Kingly regalia,domains and riches are impermanent - mantrA 168

srigurubhyO namahA |
With the 168th mantrA, we come to start the next segment of instruction to the disciple. This is a short sub section with only nine mantrAs and here the sage proceeds to highlight the impermanent nature of wealth. The word 'wealth' here refers to material wealth - one's cattle, houses, land, money, etc.

3.. செல்வம் நிலையாமை

அருளும் அரசனும் ஆனையம் தேரும்
பொருளும் பிறர்கொள்ளப் போவதன் முன்னம்
தெருளும் உயிரொடும் செல்வனைச் சோ஢ன்
மருளும் பினையவன் மாதவ மன்றே. I.3.1.168.

3 TRANSITORINESS OF WEALTH

Before others seize and away your riches take,
Your elephant and car, your kingship and grace,
Even while life pulses, if you the Lord's asylum seek,
To you thus in fear dazed, the penance true its reward pays. I.3.1.168

Com – Your elephant and car, your kingship and grace, Before others seize and away your riches take, Before the time comes where others snatch away the various luxuries; of your kingship, of your enormous army composed of elephant and chariot forces, of your life full of the grace and symbols of ample wealth and comfort Even while life pulses, if you the Lord's asylum seek, and while still possessed of the life force, if one due to clear mind is able to seek out the one thing that is eternal (i.e. siva) and attain to His grace To you thus in fear dazed, the penance true its reward pays. Then he will surely reach a state where there is no more fear, a place where there is no need for any further penance (i.e. liberation).

*After first illustrating the perishable nature of the human body, the sage draws the attention of the student towards the transitory nature of material wealth. We are material beings and all our lives are spent either gathering the various material objects or enjoying their delights. Success in life is measured in terms of the number of cars and the size of the house one owns, by the position of power one enjoys (in public and private life). This is a sorry state of affairs, as in reality neither kingship nor the possession of vast riches is a permanent state. Even if one was fortunate enough to keep away the envious and the devious from one’s wealth and status all through one’s life, surely there will come a time when death will snatch all this in an instant! 

Thus the sage advices the sincere seeker to begin his spiritual evolution at once; while the body is still endowed with life and vitality. All these various material possessions are but temporary in our lives and any idea of ‘ownership’ leads only to sorrow. Instead, if we seek and identify (through the grace of the guru and through the many pointers in this text) the real tattvA known as siva, we will have found the one thing that is eternal. The union with siva is not something that can be limited by time or even place. It is everlasting and even death is unable to snatch this away as the Self is deathless and immortal. This is indicated by the last line of the verse which declares that such a one ‘will not be distracted by even the greatest of penances’ – the meaning is that for such a one (who has realised and attained oneness with siva) there is no further need for penance or prayer, as it is only to arrive at the ground of self realisation that those practises are indicated as methods for. Once we arrive at our destination, there is no further need for the train which brought us there.

thirucchitrambalam |

Nothing can lure back the life that left - mantrA 167

srigurubhyO namahA |
In the 167th mantrA, which is the last one of this subsection , the sage wonders what difference it would make to let the ravens and crows peck away at the dead body instead of cremating it through the proper methods prescribed in the scriptures.

காக்கை கவா஢லென் கண்டார் பழிக்கிலென்
பாற்றுளி பெய்யிலென் பல்லோர் பழிச்சிலென்
தோற்பையுள் நின்று தொழிலறச் செய்தூட்டுங்
கூத்தன் புறப்பட்டுப் போன இக்கூட்டையே. I.2.25.167

What though the ravens on him feed and way-farers scorn?
What though you feed with parting drops of milk; or many scoff?
For, know that this bag of leather, inflated awhile,
The Great Show-man blows and batters with a smile. I.2.25.167

Com - For, know that this bag of leather, inflated awhile when this body which is nothing more than a bag of leather, falls when it has reached the end of the fruit of its merits The Great Show-man blows and batters with a smile. And when the great show man, the one who has been feeding the body the fruits of its actions, the hero of the story of life, namely the the life force has departed from the body, it is nothing more than an empty shell. What though the ravens on him feed and way-farers scorn? (and when you realise this truth) what does it matter if the dead body became a feast for the ravens? Or what does it matter if bystanders and wayfarers condemn it? What though you feed with parting drops of milk; or many scoff? What does it matter if after cremating the body the ashes were collected and drops of milk offered to it? What does it matter then if many praised it?

*In the final mantra of this sub section on the transitoriness of the body, the sage indicates that the faculties of sensation and reason exist in the body only during the period where the life principle is associated with it. After death, the body itself is just a ‘bag of leather’. The observation that it does not matter to the body if it is being pecked at by ravens or if the proper rites associated with cremation were performed duly, is spoken purely from the standpoint of the dead and feeling less body. It should not construed as the sage’s view with regard to the Hindu cremation practises. The emphasis is on the fact that once the indwelling life principle has departed from the physical body, there is nothing more of the ‘experiencer’ left in it and thus it is incapable of recognising what happens to it. The juxtaposition of the the two sets of opposites in the last two lines of the verse suggests performance of the appropriate funeral rites to be a path that is commended.

thirucchitrambalam |

Life's procession leads but to the grave - mantrA 166

srigurubhyO namahA |
Nearing the end of this subsection dealing with the transitory nature of this body, the sage mentions that death arrives at the appointed time for everyone and that there is nothing one can do to protect oneself from the messengers of death.

குடையும் குதிரையும் கொற்றவா ளுங்கொண்டு
இடையும்அக் காலம் இருந்தது நடுவே
புடையு மனிதனார் போக்கும்அப் போதே
அடையும் இடம்வலம் ஆருயி ராமே. I.2.24.166

With horse and sword and canopy outspread,
Man fills his fugitive years with pride of life;
But even as the grand cavalcade sweeps past,
Circling from left to right, expires the breath of life. I.2.24.166

Com - With horse and sword and canopy outspread, (Even though) The king marches boldly on his tall and handsome horse with the outspread white canopy, displaying his sword a symbol of his rulership Man fills his fugitive years with pride of life; and even though all his subjects that he has ruled in the period of his life marched along with him flanking him on all sides But even as the grand cavalcade sweeps past, and even though the great procession of soldiers, horsemen and commoners enclosed him from all sides Circling from left to right, expires the breath of life. At the appointed time, death never fails to strike and when he does, the (ruler’s) breath stops after spiralling once suddenly from the left to the right.

*Even if one were an anointed king and the ruler of vast peoples, and even if one were surrounded on all sides with an immense army accumulated over the period of time known as life, who were fully armed and ready to defend their king, there is nothing that can stop death. If that was the appropriate time for the king to die, then this army and grand cavalcade can offer no protection from death. Even in the middle of all this, the king’s life breath would simply spin from left to right once and stand still forever after.

thirucchitrambalam |

Those who do not adore the Lord,lie writhing in the seventh hell - mantrA 165

srigurubhyO namahA |

Here we are with the 165th mantrA of the thirumandiram - the break over the last ten days was, as you would be quite aware, due to navarAtri. I am back now totally re energised after it! In this mantrA the sage warns us of the scale of sorrow that one who has not recognised siva experiences. It is my own personal understanding that the sage indicates merely the truth that one will have to undergo endless births and deaths until the truth regarding siva tattvA or supreme Self is understood; by comparing it to the journey through the seven deadly hells.

மடல்விரி கொன்றையன் மாயன் படைத்த
உடலும் உயிரும் உருவந் தொழாமல்
இடர்ப்படந்து ஏழா நரகிற் கிடப்பர்
குடர்ப்பட வெந்தமர் கூப்பிடு மாறே. I.2.23.165

While the body the Lord of blooming Konrai wrought
And Life worshipping not the Divine,
In the Seventh hell, neglected lie,
Writhing in pain and wordless agony keen,
The kith and kin, widely crying, did shout and howl and sigh. I.2.23.165

Com - While the body the Lord of blooming Konrai wrought And Life worshipping not the Divine, Those who do not know to recognise and worship the Self that is present mingled with the body and with the life principle, created so beautifully by the Lord of mAyA; Siva who wears bunches of fully bloomed konrai flowers on his thick matted locks In the Seventh hell, neglected lie, attain to all sorrows and endless misery by journeying repeatedly through the seven hells. Writhing in pain and wordless agony keen, The kith and kin, widely crying, did shout and howl and sigh. Their state of deep agony is something similar to that which is experienced by the kin at the death of someone very dear; a great sorrow tearing through their very being making them howl with such ferocity as if their very guts were being torn apart.

*The term ‘madal viri konraiyan’ refers to the form of siva manifest in yellow effulgence. The term ‘mAyan’ is often a reference to Vishnu, however here it is used in the sense of Lord of mAyA and thus is a reference to siva. The sage warns that those who are incapable of seeing the self saturating both the body and the life essence and thus worship that true and eternal tattvA (siva) will be led astray (by the delusion of the body’s reality) and will find themselves (through wrong actions) in the seven hells – i.e. would be the recipients of great misery due to repeated births and deaths. The seven hells are allal, rOuravam, kumbIbAgam, kUdasAlam, sendhUtthAnam, bhUtI and mAbhUtI. Those who are ignorant of the true principle (self) would undergo much sorrow.

thirucchitrambalam |