The Necklet of Nine Gems

1. In the court (of Chidambaram), Siva, though motionless by nature, dances (in rapture) before His Shakti who stands still. Know that in Arunachala He stands in His solemnity and She withdraws there into His Unmoving Self.



2. `A', `ru', and `na' signify Sat, Chit, and Ananda<sup>[?]</sup> (Being, Consciousness, and Bliss), or again the Supreme Self, the individual self, and their union as the one absolute, expressed in the mahavakya<sup>[?]1</sup> `That thou art'; `achala' signifies perfection. So worship Arunachala of shining golden lustre; for mere remembrance of Him ensures deliverance.



3. Those who take refuge at the lotus feet of the supreme Lord of Mercy presiding over Arunachala -- their minds freed of attachment to riches, lands and relatives, and to caste and the like,² and ever made purer by seeking Thy benign grace -- these rid themselves (of the misery) of darkness, and in the steady light of Thy ever protecting grace, which shines like the golden rays of the rising sun, they abide happy, sunk in the ocean of bliss.



4. Annamalai!³ Think not to let me pine away wistfully as one unmindful of Thee (for Thou art ever in my mind),⁴ nor is it (right) that I should be reduced to dust mistaking the

¹A vakya is a Vedic utterance. Mahavakya ^[?] means `great utterance'. Of these, four are especially distinguished; tattvamasi (`That thou art') is one such.



²`The like' are the four stages of life (ashramas).



³Arunachala.



⁴The parenthesis incorporates an alternative sense.

vile body for the Self. Turn Thy gracious and refreshing glance upon me, eye of my eyes! Do not fail me, Lord who art consciousness itself, neither male nor female. Abide Thou in my Heart!



5. Lord! Who art consciousness itself, reigning over the sublime Sonagiri⁵ forgive all the grievous wrongs of this poor self, and by Thy gracious glance, benign as a rain cloud, save me from being lost once more in the dreary waste, or else I cannot ford the grim (stream of universal) manifestation. (Thou art the universal Mother;)[6] What can match a mother's care for her child?



6. `Killer of Kama'[7] Thou art always called by Thy votaries. Lord Arunachala! A doubt arises if the title fits Thee. If it is fitting, how then can Kama, the mighty, the invisible, continue -- brave and valiant though he be -- to creep into a mind sheltering under Thy feet, who art his killer?



7. Oh Arunachala! As soon as Thou didst claim me, my body and soul were Thine. What else can I desire? Thou art both merit and demerit, Oh my life! I cannot think of these apart from Thee. Do as Thou wilt then, my beloved, but grant me only ever increasing love for Thy feet!



8. To rescue me -- born of virtuous Sundara and Sundari⁸ in the holy place Tiruchuzhi, seat of Bhumi- natheshwara -- from the pain of miserable mundane life, He

⁵Arunachala.



⁶Cf. The Marital Garland of Letters, v. 14.



⁷Kama is Cupid; his temptation of Siva while engaged in tapas ^[?], ended in his conflagration by a wrathful glance from Siva's third eye. Out of pity for his disconsolate wife, Rati, Siva subsequently granted him continued existence in a subtle body.



⁸Sundari means `beauty' and refers to Alagu, Bhagavan's mother.

raised me to His state, that His heart might so rejoice, the immanence of Siva so shine forth, and the Self flourish. Such is Arunachala, famous throughout the universe!



9. Bearing and tending me in the world in the shape of my father and mother, Thou didst abide in my mind, and before I fell into the deep sea called jaganmaya⁹ and was drowned, Thou didst draw me to thee, Arunachala, consciousness itself. Such is the wonder of Thy grace!

⁹Jaganmaya ^[?] is universal illusion.

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Referred Resources: The Marital Garland of Letters Tiruchuzhi