Kandhar Anubhuti : Verse #3 - What is the Ultimate Truth? (Vaano Punal Paar)

வானோ? புனல் பார் கனல் மாருதமோ?
ஞானோ தயமோ? நவில் நான் மறையோ?
யானோ? மனமோ? எனை ஆண்ட இடம்
தானோ? பொருளாவது சண்முகனே (3)

vaano punal paar Kanal maruthamo
gnaanothayamo navil naan-maraiyo
yaano manamo enai aanda idam 
thaano porulavathu shanmugane! (3)


வானோ - (Is it ) Space?
புனல் - Water
பார் - Earth
கனல் - Fire
மாருதமோ - Or Air?
ஞானோ தயமோ? Is the arise of the Intellect?
நவில் - (Is it) Spoken (or Chanted)
நான் மறையோ - Four Vedas
யானோ -  Is it my Self Identity?
மனமோ? - Or my mind?
எனை ஆண்ட இடம் தானோ? Is it the place where you Offered your Grace?
பொருளாவது - Meaning
சண்முகனே - Six Faced Lord!

Short Meaning
What is the Unchanging Truth, Oh Six Faced Lord? Is it the Five Basic elements? (Space, Air, Fire, Water, Earth) or Is it just intellect? Or is the Four Vedas? Or is it my identity? Or is it my mind? Or is it the Place where you offered your Grace? 

Gloss

In the gloss of the last verse, we briefly touched upon Nirvana Shatakam, where Sri Sankara says He is not the Five Elements and negates what He is not. Sri Arunagiri also follows the same suit - He negates what He is NOT. It seems like a set of rhetorical questions, but He means that The Ultimate Truth is neither of them.

The Five Elements that are often mentioned in Indian Philosophical texts are:

1. Space - Everything exists in Space. Space was the first thing to be created. Space has only one dimension - It exists. No other attribute

2. Air - From space came air - Air has two attributes. It exists and can be felt

3. Fire - From Air came Fire. Fire should not be construed as flame. It is basically energy or heat. Fire can be seen / observed apart from two other attributes. 

4. Water - From Fire came water! Even in chemistry, water molecule is caused in extreme heat by fusion of two hydrogen and one oxygen atom (air and heat , the two previous elements).  Water can be tasted apart from the other three attributes

5. Earth - From water came earth. Apart from the four attributes, earth also has an attribute of smell.

These are collectively referred to as 'Pancha Bhutas' (Five elements) - Everything in the world is made up of varying amount of these five elements. Our body is indeed a collection of all these elements. However, the Ultimate Reality is that we are not either or collection of five elements. 

Then, Sri Arunagiri wonders if the final truth is the Intellect. In Taittriya Upanishad, Sri Bhrigu Maharshi wants to know the Ultimate Truth. 

His first realization is Body is God. He later introspects further and concludes Breath (Prana) is God. He is asked by his father to go deeper, and then deducts that Mind is God. He then digs deeper to deduce that Intellect is God. His father asked him to dig a little deeper to find the truth. Sri Bhrigu realizes that Happiness is God. He never comes back to his father to check if that is the truth. He realizes that Ananda is the form of God, and is God Itself. 

In the line of Taittriya Upanishad, Sri Arunagiri seems to ask is the the Mind? Is it the intellect? 

In Tamil the word மறை means 'to hide' - Since Vedas show the direction to explore the Truth that is hidden, it was also called மறை. The vedas are classified into four - Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharvana. Sri Arunagiri indicates that though Vedas are very sacred, they only point to the Truth, but not the Truth itself. 

Sri Arunagiri asks if it what he identifies himself as. (யானோ?)

Finally, Sri Arunagiri asks if it is the place where he got the Grace of the Lord. Though the place of realization is very sacred, however, it is not the Ultimate Truth. 

For the second time in the Anubhuti, (after the invocatory verse), Lord Subrahmanya is referred to as 'Shanmukha', the Six faced Lord. 

Lord Shiva, as described in scriptures has Five Faces - Sathyojatham, Vamadevam, Tatpurusham, Ishanam and Aghoram.

In Thirumantiram, one of the Greatest ever Mystical texts in Tamil, describes a sixth face of Lord Shiva which is visible to Greatest of Gods and Saints in their deepest meditative states. This face is called 'Atho Mukham' , and is pointing downwards. 

From this, we can understand that Lord Subrahmanya is none other than the Greatest Form of Lord Shiva. 

The Ancient One of Athomukha

Created Universe vast here below;

In Athomukha He animates all life;

He is Lord of Athomukha Sakti of lotus eye  [Thirumantiram, v524]

The Sakti of the Sadasiva,

Has faces five and hands ten,

Of these, the downward looking face (Athomukha)

Is divine far indeed. [Thirumantiram, v1402]

This information is usually a guarded secret in the texts and is not well known. Infact, out of the 3000 verses, only 4 verses talk about the 6th face of Lord Shiva. All popular texts only talk about the five faces. 

Let us also beseech the Supreme Form of the Lord, the Six Faced Form, Sri Shanmukha to Grant us the Intellect to Know the Ultimate Truth. 

Kandhar Anubhuti : Verse #2 - Show me the way to Salvation! (Ullasa Nirakula)

உல்லாச, நிராகுல, யோக இதச்
சல்லாப, விநோதனும் நீ அலையோ?
எல்லாம் அற, என்னை இழந்த நலம்
சொல்லாய், முருகா சுரபூ பதியே. (2)

ullasa nirakula yoga idha
sallaba vinodanum nee alaiyo?
ellam ara ennai izhantha nalam
sollai muruga sur bhoo pathiye (2)

உல்லாச - Joyousness
நிராகுல - A State without pain
யோக - In a state of divine Union
இதச் - Gentle
சல்லாப - Granting bliss
விநோதனும் - Unique one
நீ அலையோ - Are you not?
எல்லாம் அற - Without any bonds
என்னை இழந்த - Loss of Self-Identity
நலம் - benefit (blessing)
சொல்லாய் - Tell me (Grant me the Knowledge)
முருகா - Lord Muruga
சுரபூ பதியே - Lord of Gods and Humans

Short Meaning

Lord Muruga, Are you not the Unique One who grants Joyousness, painless state, always in the state of Divine Union, and Gentle? Oh Lord of Gods and Humans, Grant me the knowledge of reaching the state where I have no separate identity! 

Gloss

Everyone has a bundle of problems, and everyone wants a way out. No one wants suffering. It is the natural state of our Being to be in Bliss. That's why, we search everywhere for happiness and peace. Every action taken by a human is to either avoid pain, or to find pleasure. 

Lord Subrahmanya, is beyond, the states of sorrow or pain. He is eternally in Joy, for His Being is itself joyousness. 

நிராகுல means a state without pain - Aakulam means pain. Sri Arunagiri uses the negative form of this word - niraakulam to indicate a state without pain. (He uses aakulam later (verse 46), but in a different, specific format as 'Chintaakulam - mental pain')

யோக - Yoga is a state of Union. Lord Murugan alone exists. When this is experienced, we can identify ourself in a state of Supreme Union (Anubhooti) with Lord Murugan

இதச் - Gentle. This also has a meaning of being Gentle, pleasant. This word has a connotation of Peace (without wild emotions of ecstasy). Interestingly, the word Lalitha, the 1000th name in Lalitha Sahasranama also has a similar meaning. 

சல்லாப - Granting bliss - Not only is the Lord in Bliss, but also Grants it to His devotees. 

Sri Arunagiri says that Lord Subrahmanya, is a summation of all positive states. Since Sri Arunagiri cannot find anyone else like that, He calls the Lord as Vinodan (விநோதனும்) - One who is Strange! (in a good way) - This should be interpreted as One who is Unique. 

எல்லாம் அற என்னை இழந்த நலம்

This is a very profound line. Sri Arunagiri says he wants the benefit (???) (நலம்) of the state where he loses everything (எல்லாம் அற), including himself (என்னை இழந்த)

The soul is NOT different from the Supreme Lord, for the Lord alone exists (ekam eva Advitiyam - One Alone Exists)

Why does the Soul identify with other stuff than Itself? We identify ourselves with the body (name, age, gender etc), our belongings (my car, my house etc.) the relations (my parents, my son, my wife, my husband etc.) OR mental constructs (handsome, ugly, beautiful, fair, rich / poor etc)

What exactly are we, if we remove every kind of association we identify ourselves with? Scary thought, isn't it? 

When Adi Sankara was about 6 years of age, He leaves his family behind and travels to the banks of river Narmada to seek Sri Govinda Bhagawatpada, His Guru. The Guru was inside a cave, and asked "Who is that standing outside?" - Sri Sankara, who is Lord Shiva Himself, responded with a beautiful poem - Nirvana Shatakam. He says "I am not the mind, intellect, memory, ego, nor the five senses, nor the five basic elements for I am Pure Conscious Bliss - I am Shiva! "

He goes on negating stuff ("I am not a mother nor a father, not a guru or a disciple, neither born nor dead etc") and finally says "I am the undivided, pure consciousness that is Shiva!" 

We are hidden from our true nature because of layers upon layers of deadening abstractions which cloud the true nature that shines like the Sun. 

Though this is the truth, we are unable to see it because of these false relations and the heaps of Karma that has been accrued over millions of births. This has to be removed. Interestingly, there are two names in Lalitha Sahasranamam that pops to my mind - Krodhakara Angushojwala (One who angrily cuts the bonds with a shining weapon) and Bhavaranya Kutarika - An axe that cuts the dense forest of Karmic Reactions.

Once the act of identification with external stuff goes away, we turn inwards and finally appreciate the Supreme Self, which Shines forth - She cannot be found when searched outside, but She shines when we look inward ("antar mukha samaradhya, bahir mukha sudurlabha"). Let us not be distracted, all the we see outside is also Lord - Goddess is perceived as inert matter when projected outside, but as pure consciousness when the attention is diverted inside ("chitshakti chetana rupa, jada shaktir jadatmika")

Sri Arunagiri prays for the state where all external bonds are lost, and the sense of identification with the body as a separate being from the Lord ceases. When this state is achieved, we experience Samadhi, a state of Divine Union (Anubhooti). 

சொல்லாய், முருகா (எல்லாம் அற என்னை இழந்த நலம்)

Sri Arunagiri wants Lord Murugan to give him the Maha Upadesham (the Teaching) to reach the state as described above

சுரபூ பதியே 

Sura means Devas. Bhoo means residents of Earth. Pathi means Lord. Sri Arunagiri calls Murugan as the Lord of Devas and Humans (one who is not a Sura is 'Asura' meaning the evil forces) -Technically, Sri Arunagiri condensed Sura-Pathi + Bhoo-Pathi as Sura-Bhoo-Pathi.

Let us join Sri Arunagiri, in seeking Lord Murugan for the final blessing of Divine Union of our soul with Him