Dear Friends
After a short lapse, I am renewing my studies of Tevaram now with particular attention to the philosophically rich Patikams of Appar Sambantar and Sundarar. Saiva Siddhanta is very ancient and its essence was tacitly understood even during the SumeroDravidian times (4000 BC -2000 BC) and we find in these Patikams a new kind of understanding being forged and all along with the revival of ancient Bakti which reasserted itself against Buddhism and Jainism of the times which did not encourage it. What is recovered and restated is Genuine Icon Thinking and which has been the essential component of the Temple centered Agamic Hinduism.
In the History of the Metaphysical Thinking of the Tamils, the following Patikam appears to have played a crucial role. The fourth verse of this Patikam is cited by MeykaNdar himself (in Irupaa Irupatu) and which has contributed substantially to the development of Hermeneutic Logic that came to be restated in MeykaNdar Sastras in a form that registers further developments from the days of Tolkaappiyam.
Though only the fourth and fifth verses of this Patikam have direct reference to Logic, the whole Patikam will be studied to bring out the general context within which these profound logical ideas emerged.
This Patikam is contained in the Third TirumuRai and has been published by Tarumai Adheenam, 1955 with notes given by Tiru Kandasamy Pillai. However I venture to give my own commentary in order to bring out the depths these Patikams contain and which, I believe, have not been brought out so far even in Tamil.
Loga
Sambantar in this very important Patikam outlines the essences of a metaphysical thinking that is not at odds with rationality but which also sees the limits of THINKING as such. But before outlining all these he begins with an OUGHT - what must be the PRACTICAL situation towards which all individuals must work and which is the goal of all rational inquires.
He sets up a society that is HAPPY and which avoids all the social evils with a firm believe in Siva, the Aran the destroyer who would wage wars with the evil and with that allow the divine powers bless the people. This blessing comes as good and unfailing rainfall, which is the substance of economic well-being. Then there is a need for good political leadership so that there is social stability and which in turn promotes spiritual life and which in turn produces people who are genuinely spiritual - the AntaNar who through their presence and guidance would bring the celestial beings and the various divine powers to prevail in society.
The world that Sambantar sees is NOT a theocracy or a monarchy or aristocracy but rather a AruL Ulakam, a world that is blessed by divine beings so that there is GOOD thinking among the people with LOVE dominating every fabric of human existence.
All thinking should be directed towards establishing and sustaining such a society.
1.
Å¡ú¸ «ó¾½÷ Å¡ÉÅ÷ ¬É¢Éõ
Å£ú¸ ¾ñÒÉø §Åó¾Ûõ µí̸
¬ú¸ ¾£Â¦¾øÄ¡õ «Ãý ¿¡Á§Á
Ýú¸ ¨Å¸Óõ ÐÂ÷
¾£÷¸§Å
¯¨Ã:
ÌÄõ ±ýÚõ §¸¡ò¾¢Ãõ ±ýÚí ¸Õ¾¡Ð à ÁÉò¾¢Éáö «Èõ À¢¨Æ¡ ÅƢ¢ø ¦ºøÖõ «ó¾½÷¸Ùõ «Å÷¸û ¯ûÇò¾¢Öõ «¨ÉÅ÷ ¯ûÇò¾¢Öõ ¸ÃóÐ ¿¢ýÚ «ÕûÀ¡Ä¢ìÌõ Å¡ÉÅ÷¸Ùõ ¦¾öź쾢¸Ùõ Å¡ú¸! «Èõ À¢¨Æ¡ Ũ¸Â¢ø ¦ºí§¸¡ø µîÍõ §Åó¾Ûõ µí¸¢ ¦¿Îí¸¡Äõ ¬ðº¢ ¦ºöÂðÎõ. þ¨ÈÂÕÇ¢ý ¦ÅÇ¢ôÀ¡¼¡¸ ¯Ä¸¢ø «¨ÁÔõ ¾ñÒÉø, ¿øÄ Á¨Æ ÅüÈ¡Ðõ ¦À¡ö¡Ðõ ¦Àö¸ ! þ¾É¡ø ¦À¡Õû ÅÈðº¢Ôõ «Õû ÅÈðº¢Ôõ þøÄ¡Ð §À¡¸ ¾£Â¦¾É ¡Ðõ ¿¡ðÊÖõ ¿ýÁì¸û ¯ûÇò¾¢Öõ ¬úóÐ «Æ¢óÐ þøÄ¡Ð §À¡¸ðÎõ. þ¾¨ÉÔõ Á£È¢ ±ïº¢Â Ũ¸Â¢ø ÐÂ÷¸û ¡Ðõ §¾¡ýÈ¢ü¦ÈÉ¢ø, «Åü¨È «Æ¢ìÌõ ¾¢ÈòÐ «Ãý §¾¡ýÈ¢ «Æ¢ôÀ¡ý ±ýÀ¾¢ý þù¨Å¸õ ÓØÅÐõ «Ãý ¿¡Á§Á ÝÆ §ÅñÎõ.
ÌÈ¢ôÒ :
¬ø> ¬ý: ºì¾¢, ¬üÈø. ¬ý.þÉõ : Àø§ÅÚ ÅÊÅ¢ý ºì¾¢¸û. «ó¾½÷ ±ýÀ¡÷ «üÀ º¡¾¢ º¢ó¾¨Éô À¡Ã¡ðÊ À¢ÈôÀ¡ø ¾¡ý À¡÷ôÀ¡ý ±ýÀ¡÷¸û «øÄ. ‘«ó¾½÷ ±ýÀ¡÷ «È§Å¡÷, ¦ºó¾ñ¨Á âñ¦¼¡Ø¸Ä¡ý’ ±ýÛõ ÅûÙÅ÷ Å¡ì¨¸ì ¸Õи. À¢ÈôÀ¡ø Á¡ò¾¢Ãõ ¡Õõ «ó¾½ý ¬¸ÓÊ¡Ð, »¡É¢Ôõ ¬¸ÓÊ¡Ð, ±øÄ¡õ ´Øì¸ò¾¡ø¾¡ý.
1.
vaazka antaNar vaanavar aaninam
viizka taNpunal veentanum oGkuka
aazka tiiyatellaam aran naamamee
cuuzka vaiyakamum tuyarr tiirkavee
Meaning:
Let the saintly souls and the celestial beings and all
the powers that pervade such people and all others prosper! Let there be good rainfalls unfailingly (so that there is
economic prosperity in the nation). Let there just and noble kings (so
that justice prevails in the nation)
And in view of such good things let the evils in society be eradicated and submerged in the depths never
to show their ugly heads. Now to
eradicate any miseries that may arise despite all these, let the whole world chant of Siva, the Aran
-the Destroyer
Comments:
Saivism promotes Natural Metaphysics and the scripture it studies is the Whole World. The world as a whole is taken as the TEXT, the author of which is BEING and who writes continuously without ever absenting Himself even for a moment. Thus the Physical World and existence wrought in it are NOT despised and denigrated as it is done in Mayavata Vedanta and such other idealistic systems in India. The physical world is just as real as the metaphysical and material existence is just as important as the spiritual - in fact the spiritual cannot be sustained without the economical.
In this verse and which is sung very frequently among the Saivites, Sambantar brings home these aspects of Saiva Metaphysics.
He, as a true saintly person, implores unfailing rainfall so that there will be economic prosperity in the nations and the people are satisfied with their material needs such as food shelter and so forth. The economic life is simultaneously political for and for this to be productive, there has to be fair and just Political Leadership and which in his time was simply the Rule of a King who is JUST in all his dealings as a true King should be.
Now material comforts, social happiness and political stability bring about conditions for the birth of metaphysical quests and which can be misled by the wrong kind of spiritual leadership, the messiahs and such megalomaniacs who would seek to displace BEING and emplace themselves there to enjoy the adoration of the masses. Such a disaster is avoided if the country abounds with AntaNar, the genuinely spiritual (certainly NOT the paarppaans who claim this status solely by virtue of birth!) and who exemplify through their conduct true spirituality.
Such people also, through the power of their metaphysical insights and austerity, let the celestial beings and the various divine powers pervade the nation and the hearts of the people. Now while they will ensure economic prosperity and spiritual well being, there is always the unexpected disasters and miseries that can arise both in the nation and individual life. Now Sambantar recommends that the whole world chant the Name of Siva, Aran, the destroyer so that even such disasters can be avoided. There is no disaster beyond the capacity of Aran to eliminate.
In this second verse Sambantar outlines the essential iconic details of Civa by way of implication that Icon Thinking must be promoted among people towards creating the AruL Ulakam as described above and which entails the building of temples and the installation icons especially that of Civa so that the public as a whole are pressed into thinking iconically.
But what is fascinating here is that while describing the various and definite icon forms of BEING, he also mentions that BEING is wholly mysterious and hence beyond the reach of the thinking mind. While the icons promote thinking of the INTERPRETIVE type and hence develop understanding but there must be humility with the understanding that BEING is mysterious and there is NO ONE who can show to us the essential form of BEING.
This recognition of the uncanniness of BEING induces OPENNESS in religious matters. When we are NOT sure and can never be sure which is definite and the most preferred shape of BEING then the mind becomes OPEN and inquisitive about all the shapes in which BEING presents Himself.
2.
«Ã¢Â ¸¡ðº¢Â÷ò ¾ÁÐ «í¨¸ §º÷
±Ã¢Â÷ ²Ú ¯¸óÐ ²ÚÅ÷ ¸ñ¼Óõ
¸Ã¢Â÷ ¸¡Î¨Ã Å¡ú쨸Â÷ ¬Â¢Ûõ
¦ÀâÂ÷ ¬÷ «È¢Å¡÷ «Å÷ ¦ÀüÈ¢§Â
¯¨Ã:
¬ÆÁ¡¸ ¾¢Â¡É¢ìÌõ ¦À¡Ø§¾ §Â¡¸¿ü¸¡ðº¢Â¢ø «ÕÅÁ¡¸ì ¸¡½ÅÕõ Ũ¸Â¢ø «Ã¢Â측ðº¢Â÷ ±ýȧÀ¡¾¢Öõ, ¬ýÁ¡ì¸û ¯ÕÅ ÅÆ¢À¡ðÊø Á¸¢Æ×õ «÷ ã÷ò¾¢Â¡¸ ¨¸Â¢ø ¦¿ÕôÀ¢¨Éò ¾¡í¸¢ «ñ¼¦ÁøÄ¡õ «Æ¢ôÀ¢¨É ¦ºöÔõ ¯Õò¾¢ÃÉ¡¸×õ, ţâÂò¨¾ ¬ðº¢ ¦ºöÔõ ã÷ò¾¢Â¡¸ Å¢¼¨Ä ¦Åû§ÇÚ ¯¸ó§¾È¢ ¾¨Éì ¸¡ðÎõ ¿ó¾¢§¸ÍÃÉ¡¸×õ, ¬Ä¸¡Ä ¿ïº¢¨É ¯ñÎ ¸ñ¼ò¾¢ø þÕò¾¢ ±øÄ¡ §¾Å÷¸¨ÇÔõ ¯Â¢Ã¢Éí¸¨ÇÔõ «Æ¢Â¡Ð ¸¡ìÌõ ¿£Ä¸ñ¼É¡¸×õ, ¾ì¸ §¿Ãò¾¢ø À¡Æ¡öŢ𼠯¼¨Ä ¿£ì¸¢ Òòмø ¾Õõ Ũ¸Â¢ø Íθ¡Î¨È Å¡ú쨸¢ý ͼ¨Ä¡Ê¡¸×õ ¾¨Éì ¸¡ðθ¢ýÈ¡ý. ¬É¡ø ¾ý¨É þùÅ¡Ú ¸¡ðÊ ¯À¸Ã¢ò¾ §À¡Ðõ, þÅüÈ¢ü¦¸øÄ¡õ «ôÀ¡ø þÕ츢ýÈ ¦ÀâÂÅý «¾É¡ø «ÅÉÐ ¦º¡åÀò¨¾ ¡áÖõ «È¢Â ÓÊ¡Р¸¡ñ.
2.
ariya kaadciyart tamatu angkai ceer
eriyar eeRu ukantu eeRuvar kaNdamum
kariyar kaadurai vaazkkaiyar aayinum
periyar aar arivaar
avar peRRiyee
Meaning:
BEING has non-iconic forms that become available for understanding
only during deep yogic meditations. But nevertheless He discloses Himself in
various iconic forms so that people can worship Him. These forms are - the
Rudra holding Fire in one hand revealing that He is destroyer throughout the
universe; the Nantikeswara who mounts the Bull disclosing that He is the source
of virility; the NilakaNdan, the Blue-throated who became thus on drinking the
most destructive Poison and keeping it in His throat to safe the devas and all
from being destroyed by it and the Dancer in the Cremation Grounds to show that
He destroys the worn out physical body so that the anmas can enjoy another new
body. Now over and above all these He is also BEYOND all these, the wholly
indeterminate and hence there can be no
one who can fathom His essence.
Comments:
BEING presents Himself solely for the pedagogic purpose of ILLUMINATING the ignorant anmas so that they can be redeemed. For this He discloses Himself and on His own accord as Icons that facilitate worship, the non-iconic abstract forms to encourage yogic meditations and iconic-non-iconic form of Cataaciva to facilitate a life worship that also promotes deep reflections.
This understanding which is common to the Saivites’ understanding of BEING that crystallized during the Bakti period is also very clearly enunciated by Tirmular in the following verse.
1763
¯Õ×õ «Õ×õ ¯Õ§Å¡ ¼Õ×õ
ÁÕ× Àú¢Åý Áý ÀøÖ¢÷ìÌõ
¾Õ¦ÅÉ ¿øÌï º¾¡º¢Åý ¾¡§É
¯¨Ã:
³õÒÄí¸ðÌ ¬öÅÕõ ¯ÕÅô ¦À¡ÕÇ¡ö, «È¢Å¢ü§¸ ¬öÅÕõ «ÕÅô ¦À¡ÕÇ¡ö, «ó¾ þÃñÎõ ¸Äó¾ ´ýÈ¡ö, «ôÀ¡ÖìÌ «ôÀ¡ø ¡¦¾¡Îõ ¾¡ìÌÈ¡Ð ¿¢ü¸¢ýÈ Àú¢Åý, ¬ýÁ¡ì¸û §Áø ¨Åò¾ ¸Õ¨½Â¢É¡ø, ¾¨Éì ¸¡ðÊ «ÕÙÅý. «Ð¦À¡ØÐ þôÀÊô Àð¼ ÅÊÅí¸Ç¢ø º¢Å»¡Éõ §À¡¾¢ìÌõ Á¸¡ÌÕÅ¡ö ¿¢ýÚ ¬ýÁ¡ì¸ÇÐ ¦ÁöÂÈ¢×î º¢ó¾¨É¨Âò àñθ¢ýÈ ÌÕ×Á¡ö ¿¢üÌí ¦¸¡û¨¸Âý ¬Ìõ. Àú¢Å§É þùÅ¡Ú «ÕûÀ¡Ä¢ì¸ º¾¡º¢Å ã÷ò¾¢Â¡¸ ±Øó¾ÕÇ¢ §ÅñÎÅ¡÷ìÌ §ÅñÊÂÅ¡Ú «ÕÙõ ´÷ ¸üÀ¸ò¾Õ §À¡Ä »¡ÉÅûÇÄ¡¸ »¡Éò¨¾ ¿øÌÀÅÛõ ¬Ìõ.
55.
1763.
uruvum aruvum uruvoo daruvum
maruvu paracivan man palluyirkkum
kuruvumena niRkum koLkaiyan aakum
taruvena nalkunj cataacivan taanee
Meaning:
BEING totally ABOVE all nevertheless assuming the form of
Cataaciva, presents Himself in various sensible forms, conceptual forms and in
both just in order to illuminate the mind of the anmas. In this He also
presents Himself as the MahaGuru, stimulating metaphysical thinking and as way
of presenting Himself. Here He also behaves like the KaRpakat Taru, the Magical
Tree that yields whatever is desired by the anmas and endlessly.
Comments:
The SivaliGkam is present in each one of the anmas as the AtmaliGkam making it possible for the presence of BEING as Brahma VishNu Rudra Sivam and Sakti so that the Panca Kritiyas, the five basic praxis of BEING are available not only for the growth of the fetus into the full grown child but also the cognitive processes so that the anmas also UNDERSTAND CIVANJANAM and with that transmute their personality itself into that of Cataaciva. We should recall here that Tirumular claims that he has become Cataaciva in many places (Cataaciva aayineen)
Now in this chapter Tirumular describes the Njana LiGkam, that which emerges from within the AtmaliGkam and transmutes the anma as a LEARNER and BEING Himself as the TEACHER, the MahaGuru. The cognitive processes of the anma slowly gravitate towards metaphysical learning provided they mature sufficiently in the right direction. The possibility of every anma graduating to Metaphysical Learning is already there as a fabric of the natural processes and hence all are EQUAL in this respect.
This natural metaphysical PEDAGOGY constitutes the underlying reason for BEING to present Himself in forms that are amenable to the senses, in conceptual terms that are available only for the reflecting mind and in forms where both are combined so that visible forms have also an invisible content that can be intuited only by some reflections or meditations.
This Natural Pedagogy is already there for everyone and the lessons are generously and freely given and where BEING-as-Guru functions like the KaRpakat Taru, the Magical Tree that yields endlessly.
The concept of Cuttam, purity, more technically also described as Nimalam, being free of Malam, the Dark Killing Energy plays an important role in Saivism and Sambantar brings that notion into play here. The wearing of the Sacred Ash symbolizes this PURITY and in a way this is the essence of BEING described also the Most High, the One who is the Power unto Himself. The Most High as Sivam remains the Most Pure and attaining Sivattuvam is in fact becoming Pure, Cuttam.
The Icon Thinking has an important function here - the deep contemplation and an interpretive understanding of the meaning of Sacred Ash, is directed at self PURIFICATION and which is simultaneously therapeutic. The thinking that Saivism promotes is directed at Vinai Tiirttal, getting rid of the Karmic deposits in the Unconscious layers of the mind. To become PURE is to free one from the karmic deposits that are products of evil actions. Thus the notion of becoming PURE brings along with it the ethical dimensions and within the aesthetical.
Sambantar does NOT see a strict separation between Religion and Depth Psychology- both are welded together very neatly and as forms of Hermeneutic Sciences. The various rituals and Icon Thinking are as much a part of Psychiatry as they are of religion.
3.
¦Åó¾ º¡õÀø Å¢¨Ã¦ÂÉô ⺢§Â
¾ó¨¾ ¡¦Ã¡Î ¾¡ö þÄ÷ ¾õ¨Á§Â
º¢ó¾¢Â¡ ¦ÅØÅ¡÷ Å¢¨É ¾£÷ôÀáø
±ó¨¾Â¡÷ «Å÷ ±ùŨ¸Â¡÷ ¦¸¡ø§Ä¡
¯¨Ã:
¾ý¨Éì ¦¸¡ñÎÅÕõ ¾ó¨¾ ±ýÚõ ¾¡ö ±ýÚõ ¡ÕÁ¢Ä¡Ð, ¾¡§Éò ¾ý¨É §¾¡üÚÅ¢ì¸×õ þÕò¾×õ §À¡ì¸×õ ÅøÄ þ¨ÈÅý, Íò¾ò¾¢ý Íò¾Á¡¸¢Â ¿¢ÁÄý ¾¡ý ±ýÚ ¯½÷òÐõ Ũ¸Â¢ø ¦Åó¾ º¡õÀ¨Ä ¿ÚÁ½î º¡ó¾õ ±ýÚ âº¢ ¾ý¨É «ýÀ÷¸ðÌ ¸¡ðÊ ¿¢üÀ÷. þÉ¢ þôÀÊôÀð¼ àö¨Á¢ý ¿¢ÁÄô¦ÀÕÅʨŠŢ¼¡Ð º¢ó¾¢ò¾Å¡Ú Å¡úÅ¡÷ «¸òÐõ þó¾ ÀâÍò¾§Á À¾¢Â «¾ý ÅÆ¢ ÐýÀí¸ÙìÌõ ÐÂ÷¸ÙìÌõ ãÄÁ¡¸¢Â ¾£ÂÅ¢¨É¸¨Ç þøÄ¡Ð §À¡ìÌÅ÷. þ¾É¡Ä ±øÄ¡ ¬ýÁ¡ì¸ÙìÌõ §¾¡üÈõ þÕôÒ «Æ¢ôÒ ±ýÈŨ¸Â¢ø ¾ó¨¾Ôõ ¬Ìõ þ¨ÈÅý ¾ýÉ¢ý ±ùŨ¸Â¡ý ±ýÚ ÜÈÓÊ¡Р¾Å¢ì¸¢ý§Èý. ¡áø ÜÚÓÊÔõ?
3.
venta caampal viraiyenap puuciyee
tantaiyaarodu taay ilar tammaiyee
cintiyaa vezuvaar Vinai tiirpparaal
entaiyaar avar evvakaiyaar kolloo
Meaning:
BEING is totally autonomous with no father or mother to bring Him forth and where He Himself stands with the Power to present sustain and withdraw Himself. Such a BEING discloses Himself as the Absolutely Pure by smearing His whole body with burnt ash but fragrant like sandal paste. And now those who meditate upon this form of BEING also succeed in freeing themselves from the karmic deposits that are the sources of pains and miseries. Thus He is the Father and Mother to me but wholly puzzling and indeterminate with respect to His essential form. I know also who can tell His essence.
Comments:
One of the most important metaphysical insights that emerged and served as the foundation of the whole of Bakti based religious life is the notion of ‘vinai tiirttal” - that of freeing oneself from the karmic deposits in the depths and which emerge as the determinants of the events is life that are painful and miserable - diseases, loss of properties and loved ones, social insults, deprivations of freedom and so forth. The average person falls prey to these attacks of the unconscious and suffers immensely without knowing how to escape from their tortures. However the Saivite baktas do have a way and Sambantar is trying to describe this briefly here.
BEING is wholly AUTONOMOUS, the Power unto Himself and that because He is the only one who can present, sustain and withdraw Himself. Thus HE is the Most High, like a peak of a mountain that has no higher than that and which informs anyone who manages to reach the peak. Anyone who UNDERSTANDS the true essence of BEING will also come to understand this and with apodictic certainty of this TRUTH and with that remain CALM with the understanding that one is NOT misled into just believing so. There is no Mythiya, as the Advaitins and other idealists would proclaim that every understanding of self is just projective and hence inauthentic. That BEING is the Most High, in virtue of the feeling of TRUTH that understanding itself brings about as part of itself, the anmas knows indubitably and hence without any qualms that it is a TRUTH of BEING.
Now another is that BEING is absolutely PURE and which is a LIMIT of the aesthetic and which includes the ethical. This is the symbolic significance of BEING appearing as the one who smears His whole body with the brilliant and fragrant ASH, so prominent in Saivism. Here BEING presents Himself as the absolutely PURE and as for the intensive hermeneutic interpretations and contemplations so that through the flow of AruL as Lumen Naturale, one can cleanse the deeper reaches of the unconscious and burn off the karmic deposits lodged there and which are the real causes of the various kinds of pains and miseries in life.
This much is clear and because of which BEING is possessed in personal terms by Sambantar, the Father (and Mother) in virtue of shaping the anma as a GOOD and NOBLE one, free of evil and ignoble thoughts.
But not content with this much understanding of BEING, Sambantar remains puzzled: amidst all these different shapes of BEING which is the TRUE one, the most essential and hence the determinate?
Sambantar finds himself unable to say anything definite about it - BEING is simply MYSTERIOUS, one who defeats cunningly every thinking mind that seeks capture it in definite terms.
This is the most important verse that was historically very influential. MeykaNdar quotes it and incorporates its essence as part of Civanjana Botham itself, certainly the most profound metaphysical treatise in the world. The point that Sambantar is at pains to bring out is that BEING is supremely Uncanny so that it is rather difficult to pinpoint exactly how and to whom He would grant His grace. It is not only beyond any determinations but also uncountable.
This understanding deconstructs Brahmanism that makes the dwija status a birth right and which is not only a great lie but an enormous social injustice and which has acted in India so that there is a non-recognition of so many great saints and all because they were not Brahmins. Included in this category would be Punitavati Appar and so forth
It also deconstructs effectively the epistemological claims such as the Naiyayikas who maintained that Piramma karaNam piramaaNam i.e. there are logical measures like Pratyaksa Anumana and Agama which would ensure that something is a truth provided it can be shown to be consistent with these measures. The Buddhists went along with it except that they rejected the Agama PiramaaNa.
What should be the concern of all metaphysical thinking is inquiry into the Right Way, the Sanmaarkkam as described by Tirmular and TiruneRi as described by Sambantar himself. Thinking should be concerned with ETHICS so that one chooses a way of life where EVIL is avoided and only the GOOD is pursued. Thinking that does not concern itself with the GOOD as is the purely logical is quite useless. Thinking that is also purely sastraic and which blindly follows its dictates and in the process does not develop the aesthetic sensitivity within which is located the ethical is also ineffective
4.
¬ðÀ¡ÄÅ÷ìÌ «ÕÙõ Åñ½Óõ ¬¾¢ Á¡ñÒõ
§¸ðÀ¡ý Ò¸¢ø «ÇÅ¢ø¨Ä ¸¢Çì¸ §Åñ¼¡
§¸¡ðÀ¡ÄÉ×õ Å¢¨ÉÔí ÌÚ¸¡¨Á ¦Âó¨¾
¾¡ðÀ¡ø Å½í¸¢ò ¾¨Ä ¿¢ýÚ þ¨Å §¸ð¸ò ¾ì¸¡÷
¯¨Ã:
´ù¦Å¡Õ ¬ýÁ¡Å¢üÌõ «ùÅÅ÷ ÀìÌÅò¾¢üÌ ²üÈ Ó¨È¢ø »¡Éõ «ÕÙõ Åñ½Óõ, ²ý þùÅ¡Ú ¦ºö¸¢ýÈ¡ý ±ýÚ þ¨ÈÅÉÐ ¬¾¢ Á¡ñÒõ , ¡¦¾ýÚ §¸ðÎ º¢ó¾¢òÐò ¦¾Ç¢Âô Ò¸¢ý, «ÅüÈ¢üÌ «ÇÅ¢ø¨Ä ±ýÀ¾¢ý º¢ó¾¢òÐ þЧŠ¯ñ¨Á ±ýÚ ¸¢Çì¸ §Åñ¼¡õ, «Ð ÓÊ¡¾ ´ýÚ. þÅý «ÕÇ¢üÌ À¡ò¾¢ÃÁ¡¸ §ÅñΧÁ «øÄ¡Ð §Å¦È¡ýÚõ §¾¨Å þø¨Ä. þÉ¢ ¡¨Å¾¡õ §¸ð¸ò ¾ì¸Ð ±É¢ý , ¬ýÁ¡Å¢ý ¯ûÇò¨¾ò ¾¢Ã¢òÐ §¸¡Î ¯üȾ¡ì¸¢Ôõ ÓõÁÄ ¾¡ì¸ò¾¢ý «ÈÁüÈÐ ¦ºöÐ ¾£ÂÅ¢¨É¸û ÌÚ¸¡Ðõ ¸¡ò¾ÕÙÁ¡ þ¨ÈŨɧ ¾ó¨¾ ±ýÚ ¸Õ¾¢ ¦ºÕ즸øÄ¡õ §À¡ì¸¢ «Åý ¾¢Õò¾¡û¸û Å½í¸¢ þ¨ÈÂÕ¨Ç ®ðÎŧ¾ §Åñ¼ò¾ì¸ÐÅ¡õ.
4.
aadpaalavarkku aruLum vaNNamum aati maaNbum
keedpaan pukil aLavillai kiLakka veeNdaa
koodpaalanavum vinaiyuG kuRukaamai yentai
taadpaal vaNaGkit talai ninRu ivai keedkat takkaar.
Meaning:
The ways in which BEING blesses with metaphysical
illuminations the deserving anmas and the primordial essence of BEING
underlying this - once you seek to investigate with your thinking mind, know
that it is impossible for His ways are infinite and can never be measured out
in definite terms. What need to be
asked from BEING are just his blessings so that one is prevented from falling
the wrong ways effecting actions that would elicit karmas that would be the
source of pains and miseries. This you can ask by worshipping His Feet and
affirming a way of life where BEING is kept as the primordial guide.
Comments:
Saivism is the world’s most ancient religion and which was, as we can see from Enhudu Anna Kes Temple Hymn and so forth of the Third millennium BC, it was philosophically a THINKING and Reflecting religion and because of which adherents also developed Yoga disciplines that included Dhyana, the practice of Silence (the en-kum-mi-ne). It was a culture of discussions and debates as we can see from Sulgi’s Mutariibiyam (Hymn B). Such a culture must have also pressed diligently into finding out the most appropriate Sadhana and the essence of BEING that would establish once for all and definitely that’s what must be practiced and so forth.
But what they have found is that BEING is infinitely creative and productive that the ways He presents Himself and blesses the souls are countless and hence His essence is also immeasurable. The most we can say is that the HE dances as Siva-Sakti and in that continuously creative and productive weaving infinite number pf patterns of showing Himself using the basic Siva Tatvas Natam and Bindu.
As Tirumular has also observed, BEING being so uncanny with LOVE for all, does NOT neglect any one creature no matter how small and evil it is - He shows Himself in a form that is appropriate for that creature. That every creature can understand BEING and therewith understand some aspects of the divine possibilities that remain his own possibilities is a fact of existence. BEING deprives nobody. Tirumular says: evvaaRu kaaNpaan aRivu tammakku ellai, avvaaRu Arul ceyvaan aati paarapan taanum”: How a person views the limits of his own understanding, BEING would bless within that limit. He presents himself as the minor deities, the great deities, the iconic realities, the trans-iconic abstract realities to be understood only deep meditations and so forth.
Thus Sambantar recommends that we should ABANDON this THINKING about the essence of BEING and determining for sure the correct way and so forth. It is just impossible - BEING is so uncanny that He cannot be caught for sure by feeble human mind.
But this need not drive us into despair and nihilism. We can be with Him and worship Him not with intellectual arrogance of catching Him with concepts and words but as a REALITY like a Father and who would bless the deserving for the continuous GROWTH and well-being. For we can always FALL and end up doing the evil and elicit karmic traces that would bring along pains and miseries. BEING, though wholly mysterious and uncanny but is LOVE itself and hence would always defend the anmas and ensure that they do not FALL the wrong ways and destroy themselves.
Whatever His essence, the baktas who sincere LOVE Him know that He would provide the safety and security so that the anmas can maintain themselves in the WAY and finally end up being-with-BEING.
There is a difference between what I call Hermeneutic Logic and Epistemological Logic and where Sambantar approves of the former and criticizes the latter. There is a difference between truth-experience and the definitional notion of logical truth. While Naiyayikas and Buddhists promoted the definitional truth, Tolkaappiyam and the hermeneutic logic it established promoted truth-experiences (MeyyuNarvu). Thus the search is for truth-experiences and the science concerned with such truth-experiences is Hermeneutic Sciences. Such experiences cover the whole gamut of human experience and NOT just simply those that are arrived at with thinking and in accordance with rules. Aesthetic experiences including that of feelings and emotions though not bound by any logical thinking but can be truth-experiences in the sense of apprehending what is there objectively. Now such truth-experiences are illuminating and in that destroy the Darkness of Ignorance within and enlarge the scope of what we can SEE.
This kind of truth-experiences that OPEN up the eyes and enable a person to see more and more and with that develop understanding is that which would lead at one point to the vision of BEING as Radiance and at which point interpretive thinking itself is overcome but not aesthetics. Truth-experiences continue but now more in the direction of making the person Purer and with that also more Loving. The personal development that ensues is also that freeing oneself from sadness depressions and so forth.
Thus the Hermeneutic Logic that covers also aesthetics also cultures the person so that he becomes more loving and kind. This, points out Sambantar, is the proper function of rational thinking that would contribute to creating a fair and just society, ruled by just and honest political leaders and also blessed by the celestial beings.
5.
²Ðì¸Ç¡Öõ ±Îò¾ ¦Á¡Æ¢Â¡Öõ Á¢ìÌî
§º¡¾¢ì¸ §Åñ¼¡ ͼ÷Å¢ðÎÇý §º¡¾¢
Á¡Ðì¸ ¿£í¸ø ¯ÚÅ£÷ ÁÉõÀüÈ¢ Å¡úÁ¢ý
º¡Ðì¸û Á¢ì¸£÷ þ¨È§Â ÅóÐ º¡÷Á¢ý¸§Ç
¯¨Ã:
þ¨ÈÅý þÕ츢ýÈ¡É¡ þø¨Ä¡ ¦À¡öô¦À¡ÕÇ¡ ¦Áöô¦À¡ÕÇ¡ ±ý¦ÈøÄ¡õ «ÇÅ¢üÌ Á£È¢Â «Ç¨Åº¢ó¨¾ô ÀðÎ ²Ðì¸û ¡¨Å ±ÎòÐ측ðθû ¡¨Å ±ý¦È¨É Á¢ìÌ §º¡¾¢ì¸ §Åñ¼¡õ. ¾¡ý þÕôÀ¨¾ ±ý «¸ì¸ñ½¢üÌ ÍÂõÀ¢Ã¡¸º §º¡¾¢ ÅÊÅ¢ø ¸¡½ò ¾óÐ ±ùÅ¢¾ ³ÂÓõ ÁÕð¨¸Ôõ ±Æ¡ Åñ½õ ±ÉìÌ ¯½÷ò¾¢ÂÅ¡Ú þÕ츢ýÈ¡ý þ¨ÈÅý. þÉ¢ À¢ÈŢ¢ø ¯Úõ ¦ÀÕõ¦ÀÕõ Ðì¸í¸¨Çì ¸ÊóÐ ¿Ä§Á Å¡Æ Å¢ÕõÀ¢É¡ø þ¨ÈÅ¨É Áɾ¢ø þÕò¾¢ «¨Á¾¢ ÁÉò¾Åáö «ýÒ ¿¢¨Èó¾ º¡Ðì¸Ç¡ö Å¡úóÐ ÓÊÅ¢ø «ÅÉÐ ¾¢ÕÅʸ¨Ç «¨½Ôí¸û
5.
eetukkaLaalum edutta moziyaalum mikkuc
cootikka veeNdaa cudarvidduLan cooti
maatukka niiGkal uRuviir manampaRRi vaazmin
caatukkaL mikiir iRaiyee vantu caarminkaLee
Meaning:
Do not cross-examine me excessively demanding logical
reasons and arguments for the truth and reality of BEING. He stands as a
resplendent reality within my inner eyes. O those who wish to free yourself
from the great miseries in existence, live with BEING in your heart and become
a person full of with LOVE and kindness and with that move towards the Divine
Feet of BEING.
Comments:
To understand this often quoted verse of Sambantar, which has given the insights for the recovery of Hermeneutic Logic, it is necessary to note some aspects of the Indian Logical tradition. It began with Tolkaappiyam where it is noted that a sutra that incorporates a deep insight will count as asserting TRUTH provided it establishes itself as agreeable among a body of scholars and for which purpose emerges the Communicative Logic, the KaaNdikai Urai. One person provisionally states the sutra as a truth and to bring about AGREEMENT and assent from others REASONS (eetu) and Arguments (eduttukkaaddu) are given so that all gain the same understanding and as result of which there is agreement (otta kaadci). This possibility of collective agreement makes the sutra a truth and because of which there is a SHIFT in status of the Sutra - from Pratignja, that which is simply asserted, it becomes the Nigamana, that which is agreed upon by all and hence something that can be presupposed.
This Hermeneutic Logic became twisted as Epistemological Logic in the hands of the Naiyayikas and later by the Buddhists epistemologists like Digbandu Dharmakirtti Darmapala and so forth and all of whom were Tamil Buddhists in the University of Kancipuram. And these Buddhists Logicians, unlike the Naiyayikas, disallowed the Agama PiramaaNa, i.e., those texts related to transductive perceptions like the Puranas and so forth. The Epistemological Logic became in the hands of the positivistic Buddhists a tool for their ideological stand of ‘no athma’ “ no god” and so forth. Thus Logic became not a tool for gaining truth-experiences but rather a tool in philosophic polemic and justification of ideological stands.
It is this degeneration of THINKING into the mere epistemological that was vigorously battled with by Appar and Sambantar and this verse is one of them in this deconstruction.
Note Sambantar is NOT against Hermeneutic Logic but only its misuse by the expression of “Mikku cootikka VeeNdaa”. Logical thinking, in fact thinking as a whole has its limits and Hermeneutic Logic accommodates itself to its own death. The seeking to understand BEING through the exercise of Hermeneutic Logic where whatever encountered is taken as a TEXT, the Deep Structure is inferred (Anumana) from the features of the objectively available Surface Structure of the TEXT, will furnish truth-experiences (MeyyuNarvu) provided it is RATIONAL i.e. something that can be given reasons with adequate arguments, the eduttamozi. Now it so happens that such a course of logical or rational life where truth-experiences after truth-experiences are enjoyed, the Logical Thinking, in fact the whole of THINKING is subdued or even uprooted in favor of understanding BEING with LOVE. At the death of THINKING, aesthetics with ethics as an important part of it, takes over the life of the anma.
When a person reaches this state of being-in-the-world he also gains the aruL of BEING and with which he can cleanse his soul of all the pain-producing karmic deposits and with that gain as a blessing a kind of life free of mental depressions and so forth, something beyond the reaches of Epistemological Logic such as that of the Buddhists of the times but fully within the possibilities of Hermeneutic Logic.
One of the notions that gets continuously mentioned in Saivism is that of AruL, a pure giving on the part of BEING. There are universal Praxis or Play in which there is engracing the world with aruL and with that also defeating the negatives processes that bring about destruction and death. Thus there is a WAR going on in nature between the divine and the evil forces and human beings are caught in this battle and depending in what direction they move, they are either blessed or cursed. The function of rational thinking is that of ensuring a person moves in the direction where he gets more and more of aruL and in that also succeed in becoming more and more illuminated.
Thus the Hermeneutic Logic that guides a person into gaining deeper and deeper truth-experiences are also directed at making the person less bound and more free - i.e. they are LIBERATING on the whole and hence touch the very core of personality - something beyond the ordinary logical thinking.
Thus it is here that Sambantar sees a rationale for the aesthetic cultures - dancing singing and so forth. They may not be strictly logical and in fact may even dull such thinking but because of that they are NOT irrational. In the larger and more inclusive sense of the rational, these fines arts also promote truth-experiences and which are self-purificational as well as liberating.
It is also noted that all these are so because of CiRsakti, the form of energy or aruL that informs a person that a particular experience is an experience of truth and another is not. As Tirumular and many others have noted, it is this CiRSakti that is the genuine aLavai or measure and it is a device that belongs to the Dance of BEING. Through this CiRsakti which informs a person that the experince he is enjoying is an instance of the truth-experience or not with the persistence of doubts and uncertainties, BEING guides the personal development so that be becomes the truly liberated.
6.
¬Îõ ¦ÁÉ×õ ÁÕí ÜüÈõ ¯¨¾òÐ §Å¾õ
À¡Îõ ±É×õ Ò¸ú «øÄÐ À¡Å¿£í¸ì
§¸Îõ À¢ÈôÒì¸û ÁÚìÌõ ¦ÁÉì §¸ðËḢø
¿¡Îó ¾¢Èò¾¡÷ìÌ «Õû «øÄÐ ¿¡ð¼Ä¡§Á
¯¨Ã:
þ¨ÈÅý ºò¾¢-º¢Åý ÅÊÅ¢ø ±ØóÐ ¬¼ÅøÄ¡É¡¸ ¬Éó¾ò ¾¡ñ¼Åõ ¬ÎÅ¡ý ±ýÚõ «¾ýÅÆ¢ Áýò¨¾ì ¦¸¡ñÎ ÅÕõ ¬½Å ÁÄò¾¢ý ¯ÕÅ¡¸¢Â ÜüÈò¨¾ º¢Å»¡Éõ ͼÕõ »¡ÉôÀ¡¼ø¸¨Ç À¡Ê Å¢ÃðÎÅ¡ý ±ýÚõ ÜÈôÀÎõ. þÐ, ¾¡ý ±øġáÖõ Ò¸ÆôÀ¼§ÅñÎõ ±ýÀ¨¾ì ¸Õ¾¢§Â¡, «øÄÐ ¬ýÁ¡ì¸û «¸ò§¾ Å¢ÇíÌõ À¡Åî º¢ó¾¨É¸¨Ç ¿£ì¸¢ Íò¾Á¡ì̾üÌõ »¡Éõ Ò¸ðÊ ÀÄŨ¸Â¡É §¸Î¸û ÝÆ¡Ð ¿Ä§Á Å¡ú¾üÌ ¯¾×õ ¦À¡ÕðÎõ, º¢Å»¡Éõ ÅÇ÷òÐ Á£ñÎõ Á£ñÎõ À¢Èì¸ò ¾Õõ ºõº¡Ãò ¾¨Ç¢ýÚõ Å¢ÎÅ¢ôÀ¾ü§¸¡ ±Éì §¸ðËḢø, ¯ñ¨Á¨Â ¿¡Ê ¦ÁöÔ½÷Å¢¨É§Â ¿¡Îó ¾¢Èò¾¡üÌ, þùÅ¡¦ÈøÄ¡õ þ¨ÈÅý ¦ºöžüÌ «ÅÉÐ «ÇôÀâ «Õû «ýÈ¢ §Å¦È¡Õ ¸¡Ã½Óõ «øÄ ±ýÚ ¿¡ð¼Ä¡õ.
6.
aadum menavum maruG kuuRRam utaittu veetam
paadum enavum pukaz allatu paavaniiGkak
keedum piRappukkaL maRukkum menak keeddiiraakil
naadun tiRattaarkku aruL allatu naaddalaamee
Meaning:
BEING shape shifting into Siva-Sakti dances the Dance of Bliss and in that
process sings out various metaphysical songs that illuminate the mind and drive
away the Dark Killing Force that comes in the shape of the God of Death, Yama.
Now why should BEING dance thus? It may
be said that it is all done so that all will shower Him with praises. Or it
could be said that He dances thus, to purify the anmas so that they do not
harbor evil thoughts and illuminating the mind with Civanjanam help to conquer
all sufferings including the pains of existential repetition, being thrown
repeatedly into the cycle of birth and deaths. Now for those who are desirous
of TRUTH, it can be said that BEING does this wholly on account of Arul, His
essence.
Comments:
Saivism enshrines the understanding of BEING as the Dancer, where He executes perpetually the Dance assuming the shape of Siva-Sakti for this purpose. This icon has fashioned Saiva Thinking from at least Sumerian times where the Paradise, Dilmun (> Ta. Tillai ManRu) is said to be the Locale where this Dance is executed. Another way of looking at it is to see the presence of Universal Praxis - the Pancha Kritiyas and on account which the world is what it is. It is from a study of the natural world where there is Historical flux that the depths are accessed and where at the deepest level, the Tillai ManRu, this Dance is noted.
And only because of this there is LEARNING on the part of the anmas where truth-experiences are enjoyed and which in illuminating the mind also drive away the Dark Killing Force, the Saitan, metaphorically understood as God of Death, the kuuRRam. The veetam here is the original siddham, (Su. sid: to recite) the songs such as Sambantar sings and which lift up the soul into metaphysical heights and through that illuminate the mind.
And along with this and because of learning it promotes through rational thinking, the anmas also begin to enjoy more and more of the Moksa conferring Civanjanam and which will also redeem the souls from the vicious cycle of births and deaths. The existential repetition - being thrown into bodily existence will follow as long as Civanjana remains even partially concealed.
Now the important philosophical question arises: Why should BEING act thus? Is it for the purpose of securing the PRAISE of the people or to redeem them?
To answer this question Saivism has a developed a Theory of Actions, which is DIFFERENT from the notion of Nishkaama Karma, promoted by Bagavath Gita.
All actions are PURPOSIVE but in this there are TWO kinds. Some actions are Wholly-for-Self-Itself and such actions are the ego-actions. Some actions are Wholly-for-Others and such actions are the ToNdu type, done solely for the benefit of others. Now the actions of BEING are the latter type - wholly for others and hence in the nature of ToNdu. Such actions come into being-there in the world even among individuals only when their personality is dominated by LOVE, by Arul, a disposition that seeks NOTHING as reward.
The actions of BEING are of this type, says Sambantar, as BEING is not only wholly LOVE but also one who lacks NOTHING and seeks nothing outside Himself, the ParipuuraNan.
If every action of BEING is aruL dominated then it is clear that there can be NO EVIL ACTIONS that are prompted by BEING by possessing individuals and making them a tool of His own actions. This raises the important questions about Acts of Violence of the baktas who are thus possessed. The answer to this is that BEING Himself is violent and that is it good, that all acts of violence including killing is not necessarily evil.
It all depends on the INTENTIONS and when they are done not for self but for others, it cannot be evil but only heroic. All heroic actions and which are necessarily violent are praised by people and are rewarded by BEING positively. This is clear from the historical account of CaNdiicar who was born into the Vedic family opposed to the worship of SivaliGkam, but nevertheless he persisted and in the process cut off his father’s legs when he set foot on the sand SivaliGkam he was worshipping. This is a sacrilege against God and any actions that would prevent such sacrileges would count as PuNNiyam, something meritorious.
Thus in relation to BEING there are actions which PROMOTE the presence of BEING and there are sacrileges which would drive away such a presence. Since it has been said that for the overall good of society as a whole the presence of BEING and His grace are essential, any counter action that would serve to check such sacrileges will count as meritorious in addition to being genuinely heroic.
Individuals have to FIGHT vehemently and bravely to maintain the presence of BEING so that the nation and community continues to enjoy the blessings not only of the spiritual kind but also the economic and political. Any society that lacks in this vehemence would be assailed by the Dark Killing Energy and suffer not only cultural decay but also poverty - both the mental and economic.
7.
¸Ê §º÷ó¾ §À¡Ð ÁÄÃ¡É ¨¸ì¦¸¡ñÎ ¿øÄ
Àʧº÷ó¾ À¡ø¦¸¡ñÎ «íÌ ¬ðʼò ¾¡¨¾ ÀñÎ
ÓÊ §º÷ó¾ ¸¡¨ÄÂÈ ¦Åðʼ Óì¸ñ ã÷ò¾¢
«Ê §º÷ó¾ Åñ½õ ÁȢš÷ ¦º¡Ä째ðÎ Áý§È
¯¨Ã:
Àñ§¼ ¿¼ó¾ ´ý¨È «¾¨É ¦Áö¡¸ «È¢ó¾Å÷¸û ÜÈ «ý§È ¿¡õ §¸ðÎû§Ç¡õ. ÓýÒ ºñ˺ ¿¡ÂÉ¡÷, §Å¾ §ÅûÅ¢¸¨Ç µõÀ¡Ð ¿ÚÁ½õ Á¢ì¸ ÁÄ÷¸¨Çì ¦¸¡ñÎõ ÀÍÅ¢ý ÁÊ¢ĢÕóÐ ´Ø¸¢Â À¡ø¦¸¡ñÎõ Á½Ä¢ø ±ØôÀ¢Â º¢ÅÄ¢í¸ò¾¢üÌ «À¢§¼¸õ ¦ºöÂ, «¾¨Éì ¸ñÎ ¦À¡Ú측¾ «Åâý §Å¾¢ÂÉ¡¸¢Â ¾ó¨¾§Â ¸¡Ä¡ø «ó¾ º¢ÅÄ¢í¸ò¨¾ ¯¨¾òÐ «Æ¢ì¸, «¾¨Éì ¸ñÎ ¦À¡È¡Ð ÁØÅ¡ø «ó¾ ¸¡ø¸¨Ç§Â ºñ˺÷ ¦ÅðÊ Å£úò¾ , Óì¸ñ½¢ý º¢Å¦ÀÕÁ¡ý «ÅÉÐ ¯ñ¨Á À쾢¢ý §Å¸ò¨¾ì ¸ñÎ Á¸¢úóÐ ¾ý «Ê¸£ú þÕò¾¢É¡ý. ( þôÀÊôÀð¼ Åý¦¾¡ñÎõ º¢Åò¦¾¡ñ¼¡Ìõ ¸¡ñ- º¢ÅÉÐ «ÕÇ¢üÌô ÒÈõÀ¡ÉÐ «øÄ)
7.
kadi ceernta pootu malaraana kaikkoNdu nalla
padiceernta paalkoNdu aGku aaddidat taatai paNdu
mudic ceernta ceernta kaalaiyaRa veddida mukkaN Muurtti
adi ceernta vaNNam maRivaar colak keddu manRee
Meaning:
I have heard from great ones who know it for truth and who related it to me. There was CaNdiicar, the son of a Vedic Brahmin but who discarded the Vedic ways and worshipped a SivaliGkam made out of the sand and to which he offered fragrant flowers and over which he poured pure and fresh cow’s milk. When his father unable to stand this, tried to kick the SivaliGkam, CaNdiicar without any hesitations chopped off those legs and pleased with which Siva placed him at His Divine Feet (This just shows that even some violent actions are not inconsistent with the aruL of BEING)
Comments:
We have seen BEING, that which is the Power unto itself and the Most High, nevertheless assumes the Iconic form Siva-Sakti and plays a variety of games to redeem the souls and enable them to enjoy Moksa. He provides the physical and mental utensils so that the anmas can THINK and effect actions that are meritorious and with that ascend the evolutionary ladder and enjoy more and more of the Civanjanam and in that also emerge as more and more spiritual. In this there comes a point where thinking shining with rationality as constituted by Hermeneutic Logic is uprooted and aesthetics with ethics centering on LOVE becomes the primordial means of nurturing the Divine Presence and hence continue with the spiritual odyssey.
The Ethics that promotes actions are meritorious also result in the elicitation of karmic traces that would serve to enjoy evolution into the higher kind of spiritual person with this divisive ethical struggle itself transcended when the anma is dominated wholly by aruL, Pure Love for all.
Now when all these are related to the Panca Kritiyas of BEING, it as also noted BEING acts out of aruL and NOTHING else. Though the Divine Praxis is purposive, but they’re of the ToNdu type, meant Wholly-for-Others and not at all for self.
It is at this point the question arises: Such actions as CaNdiicar, which are violent, can they also be considered ToNdu type of actions and hence the meritorious?
Sambantar, as do all the Saivites, affirm that they are and that violence is NOT always an evil.
Actions can be expression of evil intentions or expressions directed at the elimination of such evils. Thus even some violent actions are justifiable because they serve to eliminate the presence of EVIL and hence an action by itself already something Good. This is also consistent with the aruL of BEING for it is out of this aruL that BEING assumes the shape of Rudra to destroy the evils Himself.
CaNdiicar did what he did because of the possession by BEING but in the shape of Rudra, the Destroyer.
Note: Historically this fact may indicate the collapse of Vedism and the success of Saivism in transforming the culture of Vedic Brahmans. Sambantar is another one of them.
The PuraNas are Sources of Truth-Experiences
One of the ways in which the Buddhists logicians developed their positivism is through the device of simply declaring that the Agama PiramaaNa is unreliable and therefore should not be admitted into the kinds of texts that can examined and understood and truth-experiences gained. This rejection is in fact rejecting a large range of human experiences of the type called njananap pariyaaya kaadci or Vinjnjaana kaadci and so forth and which we can call Transductive Perceptions. Such visions are had by going beyond the senses and are the stuff of dream-experiences and states similar to that and in which the senses cease to have active commerce with the physical world. The brain processes are used to generate dreams mythologies and such other experiences so that the hidden and concealed are disclosed and the whole experince has the character of revelations and transpersonal communications. Anyone who studies them properly can see that most of them are directly relevant to the current issues of the person and that the dream mechanisms also exhibit an understanding of what’s going in the life of the person. The deeper kind of dreams, especially the Lucid type where the person is awake but still dreaming become the content of puranas called in this verse Cuutan Olimaalai, the songs of Cuutan the famous narrator of all the puraNas.
While the epistemological mind would see the contents of puranas (and dreams) bewildering, unnatural, fantasies with miraculous and unbelievable events portrayed (thousand hooded snake, Milk Ocean, Golden Mountain, human beings with wings etc) the Hermeneutic mind would seek out their MEANINGS through the science if INTERPRETATIONS and through learning what natural happenings is communicated by such images would also enjoy truth-experince.
All the puranas itikasas and major mythical tales are spun by BEING Himself to help out human beings to cultivate the FEELINGS and NOT simply the rational and logical thinking. Most of the meanings of such stories and weird garb in which they couched are in fact are emotions and feelings and hence their strangeness. But this does not mean that they are irrational and irrelevant. Taken in the proper spirit they can also be sources of reliable and valid truth-experiences. For in dreaming and gaining an UNDERSTANING of the dream while one may NOT be showing strict logical thinking with premises rules of inference and so forth but nevertheless one gains truth-experiences and with that enjoy metaphysical illuminations
8.
§Å¾ Ó¾øÅý Ӿġ¸ Å¢Çí¸¢ ¨ÅÂõ
²¾ô À¼¡¨Á Ôĸò¾Å÷ ²ò¾ø ¦ºöÂô
â¾ Ó¾øÅý Ó¾§Ä Ӿġô ¦À¡Ä¢ó¾
ݾý ´Ä¢Á¡¨Ä ¦Âý§È ¸Ä¢ì§¸¡¨Å ¦º¡ø§Ä
¯¨Ã:
ݾɡ¸¢Â Òá½¢¸ý ¦ºôÒõ ´Ä¢Á¡¨Ä¸Ç¡¸¢Â Òá½í¸û, Å£½¡É ¸üÀ¨É¸û ±ýÚ ´Ðì¸ò ¾ì¸É «øÄ. «¨Å Á¨È¸¨Ç ¦º¡ü¸û ÅÆ¢ ¦¾Ç¢×ÚòÐõ À¢ÃÁõ Ӿġ¸ Å¢Çí¸¢Ôõ «ùÅÊÅõ ±Ø¾üÌâ ÅÊÅÁ¡¸ ³õâ¾ ¯Ä¸¢ý Ó¾øÅÉ¡¸¢Â ¾¢ÕÁ¡ø «Å¾¡Ãõ ±ÎòÐõ ±øÄ¡ ¦¾öÅ ÅÊÅí¸ÙìÌõ Ӿġ¸ô ¦À¡Ä¢Ôõ ¸Ä¢¨Âô §À¡ìÌõ ¦Áö»¡É áü¸û ±ý§È ¸Õи. þ¨Å «¨ÉòÐõ Áì¸û ¦¾öÅí¸¨Ç ²ò¾¢ò ¦¾¡ØÐ ¯ûÇõ ¦¿ìÌÕ¸ ¿¢¨ÉóÐ ¸É¢óÐ »¡Éõ ¦ÀüÚ ¿øÅÆ¢ ¦ºýÚ þýÉø À¡¼¡¾¢Õ츧ŠÀ¡¼ô¦ÀüÈÉ ¸¡ñ.
¸Ä¢ì§¸¡¨Å ¦º¡ø: ¸Ä¢¨Â Å¢ÃðÎõ ¦ºù¨Åî ¦º¡ø
8.
veeta mutalvan mutalaaka viLaGki vaiyam
eetap padaamai yulakattavar eettal ceyyap
puuta mutalvan mutalee mutaalap polinta
cuutan olimaalai yenRee kalikkoovaic collee
Meaning:
The puraNic tales related by Cuutan, the famous pauraanika are not to be put aside as meaningless fantasies. They are in fact productions of BEING who stands as the Deep Structure of Brahma who produces the scriptures and Vishnu, who stands as the Lord of the manifest world. They are there to help out people enjoy through them worshipping and contemplating the icons and tales woven around them, so that their hearts are made to melt and thus made gentle and loving they are saved from falling into the evil ways.
Meaning:
Sambantar takes up here the reliability and validity of the Agama PiramaaNa which was rejected in the epistemological logic of the Buddhists but which also taken as quite reliable by the Naiyayikas who postulated pratyaksa anumana and agama as the valid measures of truth.
According to Sambantar these are “kalikoovai col’ which may be understood as songs that bring tears into the eyes and which cultivate the feelings and emotions , which are NOT catered at all it in a culture that is centered predominantly on logical thinking. The emotionally dry rational thinking does NOT touch the soul for such thinking backgrounds the needs of the heart and which are predominantly that of feelings.
The puranas cater for the needs of the heart and the cultivation of which is important for transforming bestial man into the loving and compassionate.
The puraNas are tales woven around icons and which are presentations of BEING Himself. He assumes the forms of VishNu and Brahma who issues forth from the navel of Vishnu and who possessing such figures as Cuutan, produces these puraNic tales with the purpose of the CULTIVATING the FEELING and emotional side of the human beings.
The puraNic figures and tales woven around them make people wonder exult cry extol worship praise blame lament implore beg; enjoy the aesthetical wonders and so forth. Thus they promote an EXISTENTIAL culture that cultivate aesthetics and thorugh that ethics.
Their validity belongs not to thinking but feeling and unless FEELINGS and their cultivation are also brought into the scientific field of culturing the bestial man, they will appear as meaningless.
The Society must be Organized as for Truth-Experinces
BEING wages war against the evil and while the Siva muurttams, in dealing with the aaNavam directly, are violent because it is violence that will work with it, the other icon form BEING assumes such as that Brahma and Vishnu are less violent in a way. These icon forms are assumed to wage CULTURAL wars whereby the mind is illuminated with truths so that thinking is freed of confusions uncertainties misrepresentations misunderstandings and so forth.
This is communicated by referring to the mythical theme of Siva blessing Vishnu with the Cakra, also called the Sudarsan, that which affords the darsana of truths that breed apodictic certainty. In the cultural field there must be the development of Hermeneutic Sciences, the sciences concerned with gaining truth-experiences where each such an experience is already violating the Darkness of Ignorance, the anjnjaanam or avattai. The darkness in understanding must be battled with and this is done with gaining truth-experiences.
The implication is that it is the WILL of Siva that the scientific temper should permeate every sphere of cultural including the religious so that the understanding of man is filled with truths and NOT falsities. The society as a whole must become a LEARNING SOCIETY where every opportunity is created for all members of society so that they learn and become illuminated, a theme that has been the central dynamics of the Dravidian folks right from Sumerian times. We must recall here the immortal words of Suruppak (c. 3000 BC) here: nig.nam kal-kal-en nig-e me-kal-kal (If one studies the happenings around one would learn great truths).
Saivism has been and will continue to be a culture that is essentially scientific and which develops the feelings of man so that it becomes full of LOVE for humanity as whole and in which it also promotes the development of UNDERSTANDING. There cannot the culturing of feelings without also developing understanding so that there comes to prevail more and more truths in it.
9.
§ÀáƢ¡ÉÐ þ¼÷ ¸ñ¼Õû ¦ºö¾ø §À½¢
¿£Ã¡Æ¢ Å¢ð§¼È¢ ¦¿ïº¢¼í ¦¸¡ñ¼Å÷ìÌô
§À¡Ã¡Æ¢ ®ó¾ Ò¸Øõ Ò¸ØüÈ ¾ý§È
¯¨Ã:
¯Â¢÷¸û ÁýÛõ À¡Ã¡Æ¢Â¡¸¢Â ¯Ä¸ ¯Õñ¨¼, ¬½ÅÁÄõ ±Ûõ ¯Â¢÷ìÌõ ¯Ä¸¢üÌõ À¨¸Â¡¸¢Â «Ð ±øÄ¡õ ¿Ä¢óЧÀ¡õ ÀÊ ±Ø󾡼, þó¾ ¯Ä§¸ «È¢Â¡¨ÁÔõ «¾¦É¡Î ÅÕõ Åý¦¿È¢Ôõ Á¢Ìó¾ §À¡Ã¡Æ¢ ¬ÉÐ. þó¾ þ¼÷¸¨Çì ¸¨Ç ÓÊ¡Р¾ÎÁ¡È¢Â ¾¢ÕÁ¡Ä¢üÌ «Å÷¾õ þ¼÷ ¸ñÎ ¦Å𼡾 ºì¸ÃÁ¡¸¢Â ;÷ºÉò¨¾ «ÅÛìÌ ¯Ã¢Â¾¡ì¾¢É¡ý ¬½ÅÁÄò¨¾§Â ¬ðÎó ¾¢ÈòÐ º¢Å¦ÀÕÁ¡ý. þó¾ì ¸Õ¨½¨Â ¿¢¨ÉóÐ ¿£Ã¡Æ¢Â¡¸¢Â ¦ÀÕí ͸ò¾¢ý À¡ü¸¼ø Å¢ð§¼È¢ º¢Å¦ÀÕÁ¡ÉÐ ´ÕÀ¡¾¢Â¡¸ ¦¿ïº¢¼í ¦¸¡ñ¼¡ý ¾¢ÕÁ¡Öõ. þôÀÊô Àð¼ ¦ºÂø ¦ÀÕí¸Õ¨½Â¢ý º¢Å¦ÀÕÁ¡¨É ¦ÀÕõ Ò¸ØìÌ ¬ì¸¢Â§¾¡Î, Ò¸ú¾ø ±ýÈ¡ø þо¡ý ±ÛõÀÊ þÄ츽ò¨¾Ôõ «¨¼ó¾Ð ¸¡ñ.
9.
paaraazi vaddam pakaiyaal nalintadda vaadip
peeraaziyaanatu idar kaNdaruL ceytal peeNi
niiraazi viddeeRi nenjcidang koNdavrkkup
pooraazi iinta pukazum pukazuRRa tanRee
Meaning:
The phenomenal world, globular earth and all that harbors
the living creatures, suffered immensely when the Dark Killing Energy surfaced
and troubled it. Now Being-as-Siva seeing the predicament of VishNu, the Lord
of the Universe who was unable to the
meet the challenges, granted the Cakra
as the war weapon to fight against it and keep the world safe. Now Vishnu
singing the greatness of Siva, came out off the Ocean of Milk and reposed as
part of Siva Himself. This greatness of Siva not only shows His munificence but
also discloses the grammar of genuine greatness.
Comments:
Sambantar is still with theme of the PuraNas and how they cultivate the aesthetic side of life and thus contributing to the cultivation of Feelings and Emotions over and above rationality of logical acumen. The purely rational mind with logical axe will meet with only Emptiness, the Sunyata, at the end of its activities and thus become confirmed in Nihilism and hence a profound despair and meaninglessness. This is avoided by the cultivation of the aesthetical and the ethical within it and which installs LOVE as that which conditions even metaphysical existence and where the presence of BEING is retained as the Source of Pure Love itself -Anbee Sivam as Tirmular would declare.
Now even this is seen as a kind of warfare in this verse and something made possible by VishNu and in his own way. BEING-as-Siva emerges as the Rudra, the Violent Fire of uncontainable destruction for only this kind of violence with defeat the Dark Killing Energy, the Black Hole, infinitely powerful in its capacity for merciless “killing” of all. But such violence is not always necessary in the cultural sphere where the human sciences can do the job of transmuting personalities into the gentle and loving by enabling the gaining of deep metaphysical illuminations through gaining TRUTH-EXPERINCES. Such experiences are made possible by the Cakra that Vishnu wields and which is said to be a gift of Siva here.
But why Siva?
The violence in the social life of human beings and the various psychological miseries that make existence painful is NOT because of the Tamasa GuNa as the Samkhyas would say and which is accommodated by Sri VaishNavism but rather because of the infiltration of aaNavam, the Killer Force into the mental and hence into cultural spheres. Pervading the mind it will cause the death of the cognitive processes and make the people mean, petty, stereotypic, superstitious and atomic.
The Disc, the Sudarsan that which provides the darsana of Light and hence with that truth-experiences is that which can fight with such mental and cultural decadence. Since it is Siva who can battle with aaNavam, even this disc is attributed to Siva and not to VishNu who is incapable of ascending into the world beyond where aaNavam lurks.
In this verse Sambantar refers to the famous myth where the Ocean of Milk is churned and the Alakaala Visham emerges and which is contained only by Siva and who keeps in His throat. In the context of this Patikam concerned with THINKING as such, what can be its significance?
This most potent poison is the Dark Killing Energy, the Black Hole, just as anati as BEING Himself and over which only BEING-as-Siva has control and because of which He can bring into presence the whole universe by violating the hold of this aaNavam that creates only a VOID. Thus BEING-as-Siva devoids and brings the whole world to be as a presence and maintains it as thus continuously.
Now the various deities like VishNu Brahma and so forth confuse the Tamasa GuNa with aaNava Malam and hence are divine forces which presuppose the PRESENCE of the world and within which operate as shapes of Siva Himself but powerless against this Malam. Thus they are INCAPABLE of handling the Alakaala Visham which is there is the cosmos, even in the primeval matter, the Ocean of Milk, the Maayai as it is anati, eternally there and which emerges as it is churned and various materials are produced.
Now controlling this Poison and ensuring deathless existence or IMMORTALITY, it would appear, is also a blessing of Siva or whatever the name, the Power that can handle this Killer Energy, the Saitan. Thus what is implied by Sambantar here is that the logical thinking must give way to Icon Thinking and which within the scientific field of Hermeneutic Semiotics would gain access into such mythical themes, UNDERSTAND them with such hermeneutic interpretations and gain truth-experiences of deep metaphysical kind and which can only be had in the form of such disclosures by BEING.
10.
Á¡Ä¡ ÂÅÛõ Á¨ÈÅøÄ ¿¡ýÓ¸Ûõ
À¡Ä¡Â §¾Å÷ À¸Ã¢ø ÄÓàð¼ø §À½¢ì
¸¡Ä¡Â Óó¿£÷ ¸¨¼ó¾¡÷ìÌ «Ã¢¾¡ö ±Øó¾
¬Ä¡Äõ ¯ñÎ «íÌ «Á÷ì¸Õû ¦ºö¾ ¾¡§Á
¯¨Ã:
§¾¡ýÈ¢ ¿¢ü¸¢ýÈ ¯Ä¸¢ý ¾¨ÄÅÉ¡¸¢Â ¾¢ÕÁ¡Öõ «Åý ¯ó¾¢ì ¸ÁÄò¦¾ØóРš츢ý «¾¢À¾¢Â¡¸ ¿¢ýÚ Á¨Èáü¸Ç¡¸ô ÀÄ À¨¼òÐ áÄÈ¢¨Å ÅÇ÷ìÌõ ¿¡ýÓ¸Ûõ, ´Ç¢ ÅÊÅòÐ Áü¨È §¾Å÷¸Ùõ «Ãì¸÷¸§Ç¡Î þ¨½óÐ «Ó¾õ ¯ñÀ¾ü¸¡¸ §ÁըŠÁò¾¡¸ š͸¢ô À¡õÀ¢¨É ¸Â¢È¡¸ì ¦¸¡ñÎ À¡ü¸¼¨Äì ¸¨¼Â «Ð¦À¡ØÐ «Å÷¸û ¡Õõ ±¾¢÷ôÀ¡Ã¡Å¨¸Â¢ø ¬Ä¡Ä ¿ïÍ ¦ÅÇ¢ôÀ¼, «Å÷¸û «¾¨É «¼ì¸ ÓÊ¡Рþ¼÷ôÀð¼É÷. «Ð¦À¡ØÐ ¬½ÅÁÄÁ¡¸¢Â þó¾ ¿ïº¢¨É ¯ñÎ ¾ý ¸ñ¼ò¾¢ø þÕò¾¢ ¿£Ä¸ñ¼É¡¸ þó¾ «ÁÃ÷¸û «¾¨É ¯ñÎ º¡¸¡Ð ¸¡òÐ «Õû ¦ºö¾¡ý º¢Å¦ÀÕÁ¡ý.
10.
maalaa yavanum maRaivalla naanmukanum
paalaaya teevar pakaril lamutuuddal peeNik
kaalaaya munniir kadaintaarkku aritaay ezuntu
aalaalam uNdu aGku amarkkaruL ceyta taamee
Meaning
Once when Vishnu, the Lord of the manifest universe and Brahma who emerges from his navel and serves as the Lord of Scriptures and the brilliant celestial beings along with rakshasas churned the Ocean of Milk using the Meru as the rod and Vaasuki, the snake as the rope, there emerged quite unexpectedly the most potent Poison. Siva emerged and swallowed this poison keeping it in His throat, becoming the Blue-throated just to safeguard all these deities from destruction by this poison.
Comments:
This is a well-known puraNic story that is recounted by Sambantar in many of his hymns as is also by Appar and Sundarar. But here it has a significance that has something to do with Hermeneutic Logic that Sambantar promotes and as opposed to the Epistemological Logic of the Naiyayikas and positivistic Buddhists who were opposed to such mythical tales and brushed them aside as irrelevant for metaphysical excursions.
Now once we realize that this Alakaala Visham, the most potent poison is in fact the Dark Killer Energy that swallows every expression of presence and with that brings about a VOID, we can understand the significance of this mythical tale in relation to the general theme of this Patikam.
Vishnu Brahma and the positive and negative celestial beings desire the amutu, the source of immortality, being-there-deathless and for which purpose they churn the PaaRkadal, and which is the Maayai, the primordial stuff from which emerge all things. But unknown to them amidst so many other things there emerges also this aaNavam which is also there as anati, unconfigured entity. Vishnu etc, being entities of the manifest world could not anticipate this Dark Killer Energy and against which they are ineffective. But Siva being the Power unto Himself emerges then and controls this Poison and with that safeguards all the celestial beings.
But what is relevance of this to the theme at hand?
Thinking should seek illuminations by way of truth-experiences and after overcoming the mental confusions because of attachment to the physical world, the Maaya Malam and Karma scripts that throw into existential repetitions, then one should also free oneself from this aaNava Malam, the most primordial of all the Malams and which is NOT possible by any deity except Siva.
Siva is BEING who confers the Sivattuvam and it is this that finally frees the anmas from the grip of aaNava Malam and which makes them Absolutely Pure. To be pure is to be Ninmalan, free of this aaNava Malam and this can be done only by Siva and by no other deities simply because they are powerless against this dark Killing Energy.
There is also a difference between seeking immortality
and Moksa. What VishNu Brahma and so forth seek is immortality , the drinking
of the amutu that would enable them live without death and enjoy existence in
such a place as Vaikuntam and so forth the locale of endless beauties and
pleasures. It is just existence purified of everything ugly including death.
Now Moksa is not only different but ABOVE it - it is
becoming FREE of even this kind of immortal existence and where it remains
one-with BEING Himself.
Sambantar shows himself in this verse that he was a good historian and that Historical Thinking is also a part of metaphysical thinking and metaphysics itself is Natural Metaphysics in the Saiva tradition. One must access the depths within the historical and any thinking that makes the historical world irreal as the Buddhists made it out to be and Advaita Vedanties continued, CANNOT grasp the metaphysical truths underlying the historical. To drive in this point he takes the History of Tamil Language and points out that in contrast to Sanskrit Pali and so many other languages which were living languages at one time became DEAD or surviving only as languages of rituals and so forth but not languages active in the lips of the people. In the time of Sambantar as it is also now, it is Tamil language which is not only the fountain language for all these and numerous others that sprang up and disappeared, but it has survived even the floods that wiped up whole countries. The Tamil language and culture swam across and against the floods and established itself as a living language overcoming such calamities.
But what is the metaphysical TRUTH underlying this historical fact?
The Tamil language was cultivated in the Academies where there was not only full freedom of expression but also the invisible presence of BEING-as-Siva as its president and who disclosed Himself in the body of the literature produced and in the form of TRUTH-EXPERIENCES and the concern with such experiences as the vital moving force. The elegance depth and beauty of the Maduratait Tokai, as said here of the corpus of CaGkam Tamil that served as the model for the whole Bakti literature, possesses the deathless vitality because it has been a tool for disclosing of BEING-as-Siva and who is the Power over even the Dark Killing Force and in the form of various expressions of TRUTH. The Tamil language survives because at the depths we have Siva Himself as its lord and hence the Power that would disallow death and decay- the asattu and would maintain only the truths, the sattu.
This explains why he sang in Tamil and called himself Tamil Virakan, a master of Tamil Language even though he was born into a Vedic Brahman family that chanted the Vedas in Sanskrit. Sanskrit was already a dead language and hence something that cannot disclose the LIVING PRESENCE of BEING and can only expound the world negating Mayavatam, seeing the whole world as a sinister magic devoid of any reality. Sanskrit can explain the corpse but not the living body and person who lives in it.
This also carries the implication that it is only through Tamil literature that one can reach the living presence of BEING and with that also get blessed with Moksa, for only BEING can bless one with Moksa and no one or nothing else.
11.
«üÈýÈ¢ Âó¾ñ ÁШÃò ¦¾¡¨¸ ¡츢ɡÛõ
¦¾ü¦ÈýÚ ¦¾öÅó ¦¾Ç¢Â¡÷ ¸¨Ã째¡¨Ä ¦¾ñ½£÷ô
ÀüÈ¢ýÈ¢ô À¡í¦¸¾¢÷Å¢ý °Ã×õ ÀñÒ §¿¡ì¸¢ø
¦Àü¦ÈýÚ ¯Â÷ó¾ ¦ÀÕÁ¡ý ¦ÀÕÁ¡Û Áý§È
¯¨Ã:
þùÅ¡Ú ±øÄ¡ ¦¾öÅí¸ÙìÌõ ¬Ä¡Ä Å¢„ò¨¾ «¼ì¸¢ ¾ý ¾¢Õ¸ñ¼ò¾¢ø «ÕûÀ¡Ä¢ò¾ ¿õ þ¨ÈÅý, ¾¡§É ¦ÅÇ¢ôÀÎõ Ũ¸Â¢ø «ó¾ñ¨Á ¿¢¨Ãó¾ ºí¸ò ¾Á¢ú À¡ì¸¨Ç ÒÄÅ÷¸û ÅÆ¢ô À¡Ê «¨Å ±ýÚõ ¿¢¨Äò¾¢ÕìÌõ Ũ¸Â¢ø ±ðÎò ¦¾¡¨¸ §À¡ýÈ ¦¾¡¨¸ áü¸Ç¡¸×õ ¿¢ýÚ ¿¢¨Ä¦ÀÈî ¦ºö¾¡ý. þÉ¢ ¿¡ò¾¢¸õ §Àº¢ þ¨ÈÅ¨É þÆ¢ò¾ «È¢Â¡¨Á ¯ûÇò¾÷ ¾¡õ ¸¨Ãó¾ áü¸Ùõ §¸¡ðÀ¡Î¸Ùõ ¦ÅûÇò¾¢ø «Æ¢óЧÀ¡¸, þó¾ ¦¾öÅô ÀÛÅø¸û þôÀÊÀð¼ ¦ÅûÇô ¦ÀÕì̸¨ÇÔõ ±¾¢÷òÐ ¿£ó¾¢ «Æ¢Â¡Ð þýÚõ þÕ츢ýÈÉ. þÅü¨È¦ÂøÄ¡õ ¬ÆóÐ §¿¡ì¸¢ º¢ó¾¢òÐò ¦¾Ç¢Â¢ý, þó¾ ºí¸ò ¾Á¢ú §¸¡¨ÅìÌô ¦ÀÕÁ¡ý ¯ñ¨Á¢ø ²Ú¸ó§¾Úõ º¢Å¦ÀÕÁ¡§É ¡Ìõ ¸¡ñ¸
11.
aRRanRi yantaN maturait tokai yaakkinaanum
teRRenRu teyvan teLiyaar karaikoolai teNNiirp
paRRinRi paaGketirvin uuravum paNbu nookkil
peRRenRu uyarnta perumaan perumaanu manRee
Meaning:
Siva who rescued from death all the celestial beings from
the most potent poison by swallowing it and keeping it in His throat, also
disclosed Himself as the essence of the various compendiums of the Tamil poems
developed in Madurai and as part of the Academies that flourished there and the
President of which was Siva Himself. Now while textual productions of the those
ignorant of BEING disappeared in the floods, the Tamil texts survived swimming
across the tides and thus standing as deathless. We should understand that
Tamil survives perhaps because Siva who rides the Bull of Infinite Fertility
patronizes it.
Comments:
To understand the full significance of what Sambantar says here, we must recall that he hails from Sikaazi there the temple Bramapuram has the TooNi Appar, the Ziusudra who survived the deluge that submerged the whole ancient Kumari Nadu. There must have been current at the time of Sambantar this story of the Flood that gets mentioned frequently in SumeroTamil literature. This and the fact that in Madurai there was the Third Academy that produced various compendiums of outstanding elegance, make Sambantar wonder. He notes the fact that Tamil has survived as a living language over and above so many other languages such as Sanskrit Pali and so forth, which are no more in the lips of the people.
So Tamil possess a surviving vitality as opposed to other languages and this he attributes to the fact that Siva Himself was the president of these academies and hence the various literary productions being disclosures of Himself. It is the presence of Siva as an integral part of the Tamil Language that has made it possible to survive swimming across majestically the various floods.
Thus it would follow that it is Tamil that is the TRUE DIVINE LANGUAGE from the very fact that it has managed to survive as a living language over and above so many languages in the world.
It is interesting that the Sumerians, whom I think are the Tamils of the First CaGkam, also called Tamil ‘eme-ku’ i.e. Divine Language.
The Third TirumuRai 3:54: Potu Tiruppatikam
Saivism is Universal and the Divine Tamil is For All
Sambantar born into a Vedic family but revolted against Vedism that perpetuated the inhuman VarNasrama Dharma that appropriated the Dwija status to a particular community, the Brahmins and as a matter belonging to them exclusively as a birthright. This wedding of the rights for enjoying Moksa to birth and in that denying the same status for the non-Brahmins is entirely INCONSISTENT with true spirituality for it shows an INDIFFERRENCE for the common people. Each person learns the spiritual depths but in his own way and BEING blesses all without fail as said Sambantar above - the ways BEING blesses one is uncountable and hence there is no point in singling out any particular Sadhana and maintain it is only that which is valid and so forth.
The recital of Vedas was made the exclusive privilege of the Brahmins, which perhaps did not exist when the Vedas were composed but however due to some twist of history, it came to be so (as it is even now in some circles) that deprived the non-Brahmins a source of Divine Wisdom. This lacunae came to be filled with the Tevaram Divviya Prabantam and so forth, the Divine Tamil which was made OPEN to all and hence NOT the exclusive privilege of any community.
Thus Sambantar exclaims that he sang these hymns, the paacurams for all to sing and praise BEING, ‘palaarkaLum eetta ‘ etc.
He also presents an alternative for the Epistemological turn the Buddhists of the times gave towards metaphysics. He resurrects the very ancient Hymnology where through singing with the appropriate melodies, the ego is subdued and in that it is lifted up into higher spiritual grounds where additional metaphysical insights blossom in the mind as intuitions, images, mythical stories and so forth and which on being interpreted and understood one is brought CLOSER to BEING and which must be the proper goal of all such enterprises.
12.
¿øÄ¡÷¸û §º÷ ҸĢ »¡ÉºõÀó¾ý ¿øÄ
±øÄ¡÷¸Ùõ ÀÃ×õ ®º¨É §ÂòÐ À¡¼ø
ÀøÄ¡÷¸Ùõ Á¾¢ì¸ô À¡ÍÃï ¦º¡ýÉ ÀòÐõ
¯¨Ã:
º¡¾¢§À¾ ºÁ§À¾ ¦ÁøÄ¡í ¸¼ó¾ ¦À¡Ð¨ÁÔ½÷Å¢ø ¿¢ýÚ «ó¾ñ¨Á âñ¦¼¡ØÌõ ¿øÄ¡÷¸¨Ç§Âò §¾÷óÐ «Å÷¸¨Ç§Â º¡÷󦾡ØÌõ þó¾ »¡ÉºõÀó¾É¡¸¢Â «Ê§Âý, «Øì̸û ¦¸ÎòÐ ¦Áö»¡É§Á §ÅñÎõ ±øÄ¡Õõ ÀÃ×õ ¦Áöô¦À¡ÕÇ¡¸¢Â ®º¨É ²ò¾¢ «È¢Å¢üÌ ´òÐÅÕõ Ũ¸Â¢ø þó¾ ÀòÐôÀ¡¼ø¸¨Çô À¡Ê Ôû§Çý. þÅü¨È ´§Ã º¡¾¢ì§¸¡ Áì¸Ù째¡ ±ýÈ¢øÄ¡Ð ÀøÄ¡÷¸Ùõ Á¾¢òÐ À¡Î¾üÌâ Àñ§É¡Î ÅÕõ À¡ÍÃí¸Ç¡¸ô À¡ÊÔû§Çý. þÅü¨Èô ¦À¡ÕóÐ Àñ§½¡Îô À¡Ê ¦À¡Õ¨Çô ÒâóЦ¸¡ûÇ ÅøÄ¡÷¸û, ¦¾öÅí¸û Ìʦ¸¡ñÊÕ츢ýÈ Å¡§É¡÷ ¯ÄÌõ ÒÌóÐ ¦¾öÅí¸§Ç¡Î «Ç¡Å¢ Å¡ú¸¢ýÈ ¾¢Èò¾Å÷ ¬Å÷.
12.
nallaarkaL ceer pukali njaanacambantan nalla
ellaarkaLum paravum iicanai yeettu paadal
pallarkaLum matikkap paacuraNj conna pattum
vallaarkaL vaanoor ulakaLaavum vallaranRee
Meaning:
I, Njanacambantan who associates only those good souls,
the ANtanar who are free of caste and other kinds prejudices and full of love
for all, have sung these ten verses so that they are appreciated by all
those noble individuals who, free of
prejudices, seek Siva the Ican, the Most High.
They are meant for all people irrespective of all differences to be
valued and appreciated highly by all of them. Now all those who are capable of
singing with the right kind of melody and learn the meanings communicated, will
also gain access into the celestial world and live in the company of the gods.
Comments:
The Bakti movement initiated by such people as Sambantar, was also a movement against Vedism that promoted VarNasrama Dharma where it was insisted that the dwija status is a birthright and the rights to chant the Vedas was strictly forbidden to the non-dwijas. Bakti was a revolt against this barbarism and inhumanity as much as a battle against the atheistic Buddhism and Jainism of the times. Sambantar grew out this casteic Brahmanism and became a Saivite imbibing its universalism. Thus he sings the divine wisdom in a manner that EVERYONE can sing no matter what is his or her background.
He sings of Ican, Siva in the shape of blessing the individuals with Final Liberation and which he notes, is the icon worshipped by all good people, the AntaNar, those who are full of Love and are compassionate towards all and hence truly spiritual. He boldly asserts that he associated himself with such people to show that he grew out off the Brahmanism into which he was born and which perpetuated the immensely inhuman and discriminatory VarNasra Dharma.
In this cultural revolt he also asserts that ANYONE can gain access into the heavenly world provided they choose the Right Sadhana.
But what is the right Sadhana?
It is SINGING the hymns and NOT simply entering into vain and useless logical disputations where the very course taken blinds the individual to the Aesthetic Realities there in the world and the vast range of truth-experiences within that of aesthetics. Singing with the appropriate melodies dulls the logical mind and opening up the eyes enable the person to see the Celestial Beings and with that live with the gods in that heavenly world.
Essences of the Philosophy of Sambantar:
Sambantar in this very important Patikam outlines the essences of a metaphysical thinking that is not at odds with rationality but which also sees the limits of THINKING as such. But before outlining all these he begins with an OUGHT - what must be the PRACTICAL situation towards which all individuals must work and which is the goal of all rational inquires.
He sets up a society that is HAPPY and which avoids all the social evil with a firm believe in Siva, the Aran the destroyer who would wage wars with the evil and with that allow the divine powers bless the people. This blessing comes as good and unfailing rainfall, which is the substance of economic well-being. Then there is a need for good political leadership so that there is social stability and which in turn promotes spiritual life and which in turn produces people who are genuinely spiritual - the AntaNar who through their presence and guidance would bring the celestial beings and the various divine powers to prevail in society.
The world that Sambantar sees is NOT a theocracy or a monarchy or aristocracy but rather a AruL Ulakam, a world that is blessed by divine beings so that there is GOOD thinking among the people with LOVE dominating every fabric of human existence.
All thinking should be directed towards establishing and sustaining such a society.
In this second verse Sambantar outlines the essential iconic details of Civa by way of implication that Icon Thinking must be promoted among people towards creating the AruL Ulakam as described above and which entails the building of temples and the installation icons especially that of Civa so that the public as a whole are pressed into thinking iconically.
But what is fascinating here is that while describing the various and definite icon forms of BEING, he also mentions that BEING is wholly mysterious and hence beyond the reach of the thinking mind. While the icons promote thinking of the INTERPRETIVE type and hence develop understanding but there must be humility with the understanding that BEING is mysterious and there is NO ONE who can show to us the essential form of BEING.
This recognition of the uncanniness of BEING induces OPENNESS in religious matters. When we are NOT sure and can never be sure which is definite and the most preferred shape of BEING then the mind becomes OPEN and inquisitive about all the shapes in which BEING presents Himself
The concept of Cuttam, purity, more technically also described as Nimalam, being free of Malam, the Dark Killing Energy plays an important role in Saivism and Sambantar brings that notion into play here. The wearing of the Sacred Ash symbolizes this PURITY and in a way this is the essence of BEING described also the Most High, the One who is the Power unto Himself. The Most High as Sivam remains the Most Pure and attaining Sivattuvam is in fact becoming Pure, Cuttam.
The Icon Thinking has an important function here - the deep contemplation and an interpretive understanding of the meaning of Sacred Ash, is directed at self PURIFICATION and which is simultaneously therapeutic. The thinking that Saivism promotes is directed at Vinai Tiirttal, getting rid of the Karmic deposits in the Unconscious layers of the mind. To become PURE is to free one from the karmic deposits that are products of evil actions. Thus the notion of becoming PURE brings along with it the ethical dimensions and within the aesthetical.
Sambantar does NOT see a strict separation between Religion and Depth Psychology- both are welded together very neatly and as forms of Hermeneutic Sciences. The various rituals and Icon Thinking are as much a part of Psychiatry as they are of religion.
(to continue) 1
Essences of the Philosophy of Sambantar-2
This is the most important verse that was historically very influential. MeykaNdar quotes it and incorporates its essence as part of Civanjana Botham itself, certainly the most profound metaphysical treatise in the world. The point that Sambantar is at pains to bring out is that BEING is supremely Uncanny so that it is rather difficult to pinpoint exactly how and to whom He would grant His grace. It is not only beyond any determinations but also uncountable.
This understanding deconstructs Brahmanism that makes the dwija status a birth right and which is not only a great lie but an enormous social injustice and which has acted in India so that there is a non-recognition of so many great saints and all because they were not Brahmins. Included in this category would be Punitavati Appar and so forth
It also deconstructs effectively the epistemological claims such as the Naiyayikas who maintained that Piramma karaNam piramaaNam i.e. there are logical measures like Pratyaksa Anumana and Agama which would ensure that something is a truth provided it can be shown to be consistent with these measures. The Buddhists went along with it except that they rejected the Agama PiramaaNa.
What should be the concern of all metaphysical thinking is inquiry into the Right Way, the Sanmaarkkam as described by Tirmular and TiruneRi as described by Sambantar himself. Thinking should be concerned with ETHICS so that one chooses a way of life where EVIL is avoided and only the GOOD is pursued. Thinking that does not concern itself with the GOOD as is the purely logical is quite useless. Thinking that is also purely sastraic and which blindly follows its dictates and in the process does not develop the aesthetic sensitivity within which is located the ethical is also ineffective
There is a difference between what I call Hermeneutic Logic and Epistemological Logic and where Sambantar approves of the former and criticizes the latter. There is a difference between truth-experience and the definitional notion of logical truth. While Naiyayikas and Buddhists promoted the definitional truth, Tolkaappiyam and the hermeneutic logic it established promoted truth-experiences (MeyyuNarvu). Thus the search is for truth-experiences and the science concerned with such truth-experiences is Hermeneutic Sciences. Such experiences cover the whole gamut of human experience and NOT just simply those that are arrived at with thinking and in accordance with rules. Aesthetic experiences including that of feelings and emotions though not bound by any logical thinking but can be truth-experiences in the sense of apprehending what is there objectively. Now such truth-experiences are illuminating and in that destroy the Darkness of Ignorance within and enlarge the scope of what we can SEE.
This kind of truth-experiences that OPEN up the eyes and enable a person to see more and more and with that develop understanding is that which would lead at one point to the vision of BEING as Radiance and at which point interpretive thinking itself is overcome but not aesthetics. Truth-experiences continue but now more in the direction of making the person Purer and with that also more Loving. The personal development that ensues is also that freeing oneself from sadness depressions and so forth.
Thus the Hermeneutic Logic that covers also aesthetics also cultures the person so that he becomes more loving and kind. This, points out Sambantar, is the proper function of rational thinking that would contribute to creating a fair and just society, ruled by just and honest political leaders and also blessed by the celestial beings.
One of the notions that gets continuously mentioned in Saivism is that of AruL, a pure giving on the part of BEING. There are universal Praxis or Play in which there is engracing the world with aruL and with that also defeating the negatives processes that bring about destruction and death. Thus there is a WAR going on in nature between the divine and the evil forces and human beings are caught in this battle and depending in what direction they move, they are either blessed or cursed. The function of rational thinking is that of ensuring a person moves in the direction where he gets more and more of aruL and in that also succeed in becoming more and more illuminated.
Thus the Hermeneutic Logic that guides a person into gaining deeper and deeper truth-experiences are also directed at making the person less bound and more free - i.e. they are LIBERATING on the whole and hence touch the very core of personality - something beyond the ordinary logical thinking.
Thus it is here that Sambantar sees a rationale for the aesthetic cultures - dancing singing and so forth. They may not be strictly logical and in fact may even dull such thinking but because of that they are NOT irrational. In the larger and more inclusive sense of the rational, these fines arts also promote truth-experiences and which are self-purificational as well as liberating.
It is also noted that all these are so because of CiRsakti, the form of energy or aruL that informs a person that a particular experience is an experience of truth and another is not. As Tirumular and many others have noted, it is this CiRSakti that is the genuine aLavai or measure and it is a device that belongs to the Dance of BEING. Through this CiRsakti which informs a person that the experince he is enjoying is an instance of the truth-experience or not with the persistence of doubts and uncertainties, BEING guides the personal development so that be becomes the truly liberated.
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Essences of the Philosophy of Sambantar-3
If every action of BEING is aruL dominated then it is clear that there can be NO EVIL ACTIONS that are prompted by BEING by possessing individuals and making them a tool of His own actions. This raises the important questions about Acts of Violence of the baktas who are thus possessed. The answer to this is that BEING Himself is violent and that is it good, that all acts of violence including killing is not necessarily evil.
It all depends on the INTENTIONS and when they are done not for self but for others, it cannot be evil but only heroic. All heroic actions and which are necessarily violent are praised by people and are rewarded by BEING positively. This is clear from the historical account of CaNdiicar who was born into the Vedic family opposed to the worship of SivaliGkam, but nevertheless he persisted and in the process cut off his father’s legs when he set foot on the sand SivaliGkam he was worshipping. This is a sacrilege against God and any actions that would prevent such sacrileges would count as PuNNiyam, something meritorious.
Thus in relation to BEING there are actions which PROMOTE the presence of BEING and there are sacrileges which would drive away such a presence. Since it has been said that for the overall good of society as a whole the presence of BEING and His grace are essential, any counter action that would serve to check such sacrileges will count as meritorious in addition to being genuinely heroic.
Individuals have to FIGHT vehemently and bravely to maintain the presence of BEING so that the nation and community continues to enjoy the blessings not only of the spiritual kind but also the economic and political. Any society that lacks in this vehemence would be assailed by the Dark Killing Energy and suffer not only cultural decay but also poverty - both the mental and economic.
The PuraNas are Sources of Truth-Experiences
One of the ways in which the Buddhists logicians developed their positivism is through the device of simply declaring that the Agama PiramaaNa is unreliable and therefore should not be admitted into the kinds of texts that can examined and understood and truth-experiences gained. This rejection is in fact rejecting a large range of human experiences of the type called njananap pariyaaya kaadci or Vinjnjaana kaadci and so forth and which we can call Transductive Perceptions. Such visions are had by going beyond the senses and are the stuff of dream-experiences and states similar to that and in which the senses cease to have active commerce with the physical world. The brain processes are used to generate dreams mythologies and such other experiences so that the hidden and concealed are disclosed and the whole experince has the character of revelations and transpersonal communications. Anyone who studies them properly can see that most of them are directly relevant to the current issues of the person and that the dream mechanisms also exhibit an understanding of what’s going in the life of the person. The deeper kind of dreams, especially the Lucid type where the person is awake but still dreaming become the content of puranas called in this verse Cuutan Olimaalai, the songs of Cuutan the famous narrator of all the puraNas.
While the epistemological mind would see the contents of puranas (and dreams) bewildering, unnatural, fantasies with miraculous and unbelievable events portrayed (thousand hooded snake, Milk Ocean, Golden Mountain, human beings with wings etc) the Hermeneutic mind would seek out their MEANINGS through the science if INTERPRETATIONS and through learning what natural happenings is communicated by such images would also enjoy truth-experince.
All the puranas itikasas and major mythical tales are spun by BEING Himself to help out human beings to cultivate the FEELINGS and NOT simply the rational and logical thinking. Most of the meanings of such stories and weird garb in which they couched are in fact are emotions and feelings and hence their strangeness. But this does not mean that they are irrational and irrelevant. Taken in the proper spirit they can also be sources of reliable and valid truth-experiences. For in dreaming and gaining an UNDERSTANING of the dream while one may NOT be showing strict logical thinking with premises rules of inference and so forth but nevertheless one gains truth-experiences and with that enjoy metaphysical illuminations
The Society must be Organized as for Truth-Experiences
BEING wages war against the evil and while the Siva muurttams, in dealing with the aaNavam directly, are violent because it is violence that will work with it, the other icon form BEING assumes such as that Brahma and Vishnu are less violent in a way. These icon forms are assumed to wage CULTURAL wars whereby the mind is illuminated with truths so that thinking is freed of confusions uncertainties misrepresentations misunderstandings and so forth.
This is communicated by referring to the mythical theme of Siva blessing Vishnu with the Cakra, also called the Sudarsan, that which affords the darsana of truths that breed apodictic certainty. In the cultural field there must be the development of Hermeneutic Sciences, the sciences concerned with gaining truth-experiences where each such an experience is already violating the Darkness of Ignorance, the anjnjaanam or avattai. The darkness in understanding must be battled with and this is done with gaining truth-experiences.
The implication is that it is the WILL of Siva that the scientific temper should permeate every sphere of cultural including the religious so that the understanding of man is filled with truths and NOT falsities. The society as a whole must become a LEARNING SOCIETY where every opportunity is created for all members of society so that they learn and become illuminated, a theme that has been the central dynamics of the Dravidian folks right from Sumerian times. We must recall here the immortal words of Suruppak (c. 3000 BC) here: nig.nam kal-kal-en nig-e me-kal-kal (If one studies the happenings around one would learn great truths).
Saivism has been and will continue to be a culture that is essentially scientific and which develops the feelings of man so that it becomes full of LOVE for humanity as whole and in which it also promotes the development of UNDERSTANDING. There cannot the culturing of feelings without also developing understanding so that there comes to prevail more and more truths in it.
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Essences of the Philosophy of Sambantar-4
In this verse Sambantar refers to the famous myth where the Ocean of Milk is churned and the Alakaala Visham emerges and which is contained only by Siva and who keeps in His throat. In the context of this Patikam concerned with THINKING as such, what can be its significance?
This most potent poison is the Dark Killing Energy, the Black Hole, just as anati as BEING Himself and over which only BEING-as-Siva has control and because of which He can bring into presence the whole universe by violating the hold of this aaNavam that creates only a VOID. Thus BEING-as-Siva devoids and brings the whole world to be as a presence and maintains it as thus continuously.
Now the various deities like VishNu Brahma and so forth confuse the Tamasa GuNa with aaNava Malam and hence are divine forces which presuppose the PRESENCE of the world and within which operate as shapes of Siva Himself but powerless against this Malam. Thus they are INCAPABLE of handling the Alakaala Visham which is there is the cosmos, even in the primeval matter, the Ocean of Milk, the Maayai as it is anati, eternally there and which emerges as it is churned and various materials are produced.
Now controlling this Poison and ensuring deathless existence or IMMORTALITY, it would appear, is also a blessing of Siva or whatever the name, the Power that can handle this Killer Energy, the Saitan. Thus what is implied by Sambantar here is that the logical thinking must give way to Icon Thinking and which within the scientific field of Hermeneutic Semiotics would gain access into such mythical themes, UNDERSTAND them with such hermeneutic interpretations and gain truth-experiences of deep metaphysical kind and which can only be had in the form of such disclosures by BEING.
Sambantar shows himself in this verse that he was a good historian and that Historical Thinking is also a part of metaphysical thinking and metaphysics itself is Natural Metaphysics in the Saiva tradition. One must access the depths within the historical and any thinking that makes the historical world irreal as the Buddhists made it out to be and Advaita Vedanties continued, CANNOT grasp the metaphysical truths underlying the historical. To drive in this point he takes the History of Tamil Language and points out that in contrast to Sanskrit Pali and so many other languages which were living languages at one time became DEAD or surviving only as languages of rituals and so forth but not languages active in the lips of the people. In the time of Sambantar as it is also now, it is Tamil language which is not only the fountain language for all these and numerous others that sprang up and disappeared, but it has survived even the floods that wiped up whole countries. The Tamil language and culture swam across and against the floods and established itself as a living language overcoming such calamities.
But what is the metaphysical TRUTH underlying this historical fact?
The Tamil language was cultivated in the Academies where there was not only full freedom of expression but also the invisible presence of BEING-as-Siva as its president and who disclosed Himself in the body of the literature produced and in the form of TRUTH-EXPERIENCES and the concern with such experiences as the vital moving force. The elegance depth and beauty of the Maduratait Tokai, as said here of the corpus of CaGkam Tamil that served as the model for the whole Bakti literature, possesses the deathless vitality because it has been a tool for disclosing of BEING-as-Siva and who is the Power over even the Dark Killing Force and in the form of various expressions of TRUTH. The Tamil language survives because at the depths we have Siva Himself as its lord and hence the Power that would disallow death and decay- the asattu and would maintain only the truths, the sattu.
This explains why he sang in Tamil and called himself Tamil Virakan, a master of Tamil Language even though he was born into a Vedic Brahman family that chanted the Vedas in Sanskrit. Sanskrit was already a dead language and hence something that cannot disclose the LIVING PRESENCE of BEING and can only expound the world negating Mayavatam, seeing the whole world as a sinister magic devoid of any reality. Sanskrit can explain the corpse but not the living body and person who lives in it.
This also carries the implication that it is only through Tamil literature that one can reach the living presence of BEING and with that also get blessed with Moksa, for only BEING can bless one with Moksa and no one or nothing else.
Saivism is Universal and
Divine Tamil is For All
Sambantar born into a Vedic family but revolted against Vedism that perpetuated the inhuman VarNasrama Dharma that appropriated the Dwija status to a particular community, the Brahmins and as a matter belonging to them exclusively as a birthright. This wedding of the rights for enjoying Moksa to birth and in that denying the same status for the non-Brahmins is entirely INCONSISTENT with true spirituality for it shows an INDIFFERRENCE for the common lot. Each person learns the spiritual depths but in his own way and BEING blesses all without fail as said Sambantar above - the ways BEING blesses is uncountable and hence there is no point in singling out any particular Sadhana and maintain it is only that which is valid and so forth.
The recital of Vedas was made the exclusive privilege of the Brahmins, which perhaps did not exist when the Vedas were composed but however due to some twist of history, it came to be so (as it is even now in some circles) that deprived the non-Brahmins a source of Divine Wisdom. This lacunae came to be filled with the Tevaram Divviya Prabantam and so forth, the Divine Tamil which was made OPEN to all and hence NOT the exclusive privilege of any community.
Thus Sambantar exclaims that he sang these hymns, the paacurams for all to sing and praise BEING, ‘palaarkaLum eetta ‘ etc.
He also presents an alternative for the Epistemological turn the Buddhists of the times gave towards metaphysics. He resurrects the very ancient Hymnology where through singing with the appropriate melodies, the ego is subdued and in that it is lifted up into higher spiritual grounds where additional metaphysical insights blossom in the mind as intuitions, images, mythical stories and so forth and which on being interpreted and understood one is brought CLOSER to BEING and which must be the proper goal of all such enterprises.