THIRUMANTHIRAM - Payiram Proem Verses 46-66 of 112 by Saint Thirumular

Thirumanthiram

ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE TAMIL SPIRITUAL CLASSIC BY SAINT THIRUMULAR

 

PAYIRAM: PROEM

(Verses 1 to 112)

1 IN PRAISE OF GOD

 

 

46: In Heart's Center

 

"You of the Twilight Hue! O! Hara! O! Siva!"

Thus, His Holy Feet devotees praise and sing;

He of the Primary Hue, the First, the Infinite

Entered my being, my heart's center held.

 

47: Bliss Denied

 

In Home is He, like Holy Men is He,

In Thought is He;

Like the kite concealed in the palm's leafy depths,

Your Bliss is for them alone who muse upon You steadfast.

 

48: Unflickering Lamp

 

The Lord of Gods, whom the pious adore,

To Him I bend my knees and His Grace invoke,

The Lord, Our Father, blessing us of earth,

The Lamp that flickers not, Him I seek.

 

49: Sea Of Bondage

 

Who, on the Lord, Shakti-Consort, meditate,

And take the way of Pasu-Pasa,

They swim across the foaming sea of Sin,

And, swimming, reach the shore of Pasu-Pasa.

 

50: Seeking Is All

 

I'll wreathe Him in garland, I'll hug Him to heart;

I'll sing Him His Name and dance with gift of flowers;

Singing and dancing seek the Lord;

This alone I know, only too well I know.

 

 

2 GREATNESS OF VEDAS

 

51: Vedas Proclaim Dharma

 

No Dharma is, barring what the Vedas say;

Its central core the Vedas proclaim;

And the Wise ones ceased contentious brawls,

Intoned the lofty strains and Freedom's battle won.

 

52: Truth Of Maker

 

Brahma spoke the Vedas, but Himself not the goal supreme;

He spoke the Vedas only the great Maker to reveal;

He spoke them for the Holy sacrifices to perform,

He spoke them, the True One to manifest.

 

53: Moving Mood

 

In the beauteous Veda, aptly named the Rig,

As the moving mood behind, He stood;

In the trembling chant of the Vedic priests He stood,

Himself the Eye of vision Central.

 

54: Supreme Path

 

The Holy Path is naught but the Path Supreme,

Who muse on the Lord, Himself the Path Supreme,

As Material-Immaterial, as Guru Divine,

They reach Siva's Pure Path-so Vedantas all declare.

 

55: One In Several

 

Of the One, the Vedas chant in divisions six,

The One who yet in parts divisible does not be,

As divided parts they swam into their ken,

Then upgathered and swelled into the patterned whole.

 

56: Vedic Sacrifices

 

Uncaught in the world's web of woman, song and dance,

Such alone seek the holy sacrifice to perform;

But the unpracticed in austerities do but reach

Desire's Abode, misery to find.

 

 

3 THE GREATNESS OF THE AGAMAS

 

57: Agamas From The Fifth Face Of Siva

 

The Lord that consorts the blue-hued One

Has the Agamas twenty-five and three;

Bowing low, the six and sixty sought

The Fifth-Faced One the Agamas' deep import to expound.

 

58: Agamas Innumerable

 

The Sivagamas the Lord by Grace revealed;

In number a billion-million-twenty-eight

In them the Celestials the Lord's greatness gloried;

Him, I too shall muse and praise.

 

59: Agamic Truths In 18 Languages

 

In eighteen various tongues they speak

The thoughts which Pandits alone know;

The Pandits' tongues numbering ten and eight

Are but what the Primal Lord declared.

 

60: Agamas Deep In Content

 

The Agamas, the Lord by Grace revealed,

Deep and baffling even to the Gods in Heaven;

Seventy billion-millions though they be;

Like writing on the waters, eluding grasp.

 

61: Agamas Revealed

 

The Infinite revealing the Infinite Vast

Came down to earth, Siva's Dharma to proclaim,

The immortals, then, Him as Nandi adored,

And He stood forth the Agamas artic'lating.

 

62: Agamas Transmitted

 

From Siva the Infinite to Shakti and Sadasiva,

To Maheswara the Joyous, to Rudra Dev and Brahmisa,

So in succession unto Himself from Himself,

The nine Agamas our Nandi begot.

 

63: Nine Agamas

 

The Agamas so received are Karanam, Kamigam,

The Veeram good, the Sindam high and Vadulam,

Vyamalam the other, and Kalottaram,

The Subram pure and Makutam to crown.

 

64: Import Of Agamas

 

Numberless the Sivagamas composed,

The Lord by His Grace revealed;

Yet they know not the wisdom He taught;

Like writing on water, the unnumbered fade.

 

65: Revealed Alike In Sanskrit and Tamil

 

Devoid alike of rain and summer's gift of dew

Even the flashing lake had lost it's vernal bloom

Then did He in Sanskrit and Tamil at once,

Reveal the rich treasure of His Compassion to our Lady Great.

 

66: Key To Mystery Of Life

 

Life takes its birth, stands preserved awhile,

And then its departure takes; caught

In that momentary wave of flux, Him we glimpse,

The Lord who in Tamil sweet and northern tongue

Life's mystery revealed.