INTRODUCTION TO ARUTPERUNJOTHI AGAVAL

2008-02-12T09:00:00.000+05:30

(REVIEW BY SWAMI SARAVANANANDA FOR THE ARUTPERUNJOTHI AGAVALWRITTEN BY VALLALAR)

TheBoundless Benevolent Effulgence is known as Arutperunjothi in Tamil language.Benevolence or Compassion or Karuna is the innate nature of the Almighty. Thiscompassion emanates as fivefold aspect namely (1) matter, (2) energy, (3)intellect; (4) spirit; (5) grace. Man, when he attains perfection realizes thatthe Compassionate Effulgence is the source of all that is manifested andun-manifested.

Thetruth of this Effulgence has not been realized so far. Man, endowed withreasoning mind, is slowly rising from the physical plane and making falteringsteps towards the spiritual plane. This, he is able to achieve by trial anderror through many births in his long journey towards perfection. Hisintellectual faculty constitutes the middle plane from where he can either lookdown at the material/physical world or look up in wonderment at the spiritualplane. When he looks up, he comprehends, though partially, truths about spirit,soul and God.

Manyof the oriental sages were adepts in comprehending the higher realms ofspiritualism. By sheer concentration of their minds on the ultimate reality,they were able to perform miracles called siddhis. They also had charted outways and means to attain these occult powers. They focused all their attentionon the soul from where they drew all their inspiration and spiritual powers.Various religious and philosophical systems came into existence during thistime. The most discussed among them is Advaita.

Sinceall mystical powers and experiences originate from the soul, it was consideredto be Divinity Itself and the perennial source of our lives. It was also heldthat we care but eternal souls temporarily encased in this physical body. Thefollowers of Advaita thought that the grace of the Lord would deliver us fromthis physical imprisonment. Advaita preaches that Soul and God remain as onewithout duality. The aim is to merge this Soul into God-head and become aninseparable entity.

Buta serious question arises with this hypothesis. How can one hold one'sconsciousness without a vehicle to hold it? The physical body is like the glassof an electric bulb. As long as the bulb is intact light will glow from thebulb. The moment the bulb cracks, he glow stops emanating. Similar is the casewith the physical body. When it is dropped and the principle of consciousnessis merged with the Almighty, it ceases to be functional. But the philosophersof Advaita insist that this illusory body is only needed till the principle ofconsciousness merges with the Brahman. They maintain that after merger we candrop he mortal frame and remain in oneness with God forever. They convenientlyforget that though the soul is eternal in existence, such existence alonecannot be called as illumination. To get illumination and divine experience,some sort of vehicle (either Suddha or pranava or Gnana) is needed throughouteternity.

SaivaSiddhantha holds a different view in the realization of oneness with Siva, theSupreme Being. It states that realization according to Advaita is onlyspeculative and as such the soul can never get rid of its bondage. Soul has noinherent or active power which makes it free from bondage. Only thorough thegrace of Siva, the bondage is removed. Only then can the soul be able to mergewith Siva. Even here the soul in its divine oneness loses its identity andindividuality and becomes more or less a non-entity.

Thusalmost all religious and philosophical systems insist on a body-lessliberation. After illumination, they insist, one has necessarily to shed one'smortal frame. But common sense tells us that one should have the semblance of abody whether physical, psychical or ethereal to hold on one's consciousness.Those sages of yore never thought that it is possible to lead illumined lives,at the same time retaining this frame. They taught humanity to aspire for thedizzy height of God-head and in the process to discard its physical body.

Suchoutmoded, stale, fossilized and institutionalized religious and philosophicalsystems placed more and more fetters on man instead of liberating him. He hasbeen groaning under its weight during the centuries of his existence.

Fortunately,the Almighty Himself has come to the rescue of mankind. All the above saidmiracles, siddhis and liberation are only fraction of His compassion. The majorportion has just now been revealed to mankind through his chosen disciple ThiruArutPrakasa Vallalar (Ramalinga Swamigal of Vadalur).

Thesoul of man is nothing but a spark of God and as such is God Himself inminiature. The compassionate Lord exists in every heart in the form of guidinglight. Hitherto, man was thinking that he was separated from God and that hehad to reach Him through his individual efforts. He has forgotten his divineidentity and is searching everywhere except within himself. Now theCompassionate Effulgence has shown that He is within him and He is guiding himand in course of time and with His guidance, he can become He. In other words,God has emanated as a human being in order to make man realize himself as onewith Effulgence.

Thedivine light has descended from lofty heights into the human material frame inorder to make in immortal. That way it is different from the ancient paths.From the soul of man, it spreads throughout, transmitting the mortal body intoan immortal golden one during the process.

Now,what has man to do to make this divine Effulgence grow in his soul? He has toeschew the thought that he is the physical body and alienate himself from itsclinging. A life of utter mercy towards all beings must be lived, alwaysthinking about his own smallness in the scheme of things and the greatness ofthe Lord. By doing so, he will find himself little by little the Divine gracefilling up his whole being, body, mind and spirit all included. He will realizethat the abode of the Soul and the Effulgence are one and the same, namely themid portion of the forehead, the place of the third eye. By constantly placinghis mind there, he finds the Effulgence spreading the whole of his being. Healso will find the inadequacy of the paths of yore and disentangle himself fromthem. Slowly he finds the Effulgence engulfing him, but without losing his consciousness.He has become It, It has become him and both remain an inseparable single unit.Now he has found himself to be that Effulgence and lives on forever obeying thecommands of the Effulgence. In this process nothing is lost, everything isgained.

Thedistinction or the veil between I and Thou is removed leading to the fact thatevery being is God Himself. We find that God alone is the 'I' of everything.Plurality is gone and individuality alone remains. Then and only then manbegins to realize that this 'I am' can be found in the ninth plane ofawareness. The other eight are fire, sun, moon and stars which belong to thevisible part of the Effulgence and soul, vital life, mental faculty andphysical sense organs, all functioning inside man. Beyond these eight planes,lies the awareness of the Divine Effulgence waiting to be realized.

Incidentally,it is interesting to note that the English letter 'I' occupies the ninth placein the alphabet. So also in Tamil the letter (I) occupies the same positions.Besides, this identity of 'I am' can be realized in the physical body in theregion of cerebra spinal cavity which is in the form (Pa). This (Pa) forms theninth consonant in Tamil.

ThisLord of Infinite Light of Grace, Arutperunjothi, was completely realized byVallalar (Ramalinga Adigalar of Vadalur). He has made all supplications,prayers, songs etc., to the Lord in thousands of verses. This single verse'Arutperunjothi Agaval' contains the essence of all his teachings and isconsidered as the most valuable jewel in the crown of the Lord.

ThisAgaval or Call Divine is the longest poem in Tamil containing 1,596 lines. Thisoutpouring was composed by Vallalar in a single night and at one stretch. Thisstupendous effort was not due to his material learning or scholarship butthrough the grace of the Lord. There are many great works in Tamil but none canequal this divine poem in its sublimity.

Compassionoccupies the core place of the Lord. The universe is enlightened by thiscompassion. Similarly if man aspires for illumination, he must start his questfrom within. This practical way called (Anaga neri), is the way of SuddhaSanmarga which leads to Sachidananda. He, who makes his life anew by followingthis way, finds Arutperunjothi in one and all and paves the way to UniversalBrotherhood.

Anywork of divine inspiration needs divine guidance for its interpretation. Merescholarship and a great knowledge of lexicon are of no use in the interpretationof such esoteric works. One has to reach the ninth plane (the plane of thesoul) to find out the true significance of such works.

Theinner guiding Light commanded me on the eve of first of January 1960 to beginthis interpretation. A couple of lines were taken every morning forinterpretation. The work went on without any break and was finished in 798 days(l596/2) i.e. from 1st January, 1960 to 8th March, 1962. The much fearedconjunction of eight planets in Capricorn (makam) took place on February 4thand 5th of 1962, February 4th was a Sunday and also a new moon day.

(Tamil)"Thiraiyelan dhavirthuch chevviyut rangea

(Tamil)Varaiyelam vilanga vayangu sen judarea"

Theabove two lines were taken on that day for annotation. It means that all theobstructing veils were removed and the sun rose splendidly on the mountaintops. This has rather a special significance. We can observe the dawn of thedivine Effulgence from the position of the middle star poosam in Cancer. We aresafe in the hands of the divine light, which guides all the planets, seen inthe opposite sign Capricorn, the sea-monster. Westerners were not able torealize this significance because western hemisphere experienced solar eclipseon that day. These are only examples to show how the inner reflects in theouter World.

Theconcept of Siva found in the work is refreshingly different from conceptsprevalent during the middle ages. It goes back to pre-historical time. InfiniteDivine Light was called Siva by the ancient Tamils They also called it asKandazhi (Tamil). They came to known of it with their mind's eye or third eye.The last level of grace is only revealed now through Saint Ramalinga. SinceTamil language is based on Siva Tatva, it has become a proper medium of expressionfor divine light. But we must remember that Sivam mentioned here can noreligion connotation in it. Arutsivam means Arutperunjothi, Sivam containsthree letters. The letter (Si) is the light (va) is the power of grace orcompassion and (m) is the life experienced in man. So Sivam means the divinelight not only converging into the soul of man but also diverging from there,completely transmuting him into an immortal one in the process.

Inthis Agaval, the evolution of the Universe, through the grace of the Lord, isvividly described. Arutperunjothi is evoked in five hundred alternate lines ofthe couplets. By going through these lines patiently, we will be able to drawinspiration, realize our own identity with the Lord and live in Him.

Notonly that. Regular study of this work kindles us and brings out the dormantspiritual personality in us; it also brings a wonderful peace of mind. Purityof mind and deed is absolutely essential. In course of time, the divine lightmakes us feel its process in our forehead and from then on our transmutationbegins.

Agavalis to be invoked in the presence of the Inner Light. Also a few lines may betaken for recitation daily and their meaning deeply pondered over. As time goeson, truth will be revealed step by step. This interpretation more or less is aguidebook towards illumination. So, it is earnestly requested to go throughline by line slowly so as to get the maximum benefit.

AnEnglish rendering of this volume is now available. It is earnestly hoped thatthe ideals of Vallalar spread to all corners of the World. Ahimsa and UniversalBrotherhood are ideals which find an honored place in every heart irrespectiveof caste, creed, religion or nationality. When it is actively practiced, thecoming generations will find our earth – a place of peace and prosperity.

Fanaticsare always there ready to fight tooth and nail any new thought which apparentlycontradicts the age old beliefs. They are afraid that their ignorance would beexposed and their comfortable way of life might become shaky by these so calledunconventional ideas. They cling tenaciously to their old faiths, afraid totranscend the thoughts of the ancestors. When such people go through thesepages, they will find to their astonishment that there exists no contradictionat all. Rather they will find these expositions more beneficial to them thanthe thoughts of yore; they will realize that their regard towards this work andits author Thiru Arutprakasa Vallalar growing day by day. They will come toknow for sure that this Divine light is guiding them in their daily lives andavoiding all pitfalls. Finally they come to understand that they live in Him,work for Him, liberated by Him and become ONE WITH HIM.

Maythat day be speeded up by the Grace of ArutPrakasa Vallalar!

DAEIOU

ArutperunJothiArutperunJothi ThaniperunKarunai ArutperunJothi

SwamiSARAVANANANDA

SathyaGnana Kottam,

Dindigul,Tamil Nadu State, India.

18.05.1974