The secret of dispelling gloom. Mantra-4

Sri gurubhyo namaha.

The fourth mantra in Thirumandiram.

அகலிடத் தார்மெய்யை அண்டத்து வித்தைப்

புகலிடத்து என்றனைப் போதவிட் டானைப்

பகலிடத் தும்இர வும்பணிந் தேத்தி

இகலிடத் தேஇருள் நீங்கிநின் றேனே. 4.

4: Dispells Gloom

The Truth of Spaces Vast, Seed of the Universe orb,

Our Haven of Refuge, He bade me seek and find,

Him I praised by night and day,

And praising thus, gloom{-}dispelled,

I held firm in this world of strife’s.

Com - The Truth of Spaces Vast He is the only Truth/ Reality for the jivas of (spaces vast) all worlds. Seed of the Universe orb He is like a seed (cause) for the Universe (Ether orb or Akaashaa mandala). Our Haven of Refuge, He bade me seek and find He allowed me (out of His boundless compassion) to (seek and find) exist through infinite life cycles, in this incomparable haven of Refuge (The Earth being a sanctuary) called Earth. Him I praised by night and day Him I praised constantly (by night and day). And praising thus, gloom {-} dispelled and as a result of such (constant) worship, my gloom (the darkness of ignorance and wrong knowledge) was dispelled. I held firm in this world of strife’s Thus enabling me to hold firm, in this world of duality and ignorance (strife), to the one true Reality.

*A more secret meaning of this verse is that Siva is to be meditated through the Lunar and Solar nadis (Ida and Pingala) corresponding to the opposing polarities like night and day, which characterise the dual nature of this world. And by neutralising the above mentioned currents, the devotee is able to ascend to a non dual and firm realm of Reality that corresponds to the Haven of Refuge. In this context, the word ‘Haven of Refuge’ implies the Sushumna Nadi or the central channel, into which the consciousness of the sadhaka should be focussed. Note the word 'haven of refuge' used to describe life on Earth and the earth reality itself. Not for the siddars the view that this world is a miserable place full of sin - they percieve the earth as it really is, a haven of refuge, total sanctuary here in this world. Nothing can ever happen to the jiva inside, it merely exists as it always has - untouched and silent.