TIRUMANTIRAM - TANTRA EIGHT - Verses 2122 to 2138 of 2648

TIRUMANTIRAM

English translation of the Tamil Spiritual Classic by Saint Tirumular

 

TANTRA EIGHT - Verses 2122 to 2138 of 2648

 

41 FIVE DIVISIONS OF THE BODY

 

2122 Body Bag and Maya Bag

 

The body is a bag

Many the ingredients it holds;

There is yet another bag within;

It is the Maya bag;

When the Thief (Jiva)

The body bag leaves,

The Maya bag

Unto dust becomes.

 

 

2123 Subtle Body

 

Of the body thus God shaped,

In parts two,

Sukshma (Subtle) is One;

That a body of constituents eight is;

--Sound, touch, shape, taste and smell

Buddhi (Intellect), Man (Mind) and Ahankhara (Egoity)

That the Puriashta body is (subtle).

 

 

2124 Five Indriyas and Three Karanas

 

Of the organs eight thus stated,

First Five are Indriyas (External Sense Organs)

The rest three are Karanas (Internal Sense Organs)

To these attached is primordial Pasa's sentience,

Thus He binds them

And unbinds them,

He, the Lord of Forehead-Eye.

 

 

2125 Gross Body

 

Lymph, blood, flesh, skin, and tendons,

Bones, marrow, fat, brain and semen,

--Of these into one shape made

Is the body gross,

By sorrow harassed.

 

 

2126 God is Within the Body

 

Who knows the greatness of His Holy Feet

Who knows

There within the body He stood!

Who knows this body

Of Tattvas six and ten and eight!

Who knows that

He is its Yeoman Guard!

 

 

2127 Twenty-Four Bodily Tattvas (Universals)

 

The body eight spans* measures

With eyes, legs and hands

That serve to cover it;

In that body of pores and sores

He conjoins Tattvas twenty and four

In love divine;

Thus this body He fashions,

That has four more to speak of.

 

 

2128 Jiva Has Five Experiences

 

The Jiva that as experient spirit stood (in Avastas)

In all bodies, this and four rest (Jagra, Swapna, Sushupti, Turiya and Turiyatita)

Will in Para merge;

Who knows the way it merges

Into Param that pervades all

As unto space in every pot,

Inside and out!

 

 

2129 Kala Body Holds Life

 

If through Adharas six

You unite through central Sushumna,

The nine orifices tightly controlled will be;

The body within of Kalas eighteen formed* will be;

That the body of Jiva will be.

 

 

2130 Bodies--Gross, Subtle and Causal Merge In Para

 

The Gross body with presence prominent,

The Subtle body that invisible takes shape,

And the Causal body that by inference is,

--All these bodies are

That in Lord's Feet merge.

 

 

2131 Jiva Incarnates in Many Bodies

 

As unto the prancing steed

That forward leaps

The Jiva, too, traverses near and far;

As unto those who doff one garment

And another

The Jiva, too, from one to the other body moves.

 

 

2132 In the Waking State Dreams are Forgotten;

 

So it is Through Successive Lives

Even as the snake sloughs off its skin

And another assumes;

Even as the bird its shell leaves

And another life pursues;

In its waking state the Jiva forgets

Happenings of the dream state;

Thus does Jiva from one body to another migrate;

Until with Grace of Hara

It reaches where it is destined to be;

And there experiences

The Karmas two, good and evil.

 

 

2133 Cycle of Births and Deaths

 

Having experienced hell and heaven,

Jiva leaves Subtle body;

Entering Causal body its course continues;

And unto the Yogi that transmigrates

Enters yet another body;

Thus entangled in cycle of birth and death.

 

 

2134 The Birth Cycle ends only when Jiva Unites in God

 

The Jiva that realized

"I" and "You" are one,

Is in Tatpara state;

Its course inherent diverting

Will reach Param;

The rest of Jivas

Reaching their destined abodes

In heaven and earth

Will in sorrow wallow.

 

 

2135 Body Substrates of Evolved Beings

 

Siva is the ground (Dhanu) of Jnani's body,

Jnani's body is Siva's body,

Yogi's body is Nada and Bindu,

Mauni's body is Mukti

Beyond Voids Three.

 

 

2136 Body Substrates of Jivas in Three Stages of Evolution

 

Anava (Egoity) is the (Dhanu) ground of Vijnanis

Maya is the ground of Pralayakalas

Karma is the ground of Sakalas

Siva is the ground of Jnanis True.

 

 

2137 Lord is in Body, do not Despise it

 

Dumb fools are they

Who as Mala (Impurity) despise the body;

Other places as holy

They go about seeking;

They who consider "Good this is"

And in it seek the Lord,

Shall experience macrocosm entire,

In their body tenacious

(That microcosm is.)

 

 

2138 God Rejoices in the Body of the Good

 

Those who are

Of goodly speech, deed and thought,

In their hearts

The Pure One gently sports;

Those who are

Of evil ears, speech, and mind

Emaciated they live, their faces in hunger drawn.