Tirumantiram - TANTRA THREE - Verses 549-577 of 883

Tirumantiram

English translation of the Tamil Spiritual Classic by Saint Tirumular

 

TANTRA THREE  - Verses 549-577 of 883

 

41 ASHTANGA YOGAM

 

549: Difficult to Expound is Science of Yoga

 

Of difficult vast to expound

Is the Science of Breath;

Closing nostril alternate

And counting time in measure appropriate

Thus did Nandi reveal at length

The eight-fold science of yoga great--

Iyama, Niyama and the rest.

 

 

550: Yoga Includes Kavacha Nyasa and Mudra

 

I shall reveal herein,

The ways of Iyama and Niyama,

The secret of Kavacha, Nyasa and Mudra

The paths to reach the Samadhi State;

To course Kundalini Sakti upward,

And to reach Parasakti at Cranium high.

 

 

551: Ashtanga Yoga Leads to Samadhi and to Jnana

 

Waver not, this way and that

Follow the way of eight-limbed Yoga

And reach Samadhi State;

They who tread that blessed path

Shall reach Jnana's peak;

No more are they in this vile flesh born.

 

 

552: Eight Limbs of Yoga

 

Iyama, Niyama, and Asana numberless

Pranayama wholesome and Pratyahara alike,

Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi to triumph

--These eight are the steely limbs of Yoga.

 

 

2 NIYAMAM

 

553: Perform Niyamas Always

 

"The heavens may torrents pour

In directions eight;

Yet perform the holy niyamas"

--Thus spake the Lord of matted locks, cool and coral hued

To the Sages Four, in devotion immersed.

 

 

554: Ways of Niyama

 

He does not kill, he does not lie, he does not steal;

Of marked virtues is he; good, meek and just;

He shares his joys, he knows no blemish

Neither drinks nor lusts

--This the man who in Niyama's ways stands.

 

 

3 NIYAMA

 

555: Way of Niyama

 

The Being First,

The Meaning-Central of Vedas all,

The Light Divine,

The Fire within that Light

He who shares Himself

Half-and-Half with His Sakti

And the Divine Justice thereof

--Them, he in Niyama's path knows.

 

 

556: Ten Virtues of Niyama

 

Purity, compassion, frugal food and patience

Forthrightness, truth and steadfastness

--These he ardently cherishes;

Killing, stealing and lusting, He abhors

--Thus stands with virtues ten

The one who Niyama's ways observes.

 

 

557: Further Ten Attributes of Niyama

 

Tapas, meditation, serenity, and holiness

Charity, vows in Saiva Way and Siddhanta learning

Sacrifice, Siva puja and thoughts pure

--With these ten, the one in Niyama perfects his Ways.

 

 

4 ASANAS

 

558: Prominent Asanas

 

Numerous are the asanas

With Padmasana to commence;

Six among them are rated high

With Svastika as faultless seventh

He who postures on these asanas seven,

Verily becomes Master, for sure.

 

 

559: Padmasana--Lotus Posture

 

Sit cross-legged with soles of feet upturned

Close draw the feet on thighs opposite,

Stretch then the hands afore on feet

That Padmasana is, famed far on earth.

 

 

560: Bhadrasana--Happy Posture

 

Place the right leg over the left

Stretch the hands over calf of leg

Sit in posture firm and erect

That indeed is Bhadrasana.

 

 

561: Kukkudasana--Cock Posture

 

Lift the feet on to the thighs,

Control breath and on elbows raise your body

Thus seated firm and immobile,

Thou do reach the Kukkudasana.

 

 

562: Simhasana--Lion Posture

 

Stretch the hands over the calf of leg,

Lift the mouth upward,

Fix thy gaze on tip of nose,

Thus do thou Simhasana posture.

 

 

563: Important Asanas are Seven

 

Bhadra, Gomukha, Padma and Simha,

Svastika, Veera, and Sukha

These seven are asanas eminent and ancient;

Numerous as, eight, eighty and hundred, however,

Are asanas in all reckoned.

 

 

5 PRANAYAMA

 

564: Master the Steed of Breath

 

The Jiva is the master of senses five;

He is the head of the body habitat;

There is a steed he rides to his destined goal;

The masterly one the steed carries,

The feeble one it throws away

--That steed the Prana breath is.

 

 

565: Control of Inhalation and Exhalation

 

A goodly one is Jiva

He has steeds two,

But he knows not how to master them

If the lordly Guru lends His Grace,

The steeds will tame become.

 

 

566: Breath Control Activates Body

 

Faster than bird that steed flies,

Far headier than wine the pleasure it gives;

It infuses vigour, dispells laziness

True we say this, let the wise listen.

 

 

567: Breath Control Yields Life Nectar

 

Let Prana merge in Mind

And together the two be stilled

Then no more shall birth and death be;

Therefore, learn to direct breath

In streams alternating left and right

And in silentness chant "Aum"

Then shall you sevile of the nectar of life.

 

 

568: Puraka Kumbhaka Resaka Alternated--Cleansing of Nadis

 

Purakam is to inhale by left nostril matras six and ten

Kumbhakam is to retain that breath for matras four and sixty

Resakam is to exhale thereafter for matras two and thirty

Thus alternate from left to right and right to left

With Kumbhakam in between.

 

 

569: Breath Control Makes Body Light as a Carpenter-Bee

 

If you control the breath within,

However old your body,

Young and crystal-hard it turns

And with the goodly Guru's benign Grace,

Well may you wing your way in heaven

As unto a carpenter-bee.

 

 

570: Breath Control Gives Supreme Strength

 

Wherever you be, there control breath

The body then will perish not

As you inhale, control and exhale in measure prescribed,

Well may you become a trimphant Lord

With the conch of victory,

Your achievement heralding.

 

 

571: Knowledge of Science of Breath Leads to Immortality

 

Inhalation, Exhalation, and Retention both ways

The Science of Breath thus consisting

They know not;

They who know the Science of Breath

Are destined to spurn the God of Death.

 

 

572Effect of Puraka, Kumbhaka Resaka

 

In Purakam inhale breath deep

To pervade up, down and middle

In Kumbhakam retain it around the navel center;

In Resakam it is absorbed within in due measure

They who practise the Science of Breath thus

Reach the Grace of Lord

Who consumed poison deadly.

 

 

573: Time Duration of Inhaling Retaining and Exhaling Breath

 

Inhaling six and ten matras by left nostril

Retaining four and sixty in the navel

Exhaling two and thirty by the right nostril,

They who control breath thus, chanting Aum

Have verily seen the Light of Truth.

 

 

574: How to Practise Pranayama

 

Inhale deep and steady,

That prana fills the nadis ten;

Exhale slow

That the body does not stir;

Retain prana breath

And downward move Apana breath

Thus sit erect and vanquish Death.

 

 

575: Purify Body By Breath Control

 

The breath within rises

And wanders as it lists;

Control that and purify within;

Then shall your limbs glow red

Your hair turn dark

And God within shall leave you never.

 

 

576: Inhale 12 Matras; Retain 4 Matras

 

The Prana breath

That is damsel within body-house

Runs in and out constant;

If twelve matras inhaled

Eight matras exhaled,

The four matras retained

Shall make you divine in Siva.

 

 

577: Learn to Control Breath and Master Death

 

The elephant that is twelve-matra breath

Is awake night and day;

The mahout (Jiva) knows not elephant;

When mahout learns to control elephant

The elephant knows not night and day;

(In eternity it exists.)