-->
திருமந்திரம்
TIRUMANTIRAM
Tirumantiram
Epilogue
Rev.
Dr.G.U.Pope says: "Saiva Siddhanta philosophy is the choicest
product of the Dravidian intellect. The Saiva Siddhanta system is the
most elaborate, influential and undoubtedly the most intrinsically
valuable of all the religions of India. It is a peculiarly South
Indian and Tamil religion. Saivism is the old prehistoric religion of
South India, essentially existing from pre-Aryan times and holds sway
over the hearts of the Tamil people"
The
Tamil cultural tradition is independent, not derived, not imitative;
it is pre-Sanskritic, and
from this point of view Tamil alone stands apart when compared with
all other major languages and literatures of India. There
exist in India only two great specific and independent classical and
historically attested cultures - the Sanskritic culture and the Tamil
culture. Tamil literature is the only Indian literature which is both
classical and modern; while it shares antiquity with much of Sanskrit
literature and is as classical, in the best sense of the word, as
e.g. the ancient Greek poetry, it continues to be vigorously living
modern writing of our days. 'Tamil, one of the two classical
languages of India, is the only language of contemporary India which
is
recognizably continuous with a classical past.'..."
The
philosophical system of Saiva
Sidhdhantha,
a system, which may be ranked among the most perfect and cleverest
systems of human thought--Prof.
Dr. Kamil Vaclav Zvelebil
Saiva
Siddhanta is beyond the apex of pyramidal structure of all religions
that rises majestically from a broad base. Its base is Polytheism;
its lower half is Monotheism; its upper half is Metatheism; Siva
Siddhanta is Supratheism or Camayātītam (Samayatitam = சமயாதீதம்
= The
Supreme Being, as transcending all religions. Tamil Lexicon). It does
not need any support; it has no beginning, no middle, no end and no
name. Supratheism is a word coined by me to illustrate its position
compared to other pyramidal religions; in fact, it is not a religion;
it is the Universal Truth. Man can ascend this pyramid to a
comfortable or competent level. When he goes beyond the pyramid,
there are no icons, Mantra, Tantra, Yantra or disputations between
religions. Metatheism is immersion in and absorption of the emanating
essence of unbranded Being (Generic God) without regard to any
particular religion. The generic Being may be worshipped as an icon
or a word. The mental and spiritual eyes, ears and perceptions of the
worshipper are his organons. Drawing the hidden essence and meaning,
registering all visual, auditory and extrasensory vibrations
emanating from icons, formulating them in words and phrases and
laying down new paths are the essence of inspired religious prose and
poetry of Metatheism. Some revealed Truths are beyond words. The
object of all these constructs is to attain Moksa.
Tirumantiram
was composed by Tirumular (Ca200BCE). History tells us that he was a
disciple of Guru Nandinatha. Tirumantiram = Tiru + mantiram = Sacred
+ incantation, formula = Sacred incantation. He came down from
Himalayas to Tamil country. Tirumantiram is a repository of yogic and
tantric knowledge and the mainstay of Saiva Siddhanta. Siva and Sakti
form the centerpiece of devotion, worship and adulation.
Tirumular
came down from up north to Tamil Nadu in search of Agastya Muni of
Pothiya Hills. His name was Sundarar before he became Mulan; there is
a lore that is mythical in its content and transformational in the
life of Mulan. (Agastya = Agastiya = Agam + ti = Inner + Fire
= Inner Fire = Kundalini Fire = One who has kindled his Inner
Kundalini Fire = A Siddha = Perfected Yogi.)
As
Sundarar-Tirumular was wandering in the countryside, he came across a
herd of cows in grief and tears and a dead body of apparently the
cowherd, who was bitten by the snake. Sundarar took pity on the cows
and the cowherd; by yogic Prapti (transmigration into another body),
he entered into the body of the cowherd and revived him back to life.
Now the cowherd has the Tejas, soul, and Brahmavidya of Sundarar,
while his own dead body was out of sight nearby. The cowherd, Mulan
(the physical Mulan and the spiritual Sundarar), took the happy cows
back to their cow pen. His wife could not see and tell any physical
difference in her husband, but he was acting and talking like a yogi
and would not enter the house. What would the wife of the cowherd do?
She ran to village elders and sought their advice. They gave him a
look up and down, spoke to him, and came to the conclusion that he
became a yogi and his wife should let him go his way. The newly
minted cowherd yogi, Mulan, went back to the pasture and looked for
his former body, which for some unknown reason disappeared. What
would the cowherd with Yogi's mind and soul do? Sundarar became Mulan
in body and not in other faculties. Sundarar thought that this was
one of the plays of Siva and accepted the body of Mulan as his own as
a matter of Siva's Grace. This episode whether real or not speaks of
the Yogi who dies to his flesh, with the rise of spirit and takes the
body of Mulan, which means Root, Origin (Pati, Siva). It is Mulan who
is "bitten" by the serpent of Kundalini, rises from the
base or root (Muladhara Chakra) through the lower Chakras reabsorbing
all the Tattvas in each Chakra (involution, rising above material
Tattvas (THATness), a centripetal march towards Lord Siva's
Consciousness), dies to his flesh, and acquires the deathless body of
Siva, a second body as Pati who leads the Pasus (animals, individual
souls, the flock in Christian tradition) back home, the original
repose of souls. Mular (r in the place of n)is an honorific way of
addressing a noble soul.
Prapti
has different meanings; one such meaning is as follows. Prapti is
power to enter anywhere. This includes ability to touch the sun, the
moon or the sky. The Siddha can predict the future. He understands
the language of birds and beasts, and unknown kind. Prapti is defined
as ability to apprehend knowledge and perceptions perceived by the
individual soul in his senses, which are presided over by god or
gods. Once a Yogi or Siddha enters the body of another, he can
perceive and modulate the feelings and perceptions of the the host's
senses.
Dictionary:
Prapti = Ability to reach anything like touching the moon with
fingers. Isita = supreme dominion. Vasita = Subjugation by magic.
Kamavasayita = suppressing all desires.
Invocation to
Lord Vinayaka:
O Lord Ganesa,
your holy feet took a special place in my consciousness. You have
five arms: four feet and a trunk; your face bears the majesty of an
elephant; your one tusk exceeds the beauty of the waxing crescent
moon. Your wisdom is pure and without par; you are the dear child of
Nandi.
(Nandi is the
Vahana or the living transport of Lord Shiva. It is a white bull with
a black tail. As a matter of submission and humility, the tail is
tucked in, and the feet and the face are in repose. It is a charging
bull made tame by Lord Shiva. Nandi represents a devotee (of Shiva)
whose passions are under control and whose devotion to Shiva is
perfect. Some postulate Nandi was Shiva in animal form
(theriomorphism) and when Shiva assumed a human form
(anthropomorphism), Nandi transformed to its innate state. Animal
form shows more authenticity in its representation of certain
qualities than a human form and thus Nandi is important in that
respect. Indus valley excavations bore many seals gracing bulls on
their face.
In the
Pati-Pasu-Pasa Triad, Pati is Siva; Pasu is the individual soul
compared to animal-man with impurities, and Pasa is the tether that
binds us. Pasu is wild like the testosterone charged raging and
charging bull. Siva makes the bull tame, tranquil and pure by
removing the malas (மலம்
= impurities). Once the
impurities are removed, the individual soul receives Spiritual
Knowledge (தெருள்)
from Siva. With Terul (தெருள்)
in place, the soul acquires Grace (அருள்)
and becomes one with Siva.
Yama,
the god of death, treats Siva and his devotees with extreme deference
ever since his minions (yama dutas) came to capture Siva’s devotee,
Markendeya, the likes of who are under the protection of Lord Siva
who is Supreme to all gods.
There is no God
like lotus-like Siva, whose matted hair shines in splendor. Without
him, there will be no celestials, no austerity, and no liberation. He
is the father, the mother and the guru. He is Nandi, the bull, who is
regarded as the formless form of Siva. He holds the worlds in their
spheres in the high Heavens, and he is the Fire, the Sun, the Moon,
the Mother of rain clouds, the mountains and the oceans. Men and gods
come and go, Siva is eternal. Why do the celestials, gods and men go
after the transient gods? He, with the vertical third eye, is the
Supreme, and he is mainly concerned with his devotees. Mal (Vishnu)
who strode the earth in one pace, Brahma who sits on the Lotus seat
and the gods who know heaven, have not found the ends and depths of
him. He transcends them all and his glance is his Grace. He
transcends the Mayan, Vishnu, Brahma, and his own forms Isan (Rudra),
Hara, and Mahesvara. He is Brahma, Vishnu and Hara and sits in the
heart of all souls where his divine splendor knows no contraction.
His abode is the
holy of that reverberates with thunder and pervades with the
fragrance of flowers. He confers wealth to Kubera, kills the
elephant-monster Gaja Mukhsura, who had the temerity to challenge the
Supreme Lord, and confers freedom from birth to Vishnu, Brahma and
other celestials. He seeks those who seek him and saves their souls.
He controls the god of Fire who once was put down and put out by the
Lord in the Northern seas, when his rage was consuming the world. He
stands by those who sing his praises and seek his feet as their
refuge. He gives refuge to those who shake off their faulty
perceptions and thoughts and stands by them with kindness. Maya comes
to nothing to those who kneel before him who is birthless and
deathless and who never lets down those who seek him. He becomes
visible in the guise of a guide to those who give their body, mind
and soul to the Lord. Tirumular: ‘He is the kin that I wait to see
and clutch his feet and he is the axle-rod that holds the wheels
together firmly in my heart. I seek knowledge from him, just like a
calf seeks milk from the cow.’ He shows the path when we follow his
path of goodness, sing his praise, and adore him. Those, who worship
the Lord of the soul will break their bonds, cross the of , and reach
the other shore (become one with Pati.)
