PART ONE
Five Stanzas to Sri Arunachala
1.
Ocean of nectar, full of grace, engulfing the universe
in Thy splendour! Oh Arunachala, the Supreme itself! Be Thou
the sun and open the lotus of my Heart in Bliss!
This is the opening stanza of the Pancharatna which in
the form of a stotra (praise of God) contains the gist of
supreme knowledge born of realization. It is said to be like a
sutra, very terse with much deeper significance than appears
superficially.
Arunachala -- Aruna (light) plus achala (mountain), means
the tejolinga (symbol of light) of Siva. Its significance for the
individual is that when one gets beyond body-consciousness,
the inner Self shines pure and clear.
Ordinary loss of body-consciousness, as in shock, results
only in darkness, whereas the same brought about voluntarily
for the purpose of Self-realization, ends in the illumination of
the Self, by the sole grace of God.
Such illumination destroys the ego, producing complete
self-surrender to the Lord. The Lord is eternal; the sense of
eternity is bliss (nectar).
Just as the lotus bud, flourishing in marshy pools, blossoms
at sunrise, so also the Heart, behind the soiled mind, shines
forth by the grace of God who is the Self of all selves and who
is externally visible as Arunachala. But this sun, after rising
up, never sets again and the Heart of the realized soul is in
blossom once and for all.
2.
Oh Arunachala! In Thee the picture of the universe is
formed, has its stay, and is dissolved; this is the sublime truth.
Thou art the inner Self, who dancest in the Heart as `I'. `Heart'
is Thy name, Oh Lord!
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This sloka refers to God first as creator, preserver, and
destroyer, and then as realized by the enlightened.
The liberated say that just as God is the stay of the universe,
so also, the Heart is of the individual. The part must be of the
nature of the whole; the whole (God) is infinity. Therefore,
there is no distinction between the Heart and God.
God is consciousness, as also is the Heart. Self-contained
and sublime, it manifests as the individual self concomitantly
with an individualising force perceptible as the `ego' or `I'. If
the ego is traced back, they say that there becomes perceptible
a vibration from the Heart, signifying the real Self.
3.
He who turns inward with untroubled mind to search
where the consciousness of `I' arises, realizes the Self, and rests
in Thee, Oh Arunachala! like a river when it joins the ocean.
This sloka deals with jnana marga, the path of knowledge,
followed by enquirers and seekers after truth. It is one of the
three or even four paths to realization of Self. These are jnana,
yoga, bhakti and karma.
The ocean, being the store of all waters, evaporates, clouds
are formed, and rain falls, giving rise to rivers which as soon
as formed become restless, as it were, course along as if to
find their origin and repose only after being discharged into
the ocean. Similarly, the individual emanating from the Heart
is restless, and becomes eager to find his own source. The
way is the trail of the `ego' into the Heart.
4.
Abandoning the outer world, with mind and breath
controlled, to meditate on Thee within, the yogi sees Thy light,
Oh Arunachala! And finds his delight in Thee.
This stanza deals with yoga marga, described in Patanjali's
Yoga Sutras.
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While a jnani seeks within for the source of the ego and is
liberated on tracing it to the Heart, a yogi, craving to see the
glory of God, turns away from other pursuits and concentrates
on Him (in the shape or name of Arunachala). The hill, though
material in outward appearance, becomes full of life and
perceptible in the transcendental vision of the yogi, as the
universal glorious light, the same as the Self.
5.
He who dedicates his mind to Thee and, seeing Thee,
always beholds the universe as Thy figure, he who at all times
glorifies Thee and loves Thee as none other than the Self, he
is the master without rival, being one with Thee, Oh
Arunachala, and lost in Thy bliss!
The first part of this stanza deals with bhakti marga
.
Glorifying God with intense love, one passes beyond samsara
and is happy at being merged in Him. This is bhakti
. The
transcendental vision reveals Arunachala as one's own master,
and such repeated experiences convince one of the immanence
of God. Complete Surrender of self ensues and what remains
over is only the all-pervading, and ever-present glorious
Being-Consciousness. Transcendence sweeps away names and
forms and the result is infinity, eternity.
The second part of the stanza deals with karma marga
. Feeling
God's immanence everywhere, one considers oneself not as the
agent, but as a tool to serve God in the shape of one's surroundings.
There are three aspects of God according to one's own
realization. They are: Sat
(being), Chit
(consciousness),
Ananda
(bliss).
The Sat
aspect is emphasised by jnanis
who are said to
repose in the essence of Being after incessant search for the
same and with their individuality lost in the Supreme.
Page 107The Chit
aspect is for yogis
who exert themselves to control
their breath in order to steady the mind and are then said to
see the glory (Consciousness of Being) of God as the one
light radiating in all directions.
The Ananda
aspect is for devotees who become intoxicated
with the nectar of the love of God and lose themselves in
blissful experience. Unwilling to leave this, they remain for
ever merged in God.
The four margas --
karma, bhakti,
yoga and jnana
--
are
not exclusive of one another. Each is, however, described
separately in classical works only to convey an idea of the
appropriate aspect of God to appeal readily to the aspirant
according to his predisposition. This stotra
, though short, is
compact and can be so expanded as to be of interest also to
scholars and philosophers.
Arunagiri Ramana, for the benefit of this world, joyously
bestowed, in sweet Tamil
venbas, the "Arunachala
Pancharatna," the quintessential wisdom of Vedanta, which
was revealed initially by him in Sanskrit.
1
May powerful Arunachala's name, which liberally bestows
grace, live forever!
May the five hymns bearing his name live forever!
May the feet of exalted Ramana, from whose tongue the
five hymns flowered forth, live forever!
May the virtuous devotees who abide firmly in those feet
live forever!
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