Tirumantiram - TANTRA TWO - Verses 471 to 491 of 548

Tirumantiram

English translation of the Tamil Spiritual Classic by Saint Tirumular

 

TANTRA TWO - Verses 471 to 491 of 548

 

471: Lord Creates Life From Primal Seed of Causation

 

The Lord is Limitless Light;

He kindles all life from Primal Womb;

He stirrs the liquid-seed of Causation;

He endows it with form expansive;

Him I seek in heaven and earth.

 

 

472: Body's Impermanence

 

In the union of sexes opposite

The light of life is born shielded true;

A bubble it is in Life's watery expanse;

A shadow that spreads on earth below;

Sheathed in the subtle Body-Eight.

 

 

473: Lord Gives and Lord Takes Life

 

Of the eight organs of Body Subtle,

Are senses protean five

And cognitive instruments three--

Mind, will and cognition;

Know the dear Lord

Who fastened this body-bag,

With Desire's sticky glue

Will in time unfasten it too.

 

 

474: Lord Gave Means of Redemption

 

The Lord made the body,

A name and form it assumed;

Then, for Jiva his redemption to seek

He created earth and Tattvas many,

--Thus speak the Vedas.

 

 

475: He Placed Jiva in Care of Two Foster-Mothers

 

None the Grace but Hara's,

None Hara's but the Grace,

And so as He bestows life,

He bestows, too,

The Loving care of foster mother twine,

(Maya and Mamaya.)

 

 

476: Then Siva and Sakti Pervaded Jivas

 

Sakti, the Conjoint Cause of creation,

The Luminous One that dispelled darkness total,

Together created the myriad lives,

Their genus and species,

And having done that, they pervaded them too;

Oh! magnificience non-pareil!

 

 

477: He Printed the Sex of the Infant

 

The seed of life,

As a steady flame in womb burns

It takes shape one of three

Male, female and hermaphrodite;

How the father and mother at union were,

Even so He printed the sex,

Righteous indeed was that Lumninous One.

 

 

478: Sex Determined at Sexual Union

 

The masculine flow dominates, the infant is male born,

The feminine dominates, the infant is female born;

When the two are in force equal, a hermaphrodite is born;

When masculine flow gushes in plenty,

The infant born will sway the world entire;

When masculine flow is scanty,

Naught indeed conception is.

 

 

479: Age is Determined

 

If after emission,

The male's breath five finger-length extends,

The infant born lives a hundred years;

When breath to four finger measure stretches,

To age eighty the infant lives;

The Yogi who knows the science of breath control

If in sex act He indulges,

He, the vital flow, accordingly regulates.

 

 

480: Birth Imperfections Explained

 

When after intercourse, the man is short of breath,

The infant born a dwarf will be;

When breath spires feeble,

The issue may, of defective limbs be born;

When breath halts in mid-act

A hunch-back will be born;

All these apply not,

To woman's breathing rhythm.

 

 

481: How Deaf, Dumb, and Blind are Born

 

When at the time of union,

The mother's bowels are heavy exceeding,

A dullard will be born;

If urine exceeds,

A dumb will be born;

If both exceed,

A blind will be born;

Thus is it for the infant born

The mother's condition according.

 

 

482: Breathing at Union Decides Sex of Baby

 

If breath spires leading on nostril right,

The infant born will a male be;

If on the nostril left,

A female will be born;

If the descending current Apana,

Opposes the ascending current Prana,

Twins there shall be;

If in measure equal the breath rhythm runs,

Through nostrils right and left,

Hermaphrodite shall be the baby born.

 

 

483: How a Handsome Baby is Born

 

If in Male and Female breath runs

In measure equable,

The infant born will exceeding handsome be;

When in both breath rhythm falters,

No Conception will there be.

 

 

484: How Infant in the Womb Grows

 

The infant-seed,

The damsel in her womb bore

Nourished by bright milk

That is fed by Sakti in Eye-brow Centre Grew,

Beaming like the golden rays of rising sun

Inside, it took form appropriate.

 

 

485: Maya Fosters the Baby

 

In months ten, it forms full

And then on earth in time appointed, it lands;

And grows, Maya fostering;

But who knows that Formless Maya!

 

 

486: Maya's Hidden Act

 

He who planted seed, knew it not;

She who received saw it not;

The Creator knew, but he told none;

The Lord who Truth reveals is also there;

Yet I saw not Maya,

How cunning was her stealthy Conduct!

 

 

487: In Manhood Jiva Seeks God

 

Seeking pleasure, the two met;

In pasa's misery was it born and bred;

And having grown to stature

Grew to manhood here below;

Well may it seek the Ancient One

That before all worlds was.

 

 

488: How Maya Fosters Babe

 

The koil bird leaves its egg in the crow's nest;

The crow hatches it, nurses it, suspecting nothing;

It does not move it, does not reject it,

Does not ask why,

So does Maya the young one foster.

 

 

489: God Protects Jiva at All Stages

 

The Lord is the Primal One;

The root, the shoot, the plant and fruit;

Thus He blesses all life;

To each, He grants his life's pleasure,

With each, He stands according.

 

 

490: Lord Appears in Prayer and Penance

 

My Lord is of infinite greatness,

Yet is He within the littleness of this fleshly body;

Beyond the ken of Celestials is He;

Yet in prayer and penance

He himself shall appear before you.

 

 

491: Birth is by Lord's Grace

 

Even unto the salt that from wavy sea emerges,

Out of Tattvas that arose in Para,

Was this body formed;

To be born thus is His Grace indeed!