English translation of the Tamil Spiritual Classic by Saint Tirumular
TANTRA SIX - Verses 1645 – 1664 of 1703
7 JNANA FLOWS FROM GOD'S GRACE
1645: Fruits of Lord's Grace
If you have Lord's Grace, you have all riches;
If you have Lord's Grace, you have true Jnana;
If you have Lord's Grace, you have greatness too;
If you have Lord's Grace, you shall be the great God Himself.
1646: Jnana is Beyond Five Siva Tattvas
They go about the world
Exuding Jnana that is beyond Tamil mandalas; Five
Tamil mandalas are but Siva Tattvas;
There it is the blossoming mind
And attainment of Lord's Jnana.
1647: Jnana is Knowledge of Good and Evil
Good and evil, they are two in this world
As they seek God, some Jnanis know them;
As you cognize them two and uproot them
Then shall you perceive Lord's Abode Beyond.
1648: God Grants His Grace of Himself
At the hour ripe He of Himself appears
And blesses you with His Grace;
A Benevolent Force, He stands as life-center of world
Still standing by you, He ends your birth to be,
Lo! He stood before me, and bestowed Mukti on me.
1649: Things That Come of Siva's Grace
By Siva's Grace some become Devas
By Siva's Grace some equal Gods
By Siva's Grace Karmas near not;
When you have Siva's Grace,
You shall enter His Kingdom, indeed.
1650: Grace Decides Your Birth To-Be
The Holy One, the Immaculate One, Mine Father!
I sought His matchless Feet
And lo! Jnana shone forth as a beacon light;
You remain an earthly being
Or a Heavenly Being become;
All, as my Lord's Grace dawns.
1651 Grace Unites Soul in God
They mount the Body-Chariot
And Mind, the Charioteer takes the rein;
It is Illusion's-Chariot
That strange fantasies produces;
And they realize it,
And mount the Chariot of Love instead
And receive Grace of the Pure One,
They shall sure be drawn
In the triumphant Chariot of Unity
And be one in God, obliterating I and He.
1652 Tapasvins Will Receive Grace Even Hereafter
If born in body in the Other World
Tapasvins will pursue tapas there;
And will there reach Lord's Feet
And receive His Grace for sure.
1653 God is Beauty
Form within Sun-Stone is red hot ember,
Form within Moon-Stone is pearly drop of water,
Form within Fire-Stone is crackling fire,
Form of Lord that holds fire aloft
Is Beauty Surpassing.
1654 I shall hold fast unto Nandi
With love and yearning, I seek my Nandi,
Seeking Him, as Siva the Supreme, I will meet Him;
And then will I seize hold of His valorous Feet
And for ever hold to them,
Until He liberation grants.
8 FALSE ROBES
1655 Men of false robes know not Siva
You fools! With false robes you deceive people
Your pretension but helps you gorge yourself fast with food;
Well may you sing and dance and weep and wail
And thus may Siva seek,
Yet never, never shall you glimpse His Feet.
1656 Men of false robes bring famine
When those that have not acquired Jnana
Don the holy robes
And go about the land begging,
And evil ways pursuing,
The rains fail and famine strikes the land;
Better by far, these evil men are de-robed straight.
1657 Let Government lead people in the way of Virtue
A land's weal and woe are in its people
Out of good deeds and evil do they spring;
And so,
If the ruler unceasing leads the multitude in virtue's way,
That land in prosperity waxes ever.
1658 Why they don the Holy Robes
The lowly-born don the robe
That they may the high become;
The high-born don the robe
That they may the Gods become;
To infamy-born are the knaves in robes
That they be disrobed and cast away.
1659 Tapas--True and False
They who perform false tapas enter hell
They shall not become the holy ones;
False tapas is deceit and vain effort
A ruse for worldly enjoyment;
Only by Truth of Jnana can tapas firm abide.
1660 Discerning eyes see through false robe
They don the false robe their bellies to fill;
They don the true robe and receive exalted oblations above;
Even if false robes are donned to simulate the true,
The discerning see through, and make themselves free.
9 ROBES OF TAPAS
1661 True robe befits only true Tapasvins
The true tapasvins are the truly robed;
The sinful are but murderous hunters;
These are not for holy robe entitled;
None but tapasvins true deserve robe true.
1662 The insignia of Siva Yogins
To smear holy ashes is first step to tapas;
Rings of copper in ears, and garland of rudraksha beads around neck
--These too are other emblems to Siva reach;
Thus do the blemishless Siva Yogins for tapas prepare.
1663 Other insignia of Siva Yogin
A waist strip for an under-vest,
A long tunic for body's wrap,
A matted hair lock done in peacock style,
Ashes smeared all over,
A begging bowl of human skull shape
A cowl staff of hard cane
--Thus is Siva Yogi accoutred.
1664 Ten appurtenances of Siva Yogins
Kundala the ears to adorn,
Kamandala the water to hold,
Kandika the neck to fill
A conch to blow, a bowl to beg
And a Kappara to hold the ashes
The correct sandals and Yogic seat
The Yoga sash and Yogic staff
--These ten consist Siva Yogi's appurtenances.
