Tag: sivagnanabotham in english by J.M.Nallaswami Pillai

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sivagnanabotham

XII -Twelfth Sutra -On The Modes Of Worship Of God Who Surpasses Powers Of Thought And Speech

 

“செம்மலர் நோன்றாள் சேரல் ஒட்டா 
அம்மலங்கழிஇயன் பரொடுமரீ இ, 
மாலறநேயம் மலிந்தவர் வேடமும் 
ஆலயம் தானும் அரனெனத்தொழுமே. ” 

Sutra. – Let the Jivatma, after washing off its Mala which separates it from the  strong Lotus feet of the Lord and mixing in the society of Bhaktas (Jivan Muktas)  whose souls abound with Love, having lost dark ignorance, contemplate their  Forms and the Forms in the temples as His Form.  

Commentary  

This treats of the mode of finding and worshipping the Pathi who cannot be seen  and thought of, and consists of four arguments.  

First Argument  

Churnika. – Get rid of the three Mala.  

Varthikam. – It is pointed out that the three Mala should be got rid of, as they will  only beget ignorance or evil, instead of wisdom.  

Illustration. –Let the true Gnani leave alone the three Mala, namely, Karma, which  is the effect and cause of good and bad acts; Maya, from which is developed the  tatwas from earth to motive; and Anava, which begets Ahankara, as these will  harm him.  

Second Argument  

Churnika. – Join the Society of Sivagnanis.  

Varthikam. – It is pointed out that the Society of Sivabhakthas should be sought, as  others will only impart evil.  

Illustration. – The Karma will not affect the true Gnani who leaving the Society of  ignoble persons (who forget themselves and suffer in Mala), join the Society of  Bhakthas and understand with the Light of God.  

Third Argument  

Churnika. – Worship Sivagnanis and Siva Linga as Siva.  

Varthikam. – It is enjoined that the forms if Bhakthas and the Siva Linga should be  worshipped as Parameshwara as He shines brightly in these Forms, though He is  present in everything.  

Illustration. – 

 (a) The Lord Pathi wishing that all should understand Him gives His  Form to His Bhakthas who desire to know Him and makes them know Himself and  keeps them in His own self and makes Himself visible, as butter in curds. To those  entagled in Pasa, He is invisible as is butter in milk.  

(b). As the fire appears distinct from the pieces of wood rubbed together, So the  Lord who exists in all visible forms, and yet is different from them, will be present  in a visible form composed of Mantra. To those who can view the Form itself as  God, will He not appear as that Form itself.  

Fourth Argument  

Churnika. – Cease not to so worship Him.  

Varthikam. – The worship of Him in these Forms is enjoined, as though these  Forms are not Himself, yet He is in these Forms; just as man, though constituted of  muscles, bones, nerves, &c., yet is neither muscles nor bones, &c.  

Illustration. – (a.) To the Seer, God is neither different from all things, nor is He  one with them, nor one and different from them. He is in the general Adwaitha  relation with them, and everything is His form; and yet let the Adwaithee worship  the Form which excites his Love most.  

(b.) As acts only lead to ignorance unless the previous Karma is removed, Gnanam  will not rise. This Karma will cease and Gnanam will rise when the Society of  Gnanis is sought and they are worshipped. Therefore, worship them in all Love.  

(c.) To forget the Lord, who made him know himself and transformed him like  unto Himself, is an inexcusable sin. Though he, who was always a servant, is now  transformed like unto Himself, yet he continues to be only His servant. Hence his  strength consists in the worship.  

(d.) O thou student of Saiva Siddhanta, those who have one and two mala, namely,  Vignanakalars and Pralayakalars, lose their mortal nature and attain the Divine  knowledge, by respectively being taught intuitively by the innate God, and by  being purified by the eye &c., of the Divine Guru. This book is intended to be  taught to Sakalars who have three Mala by their Supreme Guru.  

NOTES  

In Sivagnana Siddhi, the purport of this Sutra is given as Adiavar Lakshana or  Bhakta Lakshana. The Jivan Mukta, even after he has obtained the Anubuthi as described in the last Sutra, cannot afford to indulge in Karmic acts so long as he is  encased in the flesh. There is no playing with fire. If he does, he is sure to be  brought back again into the Cycle of Karmic evolution. Hence the caution  conveyed in the first argument, but if he should do anything or wish to do  anything, let him join the Society of Bhaktas, and avoid the Society of sinners. He  is also directed to love them and worship their forms and the forms in the temple.  In this mode of worship, is pointed out the way for other mortals, of worship of  God who surpasses powers of thought and speech. In the preceding pages, I have  pointed out why it is not possible to know God. Yet in our own heart of hearts, we  yearn to worship and glorify Him, and this necessity is also provided for. The  principle of it is found in the fact that God is Omnipresent and is one with or in  Adwaitha relation with everything, animate and inanimate. We must worship Him  as one of these. Hence it is, in the Veda, in Sri Ruthram, God is addressed by  naming every object of creation. The Gnani who sees the objects, does not see  them though, buy only God’s presence. However, for mortals, they have got a  choice. God, though He is present in everything, is non-apparent as the ghee in the  milk. But there are forms, in which we can feel His Presence more apparently like  the butter in the curds.  

“விறகிற்றீயினன் பாலிற் படு நெய்  போல் 

மறைய நின்றனன் மாமணி சோதியான் 

உறவு கோல் நட்டு உணர்வு கயிற்றினாள் 

முறுக வாங்கிக் கடையமு ன் னிற்குமே.” 

“Like the fire latent in wood and the ghee latent in milk, the Great Jodhi (Light) is  non-apparent. But with the churner of Love and the rope of knowledge, on churns  the milk or rubs the firewood, butter or fire will became apparent.”

So it is in the body of Bhaktas that God’s Presence is a living Presence, and it is by  reason of this, the divine word that “Ye are the Temple of God,” is pre-eminently  true. So when we want to worship Him, we must worship Him in the Bhakta. But it  is not the whole truth to say that we are alone the Temples of God. He is  everywhere and especially in forms which excite our Love most (4a). This is the  general rule for all. It does not matter what form people choose, provided it is that  which excite their Love most? Passing beyond this law, is the principle that all the  forms in the temples are what are said to be Mantra Sorupam. The Form adopted is  not an unmeaning stock or stone but one full of meaning and of the Divine Idea. I  have elsewhere enlarged upon this subject, and it may be here sufficient to remark  that mantrams are symbolic representations of the Deity by the ear and when the  same are converted into symbols of the eye, we get the Forms in our temples. (3b)  let the ignorant, therefore, not sneer at our temples. The various cautions conveyed  in the arguments and illustrations of this very sutra, not to mistake the symbol for  the truth, and not to suppose that God is only present in these Forms, will clear up  all doubts that may exist in the matter. Then, again, of all the Forms, that are to be  met with in our temples, from Gouri Shanker (Mt Everest) to Cape Comorin and  beyond, and from the Caves of Elephanta to Mahabalipuram, the form of the Linga  is the most universal and frequent; and not only so, it is, in fact, the most ancient  form of worship. It may be noticed that the Linga For of worship is the one most  met with in the pages of the Mahabaratha; for instance, see the conversation which  takes place between Vyasa and Ashwathama after the latter was defeated by  Arjuna, in which Vyasa points out that the real cause of superiority in Arjuna,  consisted in his worshipping the Linga Form of Siva, whereas Ashwathama  worshipped a Personal Form of Siva. But it is not only in the pages of Mahabaratha  and Ramayana that this form of worship is met with, but hundreds of passages  from the Veda and Upanishads may be quoted to prove the worship. The reader is further cautioned not to mistake the Linga for any phallic symbol, as is ignorantly  supposed. See the pages of ‘the Secret Doctrine’ for an explanation of the ‘Lipika,’  which almost applies to the Linga.  

Cf. The words of the Great Poet:  

“There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,  

The earth, and every common object,  

To me did seem,  

Apparell’d in Celestial light,  

The Glory and the freshness of a dream.”  

This is as regards the recollections of the child; but scientists may or may not agree  with the poet, if the child does possess any thoughts at all at the time. The poet had  yet to rise to the thought that to the True Bhakta or Gnani the earth and every  common object will appear appareled in celestial light; and more, the earthly  aspect will altogether vanish before him and the Divine Presence alone will be felt. 

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sivagnanabotham

Chapter IV-Payanial -Eleventh Sutra -TheWay By Which Soul Unites With God

காணும் கண்ணுக்குக் காட்டும் உளம் போல் 
காணவுளத்தைக்கண்டு காட்டலின், 
அயரா அன்பின் அரன் கழல்செலுமே.  

Sutra. – As the soul enables the eye to see and itself sees, so Hara enables the soul  to know and itself knows. And this Adwaitha knowledge and undying Love will  unite it to His Feet.  

Commentary  

The Sutra treats of the way by which the soul unites with the sacred foot of the  Lord and consists of two arguments.  

First Argument  

Churnika. – Hara feels what the Gnani feels.  

Varthikam. – It is proved that the Lord knows whatever the soul knows, as the soul  cannot perceive anything, except with the aid of the Lord.  

Illustrations. – (a) As the soul becomes conscious of such objects only as it comes  in contact with each of the senses separately, it cannot apprehend all the objects of  the five senses at once, but apprehends them only one by one. But God sees and  understands all things at once.  

(b). When the soul unites itself to God and feels His Arul, God covers it with his  Supreme Bliss and becomes one with it. Will He not know Himself who is  understood by the soul through the intelligence of the soul?  

Second Argument  

Churnika. – If the Gnani has unfailing Love for Hara, he will become united to  

Him.  

Varthikam. – It is shown that the soul unites with the Feet of the Lord, through  unfailing Love, as He, dwelling in each man inseparably, metes out to each,  according to his desert.  

Illustration. – (a) The blind will only see darkness even in the presence of the Sun;  just so, the soul entangled in Pasa cannot see Isa (though he is present in  everything), Just as the Sun only opens the Lotus flower (when it is matured), so  the darkness of those who understand Him by their Love will be removed by his  Arul.  

(b). As the Moon dispels the deep darkness, so God, who is connected with the  soul from eternity, in His Love, removes the Mala of the soul and attracts it to  Himself, just as the magnet attracts iron and brings it under control. While so  operating, He incurs neither weariness nor change.  

(c). When becoming one with God, if the soul perished, there will be nothing to  unite with God, as it perishes. If it did not perish, it cannot become one with God.  Just like the salt dissolved in water, the soul, after losing its Mala, unites itself to  His Feet and becomes the servant of God (loses its individuality). Then it will  have no darkness (no separation.)  

(d). Just as the rising Sun is enshrouded by the clouds and then appears, little by  little, and when all the clouds are driven away, spreads its shining rays everywhere,  so, the soul’s intelligence is enshrouded from eternity in Mala and brightens a little  from its experience of the world; and getting rid of its Mala altogether, recovers its  original intelligence and unites itself to the Feet of God.  

NOTES  

The last Sutra treated of Pasatchaya and the present one treats of attaining Pathi  Gnana or Anubava. Leaving the case of those who postulate utter annihilation at  this stage, in which case of course there could be no union (illustration 2c) and of  those who postulate no Anubava at all, this Sutra points out how this Anubava  arises. This Anubava is an Anubava of the soul in one sense, though not so in  another sense. Here there is Adwaitham again. Dr. Bain instances the case of a man  enjoying the keen pleasures of a warm bath as one of pure objective feeling or  attitude; or as we would put it, it is the case of the man enjoying the pleasure of a  cool bath during a hot day or what comes to the same thing, of the man who gets under the cool shelter of a spreading banyan tree (அடி நீழல்)after a hot and  weary walk during the midday sun. Now substitute for the mind, the soul freed of  Pasa and for the cool bath or cool shade, the Glorious Divine Light and its  effulgence which permeates the soul through and through and diffuses all round it  and completely bathes it in its Arul, and conceive then the soul’s feeling of  pleasure, its Anantha, Bliss. It is the soul that no doubt feels primarily but it ceases  to live as such, and that very moment it becomes transformed into the Divine  Feeling or Anubava itself. Just as the mind, when enjoying the pleasure of a bath,  becomes purely objective, the soul becomes purely Divine when it feels His Arul  and God covers it with Bliss (Illustration 1 b). As you feel the coolness of the bath 126  or the shade more and more, your pleasure increases, so, as the soul feels His Arul  more and more, its love of the Lord increases. So, it is this (அயரா அன்பு)  undying love, True Bhakti, that is the cause of the Soul’s Supreme Happiness,  Bliss and Pathi Gnanam. And in this Adwaitha Anubava, do we get the true  definition of Love or Bhakti and see the profound meaning there is in the simple  Mantra ‘God is Love’; and now let us read again the Divine Mantra (which can  bear repetition).  

“அன்பும் சிவமும் இரண்டென்பர் அறிவிலார் 

அன்பே சிவமாவ தாரு மறிந்திலார் 

அன்பே சிவமாவ தாரு மறிந்தபின் 

அன்பே சிவமா யமர்ந் திருப்பாரே” 

Herein we have the true Bhakti Marga, or the true Dasa Marga which at the same  time is seen to be the true Gnana Marga. Herein is seen no conflict between Bhakti  and Gnanam. Yet how often do we see the followers of the so-called Bhakti Marga  sneer at the follower of the so-called Gnana Marga and vice versa, when neither  party have the least title to either name. The words, Bhakta, Gnani and Mukta are  synonymous and the condition of the Bhakta involves and implies the passing  through of the stages of Suriya, Kriya and Yoga, and it was a bad day for us when  a wave of false devotion spread from the north to the south, thus undermining all  principles of true progress by the practice of True Tapas and spreading instead,  gross superstition and absurd rituals and ceremonies.  I cannot conclude this Sutra without pointing out an example of the exhibition of  True Bhakti by a Jivan Mukta from the annals of the Saints recorded in our Bhakta  Vilasa. Whom could I mean other than our Saint Kannappa?  

“கண்ணப்பன்  ஓப்பதோர்  அன்பின்மை  கண்டபின் ”  

Says our Saints Manika Vachaka, whose Divine words are sufficient to melt even  the heart of stone to tears, and where he has chosen to praise, why need I refer to  the host of other sages and writers who have loved to sing the praises of us  Kannappa.  

Says our Sri Sankaracharya also in his Sivanantha Lahiri.  

“A pair of wooden shoes, worn out in paths becomes a bunch of holy grass to the  person of Siva; the spetting of water raising the mouth, a holy bath; a mouthful of  flesh partly eaten, a fresh oblation; and a forester, a great Bhakta; for nothing is  impossible for Bhakta.  

I dare not follow the subject any further.  

Says, our Thayumanavar.  

“அத்துவித அனுபவத்தை அனந்த மறை யின்ன மின்னம் 

அறியே மென்னும்.”  

(d). This is a most beautiful analogy and this being the last, sums up briefly the  whole of the doctrine expounded in all the preceding chapters. It exhibits in clear  and unmistakable language the passage of the soul through the Kevala, Sakala, and  Thurya Avasthas. As the first part of the illustration stands, it would appear that it  is the Sun that is enshrouded and that which appears little by little and then shines  brightly. No, the language will be unmeaning from the stand point of the Sun.  From its position it knows of no covering or shrouds or shining less or more. It is  ever bright in itself. It is from the stand point of the human eye that all this  language is employed. It is the eye that is enshrouded by the clouds and prevented  therefore, from seeing the glorious Sun and when the clouds are driven away little  by little, the view of the Sun becomes better and better till at last, during the midday, the full refulgence of the glorious Sun is felt. The brevity of language,  thus employed, in many of these analogies, have often misled many a thinker and  we find the Hindu idealists use this very analogy to establish their theory of  Ekathma Vatham. As they put it, the clouds proceed from the Sun and then  enshroud it, so Maya starts from Brahm and throws a Veil over it and then they  proceed to build the whole fabric, in the first place an analogy to have any  probative effect must be true in itself, i.e., the same sequence and consequence  must exist in the thing compared as in the thing sought to be proved or inferred.  Here, in the illustration, if it be true that the clouds proceed from the Sun, then we  can say truly that the Maya proceeding from the Brahm serves to veil it. In no  sense is the Sun the material cause of the cloud as the Brahm is said to be the  material cause (Upadanakarana) of Maya, Mulaprakriti, Jagat or the universe. This  essential condition failing, the whole superstructure must therefore tumble down.  But let me elaborate the analogy properly and see what results it yields. Well, the  Sun (Brahm) is not the material cause of the clouds (Mulaprakriti) but yet it is a  cause of clouds. It is by the action of Sun’s heat (Kriya Sakti) the clouds  (Mulaprakriti) are formed out of water (Maya). Water itself cannot pass off into  vapour and clouds but by the action of the Sun. So, Maya cannot evolve into Jagat  or the universe but for the Kriya Sakti of the Lord. No doubt, when the clouds are  formed by the action of the Sun, these clouds do enshroud, well, not the Sun but  the human eye. The very instant you use the word shrouding or veiling, you imply  a third thing placed on the other side of the veil. The human eye can no more be  derived from the Sun than the soul or human monad from Brahm. Though in either  case the eye or the soul can only see or know but with the dim or full light of the  Sun or God, Brahm. The greater or less dimness is caused by the thickness or  lightness of the clouds or Maya coating. And as the eye and the Sun approximate  nearer and nearer, the clouds are dissipated away, and so, as the soul comes nearest  to God, Maya vanishes.  

Take another example of Analogy used by the same school of thinkers; and this is  a most favorite one with them. It is the simile of the Sun shining in many pots of  water, serving to illustrate the principle that the souls are derived from God. Here  the resemblances are not exact and the consequence does not follow. In the one  case we have only Brahm from which we have got to derive many souls. On the  other hand, we have on Sun and many pots which are also filled with water to  reproduce not many Suns but merely the shadow or reflection of the Sun. Neither  is the shadow the same as the Sun nor are the pots and water derived from the Sun.  but let us view the analogy from another point and see how pregnant it is. The Sun  is Brahm, the pot is Maya or Pasa binding the naturally expansive water or the  soul. And the reflection of the Sun is God’s presence in Man and the Sun’s  reflection or light passes through the water and lies on it and yet is not  contaminated nor touched by it. So, God being a Gnana Sorupi, chit or  Mahachaitanyam, though in contact with the world and souls, are not tainted by it  and feels no weariness nor change (illustration 2b). And the breaking of the pot,  Pasatchaya, releases the water from its confined condition and it vanishes into  invisible vapour before the heat of the Sun. (Arul of God). In the same way, almost  every analogy employed by the Hindu idealists can be easily shown to falsify them  own position and support the position herein established.  

Analogy I may say is largely used in this work as a method of proof, as any other  kind of proof is hardly possible when dealing with the nature of the very ultimate  of all existences. The conjunction of the mind and body, it is admitted, is a unique  phenomenon in nature. Its conjunction cannot be proved, being the very ultimate of  all facts; and the position can only be proved or illustrated by various analogies,  say for instance, the analogy of vowels and consonants (Vide Sutra No. 2). So, we  pass on from this conjunction of mind and body to that of Soul and mind and to  that of Brahm or God and Soul, and the unions in all these cases are analogous. 

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sivagnanabotham

Chapter IV- Payanial Xth Sutra -The Way Of Destroying Pasa

அவனே தானே யாகிய அந்நெறி 
யேகனாகி யிறைபணி நிற்க, 
மலமாயை தன்னொடும் வல்வினையின்றே.  

Sutra. – As the lord becomes one with the Soul in its human condition, so let the  Soul become one with Him and perceive all its actions to be His. Then will it lose  all its Mala, Maya, and Karma.  

Commentary  

This Sutra treats of the way of destroying Pasa, and consists of two arguments.  

First Argument  

Churnika. – Become one with Hara.  

Varthikam. – It is pointed out, here, that the Soul should become one with  Parameshwara as He had become one with it, as, when it does so, it joins His feet  by losing its pride of self and self-knowledge.  

Illustration. – When the Soul asserts its own knowledge by distinguishing its acts  from those of others, the Lord losing His identity, will appear as the Soul. But the  Soul which says that there is no such thing as itself and that all actions are His, the  Lord unites to His feet and reveals His real self to it.  

Second Argument  

Churnika. – Consider all your actions to be those of the Lord.

Varthikam. – It is enjoined that the Soul should perceive its actions to be those of  the Lord’s unceasingly, as it will not act, except with His Arul, and, in  consequence, ignorance and Karma will not enter it. 

Illustration. –(a) If the soul determines that the senses are not itself, and that their  actions are not its own, and that the perceived objects are also not itself, and that it  is the servant of Hara, and then arrives at the conclusion, that everything is His  work, then none of the actions of the Soul which, thus, attributes every work to  Him, will affect it, in whatever body it may be encased. And Paratha Karma will  also then cease.  

(b.) As it is the prerogative of the great to protect those who resort to them, so God  raises those who approach Him and yet bears no ill-will (to the rest). He transforms  His devotees into His own Form; and the rest who do not approach Him, He makes  them eat the fruits of their own Karma. These two functions He performs  according to the deserts of each.  

(c.) Like the smell which is present in the pot, even after the asafetida is removed,  the effects of the Gnanai’s previous Karma will be felt in the material body and yet  they will not furnish food for a future birth, as it, having been transformed into the  Lord is fixed in Him.  

(d.) Like the Siddha who, sitting in fire, is not burnt by it, and like the horseman  who, riding on the fleetest animal, does not lose his hold, the Gnani’s who,  ascertaining the true path, fix their thoughts on the Divine Feet of Hara, will not,  though, having perception through the senses, be affected by such perception, and  leave their true nature.  

(e.) If one, finding the truth that he is Sata sat, understands only with Sivagnanam,  he will not be affected by Anavamala and will become united to Sat. Then will not 120  the affections of the senses influence him, just as the darkness will have no effect  before the fierce light of the Sun.  

NOTES  

In the last Sutra, it was enjoined that the soul should contemplate on Sri  Panchatchara for the purpose of effecting its purification. The present chapter  treats of the Palan or ends to be achieved by the Sadanas mentioned in the  foregoing chapter. The end, it is agreed on all sides, is what is called Moksha or  Mukti or “Veedu” in Tamil. The word literally means freed or freedom and it  therefore, imports two things. When the soul attains Mukti it is freed from  ignorance or Pasam (Pasa and Pasu Gnanam) and attains Pathi Gnanam. The very  act which separates the soul from Pasam (Jagat) unites it to the Pathi (Brahm) as  was before illustrated by the case of the man reaching the ground by the breaking  of the rope of the swing. Of these two results of Mukti, this Sutra treats of  Pasatchaya or the mode by which the soul is freed of Pasa. This is achieved by the  soul becoming one with God and by considering all its actions as those of the Lord.  Becoming one with God means attaining Adwaitha relation is, the Sutra points out  that the soul should become one with God in Mukti as God was one with the soul  in its bantha condition. This relationship is further explained in the next Sutra in  explaining the attainment of Pathi Gnanam. Some of the Purvapaksha theories  relating to the condition of the soul in Mukti are as follows: –  Freedom or unity is reached,  

1. When the Akas of the pot unites with the outer Akas by the breaking of the pot;  

2. When the man mistaken for a post is ascertained to be a man;  

3. When the cause of the earthen pot is found to be earth (causation);  

4. When the color or quality of a thing is found to be united to the thing itself, (a 121  

thing and its inseparable attribute);  

5. When the iron becomes red hot, (iron and heat);  

6. When water is mixed with the milk;  

7. When the charmer becomes one with the object of his Mantra;  

8. When the heated iron absorbs water;  

9. When the man becomes one with the devil when possessed;  

10. When the fire-wood is covered up by the flames;  

11. When the lamp is lighted before the midday sun;  

12. When two lovers become one by the result of their love;  

13. When two friends become united by friendship;  

14. When two animals are one by mere resemblance or similarity such as color,  

&c.  

It would be noticed that some of these relationships are exactly what have been  already used as illustration in the preceding pages, but it should be carefully noted  that they are used as mere illustrations only and nothing more. These are not to be  mistaken for the actual truth itself and the only similarity in nature which  approximates almost to truth itself is found in the relation of the soul and God in  the bantha condition. In the bantha condition soul exists and God is non-existent;  in Mukti, God exists and Soul is non-existent; yet in either case neither God nor  Soul is non-existent.  

The relationship contemplated in the last Sutra is what is called that of Gnathuru,  Gnana and Gneya. Mukti cannot be attained of this relation is preserved and unless  Adwaitha relation is established. It is not even sufficient if it becomes one, for the  purpose of rooting out all Karma; and the soul is therefore enjoined to consider its  actions as those of the Lord. These injunctions are of course for the Gnani attaining  Mukti even in this life. So long as the human body lasts, the effects of Praraptha  will sometimes linger as the smell of the asafetida lingers in the pot, or as the  author of Sivagna Siddhi adds, the wheel of the pot continues to resolve for  sometime even after the hand of the potter is removed. Sanjitha Karma is destroyed  by the very touch of the Gnana Guru as the seed coming in contact with fire.  Praraptha continues and it is destroyed by practicing the Sadana contained in the  last Sutra; and its effects or Vasana are destroyed by the condition attained by the  Jivan Mukta. But so long as the human body continues, some acts will have to be  performed by the Jivan Mukta, and it is shown by the illustrations, these acts will  not produce any other acts or form the seed for any future Karma or Akamia and  no other births will be induced.  

The arguments point out why the condition attained by the Jivan Mukta has the  effect of destroying Pasa. It is because the soul thereby loses its Ahankara and  Mamakara or Anava and this last is the source of all evil, all Karma and successive  births. 

 The learned commentator of Ozhivilodukkum and the author of several excellent  devotional works argues out the existence of the three padarthas and the rest of the  doctrine from the word Mukti or Veedu itself, in the following stanza: –  

வீடென் றறைதரு சொற்குப் பொருளோ விடுதலை யாதலினால்; 

விக்குண் டோனும் கட்டுண்டோனும்  விளங்கும் திடமாக, 

பீடுறு கட்டுத  தானாய் விட்டுப் பெயராது இது சடமாம், 

பிணி பட்டோன் அசுதந்தரனாகும் பிணிபெயரச் செய்வோன், 

நீடு சுதந்தர முண்டா மொருவன் எனுமிவ் வேதுவினால், 

நிகழ்பதி பசுபாசம்  மென  முப்பொருள் நிச்சய மென்றருளி, 

வேடனை வெல்லும் குருவா யெனையாள்  மெய்பொருள் நீயன்றோ, 

வேதகிரிப்பவ ரோக வயித்திய வேணி முடிக்கனியே. 

“As the word Mukti or Veedu means freedom, it imports clearly a Free Being and  an unfreed or fettered being. The fetters can never become removed of themselves.  Hence this Bantham is Jatam or Asat. So, saying, O Thou Healer of Sins! Thou hast  appeared to me as my Sar Guru, the victor of the savages (of the senses) and hast  taught me to infer for certain the three Padarshas, Puthi, Pasu and Pasa from the  word Mukti and hast graciously taken me as thy servant. 

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sivagnanabotham

IX- Ninth Sutra : On The Purification Of The Soul

ஊனக்கண்பாசம் உண்ராப்பதியை 
ஞானக் கண்ணினிற் சிந்தை நாடி 
யுராத் துனைத்தேர்த்தனப் பாசம் ஒருவத் 
தண்ணிழலாம் பதி விதி 
எண்ணும் அஞ்செழுத்தே.  

Sutra. – The soul, on perceiving in itself with the eye of Gnanam, the Lord who  cannot be perceived by the human intellect or senses, and on giving up the world  (Pasa) by knowing it to be false as a mirage, will find its rest in the Lord. Let the  soul contemplate Sri Panchatchara according to Law. 

Commentary 

 This treats of the manner of purifying the soul and consists of three arguments.  

First Argument  

Churnika. – The soul can perceive Hara only with His Gnanam established by the fact that the Lord cannot be perceived by the human senses and  faculties and is otherwise perceivable.  

Illustrations. – (a) A person after examining the nerves, bones, pus, phlegm of  which he is composed of and not finding, what he is, arrives at the knowledge that  he must understand with some other intelligence; and unless he then understands  his God and his own self with the aid of Hara, how else is he to understand his own  self?

(b) The eye, which points out all things, cannot see itself nor can it see the soul  which enables it to see. And the soul, which enables the eye to see, cannot see  itself nor God who enables it to see. As God is one with the soul when it so  understands, so examine the way in which he so exists in thy understanding.  

Second Argument  

Churnika. – Hara will appear to the soul when it relinquishes the world (Pasa.)  

Varthikam. – It should be found by experience when the soul sees the world which  is Asat as Asat, it will find its being, where it was, before in Gnana Sorupam; just  as when the colors reflected on a mirror are understood to be colors, we can see the  mirror itself.  

Illustration. – (a.) Will not the Lord who is Nirguna, Nirmala, eternal Happiness,  Tastparam (above all things) and beyond comparison, and appears to the soul when  it gets rid of the Tatwas such as Akas, &c., will not He appear as a far transcending  Wonder and as an inseparable Light of its understanding?  

(b.) When thou seest all the world as Asat, then understand what remains is clearly  Sat. Yet thou who hither to hadst knowledge of the world art not Sat. If thou  unitest thyself to Sat and obtainest its Divine Form, Asat will altogether leave thee.  

(c.) When the soul leaves Asat on finding that what he had known is not Sat, and  examines the Lord of the universe in itself and perceives Him as itself, it leaves its  Pasam by His aid, as the snake bitten man is cured by the Snake charmer  contemplating on Garuda.  

Third Argument  

Churnika. – If the soul contemplates Sri Panchatchara its Vasana Mala will  disappear.

Varthikam. – Understand that the contemplation of Sri Panchatchara according to  Law is herein enjoined for the purpose of freeing the soul of its hankering after  evil, which it does by its long association, even after attaining the knowledge of the  Gneya, just like the worm feeding on the bitter margosa bark returns to it even  after tasting the sweets of the sugar cane.  

Illustrations. – (a) If the soul perceives by pronouncing Sri Panchatchara that it is  the servant of Hara and does puja to Him in the region of the heart by means of Sri  Panchatchara and performs Homam by the same means in the region of Kundalini  (navel) and contemplates Him between the eyebrows, the Lord will appear too the  soul and the soul will become His servant.  

(b.) If the soul sees the Lord in his heart as the shadow Planets Ragu and Kethu are  seen in the Sun and in the Moon, the Lord will appear as the Light of the soul, just  as the latent fire appears when pieces of wood are rubbed together. The soul will  then become His servant, just as the iron becomes fire when heated. Therefore  contemplate on Sri Panchatchara.  

(c.) If the real nature of the Heart of the Lotus is examined its stalk will be the 24  Tatwas beginning with earth; its petals will be Vidya Tatwas and Sutta Vidya; its  pollen the 64 Kalas of Iswara and Sathasiva; its ovary Sakti, the essence of the  Kalas; and the seeds the 51 forms Natham; and the Arul Sakti of the Lord Siva  rests on it. Therefore, contemplate on Sri Panchatchara.  

NOTES  

This Sutra treats of the Sadhana that is required for the Gnana pasha, and during the  period after Sarguru Darshan, and before becoming Jivan Mukta, and while in the  human body. The necessity for any Sadana at all during this period is because as is  indicated in the 3rd argument, the human soul by its long association with Asat,sometimes forgets itself even after it has found out its own nature and though it  cannot do evil, there is a hankering after evil. This is what is called Vasana  Malam or Thosham, evil of habit or association. The man whose sight is restored  in the beginning loves to shut his eyes a little. The worm even tasting sweetness  forgets it and delights to eat the bitter bark by its long habit previously contracted.  

The reason why it lingers is shown further on by the illustrations of the potter’s  wheel which revolves even after the potter’s hand is withdrawn, and the empty  asafoetida pot. The Sadana given in this Sutra for removing this Vasana Malam is  the contemplation of Sri Panchatchara or say Pranavam, and here we pass into the  subject of Aha Dyan as distinguished from Pura Dyan, esoteric worship from  exoteric worship. There is, however, a correspondence between these two and the  correspondence is that between a reality and a Symbol. The various rituals  employed in Temple worship correspond to various real spiritual practices  employed in esoteric worship. The subject is too abstruse even for me, especially  as I am not yet an initiate, and any elaboration of it is altogether beyond the scope  of this work. The object of the original work itself is to lay down and explain the  foundations, the basic principles of our Philosophy and Religion and I need not  pass beyond this either. The principle of this Sadana is contained in the 2nd  argument and brought out more fully in illustration (c). This principle is what is  called Soham bavana Soham is from the root ‘Sa’ meaning It (denoting Brahm)  and Aham meaning I or Me (denoting soul). The word ‘Sivoham’ is also its  equivalent; and the word means Brahm is myself or I and Brahm. This in fact is  also the purport of the four Maha Vakyas in the Veda which are 4 Mantras  intended for practice or Sadana and to be taught by the Guru to the initiate. Like  every other Sadana provided for the first three stages which are mistaken for the  end itself by Vedantists and these proclaim that they are themselves God. And the  caution is therefore conveyed and repeated several times in the 1st and 2nd   arguments and in the illustrations (see especially illustration 2 (b) ) that the soul  practicing Soham bavana should not mistake itself for God. This practice of the  Gnani therefore is as much a symbolic worship or Bavana as that of the Yogi  (illustration 2 (c) Sutra VI.) But the Yogi gains certain Sadhia or Siddhis by his  Bavana and the Gnani also gains something and what this is shown in the 3rd  argument. The great mistake of Vedantic writers and Vedantic books consists in  this that instead of treating of the Maha Vakya in its proper place and confining it  within its proper scope, they discuss it, when they speak of proof or in the  argumentative or expository stage. And this is what makes many of these books  ridiculous. To say to ordinary mortals that he is God and he must believe himself  to be God is certainly absurd when as we have seen above, to whom and by whom  this instruction (Mantra) has to be imparted and even then, accompanied with  proper caution. This then is what constitutes throwing pearls before swine and who  is the more blame worthy of the two?  I must now proceed to explain the principle of Soham bavana contained in 2 (c).  

As the illustration of the Snake charmer points out, this is the under lying principle  of all Mantras, by frequent practice of the Mantra, by contemplation of the  principle underlying the Mantra, the person contemplating becomes converted into  the Mantric idea or principle itself, i.e., the idea becomes the actuality and this also  explains the Sidhis acquired by Yogis by Will-power. So, when the Gnani  contemplates on Sri Panchatchars and that he is Brahm or Sivam, he becomes  Brahm itself. Here notes again the difference. It is not total conversion. What  happens is this. What was before non-apparent and in himself becomes apparent as  the invisible shadow planets become visible in the Sun and Moon at Eclipse time.  With this effect again, however, that the first (soul) goes down and becomes nonapparent and the other (Brahm) becomes apparent and Supreme, as the invisibleoxygen always in contact with a piece of wood, when it chemically combines with  the wood, altogether changes its form into its own as a living, shining fire (3rd  argument illustration b). Here it is seen, it is the fire or oxygen (Brahm) that it is  supreme, and not a piece of wood or iron (soul) which the former subordinates. So  even in Mukti, the soul is really the servant of God. 

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sivagnanabotham

VII – Eighth Sutra : The Way In Which Soul Obtains Wisdom

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. 

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sivagnanabotham

Chapter III – Sathana Vial. VII – Seventh Sutram -Respecting The Soul

யாவையும் சூனியம் சத்தெதிராதலின், 
சத்தேயறியாது, அசத்திலது அறியாது 
இருதிறன் அறிவுளது இரண்டலா ஆன்மா.  

Sutra. In the presence of Sat, everything else (cosmos-Asat) is Sunyam (is non-apparent) Hence Sat cannot perceive Asat. As Asat does not exist, it cannot perceive Sat. That which perceives both cannot be either of them. This is the Soul (called Satasat). 

Note. This treats of the nature of the Soul and consists of three arguments. 

First Argument 

Churnika. – Hara has no experience of Pasa. 

Varthikam. – As, before the Perfect and Eternal Intelligence, the imperfect and acquired intelligence (falsehood) is shorn of its light, it is therefore established that in the presence of Siva Sat, Asat loses its light. 

Illustration. – Hara who is not separate (from Pasu and Pasa) cannot know them as objects. So, he cannot know Asat as different even when He knows it. Evil Asat ceases to exist before Him, as does darkness before the Sun. 

Second Argument 

Churnika. – Pasa cannot know Hara. 

Varthikam. – Asat is non – intelligent as it will be found to be so when examined closely. 

Illustration. – The ignorant man who follows a mirage as water, will find it to be false when he reaches it. So, the soul whom God’s grace has not reached will find Asat to be Sat. As Asat does not exist, it cannot know (Sat.) Therefore learn that Asat has no understanding. 

Third Argument 

Churnika. – The soul lives in both. 

Varthikam. – it is established that the soul which has such double perception is neither of them; as the soul is that which perceives both, understands on being taught, and exists in either condition eternally. 

Illustrations. – O Thou who art engaged in deep studies, The soul has knowledge of both Sat and Asat and hence is neither of them. It does not appear as equivalent to either of them, nor is it nonentity being neither of them. Its nature is like the smell of the flower which at one time was non-apparent, though existing in the plant and at another time became apparently visible. 

(2). Thou art not Sat, as thy understanding is changeful and imperfect, becoming deranged in disease and recovering its brightness when medicines are administered. Thou art neither Asat as thou hast to eat the fruits of Karma, knowingly performed by thyself, and which Asat cannot know and enjoy. 

(3). Ignorance (Agnanam) will not arise from God who is the true intelligence as it is Asat (like darkness before light). The soul which is ever united to God is co-eternal with Him. The connection of ignorance with the soul is like the connection of Salt with the water of the sea. 

NOTES 

We have proved to ourselves the existence of the three categories or Padarthas, Pathi, Pasu, and Pasa in the first chapter. We have learned to distinguish them further in the second chapter. And now what is the use of all this knowledge? All knowledge and all philosophy will be utterly useless if it will not lead us to believe that we have a better end to attain to and to action that will bring about this end. The true end or Siddhantha is what is treated off in Chapter IV and this chapter preceding it is appropriately devoted to the treatment of the action or Sadana or means of attaining the True End. Now in proceeding to begin Sadana, if we begin as the author of Vichara Sagar begins, ‘I am God, I worship myself. Why should I worship any other?’ we cannot achieve much. Unless we can distinguish ourselves from God, we cannot attempt to become God. This Sutra therefore enjoins on the person beginning his practice a further caution not to mistake himself for God, thereby distinguishing between Sat, Asat and Satasat and showing also what becomes of the lower planes when we pass on to the Higher. Asat has already been explained to mean other than Sat. This word and Sunyam do not mean non-existent and nonentity but also mean non-apparent or non-luminous or non-distinguishable (விளங்காமை, பிரகாசியாமை). The Ganges pouring from its thousand mouths into the broad sea preserves its taste and reddish colour for miles and miles beyond, but as we proceed down, the water gradually loses its taste and colour and finally, sure as anything, we cannot find it. It is lost completely. No, it is not lost. The great sea which is greater than the great Gauges has completely engulfed and covered it up and in consequence it is the sea and its Salt and not the Ganges and its taste that is apparent to us. Sea is Sat and the Ganges mingling with it is Asat or Sunyam . Again, darkness is as real an experience of our sight as day light. We speak of darkness engulfing the whole world at night; but with the first streak of dawn, darkness has completely fled and vanished. Has it? And if so, where to? No, it has neither gone not fled anywhere nor has it become non-existent. Darkness is present in Light and is completely absorbed in it. The greater Glory and Power of the one subjugates or covers the power of the other. 

We have elsewhere referred to the analogy of the sunlight and stars. The author of Sivagnana Siddhi calls this ‘முனைத்திடாமை‘ which is explained to mean, that God cannot distinguish it as apart from Him as we distinguish one object from another. Knowledge and consciousness are only relative; and in the Presence of the Absolute, the All, there could be no relativity and no knowledge or consciousness. Hence Sat cannot perceive Asat. As elsewhere explained, in the subjective state, the object vanishes. That is in pure subjective consciousness, object consciousness merges, becomes indistinguishable, there is no knowledge of object. 

2. Asat cannot perceive Sat as it cannot rise above itself in perception and as it is itself the object of the soul. So, it is doubly distant from Sat. 

3. This argument brings out the whole subject of Atma Darsan and shows how the soul can be seen or perceived. The soul cannot be perceived directly as this is physically and psychologically impossible. It is by learning to distinguish itself from other things that it can know what it really is. There are two such things from which it has to distinguish itself, namely, Sat and Asat. In the human condition it is one with Asat and the first step in spiritual progress is to distinguish itself and then slowly to separate itself from Asat. But it should not be supposed from the fact of the soul rising to its own plane from Asat that it is a compound or an effect or Asat  itself. The soul did exist in Asat even previously though in a latent or unperceived  condition and it rises out of Asat as the smell of the flower rises out of the tree or  plant in which it was not perceived before. Rising to itself, the soul should not stop 103  there, but must again learn to distinguish itself from Sat and then try its best to lift  itself into the plane of Sat, with which also it was connected as the flower and the  plant. 

“சீவனுக்குள்ளே சிவமணம் புூத்தது” 

(In the tree of Life (soul) the sweet blossom of Sivam blossoms out). In the banda(attachment) condition, the soul appeared  only as Asat, and when the banda is removed, freedom is obtained and it then  appears not itself but as Sivam. So, in neither condition, its own nature is  subordinated to the one to which it is connected for the time being, and apart from  either, it cannot find a resting place and it lives therefore in both. Though at all times all the three existed together, yet before blossoming; and at  another time, Asat disappears and soul is enveloped in Sivam and the brightness  and sweetness of the flower alone shines out.  

Cf. ‘Thirumanthiram.’  

அனாதி சிவருூபமாகிய ஆன்மா 
தனாதிமலத்தாற்  றடைப்பட்டு நின்றது 
தனாதிமலமும்   தடையற்றபாேதே 
யனாதிசிவ  ருுபமாகிய வாறே.  

Tirumandiram, St.Tirumular

(The soul which in its real condition is of the form of Sivam is confined and  conditioned by its connection with Malam; when this bantham therefore ceases, it  assumes the form of Sivam).  

(c) The last illustration contains a favourite analogy. God is the sea or the vast space  giving room to a vast volume of water and things contained in it, “the all  Container” “The Sarva Viyapaka.” The water is the soul which is Vyapti and the salt of the water is the Malam which is Vyappia. The import of the analogy in this  place is that though it is the sea which gives room to the water and the salt, yet the  salt does not attach itself to the sea (space) but to the water. And the salt though it  is always present in sea water, the water in its original or real condition, is not so connected and this connection can be separated. 

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sivagnanabotham

VI – Sixth Sutra : On The Nature Of God And The World

உணர் உரு அசத்தெனின்,உணராது இன்மையின்

இருதிறன் அல்லாது சிவசத்தாமென

இரண்டு வகையின் இசைக்குமன் னுலகே.

Sutra. That which is perceived by the senses is Asat (changeable.) That which is not so perceived does not exist. God is neither the one nor the other, and hence called Siva Sat or Chit Sat by the wise; Chit or Siva when not understood by the human intelligence and Sat when perceived with divine wisdom. 

Commentary 

This treats of the nature of Sat and Asat and consists of two arguments. 

First Argument 

Churnika. – Everything that is perceived by the human understanding is liable to decay. 

Varthikam. – As an object exists or does not exist according to one or other attitude of the soul, it is established that the object perceived by the human understanding is Asat. 

Illustration. – Hear, O! thou who art ignorant of the real nature of Asat. All those that are perceived by the human faculties and senses will be found to be Asat by him who has understood Sat. O! Thou, who art not Asat. If similes are required to illustrate that the world is Asat, they are the figures formed on the water, the dreams and the cloud-car. They disappear before Him, as does darkness before the sun. 

Second Argument 

Churnika. – The Being so arrived at (that is not perceived by the soul) is Hara. 

Varthikam. – All objects understood by us do not require a light to know them by, and all not so understood cannot be known even with a light. Hence that which is not included in these two and which is beyond the ken of human powers and is within its ken also, that is Sivam which is Sat. 

Illustration. –

(a) If the meaning of the expression that God is neither what can be proved and known by us nor what cannot be known is asked, he who has found the truth will say that He exists. He cannot be seen by the human understanding as He will then become Asat. He must be seen by the Arul Sakti of Siva who cannot be known by man. This Arul Sakti is His Foot. 

(b). The faculties by which the soul perceives are Asat. Therefore, none of them can perceive the One. Even thou, who so perceives, cannot understand Him. If examined, what thou perceivest will be different from thee. He who has understood himself will perceive himself to be not different from Him, as he merges his personality in Him and understands through His Arul. 

(c). If God is capable of being meditated by man, He becomes Asat. If He is regarded as a Being beyond human meditation, He will be a mere fiction. If He is meditated as neither, He will be a nonentity. If He is meditated as an object of meditation though He is beyond human meditation, this will be also a fiction. The Param can only be meditated with the aid of His Arul. Therefore, He is not a nonentity. 

(d). To be known by the soul, He is not different from itself. As He is even present in its understanding it cannot know Him. As He in fact makes the soul see, its understanding cannot comprehend and point Him out to the soul, just as the eye which the soul enables it to see and yet is one with it cannot see the soul. 

(e). God is not one who can be pointed out as “That.” If so, not only will He be an object of knowledge, it will imply a Gnatha who understands Him as such. He is not different from the soul as an object of knowledge. He becomes one with the soul pervading its understanding altogether. The soul so feeling itself is also Sivam. 

NOTES. 

This sutra contains the true and only definition of God, and all other attributes of God follow from the two given here. The way in which these attributes are derived is thus. In the first place, God must either be an object of human knowledge of He is not. If the first, everything that is perceived by us is liable to decay and change and we cannot regard God as liable to change. Therefore, God is beyond human perception and hence called Sivam or Chit (Pure Intelligence). If it is not an object of knowledge, is it nonentity? Of course not, and hence He is ‘Sat’ ‘that which subsists’ ‘The only Truth.’ These two forms the components of the word ‘Satchithanantham,’ so freely applied to God in the Saivite and Vedantic lore. This is our only definition of God and it is seen that any definition of God must contain these elements and the conception of God could not be simplified in any degree. Stated thus, very few religionists would quarrel with our definition of God. And yet how very few of the religions of the world even those, which charges others as polytheistic and idolatrous have an ideal of God which conforms to this definition. Their traditions, beliefs and methods of worship destroy this true idea for instance if our definition of God, that He is inconceivable by the human intelligence and imperceptible to human powers, is true how are all those religions which believe in Avatars, Christianity and Vaishnavism included, reconcilable with our definition. When God is born in the flesh, is He not a tangible thing, a thing to be seen by our eye, felt by our touch and comprehended by our senses. How can we then call Him indescribable and imperceptible? How can the Author of evolution subject himself to the laws of evolution – birth and death. Is it not therefore that our sages one and all declare that – He is ‘உதியா மரியா’ ‘இறப்பிலி பிறப்பிலி’ (without birth and death)? We challenge any body to point out in the vast puranic lore, any story in which Siva is said to have been born in the flesh and the very stories which exist, only serve to illustrate the difference between Him and the so-called Immortals, namely, that Siva cannot die and be born, and that all others are capable of births and deaths, and our poet says: 

“எல்லார் பிறப்பும் இறப்பும் இயற்பாவலர்தம், 
சொல்லாற் றெளிந்தேம், – நம் சோணேசர், 
இல்லிற் பிறந்த கதையும் கேளேம் பேருலகில் வாழ்ந்துண்டு, 
இறந்த கதையும் கேட்டிலேம்.” 

And every Tamil student can recall to mind the popular Stanza of Kalamegam in which he claims superiority to Vishnu who is superior to God, as Siva has no births, Vishnu’s births are ten and his own are innumerable. The Churnika points out that all object and subject (mental) phenomena are liable to decay, not annihilation, but change. They so change from moment to moment, they are so evanescent that they may almost be said to have no existence at all, ‘இல்லே யெனு மாயை’ and these are therefore called Asat. And to avoid further misconception, it is defined as that which exists or does not exist according to the objective or subjective attitude of the mind, bearing in mind, however, Asat here includes all the phenomena of object and subject, both being objective to the soul. Asat or Maya therefore does not mean nonexistent nor illusion nor Mitya. It simply means ‘other than Sat.’ And this definition has to be borne in mind fully, as the confusion of its meaning alone has given birth to the tortuosities of the Idealistic School. The latter School compares Asat to the imagined silver in the shell and the snake in a rope. That this is a false analogy, without any meaning, is easily shown. For the production of this illusory knowledge we must have previously possessed a knowledge of two realities both the shell and silver, and the snake and the rope and an imperfectly intelligent being, who by either defective vision or distance or fear &c. mistakes one thing for the other. The silver and snake, in themselves realities, are not in the shell and rope respectively but in a defective mind. In the genesis of the Asat, what supplies the places of silver, shell and defective mind must be shown. So far as the illusory knowledge of silver is concerned, we have traced it to a defective mind. If myself and my human consciousness, objective and subjective is an illusion, who is the subject of this illusion. Inevitably, God. Such a God is itself illusory and He could not be self-luminous and Intelligent. The analogy gives us no sense whatever and though the objection as stated here has often and often been pressed, yet we find no book meeting it and we find the analogy repeated often enough and even by intelligent men, parrot-like. The nature of Asat is further explained in the illustration, and the similes given are in themselves real experiences while they last, and the point of comparison is simply their evanescent and temporary character. 

2. The second Varthika gives one of the many dilemmas found in this work. If God is knowable by us, it will be easy enough to know Him and we do not require a superior Light to guide us to Him. If He is not knowable, then however we might try, we cannot discover Him, and the worship of God will be all vain trouble. The meaning being that it is not possible to know with what is called Pasa and Pasu Gnanam i.e., by the human powers and by the soul itself. The Divine Light (Pathi Gnanam) must penetrate our soul and then we can discover Him dwelling in ourselves; and merging our personalities in Him, we become indistinguishable from Him and we can as it were, call ourselves even God, in name. At no time, can we therefore see God face to face as He, as it were, lies behind us, lives in us, part of our very being. Sivagnana Siddhi summarises the reasons thus: 

“God cannot be perceived by the Human intelligence as He is not separate from the soul, as He illumines its intelligence, makes it understand whatever it thinks about, and as He has no such pride as I and mine, everything being in Him.” 

(b) and (d) and (e). Maya is object. Soul is subject. The object cannot perceive the subject; otherwise, the subject will become the object and the object subject. God is true subject, and Maya and Soul are objects and hence Maya and Soul cannot perceive God. The subject receives further elaboration in the next Sutra. 

(c) This verse discusses the various conceptions of God by the Yogis, and they are reduced to either mere idols of the human mind or fiction or nonentity, in all of which cases, the meditation of God will bring no profit whatever. When the highest conceptions of God in the Yoga philosophy are thus declared to be mere material idols or myths, it need not be pointed out that any representation of the Unknown and the Inconceivable by either the eye or the ear or any other human senses will be equally material conceptions and fruitless. This then is our real reason for the objection taken to all forms of idolatry. The religions ordinarily professing hatred of idolatry are based on such narrow philosophic foundations that they simply object to the idols of the eye – namely pictures and statues, &c., but their ordinary conceptions of God conveyed by the language and sound is equally gross and idolatrous. If you object to a male representation of God in gold or marble as your Father and ‘Our Lord’ and repeat other names which are mere idols of the ear, and what benefit would it bring you the worship of these mere names? If you object to locate the picture of the eye in a temple, why do you build Him a temple in words and in your mind and say ‘Our Father which art in Heaven.’ This heaven of your mind is as unreal a representation of God’s abode as the Temple of the earth. A prayer is a mere word or sound worship, and all our mantras fall within this category. God can only be and is therefore represented by means of all the human senses, and the mental conceptions simply follow from the sensory conceptions. Of all these, however, the eye and the ear standing foremost among the most intellectual of the five gateways of knowledge, the symbolic forms of these two senses are deservedly most popular. And of these, the forms of the eye are all the varied forms of the universe, the five elements, the Sun, and the Moon, and the luminaries and all animal form chiefly man, comprised under what are called Ashta-Mukurtham; which forms are again divided into Guru, Lingam and Sangamam: Guru and Sangama comprising Living Beings and Lingam including all pictorial and sculptural representations, from the root ‘lik,’ meaning to write or describe. Cf. The word ‘Lipika,’ used in the ‘Secret Doctrine.’ The symbols presented to the ear, are sounds, words, names, and mantras, prayers, &c. And of all these the Pranava and Sri Panchakshara stand foremost. And these mantras form what is called Sabda Brahm. And how futile this worship of Sabda Brahm is when not accompanied by Pathi Gnanam is illustrated by the Puranic story of the Rishis of the Tharukavana. Cf. the following extract from ‘Barths’ Religions of India. “Sacrifice is only an act of preparation; it is the best of acts but it is an act and its fruits consequently perishable. Accordingly, although whole sections of these treatises (Upanishads) are taken up exclusively with speculations on the rites, what they teach may be summed up in the words of Munduka Upanishad “Know the Atman only and away with everything else; it alone is the bridge to immortality.” The Veda itself and the whole circle of sacred science are quite as sweepingly consigned to the second place. The Veda is not the true Brahm; it is only its reflection. And the science of this imperfect Brahm, this Sabda Brahm or Brahm in words is only a science of a lower order. The true science is that which has the true Brahm, The Para Brahman for its subject.” That is, the Vedas themselves resolve into Asat and they cannot know Sat. These thoughts are not only found in almost every page of our sacred literature, but they can be met with even in every popular song, and story. If I attempt here any quotation, these will in themselves form matter for a separate book, but I am unwilling to leave it without a few, seeing the importance of the subject. Turning over the first few pages of ‘Thiruvachakam’ we meet with these: 

“பரமன் காண்க“ 

(Behold the Supreme) 

“சொற்பதங் கடந்த தொல்லோன் காண்க“ 

(Behold The most Ancient God who cannot be described by words) 

“சித்தமுஞ்செல்லா சேடசியன் காண்க“ 

(Behold the Incomprehensible Being who cannot be reached by the Human mind) 

“தேவரு மறியாச் சிவனே காண்க“ 

(Behold the Lord unknown to the Immortals) 

“சொற்பதங் கடந்த தொல் லோன் 

உள்ளத்துணர்ச்சியிற் கொள்ளவும் படான் 

கண்முதற்புலனாற் காட்சியுமில்லோன்“ 

‘He is passing the description of words, not comprehensible by the mind, not visible to the eye and other senses’ (note here the words ‘eye and other senses’) 

“யுரையுணர் விறந்த வொருவ போற்றி.” 

(Praise be to the One who is passing speech and thought) 

“வேதங்கள் ஐயா வெனவோங்கி 

ஆழ்ந்தகன்ற நுண்ணியனே.” 

(Thou hast passed far beyond the reach of the Vedas, which called loudly for Thee) 

“ஓர்நாமம் ஓருருவம் ஒன்றுமில்லான்“ 

He has no name, and no form and no marks whatever. 

“சோதிமணிமுடி சொல்லிற் சொல்லிறந்து நின்றதொன்மை 

ஆதிகுணம் ஒன்றுமில்லா அந்தமிலான்.” 

(His Lustrous Crown is where all speech and thought cease to enter, 

He has no beginning, no attributes and no end.) 

Turn to the ‘Thevaram’ : 

“அவன் அருளே கண்ணாகிக் காண்பதல்லால். 

இப்படியன் இவ்வுருவன், இவ்வண்ணத்தன் 

இவனிறைவ னென்றெழுதிக் காட்டொணாதே.” 

(Unless you can see him with His Grace as your eye, 

You cannot describe Him in words or picture, as this is the God possessing such and such attributes, forms and qualities). 

Says our Sainted Poetess Karaikal Ammayar: 

“அன்றும் திருவுருவம் காணாதே யாட்பட்டேன் 

இன்றும் திருவுருவம் காண்கிலேன் – என்றுந்தான் 

எவ்வுருவோ நும்பிரான் என்பார்கட் கென்னுரைப்பேன், 

எவ்வுருவோ நின்னுருவம் எது.” 

When I first became Thy slave, I did not know Thy form, 

I have not seen Thy form even now. 

What am I to say to those who ask me what Thy form is? 

What is Thy form? Which is it? None. 

Our Thayumanavar: 

“உரையுணர்வு இறந்து தம்மையுணர்பவர் உணர்வி னூடே 

கரையிலா இன்பவெள்ளம் காட்டிடும் முகிலே.” 

“சொல்லாலும் பொருளாலும் அளவையாலும் 

தொடரவொண்ணா அருள்நெறி.” 

“குலமிலான் குணங்குறி யிலான்.” 

“சுருதியே சிவாகமங்களே யுங்களாற் சொல்லும் 

ஒருதனிப்பொருள் அளவையீனென்னவா யுண்டோ 

பொருதிரைக்கடலெண்ணினும் புகல 

கருதவெட்டிடா நிறைபொருள் அளவையார் காண்பார்“ 

Cf. with verse (d). 

“அறியுந்தரமோ நானுன்னை, அறிவுக்கறிவாய் நிற்பதனால் 

பிறியுந் தரமோ நீ யென்னைப் பெம்மானே – பேரின்பமதாய் 

செறியும் பொருள் நீ நின்னையன்றிச் செறியாப் பொருள் நான்.” 

Having said so much, it might reasonably be asked, how is it, that the Saiva Religion whose Temples are more numerous than that of any other faith and are spread out from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin and the Islands beyond and from the caves of Elephanta to the Rock cut Temples of Mahabalipuram, tolerates these practices? This is the subject of the next chapter on Sadana and the reason is found there. This symbolic worship (sensory and mental) is required as Sadana for the human soul and these are not Sadhia i.e., the means to attain an end, the knowledge of Sat, and not the end itself; or in the words of the extract quoted above, these are acts of preparation. The human mind, if it must progress in Spirituality, must withdraw more and more from its own self and rest itself on what it considers, the Highest, the Holiest and Loveliest and bestow upon it all its deeds, riches, and thoughts (). By such continued practice of Altruism and love of Sivam, who is All Love, will reach true Bhakti or Pathi Gnanam, described in the last chapter on Payan. Besides when we must worship God, we must worship in that body in which He is present, and we have before shown that the whole universe, animate and in animate, forms His body; and that all forms of nature are His. And our sages praise Him therefore: 

“பெண் ஆண் அலியென்னும் பெற்றியன் போற்றி.” 

(Praise be to the One who is male, female, and neuter.) 

“பூதங்கள்தோறு நின்றா யெனின் அல்லாற் 

போக்கிலன் வரவிலன் என நினைப்புலவோர், 

கீதங்கள் பாடுதல் ஆடுதலல்லாற் 

கேட்டறியோமுனைக் கண்டறிவாரை 

சிந்தனைக்கும் அரியாய்.”  

(The sages can only sing Thy praises as the One immanent in all Nature, and withal as being the immutable and unchangeable; we have not heard of any persons who have seen Thee except in this way. Thou art beyond the reach of all thought.) 

“கண்ணாலியானும் கண்டேன் காண்க.” 

(I have seen Thee with my eyes.) 

’இன்னிசை வினையிலி சைந்தோன் காண்க.’ 

(Thou art present even as the Harmony in the Vina.) 

“பூவினாற்றம் போன்றுயர்ந் தெங்கு மொழிவற நிறைந்து மேவிய பெருமை.” 

(Thy greatness in being present in one and all, like the smell in the folwer.) 

“அருக்கனிற் சோதி அமைத்தோன் திருத்தகு 

மதியிற்றண்மை வைத்தோன் திண்டிறல் 

தீயின் வெம்மை செய்தோன் பொய்தீர் 

வானிற்கலப்பு வைத்தோன், மேதகு 

நீரி லின்சுவை நிகழ்ந்தோன், வெளிப்பட 

மண்ணிற் றிண்மைவைத்தோன், என்னென்று 

எனைப் பலகோடியெனைப் பல பிறவும் 

அனைத்தனைத் தவவயின் அடைத்தோன் அஃதான்று“ 

(Thou art present as the Light in the sun. 

Thou art present as the coolness in the moon. 

Thou hast added Heat to the fire. 

Thou art present even as Akas diffusing everywhere. 

Thou art present even as the sweetness in water. 

Thou art present even as the hardness in earth. 

Thou art present in each and everything as such. 

And yet art Thou not all these things.) 

“பத்திவலையிற் படுவோன் காண்க.” 

(Thou art ensnared by Bhakti (Love).) 

அருவமும் உருவமு மானாய் போற்றி. 

பேராயிரமுடைய பெம்மான் போற்றி. 

(Praise be to Thee who hast forms and art formless.) 

(Praise be to Thee who hast thousand names.) 

“கண்ணிற் காண்பதுன் காட்சி கையாற்றொழில் 

பண்ணல்பூசை பகர்வது மந்திரம். 

மண்ணோ டைந்தும் வழங்குயிர் யாவுமே 

யண்ணலே நின்னருள் வடிவாகும்மே.” 

Real seeing with our eyes is when we see Thee. 

Real Pujah with our hands is when we worship Thee. 

When we repeat Thy names, it is uttering manthra. 

All the five elements and animate nature are Thy Gracious Forms 

“வடிவெல்லாநின் வடிவென வாழ்த்திடாக் 

கடியனேனுமுன் காரணம் காண்பனோ.” 

(Can I hope to see Thy Truth 

When I do not praise all Forms as Thy Form) 

“அருவெனில் உருவமுமுளை உருவெனில் 

அருஉருவமு முளையவை யுபயமு மலை.” 

(If it is said, Thou art Formless, no, Thou hast also a Form. If it is said, Thou hast only a form, no, Thou art also formless. Thou art neither.) 

And again when we picture in words or in our minds, God, say as the Creator, the protector and the destroyer, why should we not also picture Him to our eye as such? It is not that, when we speak of in words, God as creator &c., or think of Him as such, we have really advanced in any way in our knowledge of God. And it is, on this principle that the whole of the innumerable forms in Temple worship has grown among the Hindus. Each form and every detail in that form is symbolic of some idea or thought. These forms are such that if today all our philosophical works and Shastras, &c., are destroyed, it is possible to evolve, all our various Hindu Philosophical systems, Moral, Social and Religious from these images alone, provided we possess the key. This is not an idle boast, but it is wanting of space and fear of encumbering the subject with too much of my own views that forbid me to elaborate the subject further. However, I will conclude this article by referring to and explaining in part the most important of the Saivite Forms, namely the image of Natesa and the Chin Mudra. It will be too great a detail if I proceed to describe the structure of the place or Temple called Chit Ambaram or Chit Akas, Chit Sabha and Pundarikapuram or the city of the Heart in the midst of which the Divine Dancer performs His Natak. The pose is that of a dancer. And now dance is defined as the music of motion. And when, as we have shown, God manifests Himself as the great Energy or Force or Maha Chaitanyam, when He wills that the whole universe of Mind and Matter should undergo Evolution (creation, development and Reproduction). What could be more appropriate than to regard this Grand Moving Force as a great Dancer. In the words of our sage – 

‘காட்ட வனல் போல் உடல் கலந்துயிரையெல்லாம், 

ஆட்டுவிக்கும் நட்டுவன் எம்மண்ணலென வெண்ணாய்.’ 

(Our God is the Dancer who like the heat latent in the firewood diffuses His Power in Mind and Matter and Makes them dance in their turn.) I prefer again to quote the famous author of ‘Nithineri Vilakkam’ in order to explain a few of the other Symbols. 

‘பூமலி கற்பகப் பூத்தேள் வைப்பு 

நாமநீர் வரைப்பின் நானில வளாகமும் 

எனைய புவனமும் எண்ணீங்குயிரும் 

தானே வகுத்ததுன் தமருகக் கரமே 

தனித்தனி வகுத்த சராசரப்பகுதி 

யனைத்தையும் காப்பதுன் அமைத்த கைத்தலமே 

தோற்றுபு நின்ற அத் தொல்லுலகடங்கலும் 

ஆற்றுவது ஆரழல் அமைத்ததோர் கரமே 

ஈட்டிய வினைப்பயன் எவற்றையும் மறைத்துநின் 

றூட்டுவ தாகும்நின் ஊன்றியபதமே; 

அடுத்த இன்னுயிர்கட்கு அளவில் பேரின்பம் 

கொடுப்பது முதல்வநின் குஞ்சித பதமே 

இத்தொழில் ஐந்தும்நின் மெய்த்தொழில்.’ 

Roughly translated, the passage means ‘O my Lord, Thy Hand holding the sacred drum (Damaruka – உடுக்கை) has made and arranged the Heavens and the Earth and other worlds and innumerable souls. Thy raised Hand protects the Chethana and Achethana Prapancha which Thou hadst created. All these worlds are changed by Thy Hand bearing Fire. Thy Sacred Foot, planted on the ground, furnishes rest to the tired soul struggling in the toils of Karma and eating the fruits thereof. It is Thy lifted Foot which grants eternal bliss to those who approach Thee. These Pancha Krithya are in fact Thy true Handy-work. 

The curious may enquire how the hand with the drum signifies creation or creative Power. Those who have read Mrs. Annie Beasant’s Lecture on Sound will have noted that when creation is started Sound or Natham is the first product, out of which all other tatwas are evolved, and the Damarukam is probably the oldest and most primitive sound producing instruments known to the Aryans and which, the use of it still in all religious observances also points to. 

The Chin Mudra found in the Person of the Divine Guru Dakshina Murthi explains the nature of the three padarthas and the difference of the Bandu and Moksha conditions. For a fuller account of this symbol, see the pages of ‘The Theosophist.’ 

Categories
sivagnanabotham

Chapter – II. Lakshanavial IV – Fourth Sutra : Of The Soul In Its Relation To The Andhakarana

அந்தக்கரணம் அவற்றின் ஒன்றன்று, 
சந்தித்தது ஆன்மா, சகசமலத்துணராது 
அமைச்சு அரசு ஏய்ப்பநின்று அஞ்சவத்தைத்தே.  

Sutra. The soul is not one of the Andakarana. It is not conscious when it is in conjunction with Anavamala. It becomes conscious only when it meets the Andakarana, just as a king understands through his ministers. The relation of the soul to the five Avasthais also similar. 

Commentary: 

This also treats of the nature of the soul and it consists of three arguments.  

First Argument:  

Churnika. – The Andakarana have no activity except when in conjunction with the soul. Hence there is a soul distinct from the Andakarana.  

Varthikam. – As the Andakarana are only intelligent (chit) when viewed in relation to the subordinate Tatwasbut are non-intelligent (Achit) when viewed in relation to the soul, it is established that the soul is not one of the Andakarananamely Manas, Buddhi, Chittam and Ahankara.  

Illustration. – (a) Manas and other Andakaranahave perception of permanent sensations. The soul perceives the product of the perception by the Buddhi after such mental perceptions. These perceptions by Manas and Buddhi reach the soul as 70 the waves rising in the sea reach the shore. As the Andakaranaare different from the permanent sensations, so the soul is different from the Andakarana.

 (b.) While perceiving so, the soul as Chittam considers; as Manas it doubts; as Ahankaram, it wrongly concludes; as Buddhi it determines properly. As it thus apprehends differently when it is united to each, it is different from them, just as the sun, though marking the divisions of time, is different from it.

(c.) The letter ‘A’ is the symbol of Ahankaram; ‘U’ that of Buddhi; ‘M’ that of Manas; Vinthu that of Chittam; and Natham which is inseparable from all these letters, is the symbol of the soul. The five letters constitute Pranava; when examined, consciousness arises when the soul and Andakaranameet, just as the tides rise and fall during the conjunction of the sun and the Moon.

(d.) Iswara and Sadasiva are the deities respectively of Vinthu and Natham; Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra are deities respectively of ‘A,’ ‘U,’ and ‘M’.

Second Argument: 

Churnika. – The soul cannot see, being shrouded by the mala. 

Varthikam. – It is established that the soul cannot understand when it is solely in conjunction with its inherent mala (Anava), as this mala is something which darkens the soul’s light or intelligence.

Illustration. – The soul will not know anything, unless it receives the light through its body caused by Maya, as the eye apprehends objects by the light of the lamp. Anavamala exists in the soul eternally, becoming one with it and concealing its luster as does the firewood conceal the heat or fire present in it.

Third Argument: 

Chunika. – The soul undergoes five Avastha.

 Varthikam. – As the soul is in a formless (Arupa) tatwa form and shrouded by the Mala, it is established that the soul undergoes five Avastha, namely, Jakra, Swapna, Sushupti, Thuriya, and Thuriyathitha.

Illustrations. – (a) In the Jakra Avasthaof the soul, when it is in the region of the forehead, it has 35 active organs including the 10 external senses. In its Swapna Avastha, when in the region of the throat, it has 25 organs excluding the 10 external organs. In the Sushupti Avastha, when in the region of the heart, it has 3 organs including Chittam. In Thuriya Avastha, when in the region of the navel, it has only two, namely Purusha and Pranavayu; In Thuriyathitha Avastha, when in the region of Mulathara, it is pure Purusha having none of these organs.

(b) The soul, which in Jakra Avasthais in the region of the forehead, undergoes all the five Avasthain the same region. That is to say, it becomes conscious of each perception through each of the organs and, at the same time, becomes separated from them. Sutta Avasthaare like these five in number.

 NOTES

 Andakaranais a generic word, signifying all the internal senses, but they more particularly mean as here, Manas, Buddhi, Chitta and Ahankara. The proof of the proposition that the soul is not one of the Andakaranais given in the Varthika and illustrations. In dead sleep (Sushupthi) where the internal senses are at rest, the soul is not conscious. It becomes conscious only when the Anthakarana become once more active. When the soul is in Sushupti, it is in conjunction only with Anava Mala and performing respiratory function. This last function is the watchman who guards the innermost portals of the Palace of the King (Soul) when it is in perfect solitude. The Avasthas are merely the conditions of the soul when it 72 is in relation with all the external and internal senses or with only some of them or none at all.

 1. The churnika furnishes the first proof which is amplified in the Varthika. The internal senses are active; you lift your Ego to its own place as in Yoga, the Andakaranabecome dead and inactive, thus showing that the Atma is not one of the Andakarana.

The distinction is drawn in the following manner.

 The Andakaranaare the faculties of perception and reason. They perceive and reason but are not conscious that they perceive and reason. This latter function is performed by the True Ego, Atma.

The four Andakaranaare distinguished in this wise Chittam takes an impression presented by the senses and considers what it is. It cannot know that it so considers. Manas takes such an impression, and double whether it is or is not this or that. It cannot know that it so doubts.

 Ahankara ventures boldly that the impression is such and such. It cannot know that it so ventures.

Buddhi determines properly that the impression is this or that. It cannot know that it so determines.

  • The Andakaranaare divided into two classes as remarked above.

Manas, Chitta, and Ahankara are merely faculties of perception and they perceive permanent sensations and the language of the text is remarkable as “மன்னு புலன்கள்” exactly mean permanent sensations. Buddhi is the faculty of reason involving the sense of agreement and difference among such impressions. The product of this faculty is what is brought to the cognizance of the soul. The first 73 three ministers merely gather statistics and prepare them. The Chief Minister, Buddhi compares the statistics and draws his conclusions and formulates the proposition to the King (Soul).

As the waves are stirred by the winds, the senses affect the Andakarana.

(b) Another distinction is that the four Andakaranaare four different functions, one not capable of performing the function of another or all the rest. That which stands above, cognizant of all the four, is the soul.

(c)It was before observed that the soul was of the form of Sri Panchatchara and the latter was stated as synonymous with Pranava. The symbol of Vinthu is a circle and that of Natham is a line. These two in fact, constitute the Pranava symbol o – or உ and the latter will be been is the same as Pillayar shuli. No Tamil man will begin the smallest piece of writing without prefixing Pillayar shuli. The significance being forgotten, it is thought of as a sectarian symbol, and the bigoted among Vaishnavas to whom the Pranava is as important, begin now to use ஸ்ரீ instead. Why it is called Pillayar shuli is, because God, Ganesha, represents Pure Sat, Brahm and the elephant Head is the Pranava sumbol.

Cf. the popular Tamil couplet. 

பிரணவப்பொருளாம்   பெருந்தகை ஐங்கரன் 

சரண  அற்புதமலர்  தலைக்கணிவோமே. 

The popular Sanskrit slokas in praise of Ganesha also describe Him as Pranava Sorupi. The illustration contained in this stanza is a beautiful one.

(d) This contains another explanation of Pranava. Sivam was first stated as True Sat or Brahm. I have shown that the form of Ganesha shows Him to represent True Sat or Brahm. The very name of Subramanya signifies that He is True Brahm. The 74-word Uma meaning Sakti is composed of u, m and a, i.e., Om manifested. So, these different words or mantras are different modes of expressing the same Principle, the True Sat, in symbol, sound and language. So, Om, Sri Panchatchara, Ganesha mantra, Subramanya mantra and Devi mantra are mere equivalents and denote the Samashti Pranava; when analyzed i.e., regarded as Vyashti, it becomes divided into Natham, Vinthu, a, u, and m. ‘a’ represents creation or origin as its place is the place or origin of all sounds. ‘u’ or ‘oo’ represents sthithi, as, when after pronouncing ‘a’ we bring it to a stand for an instant by converging the lips, ‘u’ is formed; when we close our mouths after pronouncing ‘a’ and ‘u,’ ‘m’ is formed and hence it represents Samharam. Binthu and Natham are the form and sound of these letters.

2. This explains that man’s intelligence only receives play and brightness and is capable of infinite improvement, when brought in contact with human body, by getting frequent births. That is, by evolution alone, man gets himself perfected.

 3. I have not seen any objection to regarding the Soul as a separate entity more formidable that this, viz.

 “If so, while I am in my objective state of consciousness, my Ego is something existing as a real entity in the physical body itself. How is it possible to transfer the same to the astral body? Then, again, it has also to be transferred to the Karana Sarira. We shall find a still greater difficulty in transferring this entity to the Logos itself; and you may depend upon it that unless a man’s individuality or Ego can be transferred to the Logos, immortality is only a name.” This objection which is stated with so much confidence will, on examination, be found to be groundless. In the first place, it is not shown, how it is not possible to affect the transference from one Avasthato another under this theory and that it is possible under the objector’s theory. Besides, the difficulty is more in the language employed, than in actual 75 fact. And it is, often, in our experience what a fruitful source of error is the inadequate language we employ, in describing laws of thought. The objector speaks of the transfer from one body to another. On the premises already laid down in the preceding Sutras and on the view of the Avast has as discussed in this argument, it will be apparent that there will be no transfer at all. The atma does not fly from the Sthula Sarira into the Sukshuma or astral body and leaving this into the Karana Sarira. It did not enter any new cosmic body at any one time. Its connection with Maya is eternal. And the law of mental evolution or evolution of subjective consciousness corresponds exactly to the evolution of objective consciousness. The human mind cannot evolve unless there is a corresponding evolution in its body. A pure disembodied mind or Atma is not recognized by this school. In the human as well as in the freed state (Moksha) it is connected with matter and between matter and God, the Atma is supported like a piece of iron between two magnets, the one pulling it higher and the other pulling it lower. And in the human state, the iron is in closest contact with the lower magnet, and in the Moksha with the Higher Magnet. In Moksha, the power of maya to undergo births alone is destroyed, by the Karma having been eaten up, just as a seed of grain loses its power of germination in the granary of the ant, by the sprout being nibbled off or by some other process. In human evolution, however, we find both the object and subject being evolved together and there could be no evolution of the one without the evolution of the other. In its original condition, what is here called Thuriyathitha condition, the atma is pure Purusha without consciousness of any sort, its body also being altogether undeveloped. This is the stage before evolution had commenced. The atma has no consciousness, no intelligence and no movements of any sort. In the next condition (Thurya avastha) evolution had been started, we have the first beginning of life, Purusha, in a living breathing body, without consciousness or any manifestation of any other faculties. They (mind and 76 body) are evolved a step further in the Sushupthi avastha, and we have the first beginning of consciousness; and as such the faculty of Chittam is evolved in addition; and the objective body is then called Karana Sarira. A step further we arrive at Swapna avastha, where all the faculties (objective consciousness) except the 10 external senses (Gnana and Karma Indriyas) are fully developed and the objective body is called Sukshuma or astral body. In the final stage of evolution, where man’s consciousness has been fully developed, all the 36 tatwas formed of Maya, have been also fully developed; this is the Jakra avastha, and the body is the Sthula body. In this account of human evolution, there is no transference really. Similarly, when the atma and its body undergo resolution, subjective and objective consciousness ceases little by little or is drawn in as it were, just as a spider or tortoise draws all its legs and organs into itself and rolls itself into a mass and becomes dead to all appearance. In fact, like a revolving prism of many sides, the attitude of the atma alone changes and this change of attitude or Avasthais brought about, as, in the language of the text, it is in a formless (Arupa) Tatwa form enshrouded by mala i.e., not being made of matter but being chit itself and encased in matter. These five avasthas and their bodies are divided into three states Kevala, Sakala and Sutta. The Kevala state is the original state before evolution and described in the text of this sutra ‘சகசமலத்துணராது‘ (It is not conscious when it is in conjunction with Anavamala). The Sakala state is described in the next sutra (V) and in the next one (VI) the Sutta state is treated off.

Having met a few of the most formidable objections taken to this view of the Siddhanta school, let me here state a few of the objections to the Idealistic view for which a rational answer is not yet forthcoming. Evolving Logos and Mulaprakriti (matter) from Brahm (Sat), why don’t you apply the law of causation and conservation of energy, and say otherwise that, Logos and matter are not Brahm, 77 and why do you throw a veil between Logos and Brahm, and why do you say also that matter is not ‘Sat’ but Asat, and why should the one energy or Chaitanyam or Sakti of the Logos subdivide itself and form into different monads and acquire Karma, and become evil, and corrupt and bring sin and sorrow into this earth? If Atma is not a particle of this Chit but a mere reflection or shadow, how could a mere shadow become individualized and clothe with thought and action? And why should this shadow work out its own salvation? Will it not disappear when the substance is itself resolved. The same way as the Logos manifested itself in various bodies, as the sun in various pots of water, cannot the Logos itself gather up its lost energies or cannot the energy pass into the Logos as soon as the body dies, just as the sun’s reflection ceases as soon as the water pot is broken? With what grace can the objection be stated that unless the man’s individuality is transferred into the Logos itself, immortality is only a name, when for no reason or end, the human monad is evolved from Logos, and when there is an equal chance for the individual attaining immortality to evolve again as a human monad? 

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sivagnanabotham

Chapter – I. Pramanaviyal – Third Sutra – On The Existence Of Soul

A devotee folds her hands in prayer in front of the nayanmars and Siva as Nataraja
Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay - A devotee folds her hands in prayer in front of the nayanmars and Siva as Nataraja

உளது, இலதென்றலின், எனதுடலென்றலின்
ஐம்புலன், ஒடுக்கம் அறிதலின், கண்படில்
உண்டிவினையின்மையின், உண்ர்த்த உணர்தலின்,
மாயாவியந்திரனுவினுள் ஆன்மா.

Sutra. It rejects every portion of the body as not being itself; It says my body; it is conscious of dreams; it exists in sleep without feeling pleasure or pain or movements; it knows from others; This is the soul which exists in the body formed as a machine from Maya.

Commentary:

This treats of Atma Praksa and consists of seven arguments.

First Argument:

Churnika. – An intelligent soul exists, as its intelligence is exercised when it says “this is not the soul, this is not the soul.”

Varthikam. – As there exists something after it rejects everything else as not being the soul, it is established that this something is the soul.

Illustration. – Standing in intimate and inseparable connection with each and every part of the body and its organs, an intelligence of the form of Sri Panchatchara is found to exist which is not one or other of these. That Thou art. Thou art not Maya, with which thou art united, as it only enables thy understanding to shine better as the eye-glasses make the eye see better. Thou art neither the Supreme Being (Tat Param) who is above thyself and Maya. Thou art different from both.

Second Argument:

Churnika. – As the phrase “my body” is used in a separate possessive sense, there is a soul different from the body.

Varthikam. – As something exists apart when it says ‘this is my arm’ ‘this is my leg’ as when it speaks of my town, and my house. It is established that this something is the soul.

Illustration. – As thou speakest of thy wife and thy house as thine and as identical with thyself, so thou speakest of thy hands and thy feet and thy impression and sensation, as though they are not different from you. If examined deeply, thou wilt find the body, arms, &c. to be different from thyself.

Third Argument:

Churnika. – As he understands all the five different sensations, he is different from all the five senses which can only feel each a particular sensation.

Varthikam. – As among the five senses, one cannot feel what another can feel, and as there exists something which feels all the five classes of sensations by means of all the five senses, it is established that this something is the soul.

Illustration. – If there is something which understands the actions of all the five senses in the body which are moved by Sri Panchatchara and of which when experiencing the sensations, one sense does not feel what another sense feels, that something thou art. As these senses except feeling each differently have no thought that they feel, understand that thou art not one of them.

Fourth Argument:

Churnika. – As it passes from the dream conditions into the waking state, there exists a soul different from the body in the dream condition.

Varthikam. – As something experiences in the waking state that it had dreams in sleep, it is established that this something is the soul.

Illustration. – When, in sleep, the senses which are alive in the body, lose their action and the body loses all its external actions, thou enters another body, (Sukshuma Sarira) inside thy own, in dream and undergoes other experiences of sight, hearing and the like, pleasure, and pain and the like and then changes it for the visible body (Sthula Sarira) when waking. Thou art not therefore the Sukshuma Sarira; Thou art different.

Fifth Argument:

Churnika. – As the body has no feelings or movements in profound sleep, though respiration in kept up, the soul is different from the respiratory organ (Pranavayu).

Varthikam. – In profound sleep (when all the functions of the body except respiration are suppressed), feelings of pleasure and pain and movements are absent in the body; and in the waking state, when all the faculties are in working order, these feelings and movements are present. It is therefore established that something (which thus suppresses the faculties or brings them into play, causing the absence or presence of the feelings and movements) is the soul.

Illustration. – (In profound sleep) the body, which has cognition of the world, losing it, has no feeling of pleasure or pain and no movements, though the breath (respiration) fully plays. Hence, there is an intelligence which has such perception other than breath. Understand that when the soul is active in the body, it has such feelings and movements.

Sixth Argument:

Churnika. – The soul becomes conscious of one thing when it forgets another. Therefore, the soul is different from Hara, whose consciousness is not subject to such change.

Varthikam. – As it can only understand when taught by its Guru that it is different from God whose understanding is perfect, it is established that this is the soul (and not God).

Illustration. – When becoming conscious of objects, it only apprehends one at a time, and when proceeding to apprehend another, becomes unconscious of what it knew before, and when it undergoes the five avasthas it becomes perfectly unconscious of everything. What is it which so apprehends? It is not Intelligence (Arivu). If the truth seeker examines, it is the soul whose understanding becomes identical with what it becomes united to.

Seventh Argument:

Churnika. – The soul is different from all the various tatwas as each is called by a separate name.

Varthikam. – It is established that the soul is different from the body, as each of the five senses instead of being called soul receives each a different name.

Illustration. – If the intelligence is the result of the conjunction of the bodily organs and (senses) these, on examination, resolve themselves into the Tatwas which begin with Kala and end with earth, and these are products of Maya which earth, and these are products of Maya which is not permanent (changeable or destructible). If, after understanding attentively the nature of intelligence, this combination is examined, it is simply the body (Sthula) and (Sukshuma) which is to the soul what the lamplight is to the eye. Hence the soul or intelligence is different from the body.

NOTES

வேண்டுதல் வேண்டாமையிலான்

This Sutra is a remarkable example of condensation of thought and brevity of expression. This contains 7 arguments on a most important subject and yet there is only a word or two to express each argument and there are not more than 20 words in Tamil or 14 words in Sanskrit. The first Sutra established from the fact of the objective universe and its undergoing evolution, the existence of Sat. In the next Sutra the nature of Chit by which this evolution is brought about and which is all Love is explained. Now God need not be active and be all loving, if nobody is to be benefited by it. He could not desire anything for Himself, as He is “வேண்டுதல் வேண்டாமையிலான்” (has no likes nor dislikes). Every act of His must be construed as Para-Prayochanam and not Swaprayochanam. We have therefore to postulate a separate entity as Soul which requires the support of the Supreme Intelligence and Love. This Sutra therefore proceeds to the proof of its existence.

1) The first argument is directed against Suniyavadisaccording to whom there is no Atmaat all. The subject though it identifies itself with every part of the objective body, organs and sensations yet it exercises its sense of difference and distinguishes itself from one and all of these. Therefore, that which so discriminates could not be a not-entity. This discriminating subject is the Soul of Atma. Even if we were to think we do not exist, the very thinking so, proves the existence of the thinking beings. The illustration further enjoins a caution that this thinking intelligence, being no other than Atma is not to be confounded with Divine intelligence, when we see it is not Maya or objective consciousness. The Atma occupies a place different from the other two i.e., a middle position. God is Sat; Maya is Asat; hence Atma is called Satasat (சதசத்து). The author of Ozhivilodukkam calls it Ali Arivu (அலியறிவு – Hermaphrodite intelligence) comparing the Divine Arivu to male and the Maya Arivu to female intelligence. Though all these are intelligences, they are of different orders. There is a dependence of the lower intelligence on the higher and when viewed from the stand-point of the higher, the lower ceases to exist as it were, the latter becomes Asat. Maya is Sat, but as compared with Atma, it is Asat. Atma is sat but as compared with God is Asat; Maya could not be compared with anything lower, nor God (Sat) with anything higher. So, these latter occupy extremes Asat and Sat and the middle one is called Satasat, partaking of the nature of both and not being both. When it identifies itself with Maya, (as in man) it is hardly distinguishable from Maya and when it becomes identified with Sat, its presence cannot also be seen. So, it is an Ali.

One other distinction between Sat and Satasat is that Sat is காட்டும் அறிவு or அறிவிக்கும் அறிவு (intelligence that induces Perception) or Light that removes darkness and the latter is காணும் or அறியும் அறிவு (Intelligence that perceives after the darkness is removed by Sat).

The relation of God, Atma and Maya is illustrated by the following analogy. Atma is the eye which is affected by a general disability and a particular defect. It cannot see in darkness nor when its eye sight is defective. God is the Sun, the dispeller of darkness, thereby giving light to the eye and other objects and enabling it to perceive. Maya is like the eye glasses which afford temporary relief to defective sight. By continued use of the glasses (births) and by a touch of the Surgeon’s lancet (God’s Grace or Arul Sakti) the defective eye sight (Anavamala) may be permanently cured. But the defective eye sight could not be cured by the Sun however powerful it may shine, and it shines ever before and after the eye sight is cured. And yet at no moment could you compare the light of the eye to the light of the sun, the one is the dispeller of darkness and the other is subject to darkness inherently. Sri Panchatchara is synonymous with Pranava. See further treatment of the subject in the subsequent chapters. Cf. Thayumanaver.

“ஐந்துபுலன் ஐம்பூதங் கரண மாதி
அடுத்தகுணம் அத்தனையும் அல்லை அல்லை
இந்தவுடல் அறிவறியா மையுநீ யல்லை
யாதொன்று பற்றின்அதன் இயல்பாய் நின்று
பந்தமறும் பளிங்கனைய சித்து நீஉன்
பக்குவங்கண் டறிவிக்கும் பான்மை யேம்யாம்.”

Thayumanaver

2) This is an argument gathered from a habit of speech to prove that the Soul is different from the body as against the Theganma Vadis. The different forms of speech I and mine involve a difference between the non-Ego (body) and the Ego and asserts the separate existence of the Ego. Such usages as ‘I am the body’; ‘I am the leg or arm,’ &c., are not in existence.

3) This argument is against regarding the soul as identical with the five external senses. Each sense stands apart and cannot feel a different class of sensations. So, the Soul can neither be one nor all of them. Even when the sensations are experienced, there is simply the feeling present and no thought of any such feeling. The eye sees no doubt, but it does not think that it sees. This is of course the distinction between subjective thought and objective feeling. The objective feeling or object is not the subject mind or Atma.

4) This argument is against the view that Sukshuma Sarira is itself the Atma. That it is not so is proved by the fact of the Soul passing in the waking state into the Sthula Sarira remembering its experiences in sleep and remembering them not clearly even.

In fact, it is in the Sthula Sarira, all the faculties are present and in full play; and in the Sukshuma Sarira 10 of the Tatwas (5 elements and 5 senses) are wanting. In dream, there is merely reproduction of ideas as determined by the previous Karma (experiences) and without the command of reason or will. This sensorium and blind reproduction are not the subject. It can be so, if in that condition the Soul is in its full working order.

5) Nor is the Soul in its full working order and undergoing movements, feelings, &c., in dead sleep and hence the respiratory organ is not the Atma. In Jakratha, respiratory function is working but in conjunction with other organs, external and internal senses, and certain sequences follow, feelings and actions. If the first is the sole cause or Atma, then we must eliminate other antecedents and see if the sequences still continue. In Sukshupthi, the other antecedents are absent and the respiratory function is the sole function present and it is not accompanied by the sequences. This is the inductive method of elimination of antecedents as causes which are not followed by the same effects. This same method is also used in the last argument.

6) The law of human consciousness as here stated is the same as that postulated by Dr. Bain, “change is essential to consciousness.” Unless we change our thought to another, our consciousness of the thought ceases. To be conscious of the next we must forget the present. So, the Tamil axiom is stated as “நினைப்புண்டேல் மறப்புண்டாம்” “When we are conscious, we are also subject to forgetfulness.” When we continue to think of a particular object or idea for a time and do not change it, we in fact do not continue conscious of it. Our mind becomes incapable of thinking, owing to its inherent weakness. Man’s intelligence therefore is weak or changing; and it is this which distinguishes it from God who is all Intelligence, who is cognizant of all at the same time. One other distinction is Human Intelligence requires to be taught, improved and developed; it is imperfect and needs the support of a Perfect Intelligence.

7) This argument sums up all the previous arguments, and points out one distinction between the bodily senses, Sukshuma and Karana Sariras which are all products of Maya, and the Soul. The distinction is that whereas these products of matter are ever changeable and changing and hence called Asator false, the soul is unchangeable and hence called Sat. This Sat however becomes Asat when in union with Asator Maya and Sat when in union with the True Sat or God and hence it is called Satasat. The definition of Asatis given in the first Varthikaof the sixth Sutra. It does not mean non-existent, but one perceivable in one aspect or objective attitude of the soul and not perceivable in the subjective attitude of the soul.

This finishes the chapter on proof. I have already pointed out that Maya (Cosmic Matter) and Anava (Imperfection in nature) are taken as facts and not capable of further explanation or resolution into any other cause, and that matter undergoes evolution, and that there is some method in this and this method is determined by Karma (Law of Causation). And matter not being capable of Evolution itself and the individual Ego not being able to determine the Evolution, we require a Superior Force, a Grand Energy and this is the Unknowable. Its relation with mind and matter is Adwaithaand its Omnipresence is brought about by its Maha

Chaitanyam. The reason for separately postulating a soul is then shown and this soul could not be confounded with Buvanaand Bhoga, and is proved to be other than the body, the five senses, and Sukshuma Sarira and Karana Sarira; That is, it is different from Maya as well as from God. one group of Phenomena or faculties have been omitted from the consideration of these questions and that is, the four internal senses, Manas, Buddhi, Chittam and Ahankaram and these four answers to the Mind of the Western Philosophers. These are also shown to be distinct from the soul and as the subject requires a fuller treatment it is discussed in a separate Sutra. It will be seen from what follows that these occupy a middle position between the Soul and the objective Phenomena (Thanu, external senses, and Buvana, and Bhoga); and there is thus involved a triple division of man, as soul, mind and animal life (body). As between mind and body, body is object (Asat) and mind is Sat; as between the soul and the other two, the last two are objective (Asat) and the soul the subject (Sat). As between God and Soul and the rest, God is the True subject (Sat) and soul and the rest are objective (Asat) This relationship is discussed in the subsequent chapters and must be borne in mind. It is a point for the Scientific Inquirer to consider if the proof adduced in this chapter is sufficient and convincing, or if the statement is taken as a mere theory or hypothesis (and in these grand question it is not possible to arrive at more than a true hypothesis) whether it is a true hypothesis i.e., whether it explains all the phenomena of human existence and satisfies all human aspiration or whether it omits any facts unexplained and contradicts any facts of our existence. It is also a point worth notice that in the elucidation of these principles, nothing is made a matter of mystery – no real difficulty left unexplained by being consigned to the realms of the mysterious, and language is not used to puzzle man and baffle argument. When once proof is attempted, so far as the human mind is capable of grasping and proving these things, one must confine oneself to strictly human logical tests, and if the theory fails on the application of these tests the theory must be condemned by human reason. If after all the trouble taken to postulate a theory, adduce proof &c. a man is going to plead his own ignorance and God’s mysterious ways, it would be far better for him to confess his ignorance at the beginning and attempt no explanation at all.

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sivagnanabotham

Chapter – I. Pramanaviyal – Second Sutra

THE RELATION OF GOD TO THE WORLD AND TO SOULS

2. அவையே தானே யாயிரு வினையின்
போக்குவரவுபுரிய ஆணையின்
நீக்கமின்றி நிற்குமன்றே.

Sutra. He is one with the souls (Abetha). He is different from them (Betha). He is one and different from them (Bethabetha). He stands in Samavaya union with His Gnana Sakti and causes the souls to undergo the processes of evolution (births) and return (Samharam) by including their good and bad acts (Karma).

Commentary:

This treats of the subject of Rebirths and consists of 4 principal arguments.

First Argument:

Churnika. – Hara exists in all the souls inseparably (as one with them.)

Varthikam. – The word Adwaitham cannot mean oneness or Ekam; as without a second, no one can think of himself as one, and as the very thought implies two things. The word simply denies the separate existence and separability of the two. In this sense, it is said here that the souls exist as one with the Lord.

Illustrations (a). The soul, standing in its body composed of bones, muscles, &c., and in union with the senses, answers to the name given for its body, when anybody addresses it, and identifies itself with the body. Similarly, though the Lord stands in a similar intimate relation with the soul, He is not the soul, and the soul cannot become the Lord. In the human state, He is one and not one with the soul.

(b) The vedic Text, ‘Ekam evadwithiyam Brahma’ ‘Ekam Eva Rudra Nadwitiyaya thas theh’ means that there is only one Supreme Being without a second. And this one is the Pathi and not the soul. You who say (ignorantly) you are one (with the Lord) are the soul and are bound up with Pasa. As we say that without (the primal sound) ‘A’ all other letters will not sound, so the Vedas say, “without the Lord, no other things will exist.”

(c). The Arul Sakti of the Lord which pervades the whole universe is inseparably and eternally connected with the world, just like the sound in the tune and the flavour in the fruit. So, the rare Vedas declare that Brahm is Adwaitham and not Ekam with the universe.

(d). Just like the whetstone composed of gold, wax and sand, God is one with the world and is different from it and He is neither (Bethabetham). When God enters my soul, when I am freed from Pasam, I identify myself with God, and say I am all the world.

Second Argument:

Churnika. – Hara makes the souls eat the fruit of their Karma.

Varthikam. – The soul’s good and bad Karma are induced by the Gnana Sakti of the Lord; just as a king protects his town by appointing watchmen to guard it and thus exercises his authority.

Illustrations (a). The soul joining the body caused by its previous Karma eats the fruits thereof. Similarly, our present actions (Karma) furnish the seed for our body in the next birth. God, The all bountiful makes the soul eat the fruits of previous Karma (without suffering any change) just as the soil makes the cultivator reap as he sowed.

(b). Just as iron is attracted to the magnet when a person brings it in position, so the souls performing Karma join the body in which the Karma is effected and eat the fruits by the Arul of God. If they do not so enjoy by His Arul, who else could know and make them eat the fruits of Karma in the most unchangeable manner, in that condition, where they lie helpless, without self-knowledge, and self-action, enshrouded by Mala.

(c). The husk of the paddy or the rust of the copper is not new but co-existed with the grain or copper; so, the three Mala, Maya, Karma and Anava co-exist with the soul and were not acquired by it at any intermediate time. These undergo change in the presence of God, just as the Sun’s rays cause one Lotus to open and another to close.

Third Argument:

Churnika. – The souls are subject to re-births losing their previous forms.

Varthikam. – The souls are re-born after death as birth and death are possible only to things existing eternally and changing continually.

Illustrations (a). The soul passing at death from its Sthula Sarira composed of eyes, ears, &c., into its Sukshuma Sarira which it had already, undergoes its experiences in Heaven or Hell; and forgetting such experiences, just as a dreamer forgets his experience of the waking state, passes as an atom in its Sukshuma state into a suitable womb at conception time, impelled thereto by the desire created by its previous Karma.

(b). The analogies of the serpent passing out of its old skin and the mind from the conscious into the dream condition and the Yogi into another body are often properly pointed out to explain the passing of the soul from its Sthula into the Sukshuma Sarira. Against this view, the analogy of the air of the pot passing into the atmosphere after the breaking of the pot, is instanced to support the view, that the soul takes no other body after death. This does not serve; it only illustrates the fact of the soul passing from the Sukshuma Sarira itself.

Fourth Argument:

Churnika. – Hara is omnipresent.

Varthikam. – He is one with His chit-sakti, as He is omnipresent without being one or different from the world.

Illustration. – If God is all-pervading (one with the souls and matter), He cannot be one. If he is two, He cannot be all-pervading. (He cannot be said to be not all-pervading as) there is no body or soul which exists without Him. He pervades everything by His chit-sakti, just like the light of the Sun. the whole universe is His property, and the souls are His servants.

NOTES

GENERAL:

This Sutra discusses the most important and peculiar doctrine of this school, namely its theory of Adwaitham or the relation between God and the souls. Three Relations are possible.

(1.) Succession or causation. When one thing is the cause and the other is the effect, there is no difference whatever. It is Abetha; just like gold and ornaments made out of it (பொன்பணிபோல் அபேதம்).

(2.) Co-existence with mutual exclusion. Here one has no connection whatever with the other. One is totally external to the other. It is Betha like darkness and light (இருள் ஒளிபோல் பேதம்).

(3.) Co-existence without mutual exclusion or externality as when two different things are connected inseparably like the association of ideas. It is Bethabetham, just like the word and its meaning. Here the word is either a sound or a symbol and is distinguishable from the connotation of the name, yet both the symbol or sound and the connotation is inseparably and indissolubly associated with each other. This relationship is not postulated by any other school. Under the first division comes in both Idealism (s) and Materialism (Nasthikam and Boudha Vadham). In both the schools, causation is postulated whether it be that matter is derived from mind or the universe of mind and matter is derived from an Absolute or mind is derived from matter or a combination of Skandas. From the theory of causation, when you derive matter from mind, it will be as easy to derive mind from matter. And the objections we can take against the Materialist will equally be applicable to the theory of the Idealist, as is pointed out by Prof. G. J. Romanes in his article on Mind and Body. In fact, Idealism is regarded by the Siddhanti as Nastikam or Nihilism and the term Prachanna Bouddha Vadham is freely applied to it. The Hindu Idealists are also fond of giving two other analogies. The Spider and its web and the fire and its spark. It is easily seen that these are identical in substance and the web is merely the product of the material body, the glands of the Spider and not of its life Principle. The Siddhanthis therefore reject these relationships or at least the relationship pointed to by these analogies. The Vishishtadwaita of Ramanujacharya and the Dwaitha of Madhwacharya may be placed under the second head or even the third head as some sort of relationship is said to exist between God and Man. In the Moksha of a Ramanuja, each atma retains its personality distinct from God but there is a union between its spirit and the universal spirit and according to the Madhwa the relationship is similar to that of a Guru and Sishya or that of a parent and child.

I said before that the Siddhanti rejects all these relationships in this sense that he does not affirm causation, nor separable or inseparable co-existence as explained above. Yet in the Sutra God is called Abetha; the connection is such that an identity is perceived, and the best illustration of this relationship is that of the body and life or mind (உடல் உயிர்போல் அபேதம்). The objective and subjective phenomena are quite different and yet a sort of absolute identity is established. He is Betha and this is illustrated as follows: –

An act of Perception is one and indivisible. Yet the perception is caused by two agencies the Eye and the Sun or Light. The Eye cannot perceive without the aid of the light, and though both the light of the Eye and the light of the Sun combine together, the combination is perceived as one. Here there is no causation as between the Eye and the Sun (கண் அருக்கன் போல் பேதம்). He is Bethabetham; but the tamil equivalent of the latter word உடன் or உடனுமாய் is perhaps more expressive. This relationship is similar to that of the soul or mind and the sense of sight or eye (கண்ணொளியின் ஆன்மபோதம்போல் பேதா பேதம்). Though in all these cases an identity is perceived a difference in substance is also felt. It is this relation which could not easily be postulated in words, but which may perhaps be conceived, and which is seen as two (Dwaitham) and at the same time as not two (Na Dwaitham); It is this relation which is called Adwaitham (a unity or identity in duality) and the Philosophy which postulates it, the Adwaitha Philosophy. And the 1st argument deals with the meaning and force of this word.

1. God is all (Prapancham), but all is not God. He is therefore all and not all. He is immanent in everything and yet above everything. This doctrine is very popular in nearly the whole of the Tamil Literature, and it is most vividly expressed in the favourite phrase (எல்லாமாய் அல்லவுமாய்). The Hindu Idealists stop with “எல்லாமாய்” “He is all” and do not proceed to postulate “அல்லவுமாய்.” “He is not all” or “He is above all.” All objective phenomena may be in a sense mental or subjective, but all the subjective phenomena are not objective.

Adwaitham does not mean ஏகம் or Monism. The negative prefix a or na does not negative the positive existence of one or other of the two (Dwaitham). It is not used in the “Abhava” or இன்மைப்பொருள். If it is so used, it will not only negative one thing or other, but it may negative both, and end in Nihilism; and it may not only mean one “Ekam or Monism” but may mean more than two i.e., three or any number. As the learned Commentator Sivagnana Yogi points out, when the negative is prefixed to the numeral, in common usage, it does not mean இன்மை or அபாவம். For instance, when we say, “There are not two books in the room” “அரையில் இரண்டு புஸ்தகமில்லை” it may mean that “no books are in the room” or that “only one book is in the room” or that “there are more than two books.”

If the negative prefix in Adwaitham does not mean “Abhava” what does it mean? It is used in the “அன்மைப்பொருள்” or அல்ல ‘non-dual sense.’ The querist sees or fancies he sees two objects and asks, ‘are they dual’? The answer is ‘They are non-dual’ – இரண்டு அல்ல not meaning one. Adwaitham therefore means literally Nondualism and not Monism. Cf. The word ‘Anekam’ which does not mean obviously ஒன்றில்லை (nothing) but ‘ஒன்றல்ல’ ‘பல’ (many). In Sivagnana Siddhi, Adwaitham is defined as ஒன்றாகாமல், இரண்டாகாமல், ஒன்றுமிரண்டுமின்றாகாமல் (neither one, nor two, nor neither). The position seems to be a negative than a positive one. All this language is adopted to illustrate that the relation is such that it is not possible to adequately to examine or illustrate and we find the author of Ozhivilodukkam enjoin

“ஏகமிரண்டென்னாமற் சும்மாயிரு.”

(Don’t say one or two)

Another popular verse runs as follows.

“சும்மாயிரு சொல்லறவென்றலுமே அம்மாபொருளொன்று மறிந்திலனே.”

The subject is more fully treated in the subsequent chapters. If there is only one Absolute, the very idea of duality is impossible. The word Adwaitham implies the existence of two things and does not negative the reality or existence of one of the two. It simply postulates a relation between the two.

(a) This contains the illustration of body and mind. As in a purely objective state no subjective feeling is present, so in the human state, the soul is in a purely objective condition, and is not cognisant therefore of its subject God. The Atma is capable of a double relation; it has two kinds of Adwaitham. It is in Adwaitha relation with Maya and at the same time in Adwaitha relation with God. I may call the first its objective relation and the other its subjective relation. When its objective relation (its connection with Thanu, Karana, &c.) predominates, it is in Banda, it is the embodied human soul. When its subjectivity predominates, it is itself, it is in God, and it is God (Moksha). In its first condition we don’t see the soul but its object side, physical body and organs, mind, (manas) chittam, &c., and sensations and the worlds. In its second condition we don’t see the soul either but God with which it had identified itself. The important point to be noted is that though in the one or the other condition of the soul, one thing (God) or other (Maya) is not present, yet its existence or reality cannot be denied. In as much as we cannot see God now, we cannot deny His existence and call him Mitya (illusion) and when the world therefore disappears in the other case, nor can the world be called Mitya. Cf.

(Saint) THAYUMANAVAR

“ஆணவத்தோடத்து விதமானபடி மெஞ்ஞானத்
தாணுவினோடத்து விதமாகு நாளெந்நாளோ.”

‘O for the day, when I will become one with the Being of True knowledge as I am now one with Anava.”

The subject receives further elaboration as we proceed.

(b) The illustration herein contained is the same as in the first verse of the sacred Kural, though its significance is not often understood. The point of comparison is not the position of the letter ‘A’ in place. Its place is to be sought in its origin and its power of determining other sounds as herein indicated. The most primary sound that the human organ can utter is ‘a’ and the other vowels (that can be sounded of themselves) are formed by modifications of ‘a’; consonants on the other hand do not have the same origin as ‘a’ but they cannot be pronounced except with the help of ‘a’ and its modifications. So, though God and Man are distinct eternal entities, one(man) cannot exist except in God, but man does not originate from God as consonants do not originate from vowels. The same applies with regard to soul and its body (உயிர், மெய்) and it is this philosophic thought that underlies the Tamil equivalents of vowel and consonant (உயிர்மெய்).

The embodied soul or mind is the உயிர்மெய்.

(அ’ ‘a’) is the soul (K’ ‘க்’) is the human body. In (க) embodied soul we see only the (body) consonant and not the vowel (soul). (அ ‘a’) again is God; ‘க்’ ‘K’ is the soul; In ‘க’ ‘K’ Human Soul, we see only the consonant (soul) and not the vowel (God though) you will realise both when you pronounce it (attain Gnanam).

God is the Life (உயிர்), and the Soul is His body and not a particle of The Life, (God) nor a spark from it, nor its reflection nor shadow nor the imagined silver in the oyster shell. In the latter case the soul is either a nonentity or there is no difference in kind or substance though there may be a difference in quantity or quality. In the former case, there is a difference in substance but an identity in fact as the two exist together.

(c). Sakti literally means power. And the Sakti of the Lord is therefore His Energy or Power, His Will and His Light or Grace or Knowledge. Hence, we have Three forms of Sakti, Kriya Sakti, Itcha Sakti, and Gnana Sakti, or Arul Sakti. God by his first two Powers evolves the universe from their undifferentiated condition. By the last He links the whole world to Himself. It is the Arul Sakti which connects God and Man. It is this Gnana Sakti which gives life to inanimate beings, harmony to things without harmony and to each and everything its peculiar beauty or taste or brightness. Without It everything else would be void, lifeless, actionless and darksome. This life of life, This Light of Light, This Chit Sakti is not the Light which Mr. Subba Row says enters some mechanism and becomes converted into a Human monad, man, and then becomes clothed with all the laws of Karma, &c., (Notes to Bag pp. 16 and 17). If so, what is it worth? Nor is Mr. Subba Row’s Ishwara which he derives in a mysterious way from Brahm, the Ishwara of the Siddanthi. His Ishwara is Brahm and the Sakti is the Maha Sakti or Mahachaitanyam. The relation of Ishwara to Sakti to all other life is well illustrated in the Puranic story of Kumara Sambhava. God separated from his Sakti. He was then in a condition of a Yogi. Then all life did not become extinct, but all life became lifeless, from the immortal Gods to the lowest things in the order of creation. The immortals became aware of this and of its cause and then planned a scheme to bring together Siva (sat) and Sakti (chit) as though they could do it. The very attempt proved a disastrous failure. They ignorantly thought, judging from their own standpoint that the God’s Love was something akin to man’s gross love. They therefore induced Manmatha or Kama Deva, the Human God of Love to aim his shafts at Siva. He did so and he was burned to ashes the very instant from a spark from His nether Eye. He was however moved to pity at the sad plight of the so-called Immortals, became united to His Sakti, i.e., became all Love and begot Kumara who represents again Action or Energy and Gnana (His two Saktis) and who trampled under His foot Surapadma (All Evil) and released the Immortals from their bondage. This first Light (Adi Sakti) is Gayatri. (See the elaboration of this subject in Devi Bagavata Purana).

(d). (1). This contains another illustration. The whetstone is God in union with the world. The Gold wax is God, which holds and binds in itself the sands which are souls.

(2). The second portion of this stanza illustrates the principles of Sohambavana which underlies every Mantra from Pranava downwards. The devotee (Jivatma) is made to contemplate (“I am the Atma, God”), and he becomes one with God (Adwaitha). This is the process of identification. The author points out when he can be able to say, “I am all the world.” This is also the principle which underlies the teaching of Bagavat Gita, Krishna is the Jivan Mukta who by his holiness has identified himself with God, Iswara. He as Guru imparts teaching to his pupil Arjuna; and Sivagnana Yogi observes, “Is it not by this process of Sohambavana that Krishna when teaching Gita to Arjuna says ‘I am all the world’ and shows the Lord’s Vivaswarupa in himself and teaches him to worship him and him alone leaving all other Gods; and Arjuna who believed in him firmly and understood the true significance of his word, performed Siva Pujah till his life’s end, and the flowers showered by him on Krishna in Divine worship appeared on the sacred person of the Lord. Krishna as one who received Siva Diksha (initiation) from Upamanya Maharishi and had perfected himself in the knowledge of himself and his Lord, had perfected himself in Sohambavana.”

The author anticipates here in fact what is elaborated in the third chapter, on “Sadana.”

2. The good and bad Karma are what the soul had acquired during its previous birth which now lie at rest bound up with the resolved Maya. To quicken them into being again, the Chit Sakti of the Lord as the instrumental cause (துணைக்காரணம்) operates. This Sakti is likened to the authority of a King, hence called Agnja Sakti. It is in fact the source of all Authority and of all Law. A king exercises his authority by moving his limbs of the law, his officers; such a limb of the Supreme Law is the law of Karma. A king covers himself under the shield of his law from any imputations of partiality, &c., when he metes out reward or punishment. So also, God is not open to this charge. The universal Law determines the Law of Karma and the latter determines what each should undergo, either pleasure or pain, the working of this law is shown in the illustrations.

(a). The simple statement of this law of Karma is that he reaps as he sows and follows the laws of causation and conservation most rigidly. As no effect can be produced without a cause, a man’s body in his present life and his actions could not have been got adventitiously. Of course, God would not have given it of His mere will, as opposed to His Law as otherwise he would be open to the charge of partiality and lacking in Swathanthram. A being which is at the command of caprice has no control of itself. This therefore brings out the phrase ‘உள்ளதே தோற்ற’ in the original, (What existed before appears now) and which I have simply translated as ‘Previous Karma’. The seed which one gathers in the previous existence develops and matures in the soil (Lord’s Power) becomes a tree (body) and bears good or bad fruits (pleasure or pain. Punyam or Papam). Without the soil the seed will not bear fruit; so, without God, the past Karma will not bear fruit.

I may note here a definition of Punyam and Papam given by the late Sankara Pandithar of Jaffna. “Punyam” is “உயிர்க்கிதம் செய்தல்” – acts tending to give pleasure to sentient beings ‘Papam’ is ‘உயிர்க்கதம் செய்தல்’ acts tending to give pain to sentient beings.

The fruits of previous Karma eaten in this life form Praraptha Karma. In the process of eating, other acts are performed which form the seed for a future crop. And these acts form Akamia Karma; the seeds gathered for a future crop when sown become Sangchitha Karma. What is Akamia in this life is Sangchitha for the next.

(b). The last proposition in the last stanza is that the actions themselves will not bear fruits and make the soul eat them. The question is now asked why the soul should not choose its own actions and reap the fruits. This is answered in this illustration. It has not got the power of taking its body, whereby the Karma has to be performed. This has to be done by God. The cultivator (soul) cannot himself produce the tree (body) however he might try. He requires for this the medium of the soil (God). This inability is caused by the soul’s want of self-knowledge and self-action, being covered by Anava Mala. In plainer language, no man would do a particular act tending to produce evil if he had the full knowledge to calculate all its consequences. It is therefore man’s ignorance that is the cause of all evil. The only assumption here is that man in his original state is ignorant or imperfect or is shrouded by Agnanam or Anava. Grant this; and start the soul in the cycles of evolution, then the whole law of Karma comes into operation. This doctrine therefore is not to be confounded with the doctrine of Fate or necessity. Evolution or births are the only modes provided for attaining perfect knowledge; and for getting births or setting us on the wheel of Evolution we require God’s help. This original assumption is treated of in the next illustration.

(c). That man is ignorant in knowledge (சிற்றறிவு) and is imprudent in his actions (சிறு தொழில்) is a fact and is taken as a fact by this school and is not converted into a Myth or Athyasam by a process of verbal jugglery. The explanation offered by the Idealists is no explanation at all, as after all the explanations offered, the final fact to be accounted for, still remains unexplained, namely Ignorance or Agnanam or Aviddhei, the cause of all evil, of all pain. We can explain a joint effect by assigning the laws of the separate causes; or we may explain an antecedent and consequent by discovering the intermediate links; or the explanation may consist in reducing several laws into one more general Law. None of these modes are adopted by the latter school but the explanation attempted falls clearly within one or other modes of fallacious or illusory explanations; and as Dr.Bain points out, the greatest fallacy of all is the supposition that something is to be desired beyond the most generalized conjunction or sequences of phenomena; and instancing the case of the union of body and mind, he observes that the case does not admit of any other explanation except that body and mind are found in union. When we arrive at a final fact, it is absurd to attempt a further explanation. What I have therefore treated of as an assumption in the concluding sentence of the last Para is no assumption at all, but a final fact of our nature. Our nature as it is, is imperfect, or adopting the language of the text, is enshrouded in impurity, Mala, Anava Mala. Law of universal Progression or Progress is another law of Nature; and Evolution or births we require an Omniscient and Perfect, Ninmala Being. In the whole chain of argument, this last is the only thing assumed or inferred. But see the argument on the other side. There is one Brahm. Ishwara is generated from the Brahm. Mulaprakiriti is produced between them. Light or Energy proceeds from Ishwara and a particle of this Light becomes evolved into a man, or an ass, or a worm. All these are assumptions pure and simple. Mere hypothesis, it is admitted. Does this Hypothesis stand to reason? Does it furnish us any satisfactory reasons for all this evolution from Brahm to man or brute? Mr. Subba Row after stating that the First cause which is Omnipresent (what this really means is explained in the next argument) and eternal – is subject to periods of activity (Srishti) and passivity (Samharam) observes “But even the real reason for this activity and passivity is unintelligible to our minds” or as a learned Swami more explicitly and honestly puts it “Why should the Free, Perfect and pure Being be thus under the thraldom of matter? How can the Perfect soul be deluded into the belief that he is imperfect? How can the Perfect become the quasi perfect; How can the Pure, the Absolute change even a microscopically small part of its nature? The answer is ‘I do not know.’”

You assume that evil or impurity is produced out of good or Purity and then parade your honesty and admit that you don’t know why it is so. Don’t you think that the fallacy lies more in your assumption than in any real difficulty? Why should you assume that evil is produced out of good? The thing is impossible; you must take things as they are. You find Good and Evil together. Man is impure and weak; it is just possible there is a Being who is pure and strong enough to lift him from the bottomless pit. And herein is the real reason “மலத்துளதாம்”் as the Text says. God is active or passive as it is necessary for man to be set on the wheel of Evolution or to rest. Neither will it do to assume that God created Man at a particular moment and that he committed sin, and sin came into the world after the creations of Man and the world. Man committed sin, because he had not the understanding to see that his good lay in obeying Gods words and he had not the free knowledge or intelligence to foresee all the evil he was to bring upon the earth by his disobedient act. That is to say, He, as created, was an imperfect being. Laws are made as man is weak and erring. And we cannot impute to God the defects of a bad mechanic, want of knowledge and skill. Man’s reason does not accept the other explanation (no explanation at all – merely a confession of ignorance) that God’s ways are mysterious. Why say at all that God made such a bad job? We don’t thereby pull Him down from the position of the Creator and the Supreme Lord of the universe. In what sense He is the Creator is clearly explained in this book and is consistent with modern science. We cannot therefore say that man has an Adi – beginning. We simply deny that and say he is anadi (அநாதி) without beginning – eternal i.e., more simply that he exists. His existence is taken as a fact and admitting of no other explanation. So, his imperfection, Anava Mala and other Malabandas in union with him are also anadi – eternal. And the illustrations give some very apt analogies showing such mutual relationship and union. Paddy and Copper are the examples. A paddy grain appears as one; still, it is composed of the husk, bran, rice and the sprout, and all these are united together at the same time. Just as the physical covering of man completely hides his real self, so the husk may conceal the rice. There is one more thing which conceals the whiteness and purity of the rice (soul) and that is the dark bran (anava) more intimately connected with it. And then there is a sprout (Karma) but for which the grain will not germinate (attain births). And what is the use of the husk? Remove it, the seed will not germinate and grow into a plant (attain bodies) and when you want to get at the rice (the real self-soul) it helps by friction (by successive births – evolution) to remove the dark bran (Anava-ignorance.)

Take Copper again. As we find it imbedded in the bosom of a rock (God) it is a darksome ugly thing (man with his imperfections). What is it that makes it ugly, dims its real lustre? Its rust. When did it become covered with rust? It was always so. It is not a mere covering. The rust is in its very core. Was Copper (soul) derived from Gold (God)? No. Can its rust (anava) be removed, and can it become Gold? We will see. Bring it into use (births) and by friction applied by the hand or tamarind (Maya) it brightens a little (becomes intelligent and active.) Lay it at rest, (resolution) the rust covers it again. And it is the Alchemist’s belief that after an innumerable number of Putams (fire and friction) and when it had reached a certain kind of tone, a touch of the Parisa Vedi (Alchemist’s. stone) will turn it at once into Gold. And our belief is that after we had undergone a sufficient number of births, and we had reached malaparibagam (மலபறிபதம்), God’s grace (சக்திநி பாதம்) will touch and convert us into Himself. The Alchemist may or may not have succeeded in his life-long hope; at least there is no harm for us if we believe that we will reach perfection, Divine hood. At any rate we are sure of reaching perfect manhood.

Cf. “கருமருவு குகையனைய காயத்தின் நடுவுள்
களிம்புதோய் செம்பனையயான்
காண்டக இருக்கநீ ஞான அனல் மூட்டியே
கனிவுபெற உள்ளுருக்கிப்
பருவம தறிந்துநின் னருளான குளிகைகொடு
பரிசித்து வேதிசெய்து
பத்துமாற் றுத்தஙக மாக்கியே பணிகொண்ட
பஷத்தை என்சொல்லுகேன்”

“அருளுடைய பரமென்றோ அன்று தானே
யானுளனென் றும்மனக்கே ஆணவாதி
பெருகுவினைக் கட்டென்றும் என்னாற் கட்டிப்
பேசியதன் றேஅருள்நூல் பேசிற் றன்றே.”

– (Saint Thayumanavar).


(b). The 2nd illustration of the Sun and lotus shows that God is unchangeable – Nirvikari and impartial and just. His justice and mercy are not incompatible things. Out of His Supreme Love He lifts the souls from the deep darkness of Anava and puts them into the cycle of births, whereby they can obtain salvation sooner or later, according to their deserts, without any further interference on the part of God, showing us however the ways by which we can reach the goal. A physician can cure a man’s bad sight, but if after that, he carelessly falls into a pit the physician cannot be blamed; or again a man has his sight – he can see with his eyes. But could he see without the light of the Sun? If we see wrong or do not carefully note the pitfalls, &c., and come to a mishap can we blame the Sun? We have our own intelligence to guide us, though the Divine Light surrounds us and enables us to use our intelligence. Man, therefore, cannot shift on his moral responsibility to God.

3. This argument removes the doubt whether death is a final ending, – annihilation. The strongest point in the doctrine of this school is the principle that “nothing can come out of nothing” and that no effect can be produced without a cause, following the principle of conservation that nothing which is, can cease to be so. If the Prapancha (Body and mind) is an entity, it was established in the first Sutra that it was produced out of some primordial substance. It could not therefore cease to exist when it undergoes ordinary deaths. Deaths must necessarily therefore lead to re-births. So, it is laid down that Births and Deaths are possible only when a thing is eternal. But what is that in it which brings about births and deaths. It is the Law of change – Continual change, Evolution. This eternal and continually changing ego undergoing births and re-births should not be confounded with the vaguely apprehended and feebly postulated ego of the southern Buddhists, a mere product of the Skandas, eking out some kind of continued existence, failing when the Skandas fail, and becoming annihilated also. We also postulate Nirvana and the word is used in such conjunctions as Nirvana Diksha, &c., but in what sense they are used will be shown later on. It does not mean annihilation.

(a & b). The illustrations explain how the soul and its inseparable and eternal body undergo birth, death, and rebirth. Man’s visible body (Sthula Sarira) is only resolved into its cause Sukshuma Sarira, as water passes into invisible vapour. So, the soul passing from its Sthula Sarira to its Skshuma Sarira as illustrated in (b) experiences some pleasure or pain, as in sleep, the death of every day (Nithya Pralaya), the man experiences pleasant or unpleasant dreams, according to his experience of the previous day or days. When the soul had therefore eaten of its Karma in part and had received sufficient rest, its Akamia Karma induces it again to get a Sthula Sarira. Heaven or Hell are merely states or conditions of the soul’s existence in Sukshuma Sarira. These have no local or space existence.

When the soul is in its Sthula Sarira, the faculties are active and receive full play. In its Sukshuma state, all the faculties are paralysed and inactive, though it is capable of certain experiences owing to the past experiences vaguely reproducing themselves. The dream condition is exactly its parallel. We don’t remember all our days, experiences in sleep or dream; nor do we remember the numberless dreams that we dream in a night, when we wake up, unless it be very vivid or strong. Even when we are awake. We do not remember all our past actions, though sometimes they be a day old. Man is therefore not able to remember his life in a previous state or birth, through the changes in his mental and physical conditions and through his feeble powers of retentiveness.

4. It was already shown how God was in Adwaitha relation with the world. And this is not possible but for His Chit Sakti. And the relation of Himself to the Sakti is described as a Samavaya relation. This inseparable association is one and the same thing, but we can regard the one in two different aspects. When we regard God in Himself apart from the world, He is Sivam, Pure Sat. When we regard Him in relation with the world, He is Sakti (Light, Energy, Chit.) When we regard the Sun as a great Luminous Body, we speak of him as the Sun; when we regard it as shining on the whole earth, we speak of its light. And how His relation with the world is what is called Omnipresence. This word though used by every religionist is not understood properly. Its true significance can only be understood when we understand what Adwaitham means. It is in fact synonymous with it. Inasmuch as there are some who understand Adwaitham as oneness, this word is used to mean that he is everything and that there could be nothing but him and there is no second thing as mind or matter. And the simple logic by which this position is established is stated in the following sentence.

“Were we to exclude the Omnipresent Principle form one mathematical point of the universe or from a particle of matter occupying any conceivable space, could we still regard it as infinite”? What does this mean? Omnipresence means a space relation. It is capable of extension, measurement. It can be viewed as a mathematical quantity.

If we suppose one unit of quantity occupies one unit of space, and the Omnipresent Principle and Matter being regarded in units of quantity, of course it is impossible for one unit of God and one unit of Matter to occupy one unit of space. This is mathematically and logically certain.

But is this position tenable? Are we to regard God as occupying space, a quantity, a thing with length and breadth i.e., capable of extension i.e., as matter? But there are people who do so regard it; but they can’t prove it by saying that God is Omnipresent. Then the argument will be in this form: –

God is matter.

Because God is Omnipresent. And Omnipresence means matter.

Which will be arguing in a vicious circle, there being really no major premise to this syllogism.

Even the broad distinction drawn between mind and matter is that the matter is what is capable of extension and mind is not. Can we therefore regard the Universal Mind as a thing capable of extension? Then what does this Omnipresence mean and imply? And how is, its God is Omnipresent? As was observed before, Omnipresence means a space relation, the notion of space is impossible apart from things co-existing. If we regard God as the Absolute and the Infinite, He could not be Omnipresent. Infinite space is a contradiction in terms. Omnipresence therefore implies a co-existing object. If God is a Principle diffusing and soaking through and through, it must diffuse and soak itself in another thing. If it fills what does it fill? If it fills itself then you must regard it as finite. As the Hindu Nyayikas put it, there could be no Vyapakam, (Omnipresence) all container, without things capable of Vyapti, (things filled). It is therefore established God is Omnipresent and His Presence is felt in other things and that God is not space, nor matter, nor the universe. Then how does He fill the universe? According to the text it is by His Chit Sakti or Gnana Sakti. God is all Gnanam. He is Gnana Mayam, and Gnanam is not space nor Matter nor Malam. And it is therefore possible to fill one unit of space with one unit of matter and one of Gnanam or God. He is then neither one with matter nor apart nor different from it. It is in this way He is Omnipresent. It is His great Chaitanyam that fills His body (Souls, and Mala or Matter). It is in us He dwells, and it is in this sense and sense alone “that ye are the temple of God.”

“அறவையேன் மனமே, கோயிலாக்கொண்டு ஆண்டு
அளவிலா ஆனந்தமருளி.”

(Saint Manicka Vachaka).

In the same way as our Sakti – intelligence fills our body, so God’s Sakti (Maha Chaitanyam) pervades our souls and lightens our darkness (உள்ளத்தொளிக்கின்ற ஒளி) and He is then truly “Our Father in Heaven” ‘whom’ we are cognisant with us, in our heart and Spiritual consciousness.’ If otherwise we are God, how could God be itself cognisant of itself in its heart and spiritual consciousness. In fact, consciousness is a thing which cannot be predicated of the Absolute. Of course, we can hardly conceive how mind fills matter and from want of the adequate idea, an inadequate word is used; Omnipresence is not at all the best word to be used to bring out the idea and it is this improper use of the word which has caused all the mistake and confusion; as many another word has done.

The illustration states a paradox. If He is all-pervading, He cannot be one, and if He is two, He cannot be all-pervading. All that is meant is, He cannot be regarded as a finite being, a thing capable of extension, &c., He is all in all. He is all and not all. Our intelligence and action are nothing when compared with His Supreme Gnanam. We are entirely subordinate to Him. Before His Supreme Presence, every matter is nothing. It is like His property. It is in this sense our Thayumanavar exclaims: –

“எல்லா முன்னுடைமையே
எல்லா முன்னடிமையே
எல்லா முன்னுடைய செயலே.”

also Compare the definition of Pari Puranam (பரிபூரணம்) given in Ozhivilodukkam

“உதியா துளதாகி ஓங்கிப்பேராமல்
அதிசூக்குமங் குறைந்தாகாமல்-பதையாத
ஆகாயமுங் காலும்போல அசைவற்ற
தே காண் பரிபூரணம்.”

It has no origin. It is Sat. It transcends all the 36 tatwas. It is unchangeable (Achalam.) It is adisukshuma (the least of the least,) as it is in everything and yet out of it. It could not be lessened nor increased (Akandaharam – Infinite.) It is immoveable in relation with the universe as the Akas is connected with air in perfect calm. This then is Pari Puranam – Omnipresence.