He made sensory consciousness merge in god consciousness - mantrA 119

srigurubhyO namahA

In the next mantrA, the sage reveals how the ordinary sense consciousness of the jIvA is transformed into the super consciousness upon receiving the upadEshA of a sat guru and acting on the instructions of the guru.

அறிவுஐம் புலனுட னேநான் றதாகி
நெறியறி யாதுற்ற நீர்ஆழம் போல
அறிவுஅறி வுள்ளே அழிந்தது போலக்
குறியறி விப்பான் குருபர னாமே. I.1. 7.119.

He Made Sensory Consciousness Merge in God Consciousness

Consciousness hanging on to the senses five,
Knowing not its course as on deep waters drifting,--
Consciousness sensory merging in the Consciousness deep,--
Thus He pointed the Way,--He, the Guru Supreme. I.1.7.119.

Com - Consciousness hanging on to the senses five, The jIvA's consciousness (normally) is merged to the five senses Knowing not its course as on deep waters drifting,-- and in this state, it remains confounded, akin to one who has been caught up in torrential flood waters being swept by the force of the current. Consciousness sensory merging in the consciousness deep, -- However, like when the lower knowledge is absorbed and dissolved into the higher knowledge, Thus He pointed the Way, -- He, the Guru Supreme. The competent guru reveals the way by producing clarity of vision and gradually he leads/ guides the disciple to his highest potential.

# The above mantrA is quite simple and easy to understand. The five senses refer to the five types of sensory knowledge – shabda (sound), sparsha (touch/feeling), rUpa (sight/form), rasa (taste) and gandha (smell). These are also known as the tanmAtrAs or the subtle elements. It does not refer to the actual indriyAs or the sense organs/ instruments.

The day to day consciousness of the jIvA is normally entirely composed of the knowledge gleaned through the five sense instruments and would thus be broadly possessed of the attributes specified above. We do not ‘know’ something that we are not able to ‘see’, ‘feel’, ‘hear’, ‘taste’ or ‘smell’ – if the products of this external/ phenomenal world do not possess one or more of the above attributes, there is no way for us to be ‘aware’ of those products. They will simply cease to be.

But in this normal condition, the consciousness of the jIvA is confused and confounded by the varied sensory stimuli and the jIvA is deluded into imagining a varied and graded world, where as there is but One. The underlying reality of the supreme, which is the beingness (sat) that manifests variously is misunderstood and the jIvA undergoes suffering and birth and death. When one’s consciousness is coupled with the above senses, it merely leads one into the endless cycle of birth and death – samsArA.

However in contrast to this is the state of consciousness that is produced as a result of the upadEshA of a competent guru. When the consciousness of the jIvA is coupled with the greater knowledge that has been transmitted through upadEshA by the guru, then it becomes the path out of this endless trans migratory cycle and becomes the root cause of freedom.

Thus we have that the upadEshA of a guru is capable of producing a greater knowledge (siva g~nyAnA) which absorbs unto itself the lesser knowledge (of external phenomenal reality) and as it waxes, this greater consciousness becomes the agency through which one attains to the destination or goal – namely the state of siva.

thirucchitrambalam