Ramalinga Adigal exhibits his total and unconditional trust in his savior when he sings a verse in his Arutpa upon coming to meet his guru and the path.
36. அம்பல வாணணை நாடின னே
அவனடி யாரொடும் கூடின னே.
37. தம்பத மாம்புகழ் பாடின னே
தந்தன என்றுகூத் தாடின னே.
38. நான்சொன்ன பாடலும் கேட்டா ரே
ஞான சிதம்பர நாட்டா ரே.
39. இனித்துயர் படமாட்டேன் விட்டே னே
என்குரு மேல்ஆணை இட்டே னே.
40. இனிப்பாடு படமாட்டேன் விட்டே னே
என்னப்பன் மேல்ஆணை இட்டே னே.
41. சன்மார்க்கம் நன்மார்க்கம் நன்மார்க்கம்
சகமார்க்கம் துன்மார்க்கம் துன்மார்க்கம்.
If only we too could profess such faith on our guru and the path?
I guess the Siddhas are saddened and frustrated at the lackadaisical attitude of his devotees for them to come personally and asked their devotees if they had totally surrendered to the Siddhas and their cause. Having taken numerous births to finally make it to the Siddha path, yet they seemed to be lost of direction. Agathiyar did not wish to throw the harness around them to restrain them, nor pull them in but instead, let them go their way, attracted by maya and its lure. He says once these souls are hurt as a result of indulgence in the products of maya, they shall come around. It reminds me of Ramalinga Adigal having sung that all those who opposed and ignored his experiences came around standing at his door later asking to be admitted in.
Many who have finally made it to the door, choose to wait outside, preferring to while their time, in talk or sightseeing not wanting to take the step in as yet. The lure of the material world is so strong that they find it difficult to shake it off. Their faith is distracted by numerous paths, gurus and their teachings. Although they proclaim they have faith on the Siddhas, they do not place trust and confidence on them. Their faith is akin to wanting sureties or guarantees; wanting to see someone come along and take the leap before feeling that it was safe for them to do so too; or as David Miller says they might insist on checking the ropes and bindings, maybe even consult an engineer, and then watch an elephant cross the rope bridge across the ravine before deciding to do so.
Recently Agathiyar spoke of two subjects that set me looking for its meaning and nature or state. Siva Jhoti and Jeevan Mukta.
36. அம்பல வாணணை நாடின னே
அவனடி யாரொடும் கூடின னே.
37. தம்பத மாம்புகழ் பாடின னே
தந்தன என்றுகூத் தாடின னே.
38. நான்சொன்ன பாடலும் கேட்டா ரே
ஞான சிதம்பர நாட்டா ரே.
39. இனித்துயர் படமாட்டேன் விட்டே னே
என்குரு மேல்ஆணை இட்டே னே.
40. இனிப்பாடு படமாட்டேன் விட்டே னே
என்னப்பன் மேல்ஆணை இட்டே னே.
41. சன்மார்க்கம் நன்மார்க்கம் நன்மார்க்கம்
சகமார்க்கம் துன்மார்க்கம் துன்மார்க்கம்.
If only we too could profess such faith on our guru and the path?
I guess the Siddhas are saddened and frustrated at the lackadaisical attitude of his devotees for them to come personally and asked their devotees if they had totally surrendered to the Siddhas and their cause. Having taken numerous births to finally make it to the Siddha path, yet they seemed to be lost of direction. Agathiyar did not wish to throw the harness around them to restrain them, nor pull them in but instead, let them go their way, attracted by maya and its lure. He says once these souls are hurt as a result of indulgence in the products of maya, they shall come around. It reminds me of Ramalinga Adigal having sung that all those who opposed and ignored his experiences came around standing at his door later asking to be admitted in.
Many who have finally made it to the door, choose to wait outside, preferring to while their time, in talk or sightseeing not wanting to take the step in as yet. The lure of the material world is so strong that they find it difficult to shake it off. Their faith is distracted by numerous paths, gurus and their teachings. Although they proclaim they have faith on the Siddhas, they do not place trust and confidence on them. Their faith is akin to wanting sureties or guarantees; wanting to see someone come along and take the leap before feeling that it was safe for them to do so too; or as David Miller says they might insist on checking the ropes and bindings, maybe even consult an engineer, and then watch an elephant cross the rope bridge across the ravine before deciding to do so.
Recently Agathiyar spoke of two subjects that set me looking for its meaning and nature or state. Siva Jhoti and Jeevan Mukta.
In "Pathway to God Trod by Saint Ramalingar, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay by G.Vanmikanathan, we understand Siva Jhoti to be, "Civa-civa jothi should also be taken to mean “blissful, blissful Effulgence.”
Maanikkavaachakar also conceived the Godhead as jothi. In Civapuranam itself, the first decad of the Thiruvaachakam, when he begins the paean of praise in the 62nd line, he begins with the phrase, ‘maasattra jothi’, ‘Oh Immaculate Effulgence!’
தாயிற் சிறந்த தயாவான தத்துவனே
மாசற்ற சோதி மலர்ந்த மலர்ச்சுடரே
தேசனே தேனார் அமுதே சிவபுரானே
பாசமாம் பற்றறுத்துப் பாரிக்கும் ஆரியனே
And in the very first decad of bridal mysticism, Thiruvempaavai, the seventh decad in the Thiruvaachakam, he refers to the Lord as ‘arum-perum-jothi’, ‘the rate to gain Great Effulgence’.
In the decad called ‘Arut-patthu’, the Decad of Grace, he begins the first stanza with the phrase, ‘Jothiye! sudare! soozholi vilakke!’, Oh Effulgence! Oh Flame!, Oh Lamp of Encompassing Light!’
Abhiraami Bhattar lived engulfed by this very effulgence, so much so that when the king of Thanjaavoor rudely woke him up from his nirvikalpasamaadhi and asked him what day of the month it was, he promptly replied that it was the full-moon day while actually, it was the new-moon day!
Who is a Jeevan Muktha, what is Jeevan Mukthi?
The term ‘jeevanmukthi’ is used to describe this state of continued life in the body on the part of a knower of Brahman. A jeevanmuktha does not act on his own volition. God acts through him, speaks through him.The jeevanmuktha has imprisoned God in his heart, in every fibre of his body.G.Vanmikanathan tracing Ramalinga Adigal's life in his book, arrives at the juncture where Ramalinga attains the state of Jeevan Mukti.
Here ends our Swaamikal’s journey on the Pathway to God. He has arrived. He has become a Jeevan Muktha, a seeker who has gained what be sought, who has reached the end of his quest. Swaamikal had indeed arrived at his goal, at his journey’s end, and that he has nothing more to do on earth than to spend the remaining years prescribed for him by praarabdha-karma in adoring contemplation of the Godhead and in loving service to all creatures.The point of utmost importance in Advaita is that every seeker after deliverance may hopefully aim at the goal of jeevanmukthi …But having attained the state of Jeevan Mukthi Ramalinga yearns for everlasting evanescent bliss and eternal union. He yearns for videha mukthi.
Liable as it is to disease and decay, to pain and putrefaction, the Jeevan-muktha now longs for release from the body, longs for death. The body which was an asset so long has become a liability as soon as the Jeevan-muktha state has been attained, as soon as the mystic union with God has been achieved. The mystic lives with a dread for his companion, the dread of losing the bliss, the ecstatic union with God. So the Jeevan-muktha now longs for death, for release from the human body, for eternal bliss and union everlasting. He has obtained, it is true, supreme bliss, but still not evanescent bliss; he has obtained union with God, but still not eternal union.
On having these beatific visions, wisdom and peace descend on the mutinously impatient Jeevan-muktha, impatient for death, impatient to shed the human body, impatient to gain videha mukthi - disembodied release from the cycle of death and birth.Tirumular asks that even this yearning to be dropped just as Manikavasagar realizes too.
Realising the futility of his wilfully and mutinously longing for death in disregard of the divine will, Maanikkavaachakar reaches the peak of his spiritual career in the 33rd decad, the kuzhaittha-patthu, where he surrenders totally and without reservations to the divine will. He gives up the last and the most difficult of all desires to give up, the desire to reach the haven of the feet of the Lord. Such renouncers are called veedum vendaa viralin vilanginaar, men of the proud distinction of not desiring mukthi even.