himself; to Pralayakalars, He appears as Guru in His divine form and imparts Gnanam; and to Sakalars, He appears as Guru concealing himself in human form and imparts Gnanam.
(b) The souls will not attain Gnanam unless imparted by God in order. Those (Pralayakalar and Sakalar) who are instructed by the Perfect Lord of the world, receive such instructions in the 2nd and 3rd persons, respectively. Those (Vignana Kalar) who do not receive such imperfect instruction, attain Moksha Gnanam from God by intuition.
(c) The milk and tears, which did not exist before, appear in the person of the well adorned mother after the birth of the child as the result of her love. Who will therefore, understand the Lord who is present in the soul, unperceived, like the Akas in the water, if he did not appear in the form of the Divine Guru?
Third Argument
Churnika. – The soul does not see itself when in union with the five senses.
Varthikam. – The souls, being blinded by the senses forget their real nature, as the senses do not show the soul its own nature but only put before it, its own impressions, just like the colors reflected on a mirror.
Illustrations– The soul, who, after reflection that the knowledge derived from the material senses are only material, like the colors reflected on a mirror, and that these color-like sensations are different from itself, and after perceiving such false knowledge as false, understands the Truth, will become the servant of God who is different from such Asat.
Fourth Argument
Churnika. – The soul will know itself when it forgets the senses.
Varthikam. – The soul reaches the feet of its Lord when it sees itself to be different from the senses, just as a man reaches the ground, when the rope of the swing breaks.
Illustrations. –
(a) The soul which becomes bound with Pasam, like the river flood when stopped by an embankment, will not leave the Divine Feet of the Lord, who is unchangeable, after once attaining Them, on being freed from the ties of the world, like the flood which reaches the sea on the embankments being destroyed.
(b). If every object is God, then no body need attain God’s feet. If He is not everything, If He is not God. Everything cannot see Him, as though the eye sees all objects, all the other senses cannot see. Understand the supremacy of eyesight in persons who recover their eyesight.
(c). O Thou, who hast found that thou art not the five senses! The Sakala who has reached the Divine Guru, after leaving the knowledge of the five senses, yet is not separated from the five senses. If the result of Mala and Karma again surround him, as the separated moss covers the water again, a little while after a stone is thrown, let him remove it by contemplating on Him who is never separate from him.
NOTES
After showing, in the last Sutra, what the Soul has to achieve, this Sutra proceeds to explain the Sadanas and the fruits of such Sadana. To begin with, the soul, by its practice of Tapas in all its past and present birth must have acquired sufficient knowledge and spirituality as to be able to attain Gnanam. Tapas as here used means and includes three out of the four Pathams or Paths described in this school namely Sariya, Kriya, and Yoga. Sariya and Kriya include all kinds of altruistic and Moral and Religious practices. All these three which are placed in an ascending order bring about what is called
‘இருவி னையொப்பு and மலபரிபாகம்‘ (balancing of the good and bad Karma, and the maturing of Mala before it can be dropped). The practice of these Sadanas develope in the soul, true knowledge (Gnanam) and Love (Bakti) and God who is all Love, appears as Guru and imparts Gnanam, the fourth Patham by showing it its true nature; and the Soul attaining Gnanam frees itself from Asat and reaches the Feet of the Sat. Hence the four paths, Sariya, Kriya, Yoga and Gnanam lead to four fruits or Sadhia, namely ‘Iruvinai Oppu’ ‘Malaparipaga’ ‘Sargurudarsana’ and ‘Sattinipada’ (Reaching Divine Grace). The illustrations to the first argument point out that it is possible to attain a good many powers and enjoyments by the practice of Tapas; none of which however will be lasting or lead one to freedom and eternal bliss. They only beget further Karma and further births. The true Tapasi will aim at destroying all Karma and reach his true Guru. And the second argument points out who the Sarguru is and illustration (c) shows how He is to be obtained. This Guru cannot be any other than God and except by His touch, it is impossible to obtain Gnanam. By practice of True Tapas, by intense devotion and Love, it is easy to attract God to oneself as his Guru.
“அன்பு சிவமு மிரண்டென்பா ரறிவிலார்
அன்பே சிவமாவ தாரு மறிந்திலார்
அன்பே சிவமாக தாரு மறிந்தபின்
அன்பே சிவமா யமர்ந்திருப்பாரே”
“The ignorant think that God and Love are different
Did all men know that God and Love are the same.
They would repose in God as Love.”
(Thirumanthiram)
It will therefore be seen that the whole of the moral, Religious, and psychical (Yoga) practices are simply preparatory acts and can never be ends in themselves and can never be of any use unless the true end is kept in view.
As our Thayumanavar says:
” விரும்பும் சரியைமுதல் மெய்ஞ்ஞான நான்கும்
அரும்புமலர் காய்கனிபோ லன்ரோ பராபரமே.”
(O My Lord, are not the four Paths from the much-desired Sariya to the Gnanam like the unopened flower, the blossom, the unripe fruit, and the ripe fruit). And the author of Ozhivilodukkam who is a true Siddanthi appropriately devotes three of his chapters to Sarithai Kalatri, Kriya Kalatri, and Yoga Kalatri, in which he exposes and reviles in unmeasured terms the practices of impostors, false prophets and Pharisees. And again, the doctrine of the Divine Guru as expounded here should be particularly noted and distinguished. In fact, if one takes all the beliefs and practices of every religion and every faith all the world over, it is just possible to reduce them all to one common law and common principle. Through sheer forget fullness of this common principle and through distance of time and place, the true belief and practice have been lost sight of; and if preserved, the mere shadow of them are preserved; and when people speculate on them fresh, all sorts of theories and explanations are given. And these remarks apply with very great force to the doctrine in question. So far is true, that unless God comes down as Man and Guru and touches man with His Arul or Grace, he cannot attain salvation. But when we proceed further and ask who this Guru is, when and how he appears and acts, why and wherefore he appears, whom he purifies, and how he purifies, and how he purifies, the answers are returned as each man’s fancy dictates to him, without any reference to God’s and Nature’s laws. The doctrine of atonement is as puerile as the belief of the villager who seeks to appease his village deity by sacrificing a cock or hen; and the doctrine of mediation, admittedly based on no higher principle than that of human agency, instances of which are the Judge, prisoner, and lawyer, 110 King, subjects, and Viceroy, &c., which clearly involves the impairing of the Omniscience and Omni potency of the Supreme Ruler of the universe, is equally unsatisfactory. If the Guru is Himself God, how could he be a mediator. God is in man, and can appear to him as man but cannot become man. He dwelleth in us hearts and understands all our wants and He meet all our wants. He knows us disease and our sufferings and He have a balm already prepared for us. Nobody needs therefore, tell Him, what we want, what our disease and pain are and to crave His mercy for us, as He is all Love and All mercy. There is no mediation. The touch of the Guru converts the already prepared baser metal into Gold. His touch is as the surgeon’s lancet which opens out and heals an abscess fully matured. Just as the loving mother runs and takes to her breast the crying child, so God reaches us the instant we lift our voice to Him. It is also seen that it is necessary for God to appear as Man, only so far, man and Sakalars are concerned; and that as far as other advanced souls, Vignana Kalars are concerned, He induced Gnanam in them intuitively. The necessity as far as man is concerned arises because man cannot know otherwise.
Again, the sinner to expect salvation, as he lisps, while he dies some dead names and words is absurd, as also to expect that some dead names will produce such effects for all time to come. Tested by the truth as laid down in this Sutra, the ordinary observances and beliefs of every religion, Saiva and other Hindu Religions included, will be a mere mockery and sham; but still it will be observed, that even among Hindu Religions, the Saiva Religion does not tolerate hierarchy in any form.
3. The human soul is compared to the son of a king stolen by savages, at his very birth and living among them and who can never understand his identity until informed recognized, by the King himself. The soul, in its nature, of pristine 111 purity, develops itself only, as its cosmic covering also evolves, and will recover itself only with the touch of the Divine Guru. The soul is again compared to a painted glass or mirror in which the identity of the mirror is lost and will not be recovered unless the paint is washed away.
4. The language ‘Reaching the Feet of the Lord’ is significant. The freed soul does not become co-extensive (if we can use the word) with God. It simply becomes imbedded in it, a mere drop in the vast ocean, a mere trace as it were. Even among Saivas, not to say of other schools among Hindu Philosphers, even among the commentators of this very book, there are differences of opinion as regards the condition of the freed soul in union with God. The opinion of the author may be however, taken as stated above. The soul is like the flickering lamp tossed by the wind and darkness and which loses itself completely in bright noon day light and remains still and quiet.
There is eternal joy however in such a change and passage, and it may be compared to the great joy of the person passing from darkness to light and of the blind person recovering his eyesight.
(c). This illustration points out that the bodily infirmities or the effects do not cease altogether even after the touch of the Divine Guru. These infirmities have been so firmly rooted in man and had become so strong that it takes even sometime after Surguru Darsan to remove the effects of its former association completely During this interval, the soul becoming freed is enjoined to contemplate God, and this last injunction is what is elaborated in the next Sutra.