Tirumantiram - TANTRA ONE - 12 DHARMA OF BRAHMINS

Tirumantiram

English translation of the Tamil Spiritual Classic by Saint Tirumular

 

TANTRA ONE

12 DHARMA OF BRAHMINS

 

224: Brahmins Stand in Holy Path

 

Brahmins are they who the six duties perform,

Tend the glowing fire and thrice daily pray,

Stand fixt in the Holy Path and chant the Vedic hymns,

Morn and eve--and thus all life's knots untie.

 

 

225: Through Vedanta They Seek the Endless Bliss

 

Intensely eager, Vedanta's noble doctrine to imbibe,

They merge into Pranava, of the three sounds composed,

And transcending the states of Nadanta, Vedanta and Bodanta

Vision the Lord that is the Finite End,

And there into unending bliss they grow.

 

 

226: They Incessant Chant Gayatri and Savitri Mantras

 

Minds centered in Gayatri holy and Savitri mysterious,

They chant the noble hymns, the heart of Truth to seek;

Mounted on Love's Chariot, lost in Love's sweet ecstasy,

They drown not in Maya--the holy Brahmins meek.

 

 

227: They Attain the Manifestness State of God

 

Deep they pondered on Pranava's great holy way,

By Guru's grace inspired recited the mystic lay,

The rituals performed by the four Vedas prescribed,

And thus attained pure, pristine Manifestness--the spotless Brahmins they.

 

 

228: To Sunder Birth's Bonds is to Realize Brahmam

 

The Truth, Penance and the self Him becoming,

The torturing senses, spear-like, piercing,

The unity of life and its kinship realising,

Brahmam that is, dbirth's bonds sundering.

 

 

229: Vedanta is to be Rid of Desires

 

The Brahmins who yearned for Vedanta's mystic truths,

Heard and listened but yielded still to desire's sway;

True Vedanta it is when earth-born desires all are crushed;

Those who Vedanta truly grasped, all desires burnt away.

 

 

230: Tuft and Thread Alone do not Make a Brahmin

 

Do thread and tuft alone prove the Brahmin state?

The thread, then, only a dark bond, the fine tuft, only tresses long;

The true thread Vedantam is, the sacred tuft wisdom proves

These the Brahmnins truly see, these virtues to them belong.

 

 

231: Attributes of True Brahmins

 

Of Truth devoid, of pure Wisdom Bereft,

Lacking sense-control, spiritually inert,

Empty of devotion or grasp of Truth divine;

Mad fools are they--not Brahmins, I assert.

 

 

232: They Seek Samadhi State

 

The Holy Path neither Chit nor Achit is;

Along the Guru-led way, they reach the blessed Holy State;

And all action and rituals abandoned,

The Vedic Brahmins glide into Turiya Samadhi State.

 

 

233: They Stand Firm in Vedanta Truth

 

If the Veda-knowing alone true Brahmins be,

Such beings falter not in Vedanta's sublime lore,

All the rest they know as vain trappings base--

Those be the Brahmins who Vedas' depths explore.

 

 

234: True Brahmins Bring Prosperity to Earth

 

The holy Brahmins who the pure life embrace,

And ponder well on truths that mark the Vedas' end,

Their glory wanes not, their king's earthly empire ever grows,

If morn and eve the sacrificial fire they tend.

 

 

235: Through Vedanta They Scale the Heights of Siddhanta

 

When the Light of Vedanta dawns, from Karma are they freed;

Then, up the path to the Light of Nadanta they scale;

When thus they reach the Lord of Bodanta Light,

Salvation they attain--the Nadanta-Siddhanta Grand Finale.

 

 

236: They Seek Merger in Lord

 

When 'You' and 'I' merge in one and the truth they see,

Then seek they the Lord triumphant, seated firm, serene,

Past all babbling words of sweet-sounding praise;

Such alone the true, worshipful grace attain.

 

 

237: They Vision Brahma in Aum

 

The two attachments, Maya and karma, of their own accord departing,

The self that Liberation seeks naught else will take;

And the lotus-seated Brahma most divinely pleased,

Merges in the Om, the sacrificial aviss to partake.