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Garland of Guru's Sayings

Guru Vachaka Kovai (citationscitationscitations)

Translated by Prof.K.Swaminathan
from original in Tamil by Sri Muruganar
© Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai, India
First Edition  :  1990
Second Edition :  1996
Third Edition  :  2007
Fourth Edition :  2016

CC No.  : 1086
ISBN    : 978-81-8288-081-8

Published by :  V.S.Ramanancitations
President Sri Ramanasramam
Tiruvannamalai 606 603
Tamil Nadu, INDIA
Email   :  ashram@gururamana.org
Website :  Sri Ramanasramam

Publisher’s Note

....


Introduction

Born to Sri Krishna Iyer of Ramanathapuram in 1890, the child was originally named Sambamurti. However, his official name was C.K.Subramanya Iyer. He, who in later years would sing and pour out verses in torrents, could hardly speak and was almost dumb till the age of five. Having lost his father early in life, he lived in Coimbatore and received his education there.

He grew up in an atmosphere of Tamil learning and evinced a deep love for his mother tongue; consequently he specialised in it and soon became a highly accomplished scholar in this ancient and vibrantly alive language. He was a Pandit- member in the lexicon committee presided over by Dr.Chandler.

Having studied the Tirukkural thoroughly he followed its precepts meticulously in his life. Out of love for Tamil he changed his name to Mugavai Kanna Muruganar (see v. 13 of The Garland), corresponding to his original name.

Not only was he a noted scholar, but also a spiritually oriented nationalist and he was greatly influenced by Gandhiji’s liberation movement. His first volume of poems was “Swatantra Gitam” (‘Songs of Independence’). He first came to Sri Bhagavan in 1923. This darshan and the intense gaze of Sri Bhagavan transformed his being. When thus he came under the spell of the Master, all lesser lights were absorbed in the radiance of His Presence and he never again wrote on any theme other than the glory and the sayings of the Master. Sri Muruganar himself tells us what happened when he came to Sri Bhagavan:

With blazing, bright, unwinking eyes
He gazed and drunk in my whole Being.
Swept off by such enchanting beauty
His utter slave I have become.

To sing His praises, to praise His Presence and to explain His teachings the poet uses words which, whether richly sensuous or austerely intellectual, are invariably appropriate, while his repertory of metrical form is astounding in its vastness, flexibility and power. Like some great temple complex, with its shrines and towers, its water tanks and groves, the immense output of this extraordinarily gifted poet constitutes a massive and worthy monument to the Master, whose mighty message Sri Muruganar manages to convey, because he is himself a consummate and humble scholar, poet, saint.

Sri Muruganar’s self-effacement was total and he sat immortal in the shadow of Ramana’s Feet. He passed away on August 28, 1973 amidst the chanting of the devotees in praise of Sri Arunachala and Sri Ramana.

K.Swaminathan Sri Ramanasramam
29.9.1990



Table of Contents


      Invocation to the Guru                           1
      Name and Genesis of this Treatise                4
      This Treatise But Restores                       8
      Author's Humble Apology                         10
      Dedication                                      12
      The Author                                      13


PART I - THE QUEST

 Ch.  Title
       Invocation
  1.   Actuality of the World
  2.   Unreality of the World
  3.   Allurement of the World
  4.   Aridity of the World
  5.   Playing One's Roles in the World
  6.   Illusory Appearances (Vivarta)
  7.   Doctrine of No Creation (Ajata)
  8.   Why Diverse Theories of Creation
  9.   Part Played by God
 10.   The Three Prime Entities
 11.   Veiling (Tiroda)
 12.   Individuality (Vyakti)
 13.   Wrong Identification
 14.   The Pandit
 15.   The Poet
 16.   Futility of Mere Learning
 17.   Truth of Vedanta
 18.   The Course of Prarabdha
 19.   The Power of Prarabdha
 20.   False Jiva and Self
 21.   Strength of Vasanas
 22.   The Ego-Knot
 23.   The Ego's Strength
 24.   The Ego's Dance
 25.   Treachery to the Self
 26.   Heaven and Hell
 27.   Terror of Hell (Naraka)
 28.   Victory over Naraka
 29.   Turning Inward
 30.   The Kingdom of God
 31.   Sivahood
 32.   Non-Difference of Hari and Hara
 33.   Sakti and Siva
 34.   Siva-Worship
 35.   Meaning of Prostration
 36.   Image-Worship
 37.   Sacred Ashes (Vibhuti)
 38.   Riding the Bull
 39.   Sakti and Santi
 40.   Macro and Micro
 41.   Desire for Thaumaturgic Powers (Siddhis)
 42.   True Immortality
 43.   Elixir for Immortality
 44.   Body-Preservation
 45.   Of Non-Attachment
 46.   Awareness IS Detachment
 47.   Mind's Puissance
 48.   Inner Purity
 49.   Of  Death
 50.   Locus of Life
 51.   The Heart
 52.   The True Guru
 53.   Guru's Grace
 54.   Certitude
 55.   The Left-Over (Uchishtam)
 56.   Reverence to the Guru
 57.   Guru's Greatness
 58.   Of Satsang
 59.   The Greatness of Devotees
 60.   Of Brahma-Vidya (Knowledge of Brahman)
 61.   The Living Truth in Religions
 62.   Infinite Vision
 63.   Ego-Loss
 64.   The True I
 65.   Self Awakening
 66.   Freedom from Sorrow
 67.   Desirelessness
 68.   Freedom from Bondage
 69.   Self-Enquiry
 70.   True Penance (Tapas)
 71.   Awareness
 72.   Nirvana
 73.   Self-Realization
 74.   Firm Awareness
 75.   Enjoyment of Bliss
 76.   Sleep
 77.   True Being
 78.   Ending of Doership
 79.   Non-Action
 80.   Self-Surrender
 81.   How to Treat Enemies
 82.   Moderation in Life
 83.   The Sin of Excess
 84.   Meekness
 85.   What is Worth Doing


PART II - CONTINUED PRACTICE

 Ch.   Title
 86.   Teaching and Learning
 87.   Mahavakyas
 88.   The Upanishads
 89.   Worship
 90.   Silent Worship
 91.   Vanity of Argument
 92.   Maya of Measurement
 93.   Indirect Knowledge
 94.   Jiva One Only
 95.   Knowledge and Ignorance
 96.   Illusion
 97.   Waking Dream
 98.   Different States
 99.   Deeds Good and Bad
100.   Dyads and Triads
101.   Sense Pleasures
102.   Illusion of the Mind
103.   Ignorance
104.   Immaturity
105.   Forgetfulness
106.   Samsara
107.   Afflictions
108.   Wonderful Maya
109.   The Harm of Praise
110.   Evil of Egotism
111.   Origin of Sorrow
112.   The Jiva (Separate Self)
113.   The Jiva's Unreality
114.   The World's "Reality"
115.   Denotative Knowledge
116.   Ending Indicative Knowledge
117.   Love
118.   Embodiment as Form
119.   Five-Fold Function
120.   Freedom from Doership
121.   Jiva's Creation and God's
122.   The Process of Neti (Not this)
123.   Freedom from Vasanas
124.   True Fasting
125.   Diet Regulation
126.   True Purity
127.   Freedom from Desire
128.   Sense-Control
129.   Conquest of the Senses
130.   Asanas
131.   Becoming Pure
132.   Breath-Control
133.   Secret of Karma
134.   Japa
135.   The True Temple
136.   The Holy Name
137.   Bhakti
138.   Bhakti-Jnana Identity
139.   Bhakti-Vichara
140.   One-Pointed Devotion
141.   Dhyana-Vichara
142.   Meditation on Form
143.   Meditation on Space
144.   Meditation on Time
145.   Steady, Continuous Meditation (Nididhydsana)
146.   Other Sadhanas
147.   Aids to Enquiry
148.   Completion of Sadhana
149.   Meditation and Discrimination (Viveka)
150.   Pure Being (Summa Irutthal)
151.   The Separate "I"
152.   The Basic Quest
153.   Seeker's Conduct
154.   Peace
155.   Disciple's Conduct
156.   Real Compassion for Creatures
157.   Rites for Ancestors
158.   Service to "Others"
159.   Sympathy
160.   Question
161.   Equality
162.   Testimony of Conscience
163.   Truthfulness
164.   Detachment
165.   The Greatness of Renunciation
166.   True Renunciation
167.   The Whole Mind
168.   Destruction of the Ego
169.   True Being
170.   Who is the Witness ?


PART III - EXPERIENCE OF REALITY


Ch.    Title
171.   Direct Knowledge
172.   Eternal Awareness
173.   Nirvikalpa Samadhi
174.   Changelessness
175.   Solitude
176.   Non-Attachment
177.   Destruction of Mind
178.   The Defunct Mind
179.   Omniscience
180.   Transcendence of Turiya (Turiyatita)
181.   Wholeness and Movement
182.   Severing the Knot
183.   Fulfilment
184.   Non-Existence of Suffering
185.   The Pervasiveness of Deep Sleep
186.   Waking Sleep
187.   Non-Dual Awareness
188.   Grace
189.   Sat-Chit-Ananda
190.   Being
191.   All Is Brahman
192.   Harmony
193.   Childlikeness
194.   Union with the Atman
195.   The Grandeur of Awareness
196.   Cosmic Consciousness
197.   The Sky of Awareness
198.   The Inner Space
199.   Making That Known
200.   The Atman
201.   The Puissance of the Self
202.   Nature of the Self
203.   The Grandeur of the Self (Atman)
204.   The Self Supreme (Paramatman)
205.   Freedom from Fear
206.   Advaita (Non-Duality)
207.   Atheism
208.   True Faith
209.   Eternal Freedom
210.   Authentic Living
211.   The Formless
212.   Sahaja Nishta (Those in the Natural State)
213.   The Sthitaprajna (Steadfast Awareness)
114.   After the Knot is Cut Asunder
215.   The Power of the Great Ones
216.   Service to the Great Ones
217.   Ending of Vasanas
218.   Jivanmuktas (Liberated while Alive)
219.   Jnanis
220.   The Jnani's Actions
221.   Self-Abidance
222.   Might of Mouna
223.   Pure Mouna
224.   Supreme Bhakti
225.   The Miracle of Jnana
226.   Brahman
227.   Mukti
228.   The Truth Supreme
229.   True Being
230.   Transcendence of Thought
231.   Describing the Experience
232.   Equanimity
       Invocation


Section                                             Page

Appendix To Verse 882                                241
Glossary                                             243
Index                                                249


Sri Bhagavan's verses (BH) with their corresponding reference to The Collected Works.
(The number of the verse given with each verse is that of the preceding verse).


BH 1 (125)   The Supplement to The Forty Verses,    v.12
BH 2 (169)   The Supplement to The Forty Verses,    v.15
BH 3 (171)   The Supplement to The Forty Verses,    v.17
BH 4 (182)   Dipavali (Occasional v.7)
BH 5 (183)   Dipavali (Occasional v.8)
BH 6 (216)   Stray Verse 5
BH 7 (222)   The Supplement to The Forty Verses,    v.16
BH 8 (262)   Five Verses to the Self,               v.03
BH 9 (565)   Five Verses to the Self,               v.01
BH10 (682)   Stray Verse 3
BH11 (702)   The Supplement to The Forty Verses,    v.l4
BH12 (706)   Stray Verse 2
BH13 (731)   Stray Verse 4
BH14 (801)   The Supplement to The Forty Verses,    v.39
BH15 (802)   Stray Verse 7
BH16 (815)   Apology to Hornets
BH17 (848)   The Supplement to The Forty Verses,    v.13
BH18 (939)   The Supplement to The Forty Verses
BH19 (958)   Sleep While Awake                      v.32
BH20 (1031)   The Supplement to The Forty Verses,   v.28
BH21 (1105)   The Supplement to The Forty Verses,   v.31
BH22 (1134)   The Supplement to The Forty Verses,   v.30
BH23 (1145)   The Supplement to The Forty Verses,   v.33
BH24 (1148)   Occasional Verse 9 (from the Rama Gita)
BH25 (1151)   The Forty Verses,                     v.31
BH26 (1166)   Stray Verse 6 (from the Bhagavad Gita)
BH27 (1181)   Stray Verse 8 (from the Panchadasi)
BH28 (1227)   Stray Verse 9 (from Gaudapada Karika on the Mandukya Upanishad)