Tirumantiram - TANTRA ONE - 22 NON-LEARNING

Tirumantiram

English translation of the Tamil Spiritual Classic by Saint Tirumular

 

TANTRA ONE

22 NON-LEARNING

 

 

310: The Unlearned are they Who hold not to Truth

 

Even the unlearned, if blessed with the vision of Truth Supreme,

Them the Lord approves with His benign Eye of Grace;

But if the learned seeming fail to hold the truth,

Unlearned are they indeed, blind to True Love's divine rays.

 

 

311: Unlearned Realize not God's Pervasiveness

 

The truly learned live pursuing the one and only path,

But others say, "Many the paths of knowledge are,"

The God Supreme is in all places present;

They the unlearned are, of God's pervasiveness unaware.

 

 

312: God Abides not in the Hearts of Unlearned

 

Things transitory you fix in heart as abiding joys,

This mnortal body frail you deem as enduring stuff;

Though the Lord God all life pervades,

Absent is He and His Light from the hearts of the unlearned.

 

 

313: Unlearned Descend to Hell

 

Of all power bereft, I fell into Karma's griefs,

Learning not Hara's ways, into dark abysmal depths I fell;

I learnt not to stamp the Great Benefactor in my heart,

I learnt only to dance down the primrose path to hell.

 

 

314: Unlearned Sport in Carnal Pleasures

 

Knowing full well that life is a fleeting, vaporous mist,

The truly learned seek the path of Dharma and penance strict,

But the not-learned, in truth, this world's sordid knaves,

Sport in carnal joys, with Karmic misery mixt.

 

 

315: Lord is the Fruit of Heavenly Love

 

The Lord gave us the Heaven-born gift of the Fruit of Love;

His Light mingled with the eyes where it remained;

But inside the earth men sought it in folly vain;

And brooding and writing, they grew thin and pined.

 

 

316: Unlearned Do Not See Him

 

Without knowing the 36 tattvas and their scope

It is not possible to have a vision of the supreme,

Only by knowing the tattvas wisdom can dawn,

Only those are educated who go to the limits of the tattvas and have a vision of reality.

 

 

317: Avoid The Unlearned

 

The fools, of learning devoid, unfit for us even to see

The fools, of learning devoid, their words unfit to hear

The fools, of learning devoid, in fools find their friends,

The fools, of learned devoid, to wisdom come no near.

 

 

318: The Truly Learned Have Vision Of Sivajnana

 

Though learned, fools are they if with Sivajnana they're not acquainted,

If kith and kin they give not up nor strike at root of ignorance

As their eyes turn not to quarters

They alone truly reckon who, wise in love, win the truth.

 

 

319: True Learning Brings Light Divine

 

The being first, even to the immortals the light divine,

The light that devotees seek, the great god supreme

Some proudly claim that learning well, they know him truly well

Yet they catch not of his light the faintest gleam.