Personal Conduct and Daily Discipline

Nithya Karma Vidhi (Rules of Daily Conduct)

1. Ordinary Rules

Thiru Chitrambalam.

One must wake from sleep and rise before sunrise,¹ put on vibhuti (sacred ash), sit for a little while and meditate on God.

Then one must take betel with plenty of cured areca nut and a little betel leaf and lime, spit out the juice that first collects, and swallow all the juice that follows.² Then one must get up and walk about a little indoors. Then one must relieve the bowels and the bladder. While passing stool, one must hold the left side of the lower abdomen with the right hand. While passing urine, one must hold the right side of the lower abdomen with the left hand. Until the stool or the urine has been passed completely, one must stay with the single intent of evacuation, without thinking of anything else at all. If the stool is still held back, one must lie down a little on the left side, make the vital breath (prana vayu) flow on the right side, and pass stool with that intent. If the urine is held back, one must lie down a little on the right side, make the vital breath flow on the left side, and pass urine with that intent.

After the bowels and bladder have been relieved, one must wipe away completely with warm water the impurities of the ears, eyes, nose, mouth and navel (dirt, eye-matter, mucus and the film of the mouth) and the dirt on the hands, feet and other parts of the body. Then one must clean the teeth with a twig of the vel tree (babul) or an aerial root of the banyan,³ and after that rub the teeth with karisalanganni (false daisy) powder so that a little of its juice goes inside, and rinse the mouth. Then one must take one part of the leaves of the yellow karisalanganni or of the common karisalanganni, a quarter part of thuthuvalai⁴ leaves and musumusukkai leaves, and a quarter part of cumin, and make them together into a powder. One varāgan weight of it is put into one sēr of good water; one sēr of cow’s milk is poured in and mixed; it is boiled until the one sēr of water has boiled away; and one must drink that milk mixed with unrefined cane sugar.

In the morning the body must be kept covered with a wrap for five nāḻikai after daybreak (two hours, until about 8 a.m.), so that the early sun does not fall on it. Then, without taking up work in the sun that goes on long enough to weaken the body, one must exert oneself in light activity until a slight tiredness appears. Then one must bathe in lukewarm water, put on sacred ash, and remain a little while in the thought of Siva.

As soon as hunger appears, one must give the body food without delay. In giving it, there must be neither much delay nor much haste.⁵ The first choice is seeraga samba rice; otherwise any kind of rice at hand, except rice grown on dry land and kār rice. When it is cooked, it must be neither too soft nor too hard. One must eat this rice, cooked to the middle, knowing the measure of one’s digestive fire, neither more nor less. Yet a handful less is better. After the meal one must drink good water. That water must be warm, and it must not be drunk in quantity.

One must not eat tubers; of them, only elephant-foot yam may be taken.⁶ One must not eat fruits; of them, peyan and rasthali bananas may be taken a little, if they are at hand. One must not take stale curries. In the dishes, tamarind and chilli must be added only a little; pepper and cumin must be added generously; mustard is not needed. Salt must be added sparingly.⁷ Indeed, taking salt with care, never in excess in any form, helps the body to last long. For tempering, one must use cow’s butter if it is at hand; if not, a little sesame oil may be used. Onion and garlic must be added only a little. Brinjal, green plantain, broad beans, drumstick, ridge gourd, yellow pumpkin, snake gourd, thuthuvalai berries and cluster beans may be made into dishes. Of these, drumstick, brinjal, thuthuvalai and peyan plantain may be cooked often; the others now and then. Cakes such as vadai, adhirasam, dosai and modakam are not to be taken; now and then a little may be taken. Flavoured rice dishes such as sweet pongal, curd rice and tamarind rice are not to be taken; now and then a little may be taken. A chutney of puliyarai (Indian sorrel), if it can be had every day, is very good. The greens karisalanganni, thuthuvalai, munnai, Indian spinach and drumstick leaves may be cooked with lentils, with pepper, with tamarind, or alone. Other greens may be added now and then, a little, when at hand. Sour curd may be taken. Of the pulses, pigeon peas, sprouted or not, may be mashed with pepper, sautéed, ground into a chutney, made into a gravy or added to another dish, and taken with ghee; but not much ghee. Other pulses are not needed; now and then, if at hand, they may be taken. Dry ginger is smeared with lime and roasted, its outer crust is scraped off, and it is ground to powder and kept. A little of it is put into good water and boiled until three parts of five have boiled away and two remain; this is to be drunk for thirst. If that cannot be had, one must at least drink warm water; cold water must not be taken. At no meal may flesh be eaten in any form. Whatever the meal, one must eat a little less. At no time and in no way may one eat unless hungry. One must know the foods that increase wind, bile and phlegm, and give them up.

After eating in the daytime, one must not enter on other work without first lying down a little and getting up. But one must not lie down so that sleep comes. In the daytime there must be no sleep in any way.⁸ After lying down a little and getting up, one must take betel with less areca nut and leaf and a little more lime,⁹ with the five aromatics; spit out the juice that first collects, and then swallow the juice that follows. After the midday meal, at about seventeen and a half nāḻikai (about 1 p.m.), one may eat peyan, rasthali or bangala bananas with a little sugar, if they are at hand. If hunger is great when one drinks the milk in the morning, one may eat a little of these fruits mixed with ghee and sugar. In the daytime there must be no bodily union with women. After the midday meal one must meditate on God for a little while. After that, whatever work one does must not be work that wearies the body and the inner faculties; if such work must be done, it must be done little by little.

One must walk a little so that the evening sun falls on the body. If the wind is blowing hard, one must not walk then. Nor must one walk where harsh sun, dew or rain falls on the body.

In the first part of the night one may cleanse the body, put on sacred ash and meditate on Siva, sing hymns of praise, read the scriptures, attend to worldly affairs, and the like. Then one must eat. The night meal must be smaller than the day meal.¹⁰ At night, curd,¹¹ greens, foods that cause wind and cooling foods must not be taken. One must knowingly choose warming foods only: small brinjals, drumstick, broad beans, sun-dried vegetables and the like. After eating at night one must walk a little indoors. Then one must meditate on Siva and so on. After about twelve nāḻikai of the night (about 10:48 p.m.), one must drink cow’s milk, well boiled, either prepared as described for the morning or by itself. Then, some time later, at about fifteen nāḻikai (midnight), one must take betel with very little areca nut and lime and very much betel leaf,¹² with the five aromatics; spit out the first juice, swallow the juice that follows, and spit out the chewed residue. At other times, too, the residue of the betel must be spat out.

If one wishes to have bodily union with a woman, one must first, for one nāḻikai (24 minutes), keep the mind away from union and on other things, and only then begin. Having begun, one must have union without the awareness wavering (that is, without its changing), with the mind and the other inner faculties under one’s own control, without heat arising in the body or the faculties, leaning to the left side. Except when it is meant for begetting a son, one must have union with a method that keeps the semen from coming out. The method is this: the vital breath is neither held in nor let out, but made to move in the middle. It must not be done more than once. After union, one must cleanse the body, put on sacred ash, meditate on Siva, and then lie down. At whatever time and for whatever reason one lies down, one must lie on the left side.¹³ Then one must sleep for seven and a half or ten nāḻikai (three or four hours).¹⁴ After that one must wake and remain with good thoughts. Union at night once in four days is the lowest course; once in eight days, the middle course; once in fifteen days, the highest course. Beyond that, the semen becomes impure and is discharged of itself. If it is done once in four days, the semen becomes thin and spoils the growth of offspring; that is why it is the lowest course. At night one must sleep gently, without dreams, and wake.

One must not live always in fear. Nor must one be entirely without fear. One must always be cheerful in mind. Killing, anger, laziness, falsehood, envy, harsh words and such evils must not be. Loud talking, fast walking, running, quarrelling and fighting must not be. One must live with care, so that the vital breath is not spent in excess in any way.

One must dry the yellow karisalanganni and keep it as a powder; boil it in sesame oil, apply it to the head, and bathe in hot water once in four days, or at least once a week. If there is no powder, one must bathe with sesame oil boiled by itself. Intoxicants such as smoking, cannabis, toddy and arrack must not be taken. Stool and urine must never be held back at all.¹⁵ Semen must never be wasted at all. One must not form habits of the evil path. Whatever work one does and whatever affairs one handles, one must practise doing them with the thought of Siva.

In this body, at the middle of the brows, one must imagine and see the lamp called the Grace of God shining in the camphor called the awareness of our soul. Practising this again and again, and holding without a break true love towards God and true compassion towards living beings, one must keep the remembrance of the Omkara Panchakshara; one must keep the remembrance of the Siva Panchakshara. This is essential.

2. General Rules

1. Once in six months or in three months, take a purge¹⁶ with white kakkattan (white butterfly pea) and the like.
2. Once in four months, take an emetic¹⁷ with marukkarai (emetic nut) and the like.
3. Once a year, take nasal treatment¹⁸ with mulli and the like.

4. Once in four days, apply to the eyes a collyrium (anjanam) made by the proper method from the cluster fig and other substances.

5. Once in a fortnight or once in a week, have union with a woman gently and unhurried, with good thoughts, remaining master of oneself, without the breath becoming agitated and rising. This is not prescribed for the aged.

6. Once a week or once in four days, apply oils such as those prepared with breast milk or with ponnanganni, and bathe gently in water warmed to the right degree.

7. Protect the body from being troubled by the early sun, the harsh sun, rain, cold wind and dew.

8. Do not fall into these and similar faults of the body, the senses and the inner faculties: fast walking, running, loud speech, great noise, singing, quarrelling, excessive thinking, loud laughter, deep grief, too much looking, straining to hear, smelling foul or fragrant odours, craving for tastes, overeating, oversleeping, useless activity, overexertion, play, holding back stool, holding back urine, holding back thirst, drinking much water, the craving for the bed, fear, egoism, ostentation, greed, miserliness, anger, infatuation and arrogance.

9. Give up these forbidden things and keep to what is prescribed: old rice, stale curry; buffalo milk, buffalo curd, buttermilk and ghee; sheep’s milk, curd, buttermilk and ghee; finger millet, kodo millet, foxtail millet and little millet; pulses; snacks such as adhirasam, appam and sukiyan; flavoured rice such as curd rice and tamarind rice; kār rice; leafy greens such as amaranth, agathi and munnai; bottle gourd, ash gourd, pumpkin, ridge gourd, snake gourd and bitter gourd; mustard, sesame oil and tamarind; tobacco, toddy, arrack and cannabis; flesh and meat.

3. Special Rules

1. Every day, rise from sleep five nāḻikai¹⁹ before sunrise (two hours; about 4 a.m.).
2. On rising, put on sacred ash, sit upright for a while, fix the mind firmly on God, and then rise.

3. Having risen so, without the least delay, walk a short distance in silence, and wherever the call of stool and urine comes, there and then, without fidgeting and without hurry, sit and empty oneself completely.

4. Clean the teeth with one of these, yellow karisalanganni or karisalanganni, so that a little of the juice goes inside and the phlegm-water and bile-water come out.

5. Then put on sacred ash, keep to one place in solitude, and meditate on God until the sun rises.

6. From sunrise to about one sāmam (three hours; until about 9 a.m.), practise with fitting effort.
7. Do not eat in the morning; eat at about fifteen nāḻikai (noon).

8. In the morning, as soon as the sun has risen, take any one of these: thuthuvalai, ponnanganni, vilvam (bael), seenthil (heart-leaved moonseed), yellow karisalanganni, puliyarai (Indian sorrel), vallarai (Indian pennywort), nannari (Indian sarsaparilla), kadukkai (chebulic myrobalan), pepper, or the root of arugam (Bermuda grass). Purify it in cow’s milk and make it into a powder, and eat it little by little, mixed with sugar, or as plain powder, or with cow’s milk as its vehicle.

9. When beginning to eat at about fifteen nāḻikai (noon), first make sure that all the food eaten before has been digested. Then, at the very moment it is digested, know the measure like the pointer of a balance, not raised by liking nor lowered by dislike, and eat evenly to that measure, neither too fast nor too slow.

10. For food: rice that has not been parboiled, cow’s milk and cow’s ghee; tender vegetables such as drumstick, brinjal, mulli and thuthuvalai; tender greens such as ponnanganni and thuthuvalai. With these, eat curries, kuzhambu (thick gravy), rasam (thin broth) and the like, made with one part pepper, three-eighths of a part cumin, a quarter part fenugreek, a sixteenth part tamarind, a sixteenth part salt and a sixteenth part chilli; and leave out asafoetida, onion, garlic and the like.

11. After eating, from midday until twenty-five nāḻikai (about 4 p.m.), carry on calm affairs gently, remaining seated; read so that others do not overhear; speak softly; and beyond these, remain in good thought.
12. Do not sleep in the morning, at midday or in the evening, nor in between.

13. During the midday meal, do not keep drinking water for thirst; after the meal, take lukewarm water once, in due measure, for thirst; and refuse cold water altogether.

14. At midday, for about five nāḻikai (two hours), sit upright in one place, make the mind one-pointed, and remain in the thought of God.

15. Have no union in the morning, in the daytime, at dusk or in the first part of the night; and no morning meal, no meal at dusk, and the like.

16. In the evening too, for five nāḻikai (two hours; about 6 to 8 p.m.), without any effort, sit motionless in one place and meditate.

17. At night, within ten nāḻikai (by about 10 p.m.), eat half the measure of the midday meal.

18. After that, until fifteen nāḻikai of the night (midnight), restrain the mind and remain in meditation.

19. From fifteen nāḻikai to twenty-two and a half nāḻikai²⁰ (midnight to 3 a.m.), sleep gently.
20. From lying down until waking, keep the left arm underneath.

21. Let food be a half, sleep an eighth, union a sixteenth, and fear zero.

Thiru Chitrambalam.

Here ends the Nithya Karma Vidhi.

1. “Rise from sleep at early dawn.” — Aathichoodi. / Rising from sleep in the watch before dawn, the good deeds one will do / and the honest wealth one will gain, let one think over; and, as far as one can, / let one bow to father and mother and then rise: this, it is said, / is the way the ancients found. — Asarakkovai 4
The intellect comes into accord with it; it gives clarity; / the pure nerves become clean; giddiness departs; / wind and bile, each by its own course, stay firm in their places: know / these are the virtues of waking in the early morning. — Padartha Guna Chintamani
By waking in the early morning, the intellect comes into accord with the mind; clarity arises; all the nerves reach their right state and become pure; and wind, bile and phlegm settle each in its own place.

2. This is prescribed for householders only. For those who have renounced the world, taking betel is forbidden.
If, without removing the tip above, the stalk below and the vein at the back, and without cleaning the white teeth, / one eats the betel leaf, then, though one waged war to conquer / one’s foes and were mighty, tall Thirumal himself, / Fortune would leave and stand far off. / In the morning more areca nut, at high noon more lime, / in the evening more leaf, O woman of the bright brow; and when the juice / first comes in plenty, it must not be swallowed: hear what I tell / those who take betel. / If one puts bare areca nut on the tongue before the betel leaf, / the lady of good Fortune walks away; if the betel leaf / is put in first and the areca nut after, / they will become like kings, rejoicing.
The tip and the stalk of the betel leaf must be nipped off and thrown away. The vein along its back must be stripped off with the fingernail. Betel must not be taken before the teeth are cleaned.
In the morning one must take more areca nut, at noon more lime, and in the evening more betel leaf. When betel leaf and areca nut have been put in the mouth and chewed, the juice that collects the first two times must not be swallowed; it must be spat out. When beginning to take betel, one must not put in the areca nut first. One must put the plain betel leaf into the mouth, and only then put in the areca nut.

3. “Banyan and vel keep the teeth strong” is a proverb. The twigs for cleaning the teeth are prescribed differently for householders and for the renunciate: those that give vigour to the body’s tissues are prescribed for householders, and those that lessen the desire for sensual pleasure for the renunciate.
For householders: neem, vel (babul), pūl, banyan, mango, cluster fig, teak, naval (jamun), āthi, kadambu, wood apple, ashoka, kurukkathi, champak and the like.
With vel, firm teeth; with neem, bright teeth; / with pūl, pleasure flows; with banyan / toothache too goes. Magizh and nāyuruvi, it is said, / bring no good to the householder.
For the renunciate: the great vaagai, nochi (chaste tree), marudhu (arjuna), magizh (Spanish cherry), the great kumizh (white teak), pungu (pongam), nāyuruvi (prickly chaff-flower), karungali (ebony), karisalanganni (false daisy), wild castor and the like.
The great vaagai, nochi, the great kumizh, pungu, / karungali, nāyuruvi, kāyā, marudhu, magizh, / with karisalanganni and wild castor: these are / for the true renunciate.
Dead wood, the palm spathe, the fingers, brick, earth, sand, ash and charcoal: these eight are unfit for cleaning the teeth.
Dead wood, the palm spathe, sand, earth, ash, / burnt wood, brick, the fingers: if with these eight / one cleans the teeth, the teeth fall out and all of them take disease: / see, this is what the learned have found.

4. Karisalanganni and thuthuvalai are herbs of wisdom (jnana pachilai). Adigal (Vallalar) graciously urged them again and again.

5. Ālasiyam: delay. Thīviram: haste.

6. “Of the tubers that spread in the earth, we eat none but elephant-foot yam.” — Padartha Guna Chintamani.

7. Salt, tamarind and chilli: these three harm the body. The more we reduce them, the better. In place of tamarind, lemon may be used, and in place of chilli, pepper.

8. After the midday meal, sleep a little; / after the night meal, walk a little.
Sleep a while after dinner / Walk a while after supper
So runs the proverb. The sleep taken after the midday meal must not be deep sleep. It must be a waking sleep (arithuyil), a half-sleep. That is why Adigal said that one must lie down and get up. “We do not sleep by day” — Padartha Guna Chintamani.

9. “At high noon, more lime”: see note 2.

10. The night meal must be only half the measure of the day meal. (See Special Rule 17.)

11. Those who sleep in the morning and the evening; those who, with a woman / whose fair form has lost its beauty, unite; / those who at night eat curd with rice of fine paddy: / though they equal Thirumal, the Lady leaves them. — Thanipadal Thirattu
Those who sleep in the morning and the evening, those who unite with widows and with women older than themselves, and those who take curd in the night meal: even if they have wealth like Thirumal’s, Thirumagal (Fortune) will leave them.

12. “In the evening, more leaf”: see note 2.

13. “We lie down on the left arm.” — Padartha Guna Chintamani.

14. 7½ nāḻikai = 3 hours. 10 nāḻikai = 4 hours.

15. “We do not hold back the two.” — Padartha Guna Chintamani.

16. Virechanam: purging.
17. Vamanam: vomiting.
18. Nasyam: putting medicine into the nose, or drawing it in.

19. According to the glorious, beginningless Siva Agamas, / those who keep the right daily observance / rise five kadigai before the sun rises, / with a clear mind, and think on the Great Lord. — Niyama Agaval
Kadigai = nāḻikai.

20. From 15 nāḻikai to 22½ nāḻikai = from 12 o’clock to 3 o’clock (midnight to 3 a.m.).

Arulneri (The Path of Grace)

Thiru Chitrambalam.

How can the holy Grace of God be obtained? Grace is the compassion of God. Jeevakarunyam is the compassion of living beings. Therefore, as one gains a great light by means of a small light, one must gain the Grace of God, which is the great compassion, by means of compassion for living beings, which is the small compassion.

What is the nature of that Grace, the compassion of God? It makes good and evil clear to the intellect, the tattva that is our soul’s knowing. Through the lore of the Vedas and Agamas it prescribes the good and the rest. It suits the level of those who know. And it takes the form of whatever thing the knowers know.

How does Grace of this nature shine in the body and in the universe? It shines as the one who sees, the seat of seeing and what is seen; the one who knows, the seat of knowing and what is known; the one who prompts, the seat of prompting and what is prompted; the one who tastes, the seat of tasting and what is tasted; the one who experiences, the seat of experiencing and what is experienced; the one who thinks, the seat of thinking and what is thought; the one who smells, the seat of smelling and what is smelt; the one who hears, the seat of hearing and what is heard; and so on.

What is the means for us to obtain the Grace that shines in this way? Examine good and evil with the intellect. Take as your support a great one in whom goodness itself shines as form. Take up the holy service he commands, and do it without a break. Then that Grace can be obtained.

What are good and evil? Good and evil are merit and sin. Merit is painful at the beginning, in the doing, in the bearing and in the effort, and afterwards it shines as happiness. Sin is pleasant at the beginning and painful afterwards.

How do merit and sin come to us? They come through all three: mind, speech and body. Further, they come to us in twelve kinds: four kinds in the mind, four kinds in speech and four kinds in the body. They are these. By the mind: thinking of going to another man’s wife; thinking of seizing the property of others; thinking of doing harm to others; and thinking of things one cannot accomplish, then thinking that others have accomplished them, and becoming envious. These four are the sins done by the mind. By speech: telling lies; carrying tales; speaking ill of people behind their backs; and lamenting over nothing. These four are the sins that arise from speech. By the body: embracing another man’s wife; eating foods that are unfit to eat and contrary to the Vedas; doing harm to others; and helping those who do harm instead of restraining them. These four are the sins that arise from the body. Avoiding these and the like, to think that good may come to others; to be free of envy; not to think of making the property of others one’s own; and to regard women other than one’s own wife as mother, sister and the like: these are the merits that come by the mind. Not telling lies, not carrying tales, speaking sweetly, and offering hymns of praise: these four are the merits that arise from speech. All good deeds, such as preventing harm when it is about to befall others, are the merits that arise from the body.

How are sins done knowingly and sins done unknowingly removed? As for known sins: after doing them, once one comes to know in any way that one has sinned, one should repent, saying, “Though we knew beforehand that the act was sinful, we did it out of infatuation, forgetfulness, attachment, egoism, the pride of wealth, or going along with others out of deference, for the sake of food, for the sake of fame, or out of habit!” Then one should go to the elders and take up the expiations they prescribe, and so make this body lean by austerity and by fasting. Besides this, one should undertake pilgrimage and the like, go and stay in holy places, and spend on feeding others as far as one is able. Then they are removed. Further, those who are without strength and aged are freed from them if they serve the great souls. If no great souls are to be found, sins are removed if one, with repentance, does no sinful acts, does not keep company with sinners, and remains contemplating the holy Grace and contemplating the deities suited to one’s level.

Unknown sins are those that befall one without one’s noticing, while walking, while bathing and while lying down. Besides these, they also arise without the mind perceiving them. All of them are removed by the japa (repetition of a sacred name) done each day, by the recitation of sacred texts, by hymns of praise, by receiving guests with hospitality, and by praising God.

If expiation and the rest are not done, what state do sins lead to? For sins done by the mind, a body such as that of a caṇḍāla comes. For sins done by speech, a body such as that of an animal comes. For sins done by the body, a body such as that of a tree comes.

The Vedantins say, “Karmas such as sin and causes such as merit do not belong to us; we are the witness of all.” What of that? There are the jīvanmuktas, those freed while living. They are unshaken by such things as the impressions of the body, the impressions of the senses, the impressions of the inner faculties, and the changes that arise from the working of the vital breath. In food, sleep, fear and the like they do not waver, flag or start. They shine like a lamp in a windless place. In their presence sinful deeds do not take place. Nor do they do meritorious deeds for the sake of gain. They see gold and a potsherd as equal. That such siddhas, ever free, pure, and of the Jnana Deham (body of wisdom), have no sin or merit, there is no need for them to say; we know it ourselves.

Moreover, though they live in this physical body, the tattvas and tattvic things that form their body are not as they are now for us: an impure body, impure senses, impure inner faculties, impure experience and impure knowledge. Like a burnt cloth, they are absent as effect and present as cause, and they shine as knowledge itself for form, knowledge itself for senses, knowledge itself for mind, knowledge itself for beauty, knowledge itself for shape, knowledge itself for feeling, knowledge itself for experience, and knowledge itself for knowing.

Thiru Chitrambalam.

Here ends Arulneri.

Thiruvarun Meymozhi (The True Word of Grace)

The True Word of Grace of Father Arutprakasa, which sets out the true conducts of the great path of Shadanta Samarasa Suddha Sanmarkkam.

What all our friends who have received the human body, so very hard to obtain in this world, and we ourselves must know and must live by is this:
There is one true God, known by true knowledge. By true knowledge He is known as the One who is, shining of His own nature, and the One who shines, being of His own nature; as perfect bliss that is never divided in two. He is known as the One who, by the power of His holy grace, brings about the five acts of bringing into being, sustaining, removing fault, bringing to ripeness and illumining, and the other great acts of compassion, for all universes, all worlds, all planes, all powers, all who wield powers, all arts, all things, all tattvas (constituent principles), all who bear the tattvas, all living beings, all actions, all desires, all kinds of wisdom, all fruits, all experiences and everything else. He is known as the One who has become all things, and as the One who is none of them; as the All-Compassionate and the All-Powerful; and as Arut Perum Jothi, who possesses all, the unique supreme Head, to whom nothing is in any way equal or higher. This one true God shines in the perfect common Space that is pure true knowledge, which fills every place, inner, outer and all others, without any gap. There He shines, having become all the forms in which those who know come to know Him.

That God is the one God who shines in this way. We, living beings in this world, did not know Him, love Him, attain His grace, and so gain and live the imperishable great life of true and perfect happiness. Instead, through many different imaginings, we held many different goals in many different religions, many different sects and many different paths. For a long time we were born and born again. We fell under the power of the afflicted states (avattai), and were left without even our small knowledge. Swiftly, again and again, we sank into suffering through many dangers, and died and died again, in vain. So we have gone to waste; so we are going to waste.

Therefore, from now on, we living beings must no longer go to waste, dying and dying again in quick succession. We must gain true knowledge, true love, true compassion and the other good qualities, and become people of good deeds. We must take up Suddha Sanmarkkam, which shines as the true common path of all religions, all sects and all paths, and live in great happiness and great joy in the great life that is the attainment of supreme bliss.
For this purpose the true God named above, of His own holy will and by the consent of His holy grace, caused a Hall of Wisdom to be built. It makes the truth plain, and that is the chief aim of Suddha Sanmarkkam. It stands at Parvatipuram in Vadalur, which is called Uttara Jnana Chidambaram or Jnana Siddhipuram, near this holy abode called Siddhi Valagam. Here, in the presence of our dear father Arutprakasa Vallalar, the ocean of compassion, whose great kindness surpasses even a mother’s, He made known His holy intimation, and made it widely known in many ways: “From this time on, for a long time with no limit set, We Ourselves shall abide here and perform Our holy play, so that all wondrous siddhis (attainments) shine forth.”
In the form of Arut Perum Jothi, He took the body, possessions and life of that Vallalar of great compassion, and graciously caused him to enter the Golden Hall and the Chit Sabhai (the Hall of Consciousness). In that precious holy body He mingled Himself, in full ripeness. Taking that all-powerful siddha form, and bearing the holy crown of the reign of grace, He is to perform the play of grace. For this He will come forth visibly, so that all who are in the twice seven, the fourteen worlds, marvel together: “What is this! What is this!” The time of that coming is very near; it has drawn close.
So we all keep, or ought to keep, the vow of waiting for that holy coming. In the very moment that this unthinkable, wondrous holy coming takes place, we are to attain the great life that is the attainment of supreme bliss. In that life one has received the great fruits of the rare goals (purusharthas) of Suddha Sanmarkkam. These are the bodies of attainment that never perish at any time, the very form of the experience of the deathless art: the Suddha Deham (pure body), or golden body; the Pranava Deham (body of the primal sound Om); and the Jnana Deham (body of wisdom). They are also the unique great power that directs all the tattvas by its own freedom; the true wisdom that knows that God is One; and the gift of grace by which one gains all siddhis, the siddhi of action, the siddhi of yoga, the siddhi of wisdom and the rest. To attain this great life, each one of us must live in the true conducts by which one holds to the unique great path of Suddha Sanmarkkam. Therefore we must understand what those conducts are.

The conducts of the great path of Sanmarkkam are of four kinds: the conduct of the senses, the conduct of the inner faculties, the conduct of the living being and the conduct of the soul.

Of these, the conduct of the senses is twofold. The conduct of the organs of knowledge is: to listen closely to the Nada (the subtle inner sound) and to hymns of praise; not to listen to other things; not to let harsh words and the like enter the ears; not to touch what is impure; not to look with cruelty; to be without craving for taste; and not to desire fragrance. The conduct of the organs of action is: to speak sweet words; not to tell lies; when harm to any living being is about to happen, to prevent it by some skilful means or other; to go to the great ones, that is, to keep company with holy people (sadhus); to move about for the purpose of helping living beings; to help living beings with one’s hands, for their good; and to keep the passages of stool and urine to their measure, neither going beyond it nor falling short of their regular order, by skilled remedies, by right preparation of food and by right care of the body.

The conduct of the inner faculties includes these: to hold the mind on the Chit Sabhai, letting it go into no other kind of foulness, drawing it back and fixing it in that place; not to inquire into the faults of others; not to think highly of oneself; to remove the harm done by acquired qualities and to be wholly of the natural quality, sattva (pure goodness); not to be angry with others; to be angry with the tattvas, which are one’s own enemies; and not to engage in sexual union that is improper or excessive.

The conduct of the living being includes this: to stand towards all people as one’s own self, free of every distinction such as caste, religion, clan, gotra (lineage), sutra (ritual code), scripture, country, path, high and low.

The conduct of the soul includes this: to feel compassion for the souls in all the eighty-four hundred thousand (8,400,000) kinds of birth; and to see the soul itself as the Sabha (the holy Hall) and the light within it as the Lord, to merge with it, and to stand in fullness.

Of the conducts described, each one of us must take up the conduct of the senses and the conduct of the inner faculties and live by them with true awareness. The two rare conducts, the conduct of the living being and the conduct of the soul, cannot be attained until the help of holy grace has been received. Therefore we must also train ourselves in the good efforts that lead to receiving those conducts and living by them. Moreover,

Living in such conducts as far as we are able, we must strive and strive again, many times, and train and train ourselves in good practices such as these: staying in a solitary place, enjoying without craving, praising God, feeling compassion for other living beings, holding to great virtue, singing and bowing in worship, and remaining in devotion. Moreover,

We have heard that the countless religions, spread out in many forms under many names such as Saivam, Vaishnavam, Jainism and Buddhism, together with the practices, gods and goals named in those religions, are differing distinctions of attainment within the tattvas. We have heard that all the lore spread out in many forms in each of those religions, the Vedas, Agamas, Sastras, Puranas and the rest, is imagined lore of attainments within the tattvas. And we have heard that the sects and paths spread out in many forms under many names such as Vedanta and Siddhanta are distinctions of attainment of a slight fraction of the Suddha Sanmarkkam experience. Therefore, holding true faith in those holy words, and because we must be made to know the truth of each of these as it really is and come to its experience, we must not observe in the least the customs of those religions and sects, and we must give up holding them as true. Moreover,

In the life of the world, let us not allow our awareness to cling, by so much as an atom, to any desire for objects: the desire for gold, the desire for women, the desire for land, or any other. Let us stand, in general, in the conduct of good qualities: good understanding, devotion to God, compassion for living beings, a view that regards all alike, restraint of the three instruments (mind, speech and body), and the like. Let us truly gain the good deeds named, such as speaking the truth, speaking sweetly and helping living beings, and so be enabled to abide right here, in this great holy abode called Siddhi Valagam. Let us not be drawn away by distraction towards the world and be cheated of our chance. Let us be those who wait for the coming forth that marks the wondrous holy arrival of our all-powerful Lord. He is the unique supreme Head, of great grace and great compassion, who governs all the universes, with all that moves and all that does not move, by the sceptre of His unique holy grace. Let us joyfully give our inner faculties and senses to the holy service connected with His precious holy coming, the worship, or the adorning with auspicious things, and the like, and so not be held back at the outer door by what are called the light of Bindu and the sound of Nada. And let us be people of the great merit of beholding with our own eyes the auspicious holy form of the Lord’s holy body, wondrous with grace and perfected in wisdom, our bodies melting, our hearts cooled, with tears of bliss and in rapture, and so be granted to meet Him face to face. If we stand in this way:

Then we shall all become rightful heirs of Suddha Sanmarkkam. In the very moment we behold Him come forth, we shall receive wondrous sights never seen since knowledge first dawned in us, wondrous things heard never heard, wondrous knowledge never known, wondrous qualities never attained, wondrous deeds never done and wondrous experiences never experienced. With great joy we shall live in the great life that is the attainment of supreme bliss: the great life of true and perfect happiness, hindered at no time, in no place and in no way.
This is the truth, this is the truth, this is the truth.

Such is the summary of the true words of holy grace, words of mantra, that brimmed and overflowed in the great flood of the essence of compassion: the great word that never fails, as plain as a mountain, expounded at length by our Lord.

Arut Perum Jothi, Thani Perum Karunai: the Vast Grace Light, the Unique Great Compassion.

Thiru Chitrambalam.

Here ends Thiruvarun Meymozhi.

Anushtana Vidhi (The Rule of Daily Worship)

Thiru Chitrambalam.

Saying Siva-gaṇapataye namaḥ (salutation to Siva’s Ganapathi), tap the temples with the knuckles. Saying Siva-gurave namaḥ (salutation to the Guru who is Siva), bow down.

Kumbha pūjā (the worship of the water pot)
Saying Sivāya namaḥ (salutation to Siva), do nirīkṣaṇa (looking). Saying Astrāya namaḥ (salutation to the weapon mantra), do prokṣaṇa (sprinkling). Saying Kavacāya namaḥ (salutation to the armour mantra), do digbandhana (snapping the fingers in all eight directions). Saying Astrāya namaḥ, do tāḍana (tapping). Saying Sivāya namaḥ, do tālatraya (tapping three times). Saying Kavacāya namaḥ, do avakuṇṭhana (encircling). Saying Sivāya namaḥ, show the dhenu mudrā (the cow gesture, the fingers shown like the teats of a cow).

Repeat Astrāya namaḥ ten times as japa (repetition of a mantra). Saying Astrāya namaḥ, sprinkle water on your head three times. With the same mantra, repeat it three times; with the same mantra, offer water (tarpaṇa) three times. Saying “Ātma-tattvāya svadhā, Vidyā-tattvāya svadhā, Śiva-tattvāya svadhā” (an offering to the soul tattvas, an offering to the knowledge tattvas, an offering to the Siva tattvas), sip water (ācamana), as much as would submerge half a black gram seed. Saying Astrāya namaḥ, fold the thumb and purify the lips (adhara-śuddhi). Saying Kavacāya namaḥ, touch these twelve places: the two sides of the chin, the nostrils (2), the eyes (2), the ears (2), the shoulders (2), the navel and the chest.

Then take the sacred ash and put it in the left hand. Saying Astrāya namaḥ, sprinkle water on it, and set it on the right thigh. Recite: “Nivṛtti-kalāya namaḥ, Pratiṣṭhā-kalāya namaḥ, Vidyā-kalāya namaḥ, Śānti-kalāya namaḥ, Śāntyatīta-kalāya namaḥ” (salutations to the five kalās: Nivritti, Pratishtha, Vidya, Santi and Santyatita), “Īśāna-mūrdhāya namaḥ, Tatpuruṣa-vaktrāya namaḥ, Aghora-hṛdayāya namaḥ, Vāmadeva-guhyāya namaḥ, Sadyojāta-mūrtaye namaḥ” (the five Brahma mantras: salutation to Isana, the head; to Tatpurusha, the face; to Aghora, the heart; to Vamadeva, the hidden part; to Sadyojata, the body), “Hṛdayāya namaḥ, Śirase namaḥ, Śikhāyai namaḥ, Kavacāya namaḥ, Netrebhyo namaḥ, Astrāya namaḥ” (the six limb mantras: salutation to the heart, to the head, to the tuft of hair, to the armour, to the eyes, to the weapon). Saying Kavacāya namaḥ, mix the ash with the water. Saying Astrāya namaḥ, flick some of it towards the south-west, the quarter of Nirriti. Then wear the ash: saying Īśāna-mūrdhāya namaḥ, on the head; saying Tatpuruṣa-vaktrāya namaḥ, on the forehead; saying Aghora-hṛdayāya namaḥ, on the chest; saying Vāmadeva-guhyāya namaḥ, on the navel; saying Sadyojāta-mūrtaye namaḥ, on these places: the knees, the shoulders, the elbows, the wrists, the sides, the back and the neck. Pour a little water and wash the hands. Make a fist and, saying Sivāya namaḥ, sprinkle water on your head. Then sip water with the tattva mantra given before, and touch the places to be touched as before. Saying Kavacāya namaḥ, pour water in a ring all around. Saying Sivāya namaḥ, give arghya (an offering of water) three times. Offer water (tarpaṇa) with the five Brahma mantras together with the mantras of the heart, the head, the tuft, the armour, the eyes and the weapon. As before, sip water and touch the places to be touched. Saying Astrāya namaḥ, sprinkle water on the seat (maṇai, a low wooden plank). Then, saying Siva-gaṇapataye namaḥ, tap the temples with the knuckles. Saying Siva-gurave namaḥ, bow down. Meditate on Dakshinamurthy, and repeat the Panchakshara one hundred and eight times. Then, saying Siva-sūryāya namaḥ (salutation to Siva as the sun), pour water from the hand and give arghya to the sun. Then bow down eleven times, and offer praise with the Thevaram, the Thiruvasagam, the Thiruvisaippa, the Thiruppallandu and the Periya Puranam. As before, sip water and touch the places to be touched, and wear the sacred ash (vibhuti). Saying Astrāya namaḥ, pour water on the seat and touch it; saying Hṛdayāya namaḥ, put it on the chest and on the forehead. Then go for the sight (darśana) of Siva and the sight of the Guru. Then take the meal as the rules prescribe. Then recite the Siva Agamas and the other scriptures (pārāyaṇa).

Thiru Chitrambalam.

(Editor’s note: Nirīkṣaṇa: looking. Prokṣaṇa: sprinkling. Digbandhana: snapping the fingers in all eight directions. Tāḍana: tapping. Tālatraya: tapping three times. Avakuṇṭhana: encircling. Dhenu mudrā: the gesture that shows the fingers like the teats of a cow.)

Ganapathi Pooja Vidhi (The Worship of Ganapathi)

Thiru Chitrambalam.

Having completed the daily observance (nitya karma anuṣṭhāna), sip water (ācamana) with the tattva mantra (the mantra of the three tattvas). With the heart mantra (hṛdaya), touch the places to be touched. Meditate on the Panchakshara. Move Ganapathi from the pedestal (pīṭha) and install him in the vessel at the place of bathing, and purify the pedestal. Around the pot of holy water (tīrtha kumbha) kept ready for the sacred bath, place sandal paste and flowers, saying “Sivāya namaḥ, Kavacāya namaḥ“. Then worship it eleven times with the Panchakshara. Saying Astrāya phaṭ, ring the bell. Saying Astrāya namaḥ, fill the arghya cup with water. With the Pranava (Om), worship seven times with sandal paste and the other offerings (gandhādi). Then offer flowers to Ganesa with the āsana-mūrti mantra (the mantra of the seat and of the form), and perform the bath (abhiṣeka) while reciting the Thevaram, the Thiruvasagam and the other hymns.

On a special day, bathe him according to the rules of the Agamas with oil, milk, fruit and the other substances, bathing him with water between each one. Then bathe him with the water of the pot mixed with sandal paste and the other fragrances. Put on a drying cloth (oṟṟāṭai) and dry away the moisture. Adorn him with garments, ornaments and the rest. Give him white sacred ash, saying Sivāya namaḥ; sandal paste, saying Kandagurave namaḥ; flowers, with the āsana-mūrti mantra; dūrvākṣata (dūrvā grass with rice), three times, with the Panchakshara; and arghya, with the tattva mantra. Make the ordinary food offering (sāmānya naivedya), and give incense and lamp. Then worship with the sixteen mantras (ṣoḍaśa), from Sumukha to Śivātmajāya namaḥ. Give arghya. In due order make the special food offering (viśeṣa naivedya) and the rest, and the waving of incense and lamps (ārati). Offer leaves (patra). Sing his praise. Offer flowers after the circumambulation (pradakṣiṇa) and the rest, and bow down. Contemplate that you have installed him, in the mind, in your heart. Sip water as said before, repeat the Panchakshara (japa), wear the holy white ash, and take the meal according to the rules for meals.

Further, the worship described above may also be done mentally (mānasika) to Subramaniya, Siva, Dakshinamurthy and Nataraja. When one has done so, the supreme teacher (paramācārya) will be found. Worshipping that same supreme teacher in the mind, knowing the truth, and becoming wholly free of desire (nirāsai), one may attain the experience of Siva (Sivānubhava).

Thiru Chitrambalam.

Chevvaikkizhamai Viratha Murai (The Tuesday Fast)

Thiru Chitrambalam.

On Monday night take a meal of fruit (palākāram). On Tuesday rise at dawn, wear sacred ash on the forehead only, and with good thoughts cleanse the body, clean the teeth and so on. Before sunrise, bathe in clean water fit for the rite. Mix the sacred ash (vibhuti) with water and wear it as the daily observance (anuṣṭhāna) prescribes. Think of Ganapathi; then repeat the holy Panchakshara one hundred and eight times; then meditate on Siva. Rise, come to the doorway, look at the sun, say softly Om Siva-sūryāya namaḥ (salutation to Siva as the sun), and bow down. After that, standing in that same place, meditate on Sri Vaidyalingar, on Thaiyalnayaki and on Muthukumaraswami, asking them to fulfil the wishes each one holds in his mind. Then repeat Om Vaidyanāthāya namaḥ (salutation to the Lord of healers) either one hundred and eight or one thousand and eight times, whichever you choose. Tie one palam of pepper in a cloth and set it in one place as an offering to Vaidyalingar. Serve a meal, with due courtesy, to one devotee of Siva (Sivanadiyar). Then, in purity, eat raw-rice pongal or similar food, half or three-quarters of a normal meal. That evening go to see Siva in the temple. Give up the mat for sleeping, the pillow (koṭṭai) and such things; spread a woollen blanket on a smeared floor and sleep on it. Listen to the stories of Siva. Keep repeating the mantra (japa). Give up sandal paste, flowers, betel, passion, comforts, long sleep and the like.

Thiru Chitrambalam.

(Editor’s notes: Palākāram: a fruit meal, food of fruit. Koṭṭai: pillow.)

Subramaniyam

Thiru Chitrambalam.

What is Subramaniyam? In the middle of our brows there shines a gem, round, with six facets. The great ones call this gem of light Shanmukha (the Six-Faced). Besides this, crossing three places above our mūlādhāra (the root centre), in the region of the heart, which is the viśuddhi, on the left side, there is a nadi (channel of the vital breath) with six heads. This they call Subramaniyam. The pure discernment in which all six kinds of knowing in this body are gathered into one is also called Shanmukha. The six lights in the six adharas (centres of the body) are also called Shanmukha. Yet, at the end of all the tattvas, beyond unmani (the state beyond the mind), the heart that is the pure knowledge of the soul, the stillness (āṟutal) that is full of peace: that is Subramaniyam.

Because it is six lights, six kinds of knowing, and has six heads, the faces are six. The two feet are awareness of objects and awareness free of objects, the two kinds of knowing called the knowing that appears and the knowing that makes appear. The twelve hands are the twelve: the light and the absence of light in each of the six adharas. The ten weapons and the hands of fearlessness and of the boon (abhaya and varada) are these. The thunderbolt (vajra) is keen awareness. The spear (vēl) is power, grace and knowledge. The bell (maṇi) is Nada (the primal sound), the shining of the soul. The banner (dhvaja) is renown. The lotus (sarasija) is compassion. The cock (kukkuṭa) is fullness without envy. The parāgam is the removal of bondage. The staff (daṇḍa) is the knowledge that is dispassion. The arrow (bāṇa) is love. The hand of fearlessness is the feeling of peace. The hand of the boon is forbearance: support that lays no burden. The garland of kadamba flowers is the rejection of all the tattvas. And the peacock is mūla-prakriti (root nature, the primal matter of the tattvas): many-coloured, wondrous in form, the cause of such qualities as forgetfulness, and the dwelling place of maya (illusion).

Why is the Lord mounted on the peacock, and so on? In this body, the small world (piṇḍa), and in the great world (aṇḍa), there is the Sura tattva, a demonic (rākṣasa) part. It is the great ahankara (the sense of “I”), impure within the impure: the impure kevala of prakriti-maya, which is itself kevala (the state of darkness) and the cause of root ignorance. In the state of ignorance, together with its brothers, the tattvas of three kinds, it swallows the soul’s knowledge, the devas who are the shining of the body, the senses that are the shining of objects, the yantras (mechanisms) that are the shining of the nadis, and life, the shining of the prana; and it rules as its own king. When that Sura tattva is slain, the said tattva appears as the mango tree, which is great maya; as the cock, which is envy; as the peacock, which is wondrous maya; as the elephant face, which is great arrogance; and as the lion face, which is extreme anger.
That pride of the tattvas had brought all the tattvas under its power, raised the banner of ahankara and staged the drama of ignorance. To subdue it, and to make plain the Siddhanta teaching that the Lord, the soul and bondage (pati, pasu, pāsam) are beginningless and eternal, He holds down the cock of envy with the hand of awareness. He sets the peacock of wondrous maya beneath Him and holds it down from above. He destroys the false tattvas. He makes firm the world of the devas, the realm of pure objects. He places at His left Deivayanai, the tattva of restraint, daughter of Rupendra, lord of the Indra state. He places at His right Valli, the pure mind, born from the womb of the deer, the mind (mānasam), seen by the eyes of the hunters, the senses. He keeps near Him the warriors, the nine tattvas of dispassion, which are the cause of the nine tattvas. He shines as the form of discernment between all the sakala and kevala states, and between remembering and forgetting; as the form of heat from the feet to the navel; as the form of the adhara nadi from the navel to the throat; as the form of the gem from the throat to the middle of the brows; as the form of light at the crown; as pure knowledge in the intellect; as the eternal in experience; as fullness everywhere; as six in angles; as six among the creeds at all times; as six in religion; and as the assembly of six in caste. This true God is Subramaniyam.

Why is Subramaniyam shown with one face, three faces, four faces and six faces? The Supreme Brahman, in its own form, is beyond compare and is neither one nor two. For our sake, as a sign, it is fixed as “one” for contemplation; the form of knowledge that does this, the supreme causal occasion [?], is the one face, say the wise (jñānis). The three faces are the shining of the three gunas (qualities) together: pure rajas, pure tamas and pure sattva. The four faces are the shining together of four tattvas: the bound mind (pasu manam, the mind of the soul in bondage), the pure mind, the inner mind and the gathered mind. The six faces are the shining of the light that is the root cause of the combined knowledge of six tattvas: the root of the knowledge of sound, the root of the knowledge of light, the root of the knowledge of taste, the root of the knowledge of touch, the root of the knowledge of smell, and the root of the knowledge of the soul.

Why is there a snake beneath the peacock’s foot and in its mouth? When ahankara, the effect-form of wondrous maya, arises and comes forth, the snake, which is the vital breath (prana vayu), arises below and above, in root ahankara and in its increase. Even so, it is natural that the peacock, the face of ahankara, keeps swallowing the force of the vital breath through its mouth.

What is a padai veedu (camp)? A place of abiding in stillness. The places of stillness are where the natural light dwells. Why are their towns six? Erakam is the place called the heart, full of beauty. Tiruvavinankudi is Tiru-Ā-Inna-Kudi: the pure place of action of the soul’s knowledge, where Tiru, Lakshmi, that is joy; Ā, the cow (pasu), that is the living soul called shining; and Inan, the sun, that is the intellect, come together and shine. Pazhamudircholai is the place where the pleasures of gain, the fruits of the experience of the senses, the inner faculties, the living soul and the rest, fall away, and one shines as knowledge without lack. Tirucheeralaivai, Tiruchendil and Jayantipuram are: the shore, where the waves of desire from the sea of objects keep beating on the face of the pure mind; the mind, the heart-place of living creatures (jantu); and the shining of the Lord-mind (pati manam), which destroyed the Sura of ignorance and gained the hand of joy. Tirupparankundram is the full joy of exultant discernment, whose shining is one and unmoving. Kunruthoradal is “dancing on every hill”. The hill is the good state of turiya (the fourth state, beyond waking, dream and deep sleep), the first cause of awareness that does not waver. Of this turiya there are endless turiya hills in the vision of experience: supreme turiya, pure turiya, guru turiya, Siva turiya, Sakti turiya and others. What are the places in the body for these visions of experience? The base of the kōsam (the genital sac), below the navel, the navel, the belly above the navel and below the chest, the chest, and the heart: six in all.

What is meant by putting Brahma in prison? Brahma is the mind, whose work is creation by the resolve of the pure mind. The Subramaniya tattva, the fullness of discernment of pure shining, does not let that mind enter into action. It carries out, in the presence of discernment, the five functions that are the matters of every body: arising, growing, the removal of fault, being bewildered over a thing, and becoming clear. While it does so, it holds that mind bound without wavering. That is the imprisonment.

What did he teach to Isvara? The Isvara tattva is the end of the causal tattvas, the impelling state that is the Rudra tattva. By its nature, knowledge has risen in it and action has lessened. The pranava (the syllable Om) shines as the elemental cause of action and as a portion of the cause of knowledge; it is the true fullness, the objectless experience without action. To the Isvara tattva (that which ordains it [?]) this does not appear except through Subramaniyam, the presiding power of the tattva of pure discernment. For this reason it is said that he gave the teaching.

What is meant by his birth in the reed forest in the Ganga? Compassion (tayavu), the natural quality of the soul, is the Ganga. The reed is the yielding quality called forbearance, the middle state of the soul’s experience, in which the head called ahankara is not raised in any matter. Between these two, discernment, the knowledge that distinguishes, arises, shining as the natural light of experience. That is the birth.

What is meant by the Karttikai women then giving him milk? When the light of discernment arises, the ray of nectar, which is bliss, is fed to discernment by the shining of the power (sakti) called Samana, the quality of the feminine. That is the giving of milk.

The Lord gave the child to the Mother. The Mother gathered all six children into one and stroked them with her hand, and the six faces became one yet distinct, the body one, and the feet two. What is this? The Lord, the Supreme Self, appears and shines with the Power called Grace, on the bank of the river called compassion, in the reed forest called forbearance, at the time of samadhi and the like [?]. Then, to bring under Grace the child, the six senses, which are the appearing of pure latent impressions (vāsanā), the Power of Grace, without change and unmoved, subdues all six senses with the hand of Grace-awareness. So that they know objects without being steeped in them, the six senses become one, the marks stay six, and the two, the shining of experience and the shining of practice, appear as the holy feet. That is the shining forth of the state of samadhi.

Since this is so within the body, why do they have towns, temples, images, rites and the like in the world outside? Souls are divided by deeds of merit and sin. From beginningless time to this day, through such differences as dull, duller, rajasa, tamasa and karma, they appear with different natures through their union with the inner faculties, though the multitude of lives is one. Therefore Isvara, who experiences the world of the Isvara tattva, a Siddha eternal and free from beginningless time, who knew the holy Grace of Siva Peruman, the treasury of mercy full of great compassion, as plainly as a fruit in the palm of the hand, brought into being in the world, for our uplift, the scripture of bondage (the Puranas), the scripture of the soul (the Vedas), the scripture of the Lord (the Agamas) and the scripture of experience (the Upanishads). Through them He set out the divisions: the section of rites (karma kāṇḍa), the section of devotion (bhakti kāṇḍa), the section of worship (upāsana kāṇḍa), the art of tantra, the art of mantra, the art of instruction, and the rest. He set out what is chief for these: the rules of conduct (ācāram), caste (varṇam), the stages of life (āśramam) and the like; the four beginning with chariyai (service), which lead to these; the four beginning with sālōkam (dwelling in God’s world), which are their attainment; and the paths to them: tattvas, worlds, states, letters, mantras, kalas and the like. He prescribed expiations such as fasting and the chāndrāyaṇa (a fast that grows and shrinks with the moon) for the destruction of sin, and rivers and the like fit for performing them. As limbs of these, so that the true names, which are experiences of the tattvas, should not be lost, He gave holy names and the like to images, shrines and the like, and put them into use.

For those who worship, they marked out the star Krittikai, so that the Power of Grace might appear without the names of the tattvas being lost; the star Visakam for the shining of Vedanta; Tuesday to signify constant good; the sixth lunar day (shashti) to signify the six marks; and Thai Poosam to signify the fullness of wisdom. With the hand called awareness, which takes up the tattvas and plays with them, one ties the weight of objects to the kavadi, which is the tattva, and lifts it onto the shoulder, which is oneself; the self perishes, the self becomes Him. Before the holy form that shines as the form of awareness, intense in resolve, the Subramaniya tattva, the principle that objects are absent is what is meant by carrying the kavadi; and the certain Siva-awareness of pure dispassion is what is meant by Idumban. The six-pointed form of the space of the heart is the yantra (sacred diagram); its division into limbs is the forty-three triangles; its lesser limb, the nine sections. Truth as the letter sa, removal of objects as ra, eternal contentment as va, freedom from objects as ṇa, the cause of the removal of sin as pa, the natural quality of the soul as va: this shining is the Six Letters. The heart-place of our body is ordained as the temple; the wonder of maya as the peacock; the end of the navel as the altar of offering; the upper end of the uvula as the flagstaff; the five sheaths as the enclosing walls; the three gunas as the bilva tree; the soul’s compassion as the temple tank; the mouth as the entrance; and the state of experience as the tower.

It is laid down that the wise (jñānis) worship God everywhere, the yogis in the heart, those of the section of rites in fire, and those of the section of devotion in images (see the editor’s note). In keeping with this, they made the inquiry into the tattvas itself the temple. Toward the image that shines in the temple, the souls that go after bonds are pressed into the bond of Siva by the scripture of bondage (the Puranas); by the scripture of the soul (the Vedas) [?] the arts of tantra and mantra named above are made clear through the guru, by the art of instruction; they are made firm by the three sections; knowledge is lit by the scripture of the Lord (the Agamas); and samadhi is made known by the scripture of experience (the Upanishads). So that living beings should not forget these, as a deer is caught by showing a deer, the image in the temple, Shanmukha Peruman, is shown clearly as the form of the tattvas. For this the teacher (ācārya), in the form of the priest, brings to the camphor, which is our knowledge, the flame called shining, which is the truth of Subramaniya. So that thoughts of impure objects and the like do not reach our senses, he gives us sight of the Lord with the sound of the bell, the sign of true Nada. So that we stand absorbed in that form, with no other distraction, he has us worship with the services suited to our level. And they settled as doctrine that, to gain the fruit of this, giving food to the worthy is the path.

(Editor’s note: “Because He appears in the image to those with eyes of flesh, in the sacrificial fire to the Vedic priests, in the heart to the yogis, and everywhere to the wise.” Paripadal 2.65, commentary of Parimelazhagar.)

In this way, from beginningless time to this day, great souls of days gone by such as Arunagiriyar, Kumaraguruparar and Nakkeerar did service, and they shine as the highest of the wise, ever free. Therefore all of us must worship that true God truly, with devotion, according to the rule of the Vedas and Agamas, and receive His Grace.

Thiru Chitrambalam.

Here ends Subramaniyam.