Recently Agathiyar asks that I research Ramalinga Adigal's "Arutperunjothi Agaval". Though I and my family used to sing this wonderful gem of a song that brings us the saint's personal encounter with the divine, the essence of this song had always evaded and remained a mystery. Reading several translations and explanations never really brought an understanding or clarity to me either. The fault I understood was with us and not the texts that we read. We were not able to comprehend this marvel as yet. In telling Agathiyar that the inner meaning of this song has always eluded my understanding he tells me to continue reading and I shall understand. I too believed that one day it shall all dawn on me. Meanwhile, I kept posting much on the saint in this blog. Let us revisit some of these wonderful pieces on the saint's journey to attain the state of Jothi or Light.
We come to understand that the saint documented his spiritual journey in these songs that came to be compiled as the "Thiruarutpa". What is the "Agaval" that Ramalinga Adigal composed that spans some 1596 lines?
Swami Saravanananda has given a beautiful English rendering of the original in Tamil of Ramalinga Adigal's "Arutperunjhoti Agaval", published by the Ramalinga Mission, Madras.
1‐12, Deals with the attributes of effulgence (jothi).
13‐26, Deals with the various boons conferred on Ramalingam: zeal or great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective, discernment or the ability to judge well, radiant body, prosperity, liberated from countless births, freed from religious bigotry, removed doubt and misconception, freed from the clutches of religious scriptures, and made him pure.
27‐56, Deals with the various voids or spaces or spiritual planes which a soul has to pass through before attaining godhead.
57‐110, He brings the truth that the various voids are not external to our being and can be realized within ourselves. I guess this is what he sings about in his song "ஆணிப்பொன்னம்பலக் காட்சி" too.
111‐336, Deals with the attributes of the effulgence (jothi) that abides in the inmost void. Whenever He comes and initiates us, something happens within that is beyond our senses and control. It seems like he is working on another sheath of our body. As our thoughts go on, we are witness to everything external, but something else is moving within too that is initiated by them. Could he be working on the Anandamaya Kosa?
337‐366, Praises the effulgence (jothi) as the source of all elements. Ramalingam now a primordial being is provided with penetrating radiant vision to pry into the secrets and mysteries of nature. Thus, equipped he beholds the evolution of the universe in all its aspects all of which are recorded in these verses.
337‐402, Deals with the various aspects of the nature of the earth.
403‐430, Deals with the various aspects of the nature of the water.
431‐460, Deals with the various aspects of the nature of the fire.
461‐492, Deals with the various aspects of the nature of the air.
493‐512, Deals with the various aspects of the nature of space.
513‐544, Deals with the process of the creation of the human body, the acme of the entire evolutionary process. Ramalingam describes how each and every organ and its system are evolved and placed in the human frame; provides a step-by-step process of the evolution of the human body.
545‐554, Deals with how space yields the other elements.
555‐580, Deals with the various partial spaces or voids.
581‐620, Deals with the various forces that activate the universe and the human body.
621‐628, Deals with creation arising from the One.
629‐646, Deals with the seed.
647‐682, Deals with the dual or polar nature of manifestation.
683‐690, Deals with the tattvas and the primordial elements.
691‐702, Deals with the modes of the birth of organisms.
703‐716, Deals with the male and female characteristics of the human being.
717‐782, Deals with the protection and sustenance of organisms.
783‐812, Deals with the repression and control of all impure tendencies by the effulgence.
813‐832, Deals with the various kinds of curtains or veils that surround the soul and prevent it from having a clear vision of the great effulgence. With the removal of the last screen, the self stands face to face with the resplendence merging in the effulgence to become part and parcel of it and perform all the functions of the effulgence to make other selves realize the same level.
833‐852, Deals with the removal of the screens one after another as and when the entity rises up from one plane of consciousness to the next higher plane. By thus removing the veils the effulgence enlightens the beings of human and celestial origin and also deities high above the celestial origin.
853‐874, Narrates how the effulgence pervades through all the functions of the dynamic powers.
875‐880, Deals with the uniqueness of the supreme beings.
881‐920, Deals with the omnipresent aspect of the effulgence.
921‐930, Deals with the cosmic self which manifests everywhere.
931‐940, Deals further with the attributes of the effulgence.
941‐976, Deals further with the cosmic self.
977‐1018, Deals with the manifold manifestations and activities of compassion.
1019‐1038, Deals with the boons that are bestowed on Ramalingam.
1039‐1070, The narration of how the effulgence as the guru has taught Ramalingam all the knowledge and wisdom.
1071‐1114, Deals with the motherly aspect of the effulgence.
1115‐1164, Deals with the paternal aspect of the effulgence.
1165‐1176, Deals with the attributes of the companionship of the effulgence.
1177‐1192, Deals with the friendly attitude of the effulgence.
1193‐1200, Deals with the attributes of the kinship of the effulgence.
1201‐1213, Deals with the eternal (sat) aspect of the effulgence.
1214‐1238, Deals with the knowledge (chit) aspect of the effulgence.
1239‐1254, Deals with the blissful (ananda) aspect of the effulgence.
1255‐1290, Deals with the attributes of the effulgence further.
1291‐1310, Deals with the wish-fulfilling attribute of the effulgence.
1311‐1320, Deals with the gem, the mantra, and the medicine which confers everlasting Siddhis.
1321‐1336, Deals with the ambrosial effect of the effulgence.
1337‐1366, Deals with the sterling qualities of the effulgence.
1367‐1380, Deals with the munificence of the effulgence.
1381‐1386, Deals with the effulgence of a mountain with divine attributes.
1387‐1448, Deals with the effulgence of the sea and its shores with divine attributes.
1449‐1494, Deals with the changes that take place when the divine descends on the human frame. This is the most esoteric and sublime part of this work.
1495‐1510, Deals with the intense love that transmutes itself into light becoming the guiding factor of all souls.
1511‐1518, The light is compared to that of the full moon.
1519‐1528, Deals with the effulgence of rain that removes all dross from the heart and mind.
1529‐1538, Deals with the effulgence of the sun that removes the darkness of ignorance.
1539‐1548, Deals with the brilliance of the effulgence of the sun.
1549‐1554, Deals with the glow of the flame of the effulgence.
1555‐1596, Sums up all the boons that Ramalingam received through the grace of the effulgence. Ramalingam offers his thanks.
If Swami Saravanananda explored the "Thiruarutpa" above, G.Vanmikanathan in his "Pathway to God Trod by Saint Ramalingar", published by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, has given us a beautiful and much-awaited biography cum journal on the life and experiences of Ramalinga Adigal. This spiritual evolution on Ramalinga Adigal's part is pretty obvious when one follows his experiences and devotional out-pour, laments, wailing, utterances, plodding, pleading, petitions, and revelations as compiled in the form of the Thiruarutpa.
Vanmikanathan explains,
"Though the period between 1823 and 1835, i.e., from the date of birth to the 12th year of our Swaamikal has been classified as the period of Kandhakottam, .. which has as its theme-shrine the temple of Murukan in Kandhakottam which goes today by the name of Kandhaswaami Koil." Vanmikanathan writes, "He is initiated by Murukan Himself into the methods of His worship." Here we have to acknowledge that all saints have had a beginning in Bakthi or devotion too. What does devotion bring upon us then? Vanmikanathan translates the song of the saint on this matter.
"Oh Guru Who came into my mind and bestowed the perception that through ritualistic worship of Pathi (God) and similar good rites, the creaturely instrument of understanding called the mind will be rid of impure concepts and stand established in pure contemplation and, thereby, the state of true union with Pathi with the result; that, thereupon, buddhi, the power of ratiocination, freed from (the triad of) bonds will merge in the mind, and that, forthwith, the state of absence of incoming and outgoing will be gained in the shape of unwavering real gnosis."
We understand that man has to arrive at knowing the Pathi through rituals and devotion. Impurity in the body and confusion and delusion in the mind then makes way for the arising of the Buddhi that in turn makes way for true knowledge or Gnanam to dawn on us.
"In the second lap, our Swaamikal goes from Thirutthanikai Hill to Thiruvottriyoor, the last lap of the Purgative Way, from Murukan the Son to Civan the Father, from childhood to adolescence and youth."
G.Vanmikanathan in relating the external temple structure with the internal temple within the physical body writes,
"To Maanickkavaachakar and indeed to all the saints, and for that matter even to the common man, the abode of God is his own body, his mind, his heart. Thirumoolar in his "Thirumandhiram" calls the body the temple of God and instructs man to keep it pure and healthy. This faith has been extended to the ground plan of the temples by the great sages who wrote the Aagamaas. The human body has according to the seers and savants seven centers, seven seats, or seven stations. (Similarly) The ground plan of a temple closely follows the ground plan of a human body with these seven sites. Therefore when one worships God externally in a temple, he worships him as enshrined in his body." This theme is rendered in Ramalinga Swamigal's song, "Keerthi Tiru Agaval." Indeed many of the Nayanmars have sung about Lord Shiva's abodes. "The five courtyards in the temple represent the five sheaths of a human body. The devotee crosses these entrances to the innermost court. At the sacrificial altar, he sacrifices his Aanava malam. At the flagpost (or kodimaram), he reinforces his faith, and resoluteness of his purpose here. He proceeds now to worship God in the sanctum sanctorum where the eternal effulgence shines."
In their pursuit to bring this body into a state of purity, the saints have sung of how they had to endure pain, in Ramalinga Adigal's case for 12 long years. If Ramalinga Adigal's songs portray similarity in experience with Manikavasagar, G.Vanmikanathan writes that Jalaluddin Rumi's utterances parallel Manikavasagar in a remarkable way too. Jalaluddin Rumi wrote, "I am in love with grief and pain for the sake of pleasing my peerless King." Agathiyar too each time I complain to him of the pain and discomfort that suddenly comes on as a result of observing the given practices, assures and comforts me that in pain is there bliss. The painful experiences that come on intermittently are in fact Ananda Paravasam or bliss, he says, asking me to endure it. I had been having constipation the past few days. But it was not a pain or discomfort nor was my tummy aching or hard on touch. I had a good appetite and was gobbling the food down my throat as usual. After sharing this with Mahindren just moments ago, I have visited the toilet several times. I guess there is nothing to fear.
G.Vanmikanathan too looks like is assuring me as did Agathiyar in his writings when he says, "When they (both the divine and its matters) are beyond our comprehension, our duty is not to dismiss them as meaningless, but to wait patiently for enlightenment by the spirit of the saints in their own time." I did mention to Agathiyar that Ramalinga Adigal has to come to clarify the essence and gist of his "Arutpa".
The soul once it attains purity and maturity of perfectness is entitled to be united with the Lord. The Lord's grace falls on it in a timely manner and the soul is absolved into the arms of the waiting father.
G.Vanmikanathan continues that "It is the soul's experience that it should see itself elated to a state of joy first; from joy to ecstasy; and from ecstasy to an all-encompassing and surpassing bliss, as the soul is seen uniting with Civan to the point of extinction of duality, to the point of the absence of any difference between the soul and Civan."
And so we arrive finally at the grand question of all time. Would declaring oneself as a God amount to being egoistic? Jalaluddin Rumi thinks otherwise. " "I am God" is an expression of great humility. The man who says I am the slave or servant of God affirms two existences - his own and his God but he that says "I am God" has made himself non-existent and has given himself up and says "I am naught; he is all there is; nothing but God's." This is the extreme of humility and self-abasement."
Now I understand why Lord Muruga kept asking the youngsters in the AVM family if they had surrendered to him. Only then can he give each of them something he added. When we are one with him and the Prapanjam everything is ours to live by. As in the process of osmosis where "molecules of a solvent tend to pass through a semipermeable membrane from a less concentrated solution into a more concentrated one" we without effort tend to melt in his embrace and merge into him.