அமரும் பதி, கேள், அகம் ஆம் எனும் இப்
பிமரம் கெட மெய்ப் பொருள் பேசியவா
குமரன் கிரிராச குமாரி மகன்
சமரம் பொரு தானவ நாசகனே (8)
amarum padhi, kel, agam aam enum ip
pimaram keda meipporul pesiyava!
kumaran - giri raasa kumari magan
samaram poru daanava naasakane! (8)
அமரும் பதி - Native Land (village / city / town)
கேள் - Family / Relatives
அகம் - Body
ஆம் - me
எனும் - such
இப் பிமரம் - This delusion
கெட - To be destroyed
மெய்ப் பொருள் - The Truth
பேசியவா - Instructed
குமரன் - Lord Subrahmanya, the Eternal Youth
கிரிராச - Lord of Mountains' (Himalayas)
குமாரி - Daughter's
மகன் - Son
சமரம் பொரு - War Mongering
தானவ - A family of Asuras born between Kashyapa and Dhanavi
நாசகனே - Destroyer
Short Meaning
Oh Lord Kumara, Son of Parvati (Daughter of Lord of the Mountains, Parvatan) and destroyer of the war-mongering Danavas! With your Divine Instruction, you destroyed the delusion that my identity is derived from the place of my birth, my relations or my body!
Gloss
This takes a lot of time (even births) to understand - But, even with sufficient effort, without Grace, the Ultimate Truth cannot be understood. The Truth is revealed only by the Sadguru when He utters the Maha Vakya to the Student who is ready.
The ultimate question in the world is 'Who am I?' I am reminded of the episode between Sri Adi Sankara, who was then a 6-7 year old kid, who walked from Kaladi in Kerala to the banks of the holy river Narmada in Madhya Pradesh to meet His Guru Sri Govinda Bhagawat Pada
Sri Adi Sankara a young kid, but since He was no different from Lord Shiva, was full of Knowledge. Even then, He sought a Guru with so much love and stood outside they cave where His Guru Sri Govinda Bhagawatpada was in meditation. He then stood waiting outside the cave. The omniscient Guru, who was rejoicing at the very thought of Lord of Lords standing outside in the cave in His deep love for humanity, asked the question to the Lord - 'Who is that standing outside?'
The response was the famous Dasha Shloki, which was later condensed by Sri Sankara Himself as 'Nirvana Shatakam' - The first verse is as below:
mano buddhi ahankara chittani na'aham
I am not the mind, the intellect, the ego or the memory,
na cha shrotra-jihve na cha ghraana netre
na cha vyoma bhumir na tejo na vaayuhu
chidananda rupah shivo’ham shivo’ham
I am not the mind, the intellect, the ego or the memory,
I am not the ears, the skin, the nose or the eyes,
I am not space, not earth, not fire, water or wind,
I am the form of consciousness and bliss,
I am the eternal Shiva…
In this seminal work, Acharya uses the 'neti neti' (not this, not this) technique in Vedas to dis-identify with things that we usually identify. In the end he says 'I am devoid of duality, my form is formlessness, I exist everywhere'.
Similarly, Sri Arunagiri says that He used to have identity with the place of His birth (அமரும் பதி), his family and relatives (கேள் ), and His mistaken identity as His body (அகம்) as His own self (ஆம்).
This is indeed a delusion (பிமரம்). This is because, none of these attributes can define the Self. In Taittriya Upanishad, there is a famous dialog between Varuna and Bhrigu, His Son. This famous dialog called Pancha Kosha Vicharam, Bhrigu realizes that He is not His Body, Prana, Mind or Intellect. Finally, He realizes that He is Pure Brahman - Ananda.
When the student is ready and the Guru instructs the Maha Vaakya, 'Tat Twam Asi', the student instantly attains Self Realization. And all delusions are immediately destroyed.
Similarly, when Lord Subrahmanya, instructed (பேசியவா) the truth (மெய்ப் பொருள்), the entire delusion was destroyed (இப் பிமரம் கெட), and Sri Arunagiri could feel One with the Lord.
This is a direct response of the Lord to Arunagiri's prayer in last verse to destroy all His Karmas so that He can unite with Him. Till all the Karmas exist, the Maha Vakya Shravanam (listening to the sentence Tat Twam Asi - 'You Are That') will not liberate the seeker.
Sri Arunagiri was very lucky - His Sadguru was Lord Subrahmanya Himself in the Form of the Eternal Youth (குமரன்). In Sri Dakshinamoorthy Stotram, Sri Adi Sankara says that the Guru is a very young person, but the disciples are very old!
Chitram Vata tharor moole vruddha,
Sishya, Guror Yuva,
Gurostu mounam vykhyanam,
Sishyaesthu china samsaya
The very old disciples,
And the very young teacher,
Who sit under a banyan tree,
With the teacher always observing silence,
Sishya, Guror Yuva,
Gurostu mounam vykhyanam,
Sishyaesthu china samsaya
The very old disciples,
And the very young teacher,
Who sit under a banyan tree,
With the teacher always observing silence,
The word Kumaran is favorite name with which Sri Arunagiri addresses the Lord. (More in Verse #15 - முருகன், தனிவேல் முனி, நம் குரு ... என்று அருள் கொண்டு அறியார் அறியும் தரமோ)
Lord Murugan is also the Son (மகன்) of the Goddess Parvati who is the daughter (குமாரி) of Parvatan , who is the Lord of Mountains (கிரிராச).
(Sri Arunagiri is the expert in use of chained adjectives - Son of Daughter of the Lord of the Mountains - கிரிராச குமாரி மகன்! If you think this is complicated, you haven't read Thiruppugazh 'Arivilap pithar yet' with like a dozen levels of indirection! )
Another adjective which Sri Arunagiri uses here is that the Lord destroyed the War Mongering Asura Tribe called Daanavas (தானவ). Daanavas were born to Daanavi and Sri Kashyapa. However, they loved war (சமரம் பொரு) and always used to trouble Devas. Lord Kumaran in His infinite Grace, destroyed this whole clan of Asuras to establish balance in this Universe.
If we truly seek the refuge of the Lord as in previous verse, this verse is the Guarantee that we will overcome all delusions with the Word of the Lord, and achieve self-realization which is nothing but the undifferentiated Union with the Lord of Lords, Sri Subrahmanya.
PS:
1. Sri Murugan's Image from http://murugan.org/gallery/lithographs/images/Sri_Kumaran.jpg - An amazing collection of images. God bless them!
2. I took the text for Nirvana Shatakam Verse #1 from here - http://blog.ishafoundation.org/lifestyle/music/mystic-chants-nirvana-shatakam/ - I know the text by heart - Lord should forgive me for my laziness :-) - This text requires a much deeper translation than above - May be after Kandhar Anubhuti ! Please listen to Sri Jaggi Vasudev's rendition of Nirvana Shatakam in the link. It is electric!
3. Though my favorite verse, I took the script and translation of the verse traditionally chanted with Sri Dakshinamurthy Stotram from http://www.hindupedia.com/en/Sri_Dakshinamurthy_Stotram
