Showing posts with label Miscellaneous Verses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Miscellaneous Verses. Show all posts
The Song of the Poppadum
In 1914 or 1915, Bhagavan was living in Virupaksha Cave
with his mother, who did most of the cooking. He himself
was a skilled cook and both then and later often helped to prepare the food. On one occasion his mother was making poppadum, a thin round cake made of black gram flour fried crisp, and she called him to help her. Instead of doing so, however, he composed this poem giving instructions for spiritual development under the symbolism of making poppadum.
| 1. | |
| Try and make some poppadums. | |
| Eat them and your longing satisfy. Don't roam the world disconsolate. Heed the word, unique, unspoken Taught by the teacher true who teaches The truth of Being-Awareness-Bliss. Try and make some . . . satisfy. | |
| 2. | |
| Take the black-gram, ego-self, Growing in the fivefold body-field[1] | |
| And grind it in the quern, The wisdom-quest of `Who am I?' Reducing it to finest flour. Try and make some . . . satisfy. | |
| 3. | |
| Mix it with pirandai-juice, Which is holy company, Add mind-control, the cummin-seed, The pepper of self-restraint, The salt of non-attachment, And asafoetida, the aroma Of virtuous inclination. Try and make some . . . satisfy. | |
| 4. | |
| In the Heart-mortar place the dough. And with mind-pestle inward turned, Pound it hard with strokes of `I', `I', Then flatten it with the rolling-pin Of stillness on the level slab (of Being). Work away, untiring, steady, cheerful. Try and make some . . . satisfy. | |
| 5. | |
| Put the poppadum in the ghee of Brahman [?] Held in the pan of infinite silence And fry it over the fire of knowledge. Now as I transmuted into That, Eat and taste the Self as Self, Abiding as the Self alone. Try and make some . . . satisfy. |
(Translated by Prof. K. Swaminathan)
1The Hindu philosophical doctrines recognize the existence of subtler bodies of
the human being, each functioning in a finer realm. The five sheaths mentioned in the text are included in the three human bodies -- material, subtle, and causal. These sheaths are: the physical, vital, mental, intellectual, and the blissful sheaths. For a description, see the Vivekachudamani.
Referred Resources:
Virupaksha Cave
Vivekachudamani
Who am I?
Self-Knowledge
(Atma-Vidya)
A devotee once wrote on a slip of paper that Self-knowledge is the easiest thing, since one already is the Self, and handed it to Bhagavan, asking him to write a poem on the subject. Bhagavan responded with the following poem:
Lo, very easy is Self-Knowledge, Lo, very easy indeed.
| 1. | |
| Even for the most infirm So real is the Self That compared with it the amlak In one's hand appears a mere illusion. | |
| 2. | |
| True, strong, fresh for ever stands The Self. From this in truth spring forth The phantom body and phantom world. When this delusion is destroyed And not a speck remains, The Sun of Self shines bright and real In the vast Heart-expanse. Darkness dies, afflictions end, And bliss wells up. | |
| 3. | |
| The thought `I am the body' is the thread On which are strung together various thoughts. Questing within, enquiring `Who am I? And whence this thought?' all other thoughts Vanish. And as 'I', 'I' within the Heart-cave | |
| The Self shines of its own accord. Such Self-awareness is the only Heaven, This stillness, this abode of bliss. | |
| 4. | |
| Of what avail is knowing things Other than the Self? And the Self being known, What other thing is there to know? That one light that shines as many selves, Seeing this Self within As Awareness' lightning flash; The play of Grace; the ego's death; The blossoming of bliss. | |
| 5. | |
| For loosening karma's bonds and ending births, This path is easier than all other paths. Abide in stillness, without any stir Of tongue, mind, body. And behold The effulgence of the Self within; The experience of Eternity; absence Of all fear; the ocean vast of Bliss. | |
| 6. | |
| Annamalai the Self, the Eye Behind the eye of mind which sees The eye and all the other senses Which know the sky and other elements, The Being which contains, reveals, perceives The inner sky that shines within the Heart. When the mind free of thought turns inward, Annamalai appears as my own Self. True, Grace is needed; Love is added. Bliss wells up. |
Referred Resources: Who am I?
Verses on the Celebration of Bhagavan's Birthday
Bhagavan was born on December 30, 1879. His birthday,
however, is observed according to the Tamil calendar in dhanurmasa when the moon is with the star Punarvasu. According to the Western calendar this day falls in the months of December-January. When it was first proposed in 1912, Bhagavan expressed his objection in the form of the following two verses. Even so, his disciples were not deterred and the Jayanti day festival continues to be one of the great annual events at the Ashram.
1. You who wish to celebrate a birthday, inquire first who
was born. One's true birthday is when one enters into the Eternal Being which shines forever without birth or death.
2. Of all days on one's birthday one should mourn one's
fall (into samsara). To celebrate it as a festival is like adorning and glorifying a corpse. To seek one's Self and merge in it is wisdom.
Complaint of the Stomach
One day there had been feasting at the Ashram. Many had
been upset by the large quantity of rich food. Someone quoted the following complaint about the stomach by the Tamil poet, Avvayar: `You will not go without food even for one day, nor will you take enough for two days at a time. You have no idea of the trouble I have on your account, Oh wretched stomach! It is impossible to get on with you!'
Bhagavan immediately replied with a parody giving the
stomach's complaint against the ego.
`You will not give even an hour's rest to me, you stomach!
Day after day, every hour, you keep on eating. You have no idea how I suffer, Oh troublemaking ego! It is impossible to get on with you!'
Nine Stray Verses
An old devotee, Somasundara Swami, once begged
Bhagavan to write in his notebook at least an akshara (a single syllable). An akshara also means undecaying and denotes Brahman. Bhagavan wrote a short epigram on the difficulty of writing down the akshara. This is the first verse below. The remaining verses were written at odd times by Bhagavan and included in some of the poems of Muruganar. The order used here was suggested by Bhagavan.
Apology to Hornets
One day when Bhagavan was climbing the Hill he knocked
against a hornets' nest and was attacked and very badly stung on the leg and thigh. He felt remorse for having disturbed them.
Questioned by Muruganar in the form of the following
verse:
Sighting an overgrown, green-leaved bush, and
When stepping on it and stung by hornets to have legs swollen,
Venkata, in truth, why was an accidental intrusion
Treated without mercy, just as a wanton transgression?
Sri Bhagavan responded likewise in verse:
When I was stung by hornets in revenge
Upon the leg until it was inflamed,
Although it was by chance I stepped upon
Their nest, constructed in a leafy bush;
What kind of mind is his if he does not
At least repent for doing such a wrong?
Reply to the Mother
At the outset, when Bhagavan left home, his family tried to
trace him, but failed. Only some years later they discovered him at Tiruvannamalai. The Mother, not yet ripe to renounce the world and join him, went to persuade her son to return home. It was in December of 1898. At this time Bhagavan was not speaking and sat in apparent indifference to her pleas. One Pachaiappa Pillai who was nearby gave Bhagavan a paper and pencil and asked him to at least write a few words of consolation to his mother. He wrote briefly that whatever is destined to happen will happen.
The following poetic rendering by A. W. Chadwick (Sadhu
Arunachala) was checked over by Sri Bhagavan.
The fates of souls are all by God ordained
According to the deeds that they have done.
That end that's destined ne'er to be attained
Will never be achieved by anyone
However hard they try.
All those things, too
That are destined must occur one day,
Will come to pass whatever you may do
To interfere and try their course to stay,
And this is certain.
At length we come to see
That it is best that we should silent be.
For the Mother's Recovery
In 1914, Bhagavan's mother, returning from a pilgrimage
to Tirupati, paid a brief visit to him at Tiruvannamalai. While there she had a severe attack of fever, which some thought to be typhoid. Her life was despaired of and Bhagavan composed the following poem for her recovery. Needless to say, she recovered. Two years later she came and took up her abode permanently at Bhagavan's Ashram on the hill.
1. Hill of my refuge that cures the ills of recurring births!
O Lord! It is for Thee to cure my mother's fever.
2. O God that smitest Death itself? My sole refuge!
Vouchsafe Thy grace unto my mother and shield her from Death. What is Death if scrutinised?
3. Arunachala! Thou blazing fire of Jnana [?]! Deign to wrap
my mother in Thy light and make her one with Thee. What need then for cremation?1
4. Arunachala, that chasest away illusion (maya [?])! Why
delayest Thou to dispel my mother's delirium! Besides Thee, is there anyone who with maternal solicitude can protect the suppliant soul and ward off the strokes of destiny?
(Translated by Prof. K. Swaminathan)
1This was literally fulfilled on May 19, 1922.
Arunachala Ramana
A devotee named Amritanatha Yati wrote on a paper a
Malayalam verse imploring Bhagavan to say whether he was Hari (Vishnu) or Sivaguru (Subrahmanya) or Yativara (Siva) or Vararuchi. Bhagavan wrote his reply in the same Malayalam metre on the same paper. A translation of it is given below.
In the recesses of the lotus-shaped Hearts of all, beginning
with Vishnu, there shines as pure intellect (Absolute Consciousness) the Paramatman, who is the same as Arunachala Ramana. When the mind melts with love of Him, and reaches the inmost recess of the Heart wherein He dwells as the beloved, the subtle eye of pure intellect opens and He reveals Himself as Pure Consciousness.
Referred Resources: Vishnu
The Self in the Heart
This is a poetical version of the eighth stanza of Reality in
Forty Verses: Supplement. The circumstances in which it was written are explained in the footnote to that stanza.
In the inmost core, the Heart
Shines as Brahman [?]alone,
As `I-I', the Self aware.
Enter deep into the Heart
By search for Self, or diving deep,
With breath under check.
Thus abide ever in Atman.
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