upatesam-3

  11-15:Tirumular Upatesam 11-15

Upatesam 11

123

   
   
   
   

aLittaan ulakengkun taanaana uNmai
aLittaan amarar aRiyaa ulakam
aLittaan tirumanRuL aadun tiruttaaL
aLittaan peerinbat taruLveLi taanee

         ;       .              .      .

BEING blessed me with the TRUTH that HE pervades all and
granted me existence in a world even beyond the reach of the deities
He blessed me an understanding of the dancing feet that dances endlessly in the Sacred Hall and with that
blessed me with the Universe of Grace of immense Bliss.

aLittaan ulakengkun taanaana uNmai: BEING blessed me with the truth that HE pervades all

aLittaan amarar aRiyaa ulakam: granted me existence in a world beyond the reach even of the deities

aLittaan tirumanRuL aadun tiruttaaL: He blessed me with an understanding of the dancing feet that dances endlessly in the Sacred Hall

aLittaan peerinbat taruLveLi taanee: and with that blessed me with a universe of Grace of immenses Bliss

Commentary

All human beings are in search of happiness and noting that the worldly pleasures always come with problems that darkens the heart there begins a search for a world where one can be in permanent bliss, be joyful forever. This desire is in the bosom of everyone at the deepest sanctuary of their heart and which under ordinary circumstances issue forth as various kinds of earthly desires that call for instrumental actions for attaining them. But such mortals little realise that the pleasures that issue forth from such instrumental actions are transient just like the pleasures of eating when hungry and where the hunger returns after awhile

As opposed to these are metaphysical pleasures, the BLISS that follows by Being-with -BEING in a state of intimate fusion in which the ego is lost completely and the individual becomes totally egoless. Such a state of Being-in-the World cannot be ACCOMPLISHED by instrumetal actions of any kind but only by giving it up totally and be OPEN to be formed entirely by BEING though it may happen UNCOSCIOUSLY at first. At this point uncritical TRUST and UNFLINCHING FAITH are called for despite many challenges on the way. And those who persist are blessed with metaphysical wisdom the initial one being the prevalence of BEING everywhere. Then begins the visions pertaining to the five fold activities of BEING, the production sustenance and annihilation with Disclosure and Concealment of BEING as underlying them. This is the MOST we can get in terms of an understanding of BEING which is metaphorically described as the DANCE and the vision of the dance itself as witnessing the endlessly moving FEET.

But with this begins the supreme illumination that firmly establishes the mind in absolute UNIVERSALITY and in a state where there pervades an ABSOLUTE UNDERSTADING, an understanding of what remained as the mysterious but now plainly transparent and indubitable. It is the indubitablity of pure consciousness unsullied by any shadow of doubt that becomes the source of immense Bliss metaphorically described here as the World of Grace that even the gods do not know of for finally it is NOT an attainment by whatever human efforts bur rather a blessing. The most we can do is to become fit for this blessing and that's the main purpose of existence itself, including the metaphysical.

Upatesam 12.

124.

   
   
   
    

veLiyil veLipooy viraviya vaaRum
aLiyil aLippooy adangkiya vaaRum
oLiyil oLipooy odungkiya vaaRum
teLiyum avaree civa cittar taamee

The genuinely illuminated Siddhas are those who understand
Beyond any shadow of doubt that Being-with-BEING is like
Pure space spreading out within Abslolute Space
True love getting subdued by Divine Love and
Clear Light being subdued by the transcendental Light Supreme

                   ,        ,         .

veLiyil veLipooy viraviya vaaRum: like pure space spreading out in absolute space

aLiyil aLippooy adangkiya vaaRum: like true love getting subdued only by Divine Love

oLiyil oLipooy odungkiya vaaRum: like clear light being subdued by transcendental Light Supreme

teLiyum avaree civa cittar taamee : the genuine Civa Siddas are those who understand Being-with-BEING as above without any doubts as such

Commentary

Metaphysical excursions which is the genuine religious life is a journey, a pilgrimage and because of which pilgrimages to sacred places have become instituted as part of the ritual obligations in all religions. It is a TRAVEL with a destination and it is in the conception and understanding of this , the end point of the travel that there are many differences over which, at least in India, there has been vigourous disputes for millenniums. And in this verse emerges a concept of it called Sudda Advaita of Saiva Siddhanta to distinguish it from various kinds of advaitas and which is distinctly HERMENEUTICAL. The end state is an UNDERSTADING as all metaphysical journeys are hermeneutical i.e. concerned with definitisation of the naturally finite human understanding. And the anma does not get evaporated and become a non-entity as it is claimed in the well known Advaita Vedanta of Sankara for there is the EXPERIENCING of bliss and unless there is this anma even at this stage as the experiencer, there can be NO articulation of this experience at all.

Then the question arises: How are we to understand this end state? and Thirumular addresses this question in this verse in touching metaphors and analogies to explain the matter, mindful of the hermeneutical foundations within which he moves. Only bounded space can merge and be one with the boundless when the bounding factors are removed. Here the space of the pot becoming the vast open space on being broken is an apt example. But the space of the pot stands for CONSCIOUSNESS of the limited understanding of man which become the SAME as the Supreme Consciousness of ABSOLUTE BEING when the defiling and delimiting factors are removed. There is total merger, the UNDERSTANDING is no more human , that of an anma, but that of BEING.

And now we should note that understanding has TWO aspects to it-- that of SCOPE and that of CONTENT. The above analogy applies to the SCOPE and the analogy of the little light being OUTSHINED by the larger light applies to the content. The UNDERSTADING of BEING is supremely ILLUMINANT and therefore suffers no development or change. The human consciousnees, the Light with which it sees become subdued in the face of the BRILLIANCE of BEING just as the light of stars gets subdued by the brilliance of the sun. The little light is there but it fails to OUTSHINE the larger light; for there is complete WITHDRAWAL.

Such is also the case with DIVINE LOVE where BEING is understood as LOVE itself, "anbee sivam" also articulated by Thirumular elsewhere. Just as goodness can be conquered only by a higher goodness so is with love, the little love can be conquered only by a larger and purer love by putting the forrner to shame. Just is the case even with the human love no matter how pure it is-- it gets conquered by Divine LOVE, the LOVE that BEING HIMSELF IS as His essence. The human love even of the most saintly person is reduced to NOTHING in comparison to the Divine Love of BEING.

Thus the END STATE of the metaphysical journey is that of DEFEAT, the human being defeated by the Divine and hence the human becoming totally egoless but by that divine in essence

Upatesam 13

125.

   
    
   
   

cittar civalookam ingkee tericittoor
cattamunj catta mudivum tammuL koNdoor
nittar nimalar niraamayar niiLpara
muttar tham mutti mutal muppattaaRee

The genuine Siddhas are those with capabilities for transductive perceptions
See the divine world while still in this earthly world and through hermeneutic investigations
Have seen the languages and their limits in their own understanding and because of which
They live in a world of absolute permanence , totally Pure and forever Unchanging and as such
Enjoy the final liberation having understood all the metaphysical realities , thirty six in number
As those that have provided the necessary steps towards this ascendance.

  ,            .              .      ,          .                36          .

cittar civalookam ingkee tericittoor: the Siddhas are those who with their capablities for transductive perceptions , have seen the divine world here itself

cattamunj catta mudivum tammuL koNdoor: who have realised that the origins of languages and their limits are in their own understanding

nittar nimalar niraamayar : live in a world of absolute permanence, totally Pure and forever Unchanging

niiLpara muttar : enjoy the final liberation forever

tam mutti mutal muppattaaRee: understanding that all the metaphysical realities, 36 in number as the ones that provide the necessary steps ( towards this ascendance)

Commentary:

The final liberation, that FOR-WHICH existence is, the paramutti, is a state of Being-in-the- World which is the end point of the metaphysical journey that is simultaneously Hermeneutical, i.e something that pertains to UNDERSTADING. That which liberates the mind is CLEAR UNDERSTANDING, for that which is understood ceases to be of any importance to the individual who understands it. This hermeneutical principle plays a central role in the Saivism of Thirumular that he equates with Siddaism of a kind.

Understanding involves SEEING, the therisanam, and hence the liberated person is understood here as the one who has SEEN all and hence the one who has developed all the possible kinds visionary capablities including the transductive, metaphorically understood as the vision of the THIRD EYE, the eye that remains normally closed in the forehead. A person becomes a Siddha or a mystic when he gets this eye opened and begins to enjoy visions of the hidden mysteries that baffle the ordinary individuals. Such visionary experiences are actually higher developments of the dreaming capablities that all individuals are gifted with.

But this is NOT sufficient to attain the Final Liberation but constitutes only an important stage of developemnt towards it. The contents of the mystical visions must be INTERPRETIVELY understood and one should aspire to be ILLUMINATED by such hermeneutic exercises. It is during the course such exercises that one would realise that the mind functions with a variety of languages, the phonetic, the mythical , the mantraic and so forth but the root cause of all being TEMPORALITY within and which has as its cause METAPHYSICAL IGNORANCE as such. There are languages of all sorts only because there is IGNORANCE deep within onself and when there is NO MORE this ignorance, the LIMITS of language as such is also reached.

Being-in-the -World with this kind of understanding that has transcended TIME constitutes Being is absolute permanence, in absolute Purity and Unchangeableness. And at the same this time, this understanding will also understand the physical and metaphysical world as constituted by the Tatvas, the experience fabricating elements as constituting the necessary EVOLUTIONARY LADDERS that can serve one to attain this final state of absolute liberation. The experiential world is NOT a magical fiction, an illusion or delution of an aberrant mind but rather illuminating realities that help one to ascend higher and higher and finally attain the final liberation!

Upatesam 14

126

   
   
    
   

muppatum aaRum padimutti eeNiyaay
oppilaa aanantattu uLLoLi pukkuc
ceppa ariya civang kaNdu taan teLintu
appari caaka amarntirun taaree

The genuine Siddhas are those using as ladders the thirty and six tatvas
Ascend towards and succeed in entering the world of Inner Light that breeds incomparable Bliss
And witnessing BEING who wipes out any impulse towards speech and
Having Understood HIM as HE is in Himself with absolute clarity
Remain absolutely contented realising that that is for which life is!

    36                      ,                          .

muppatum aaRum padimutti eeNiyaay: Using the 36 tatvas as ladders towards Absolute Liberation and ascending

oppilaa aanantattu uLLoLo pukkuc: towards and entering the world of Inner Light that breeds incomparable Bliss

ceppa ariya civang kaNdu taan teLintu: understanding BEING who wipes out speech and having understood HIM as HE is in Himself

appari caaka amarntirun taaree: remain absolutey contended realising that that is for which life is

Commentary:

The real journey that one should undertake in life is the metaphysical journey, a journey of archeoductive movement into the hidden Depths of oneself. For there lurks, the Inner Light that illuminates all and hence wipes out all the MYSTERY that remains baffling the mind. This Mystery remains as the real UNCONSCIOUS, that part of our own mind that under normal circumstances is BEYOND our comprehension and which is AVOIDED by the ordinary individuals because of some kind of FEAR. But the genuine Siddhas prove themselves to be UNAFRAID of this inner archeology that digs out the hidden elements that fabricate our existence and whatever configures not only our existence but the world and everything else that constitutes the experience.

Against the Mayavadic Vedanta that sees all these as mental fabrications and a kind of fantasy , a vacuous fabrication of the mind, Thirumular sees them as Tatvas, 36 in number as REALITIES that constitute the world and the human experiences as such. They must be UNDERSTOOD as to what they are in terms of their essence and functions and which is really UNDERSTADING them and hence existence itself. We should NOT AVOID understanding as to what they really are by a whimsical act of the mind that discharges them as irreal just like dream elements.

The understanding of the Tatvas enhances the Inner Light for each Illumination we succeed in gaining is actually allowing the Inner Light already there to shine with greater brilliance. Thus the Tatvas become the LADDERS that help one to attain CLEAR CONSCIOUSNESS , a consciousness of indubitable certainty; and hence experiencing of Hermeneutical Bliss, a bliss born of absence of uncertainties of whatever kind.

Now only at this point the authentic FORM of BEING also becomes transparent for such a consciousness TRANSCENDS the archetypally constituted consciousness and hence always coming with the feeling that there is a BEYOND, a MYSTERY still not reached and understood yet.

Now at this point also occurs the wiping out of thetic-consciousness, the CudduNarvu, consciousness formed by a that-ness. This wiping out that only an understanding of BEING as He is in Himself can effect is also the destroyer of the capacity for SPEECH as such. For when there is NOTHING in consciousness as a THAT or a THERE, there can be NO speech at all..

The attainment of this state of Being is also an attainment of state of NO DESIRES, the attainment of a state of FULL SATURATION. Thus the Siddhas who have reached this state would know implicitly that they have arrived HOME, attained the Paramutti and remain simply contended, fully enclosed within themselves.

Upatesam 15

127

   
   
   
   

iruntaar civamaaki engkun taamaaki
iruntaar civanceyal yaavaiyum nookki
iruntaar mukkaalattu iyalbaik kuRittangku
iruntaar izavuvan teytiya coombee

 ,    ,            ,     .              ,       

The genuine Siddhas will LIVE in the world with an inner purity and universalism that allows them to be ONE-WITH eveything in the world by virtue of the fact they overcome finitude and begin to see everthing as the Dance or Praxis of BEING and hence without any ego intrusions at all. Having trancended TIME they Being outside it witness it as something that comes to because of DESIRES and always in a state MOURNING, the mourning that arises because of the DEATH of all the worldy desires.

iruntaar civamaaki engkun taamaaki: (the Siddhas) remained as being everywhere having attained inner PURITY (by attaining civattuvam)

iruntaar civanceyal yaavaiyum nookki: are there in the world but SEEING only the UNIVERSAL PRAXIS, the civasc ceyal
iruntaar mukkaalattu iyalbaik kuRittangku : are there having transcended TEMPORALITY and hence with the full understanding of TIME with the three ektases odf past present and future;

iruntaar izavuvan teytiya coombee: are there mourning the loss of every worldly desires (that make the mind finite)

Commentary

Certainly this is one of the deepest and most profound metaphysical statement anywhere in the world and constitutes the unshakeable foundation of Metaphysica Universalis that Saivism embodies. It unfolds the MYSTERY surrounding the presence of TIME as a universal feature of ALL human understanding transcending religions cultures, ethnicities languages and what not. There is TIME as a fabrique of human consciousness and which constitutes their LINGUISTICALITY, a special competence of all living creatures. Underlying this competence is THETIC consciousness, understanding of things as "this" and "that' and without which language with Noun and Verb phrases is impossible.

But it is possible to RISE ABOVE TIME and be in a state of consciousness FREE from TIME or temporality. This is an UNDERSTANDING the Absolute Understanding, the CIVANJANAM that remains the primordial possiblity of all. But to attain this we must be FREE of worldly desires and become PURE. The attainment of this inner purity is what is meant of "civamaakutal" i.e " becoming civa". It is a state of Being absolutely PURE and which means without any desires AS-FOR-ONESELF-ONLY but rather WHOLLY-FOR -OTHERS. In other words it is state of Being without any ego at all, it is submerging the ego-concerns and allowing only Divine-concerns to prevail , dominate and determine the praxis, the whole range of actions one does. This constitutes "the civa ceyal nookkal" seeing and doing only the Divine Praxis that pervades the whole universe, metaphorically understood as the eternal Dance of BEING. There are now eyes only for this and nothing else.

This state of Being also unfolds the MYSTERY of TIME with its ektases of past , present and future. Temporality exists only as long as there are EXPECTATIONS and hence always oriented towards the FUTURE and in terms of which the present and past are cognised. But if there does not come to be the state of EXPECTING something, awaiting for this is and that, then there will NOT be temporality itself!

When this Understanding bursts upon oneself, the Siddhas will remain DEAD to the worldly desires and be in state of MOURNING. However this is NOT a state of sadness , depression and so forth. It is a state SUPREME BLISS, a bliss of Being finally at HOME that breeds the feeling that there is NO MORE ANYTHING BEYOND, that the END of EVOLUTIONARY journey that that has taken countless number of births and deaths has come to an END.

HOME