PART ONE
Eight Stanzas to Sri Arunachala
`The hill which draws to itself those who are
rich in jnanatapas1 is this Arunachala.'
( From Annamalai Venba, by Guru Namasivaya,
disciple of Guhai Namasivaya)
1.
Hearken; It stands as an insentient2 hill. Its action is
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
my mind, and I came close, I saw it (stand) unmoving.4
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 word
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.
Page 102
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
(Shakti) 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
Page 103
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'. 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.5 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!
Page 104
Collected Works of Sri Ramana Maharshi 
