TIRUMANTIRAM - TANTRA SIX - Verses 1665 – 1689 of 1703

TIRUMANTIRAM

English translation of the Tamil Spiritual Classic by Saint Tirumular

TANTRA SIX - Verses 1665 – 1689 of 1703

10 HOLY ASHES

1665 Chant "Aum" and unite in Param

Fools know not what thread and tuft are;

Thread is but Vedanta, and tuft is Jnana;

Brahmins true who live in accord thus,

Shall see Jiva in Siva uniting;

Chant sacred mantra "Aum"

And lo! the Two merge forever in One.

1666 Power of Holy Ashes

The sacred ashes of Siva

Who has bones for His garland

Are an armour indeed impregnable;

For them who in joy smear it

Karmas take flight,

And Siva-state comes seeking;

And they shall reach His handsome Feet.

1667 Holy Ashes elevate to Brahma Status

The holy ash shall make you a king

And all regalia shall you have;

They that are in its fire purified

Shall in truth be transformed divine;

Reaching the Feet of the Eternal, the Immaculate

They shall attain Brahma's form

And ever be of Order Divine.

11 ROBES OF JNANA

1668 Jnana is All; not robes

Sans Jnana, robe but leads to hell

Sans robe, Jnana yet leads to Mukti;

When they seek Jnana,

They shall seek Lord and pray,

Their hearts robed in Jnana way.

1669 Perfect Jnanis speak not

They of lowly Jnana in vain assume robes;

Filled with Grace, they of true Jnana covet it not;

The bigots of faiths are of evil Jnana;

The perfect of Jnana speak not.

1670 They Need No Paths

Neither for Siva Jnanis, nor for Siva Yogins

Is it meet superfluous ways to adopt;

In sooth, needless indeed are the sadhanas Four* for them,

When they can see the Peerless One

Within themselves full.

1671 Siva Jnanis are Quiescent

They howl about unto dogs at foot of gallows;

They peck about like vultures at carrion;

They frisk about like monkeys in merriment

They of false Jnana;

But quiescent are the Siva Jnanis true,

Dead to the world, though living in body and senses.

1672 Siva Jnanis alone are of the Holy Order

They truly are of Holy Order

Who have attained Sivajnana;

They truly are of Holy Order,

The rest are not;

Nor their robes holy;

They are never, never by reckoning any.

1673 All becomes the Jnani

Even the gayest attire becomes the Jnani,

Albeit his own robe is of Siva Yogin;

Whatever robe he adopts, that shall aid him to Jnana,

Nothing is becoming him, and not-becoming him.

1674 Jnani is a class apart

The Siva Jnani that seeks deliverance through Jnana

Is a shrine unto himself, unique of status;

He observes mauna, and so is a Mukta and Siddha;

How can other tapasvins be like unto him?

1675 Stages in Liberation process

The annihilating of the Self

The Self becoming He

The identity in Siva

The Mudra setting the state ultra,

All these and the rest they had,

They who received deliverance at Feet of Nandi.

12 SIVA ROBE

1676 Liege-robe of Siva

By Hara's Grace they become His liege-men;

Within the body mansion, they seek His golden throne;

Darkness dispelled, they know of deeds none, good and bad;

Thus they stand steadfast in the liege-robe of Siva.

1677 The robe is not for Soul

The robe is for the body; not for the Soul

When the body falls, the garb with it falls;

Those that know not that the Soul within the body is real,

Are tossed about like a log caught in wavy sea.

1678 They of Siva-Robe are action-less

Sans illusions, sans ignorance, sans intelligence,

Sans the embraces of fish-eyed damsels and their attachment

Themselves as themselves, in solitude remain one in Siva-Sakti;

Thus are they, the Holy ones in Siva's robe.

1679 Why the robe? Seek Nandi Yoga Way

What avails thee, vain men, these holy robes?

Rein fast the fleeting mare of the twin breath;

And seek Nandi, Our Lord Beloved,

You shall attain sure the Bliss you crave.

13 THE UNFIT

1680 Blind leading the Blind

They seek not the Guru that blindness cures

They seek the Guru that cures not blindness;

The blind and the blind in a blind dance shuffled

And the blind and the blind in a deep pit together fell.

1681 They seek Worldly Pleasures

From out of mind, mirror of illusion rises

Think of it, even its shadows they see not

And nothing they do for the fruits of Karma to drop;

The temptations of the backyard drain, they go after.

1682 They know not the Mystery of Body

You beckon them, but they hearken not

The ignorant multitude they are;

The mother's milk flows sweet in the mouth,

But even the dear and near know not

How the mother's breast becomes so;

Verily, it is the Formless Being that shapes this body-form.

1683 Realize Lord in Purity of thought, word and deed

The lips utter one thing;

The mind thinks another;

And the deed does a third,

Thus you behave not;

Gracious Lord! You Rock of Ages!

I know You as the Fire-hued Lord,

And having known that

None dares know me as creature insensate.

1684 Banish False Disciples

These reprobates of the five deadly sins

Full deserve the pious ruler's punishment severe;

When he fails and banishes them not

The land to fell famine a prey falls.

1685 Tapas consumes Karma

They who stand in tapas

Consume away all Karma

In Siva they stand;

Even Celestials know this not;

They who know not Siva in tapas-standing,

Stood in tangle of births to endless sorrow condemned.

1686 Qualities unbecoming Tapasvins

Feeling, thinking, doing

Eating, tasting, hurting

Falling, rising, boasting

These come not

To those who walk in God.

1687 Inner Vision ends Births

They glimpse not the Dawn,

Nor the Spaces Vast;

Nor the Vision in Spaces;

Close your inner eyes hard

And then see;

Behold, there is the Light

That brings not another day!

1688 No Grace for false Disciple

He thinks not of sundering soul's fetters,

Nor of annihilating world's desires;

He strives not to Mukti attain,

Nor aught of Tattvas and the way ahead;

But takes a wayward course,

A disciple exceeding mad;

To him is not the gift of Grace granted.

1689 Other blemishes of false Disciples

He thinks not of ending Fetters Five

Nor of deliverance from incessant lust immersed;

A mean liar, fears neither birth nor death

Verily, a stranger to Grace shall be

He, the disciple false.