Eights Stanzas on Sri Arunachala

Arunachala Ashtakam

‘The hill which draws to itself those who are rich in jnana-tapas^[1] is this Arunachala.’

aaÿi-vaÿu giri-yena amar-darum ammå
adi-saiam idan-seyal aÿi-vari dårkkum
aÿi-vaÿu siÿu-vaya dadu-mudal aruœå
chala-migap peri-dena aÿi-vini laÙga
aÿi-gilan adan-poru¿ adu-tiru vaœœÅ
malai-yena oru-varÅl aŸi-vuŸap peê-êÿum
aÿi-vinai maru-¿uŸut taru-ginil ≠rkka
aru-guŸum ama-yami dacha-lamåk kaÙøén

1. Hearken! It stands as an insentient^[2] hill. Its action mysterious, past human understanding. From the age of innocence it had shone within my mind that Arunachala was something of surpassing grandeur ^[3], but even when I came to know through another that it was the same as Tiruvannamalai I did not realize its meaning. When it drew me up to it, stilling the mind, and I came close – I saw it stand unmoving ^[4].

kanda-van evan-enak karut-tinu¿ œådak
kaœøa-van inøÿiøa ninØŸadu kaœøén
KaœØa-nan enøÿi-øak karut-tezha villai
kaœØi-lan enØŸi-dak karut-tezhu måÿen
viœ-øidu vi¿ak-kiØu viŸa-luÿu vánår
viœøi-lai paœØun≠ vi¿ak-kinai yen-øÿal
viùøiøå dunni-lai vi¿ak-kiøa venøÿé
viœ-øalam achalamå vi¿aù-giøa ninØÿåi

2. ‘Who is the seer?’ When I sought within, I watched the disappearance of the seer and what survived him. No thought of ‘I saw’ arose; how then could the thought ‘I did not see’ arise ? Who has the power to convey this in words when even Thou, appearing as Dakshinamurti, couldst do so in ancient days by silence only ? Only to convey by silence Thy transcendent state Thou standest as a hill, shining from heaven to earth.

3. When I approach, regarding Thee as having form, Thou standest as a hill on earth. If with the mind, the seeker looks for Thy essential form as formless, he is like one who travels the earth to see the ever-present ether. To dwell without thought upon Thy boundless nature is to lose one’s separate identity like a doll of sugar when it comes in contact with the ocean of nectar; and when I come to realize who I am, what else is this identity of mine but Thee, Oh Thou who standest as the towering Aruna Hill ?

4. To look for God while ignoring Thee who art being and consciousness is like going with a lamp to look for darkness. Only to make Thyself known as being and consciousness, Thou dwellest in different religions under different names and forms. If yet men do not come to know Thee, they are indeed the blind who do not know the sun. Oh Arunachala the great, Thou peerless gem, abide and shine Thou as my Self, one without a second !

5. As the string in a necklet of gems, it is Thou in Thy unity who penetratest all the diversity of beings and religions. If, like a gem when it is cut and polished, the impure mind is worked against the wheel of the pure mind to free it of its flaws, it will take on the light of Thy grace and shine like a ruby, whose fire is unaffected by any outward object. When a sensitive plate has been exposed to the sun, can it receive impressions afterwards ?  Oh benign and dazzling Aruna Hill !  Is there anything apart from Thee ?

6. Thou art Thyself the one being, ever aware as the Self-luminous Heart! In Thee there is a mysterious power which without Thee is nothing. From it proceeds the phantom of the mind emitting its latent subtle dark mists, which illumined by Thy light of consciousness reflected on them, appear within as thoughts whirling in the vortices of prarabdha, later developing into the psychic worlds and projected outwardly as the material world transformed into concrete objects which are magnified by the outgoing senses and move about like pictures in a cinema show. Visible or invisible, oh hill of grace, without Thee they are nothing !

7. Until there is the ‘I-thought’, there will be no other thought. Until other thoughts arise, asking ‘To whom?’ will call forth the reply ‘To me’. ^[5] He who pursues this closely, questioning ‘What is the origin of the I ?’ and diving inwards reaches the seat of the mind within the Heart, becomes there the sovereign Lord of the Universe. ^[6] Oh boundless ocean of grace and effulgence called Arunachala, dancing motionless within the court of the Heart !  There is no longer any dream there of such dualities as in and out, right and wrong, birth and death, pleasure and pain, or light and darkness.

8. The waters rise up from the sea as clouds, then fall as rain and run back to the sea in streams; nothing can keep them from returning to their source. Likewise the soul rising up from Thee cannot be kept from joining Thee again, although it turns in many eddies on its way. A bird which rises from the earth and soars into the sky can find no place of rest in midair, but must return again to earth. So indeed must all retrace their path, and when the soul finds the way back to its source, it will sink and be merged in Thee,  Oh Arunachala, Thou ocean of bliss !