Those of you who know me, know my love of the Skanda Guru Kavasam - one of the most inspiring/inspired sloka, it is Bhakti incarnate. I cannot count the number of times that I have been sent spiraling upward to a state of blissful 'absorption' (laya) on reading and meditating on the verses of the kavacham. Though practically all the words of the kavasam are full of multiple layers of meaning and are exceptionally poetic, there are a few parts that are 'extraordinary' in every which way. Here I present a small part of it (about 18 lines) with the actual translation of the words followed by a small off tangent commentary of what these lines have meant to me (among many other meanings). Each time I meditate on these verses, a different light is revealed!
For those who don't have the actual text with you at home you can find the full text (in tamil) here and the part we are discussing below is here as a pdf document.
* Destroy all my delusions, (O Lord) and feed (sustain) me on Love.
* Transform me thus, into Love, and rule (guide) me thus forever.
* Anchor this Love (O Lord) in my Soul/Mind, and hold it there without any fluctuations (stable).
* With this Love as your eyes, protect me thus.
* Teach me (O Lord) to firmly grasp the truth, that '' Both what is within and without, the inner and the outer realm, is all in the form of Love. Which again is nothing but Your Grace.''
* (O Lord), You have said/declared '' Limitless Love (Unconditional Love) is the Light of God (realization).''
* (And) You have also said/declared '' Love is everywhere (Omnipresent), existing without the distinctions of here and there (time and space). '' - by this, the truth that love is the very fabric of this universe and all creation is to be understood.
* Love is Siva, and the same Love is Shakti.
* Love is Vishnu (Hari) and the same Love is Brahma.
* Love is the multitude of Devas and it is also the multitude of People.
* That very Love, indeed, is You, and that Love is also Me.
* Love is Truth, and (so) Love is Eternal (constant).
* Love is Peace and again Love is Bliss.
* Love is Silence (Mounam) and Love is the supreme state of Liberation (Moksha).
* Love is the Supreme Brahman(the One being) and Love shines as All (everything - the manifest universe).
* (O Lord), You have established/said that, '' There is no place (in all this universe) which is devoid of Love''.
* (And) That All Pervading Love is my Guru / And my Guru is the incarnation of that All Pervading Love (or) Let that All Pervading Love be my Guru (preceptor).
The above is more or less the translation of the text as it is in the kavacham at the sited part. Here below is a slightly more (deeper?) off tangent interpretation of the same verse in meditational/sadhana/transformation terms -
** By the ''Destruction of delusion'' - the different 'false' perception(s) of I, Me, This, That, etc, which we believe to be 'real' and stop ourselves from ever understanding or being aware of the underlying Love, which is the true universal fabric/essence - is meant.
After this process of cleansing of the mind (of its delusions), the cleansed mind is to be sustained on Love.
** The clean mind after due sustenance on love, is Transformed into (the very nature of) Love and such a pure, transformed mind is ruled/lived in/ abided in by the Lord (Muruga).
** Thus, the pure Mind/ Soul achieves Stillness - the state of Non Agitation of the mental waves. And there remains in the nature of Pure Love, rooted and firm, without wavering.
** This could also imply that such a pure mind in the very nature of Love is extremely precious (shown by equating it to the very eyes) and hence has to be protected (encouraged) fiercely.
** When the purified mind is concentrated by encouraging it to remain in the nature of Love (which by the way is its 'true' nature, as will become clear later), it attains the firm state of clarity, where the Oneness of the inner (microscopic) and the outer (macroscopic) reality is established. Here, it becomes clear that the constituent of All is Love and it is also understood that Love itself is an act of Grace of god. That is to say, through the Grace/Compassion of the Supreme, which is in the nature of All Encompassing Love, this entire universe is made manifest.
** At this stage, the pure mind which is fixed on this All Encompassing nature of Love, achieves the realization of God Head (the Space/Light of God). This realization is made possible only by the mind operating through Unconditional or Limitless Love (without bias).
......More on this tangent in the next post!
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