Tirumantiram - TANTRA ONE - 24 ABSTAINING FROM DRINK

Tirumantiram

English translation of the Tamil Spiritual Classic by Saint Tirumular

 

TANTRA ONE

 

24 ABSTAINING FROM DRINK

 

 

324: Drunkards Lose Sense Of Right And Wrong

 

The cow fed on broth of rice wanders not from tank to tank

The cow denied its drink of broth grows weak and lank

Who swill the toddy neat, from righteousness go astray

Truest drink is Sivananda, the bliss supreme, far and away.

 

 

325: Sivananda Wine Brings Eternal Self-Forgetfulness

 

In sweet rapture lost, soul-hynotic for the Siva-samadhi state,

The ever-sweet nectar of Sivananda - in the bliss overflow;

On such nectar fed, you lose not the self-bliss pure;

For ever thus you sit and lie the holy feet below.

 

 

326: The Wicked Drink In Vama Tantra

 

Lust and drink, fit for the wicked are they;

In ritual unholy they drink and lose the senses

But the wise drink the nectar streaming from his feet,

Which destroys egoism and bigotry.

 

 

327: Drinking In Vama Tantra Worship Leads To Perdition

 

They drink and perish, who to the vama sect belong.

The lustful ones in sensual delights are wholly lost;

But the pure souls find the light of sacrifices in their inner flame;

They, who his true name chant, approach him fast.

 

 

328: Truth Eludes Drunkards

 

They see not the inner truth, know not the pasu-pasa,

They dwell not in the bounteous lord's divine grace;

In the clear light of wisdom, Sivayoga they seek not,

They, who soak in liquors, truth never can appraise.

 

 

329: Followers Of False Religion Neither Seek Nor See Him

 

The fools who swear by the faith that our senses numbs,

Who yield to the heady joys of drink - they neither seek nor see

Mamaya's home, for the maya's fetters are they bound;

But recovered from maya's hold, they merge in the lord and are free.

 

 

330: Wine Stupefies Senses And Destroys Truth

 

The fumes of wine stupor bring and destroy the truth,

And make us seek the false, delusive joys of lust;

Such advance not to wisdom true, of sweet reason compact,

Will such e'er attain the eternal bliss truest?

 

 

331: Joys Of Sivananda Nectar

 

In meditation lost, rid of the cycle of night and day,

Dead to outward things, they drink not the bliss-nectar

The bliss of the lord's feet that neither night nor day knoweth,

I, caught in maya causing night and day, struggle to reach.

 

 

332: True Sakti Worship Seeks Divine Nectar

 

Sakti seeking, some religious sects ritual drinks consume,

But Sakti dies when the o'er- powered senses swoon;

True Sakti, indeed, in Sivajnanan finds its birth,

To merge in truth-wisdom-bliss - and to other things immune.

 

 

333: Sakthi And Siva Are One

 

If Sakthan his grace imparts, Sakti's grace we have,

If Sakti her grace imparts, Sakthan's grace we gain,

Sakti and Siva, if both in heart we hold,

Then in us, truly, the siddhis eight do shine.

 

 

334: Divine Nectar Leads to Siddhis

 

All Tattvas and egoity past, Truth of self realised,

In truest joy immersed, of false penances void,

Rid of worldly lure, drunk full of Heavenly Bliss,

This indeed is Siddhi true and Sivananda unalloyed.

 

 

335: Yogis Seek Ambrosia of the Cranial Moon

 

The yogis who, breath in control held, yearn for

The nectared delights of Contemplation's Moon,

The eight Siddhis they seek; but witless fools are they

Who to toddy yield and in its heady joys let their senses swoon.

 

 

336: Drink Divine Nectar in Samadhi

 

Open and drink deep the nectar that gushes from the spring;

Unfold the petals of the Holy Master's Lotus Feet;

Lead the Yoga-breath through the spiring channel up

And thus in Samadhi ascending,

Reach the Divine Good in holy meet.

 

TANTRA ONE ENDS