The Universal Guru, Thiru Arutprakasa Vallalar
[1] Salutations to you, O realized souls bound by the compassionate unity of the spirit.
You, who have taken this sacred human form, it is our deepest yearning that you evolve to shine as great beings, established entirely in the loving unity of all souls!
Having been blessed with this exceedingly rare human body, should you not strive to harvest the ultimate, hard-to-attain fruit of this birth—the state of Supreme Bliss? Should you not awaken to attain the deathless, eternal life—the ultimate realization of Moksha (liberation)? The way to achieve that is the path of Sanatana Dharma, which has been practiced in our country for ages. This is not a religion. It does not belong to any specific group of people; it is a noble, supreme way of life common to the entire world, showing the way for a human to live as a human!”
From Kanyakumari to Kashmir, there are tens of thousands of temples! They were manifested by various sages (Gnanis), mystics (Siddhas), and great saints (Mahans)! The Divine appeared in different forms and under different names! As the saint Manikkavasagar(glorify God as) sang in the Thiruvasagam: “To the One who possesses no single form or name, let us sing a thousand holy names in joyous celebration!” This realization is true Wisdom (Gnana)!!
God is indeed One! The Divine is the Light, subtler than the subtlest atom, omnipresent everywhere without the limitation of ‘here’ or ‘there’! That Supreme Radiance (Peroli), which fills the entire cosmos, is the Ultimate Reality (Paramporul)!
Moved by devotion, humanity has envisioned, sculpted, named, and worshipped the omnipresent Supreme Soul (Paramatma) in stone, copper, and wood, according to their imagination!! Though the forms are many! The names are manifold! Yet, God is One! God is Light!—so realized the awakened masters! Consider the 700 crore (7 billion) people in this world; how many differences exist! But are they not all human? Are they not all 700 crore individual souls (Jivatmas)? If all the individual soul (the bound Pasu) can remove the three-fold impurities (Mummalam – ego, karma, illusion) that obscure its true nature/light, it can attain the Supreme Lord (Pati / Paramatma), our true Head! This is true Wisdom (Jnana)!
“Come, O people of the world! Let us live the grand, deathless life,” calls out the great saint Vallalar! Does this not mean that everyone can attain Wisdom? Yes! Every enlightened sage who has ever appeared in the world has stated exactly this! Just as a small child grows into a large adult, one must evolve from devotion (Bhakti) to Wisdom (Jnana)! Due to past karma (Vinaippayan), even though most people have grown large in physical form, they remain children in their understanding! Captivated by mere sights and superficial appearances, they live and fall!
[2] Today’s school education is of no use for [spiritual] attainment! Did they say for nothing that “the gourd in the book is useless for the curry”? If you desire Wisdom (Jnana) – true Knowledge, read spiritual texts! Seek out a true Spiritual Master (Sadguru) and listen to their teachings (Upadesa)! Perform penance (Tapas)! You can attain it!
To attain Wisdom, it is enough if you know and realize only this: “Eight and Two make Ten.”
The poetess Avvaiyar said, “Numbers and Letters are considered the eyes.” How does Thiruvalluvar express this very same thought?
“Numbers and Letters, they are known as The two eyes of living beings.”
That is, if you wish to live, if you wish to exist without dying, you must know and realize that Numbers and Letters are the two eyes! Avvaiyar stated that what manifests as the number “8” and the letter “அ” (A) is the “eye”! Thiruvalluvar agrees with exactly this! This is Wisdom! This is mystical language (Paribhashai)! In Tamil, the symbol for the number eight is the letter ‘அ’ (A)! So, ‘அ’ means 8! Similarly, ‘உ’ (U) means 2! One must learn and realize this through a proper Guru!
This ‘அ’ (A) is our right eye! The sages call this the solar channel (Surya Kalai) and Shiva! ‘உ’ (U) is the left eye! The sages, in their mystical language, call this the lunar channel (Chandra Kalai) and Shakti!
The light shining within our two eyes, the light of the sun and the moon, the Eight and the Two, is the manifestation of the light of our soul, the fire element (Agni Kalai) represented by Ten, situated exactly in the center within our head.
If we unite the light of our two eyes, 8+2, making 10 – which is ‘ய’ (Ya) – we can reach the center of our head, the seat of the soul (Atmasthanam)! Joining the Eight and the Two is the penance of Wisdom (Jnana Tapas)! This is the secret of Wisdom (Jnana Rahasyam)!
[3] Today’s school education is of no use for [spiritual] attainment! Did they say for nothing that “the gourd (vegetable) in the book is useless for the curry”? If you desire Wisdom (Jnana) – true Knowledge, read spiritual texts! Seek out a true Spiritual Master (Sarguru) and listen to their teachings (Upadesa)! Perform penance (Tapas)! You can attain it!
To attain Wisdom-Gnana, it is enough if you know and realize only this: “Eight and Two make Ten.“
The poetess Avvaiyar said, (Ennum eluthum kan ena thagum)
“Numbers and Letters are considered the eyes.” How does Thiruvalluvar express this very same thought?
(Ennum Eluthum kan ena thagum) “Numbers and Letters, they are known as The two eyes of living beings.”
That is, if you wish to live, if you wish to exist without dying, you must know and realize that Numbers and Letters are the two eyes! Avvaiyar stated that what manifests as the number “8” and the letter “அ” (A) is the “eye”! Thiruvalluvar agrees with exactly this! This is Wisdom! This is mystical language (Paribhashai)! In Tamil, the symbol for the number eight is the letter ‘அ’ (A)! So, ‘அ’ means 8! Similarly, ‘உ’ (U) means 2! One must learn and realize this through a proper Guru!
This ‘அ’ (A) is our right eye! The sages call this the solar channel (Surya Kalai) and Shiva! ‘உ’ (U) is the left eye! The sages, in their mystical language, call this the lunar channel (Chandra Kalai) and Shakti!
The light shining within our two eyes, the light of the sun and the moon, the Eight and the Two, is the manifestation of the light of our soul, the fire element (Agni Kalai) represented by Ten, situated exactly in the center within our head.
If we unite the light of our two eyes, 8+2, making 10 – which is ‘ய’ (Ya) – we can reach the center of our head, the seat of the soul (Atmasthanam)! Joining the Eight and the Two is the penance of Wisdom (Gnana Tavam)! This is the secret of Wisdom (Gnana Rahasyam)!
[4] It can be said that there are no Siddhas (mystics) or Gnanis (enlightened sages) who have not sung about this Eight and Two!
A generous master of Wisdom (Gnana Vallal) said, “You do not even know how to count Eight and Two together.” They did not mean counting material quantities! To receive divine grace, they instructed us to think of and “see” the Holy Feet (Thiruvadi)!
“Ettum irandum inithari kindrilar
Ettum irandum ariyatha ezhaiyar
Ettum irandum irumoondru naankenap
Pattathu siddhanta sanmarkka pathame”
- Thirumandiram: 986
The Tamil Veda, Thirumoolar’s Thirumandiram, definitively declares that the Eight and the Two constitute the path of Siddhanta Sanmarga! The path, the Holy Feet, the Ultimate Truth—these are our very eyes!! Seek a qualified Spiritual Preceptor (Acharya), receive their teachings (Upadesa) and initiation (Deeksha), keep your central eye open and awake, and perform penance (Tapas)! You will attain Wisdom (Jnana)!
Penance is not something done with closed eyes! The outer eye must be open, and the inner eye must also be open! That alone is Wisdom! For that, one must understand the Eight and the Two! One must approach a true Spiritual Master (Jnana Sadguru), listen to their teachings, and attain clarity! Having received initiation, one must remain awake and perform the penance of Wisdom! Stay awake so that your soul may attain salvation!
“Udambule utthaman koyil kondan”
- Thirumandiram: 725
Within every human body, that Supreme Soul (Paramatma) has enshrined itself as the individual soul (Jivatma)! The One who shines as the light in the center of our head—manifesting as our very life force—is the Almighty Lord Himself! The obstacle to reaching Him is the three-fold impurity (Mummalam – ego, karma, illusion)! If we amplify the light of our two eyes and eradicate the Mummalam, we can directly behold the light of our soul shining within us as the very manifestation of the Supreme Reality! We can attain Him! We can attain Wisdom!! This is true Wisdom! This is what Sanatana Dharma proclaims, and this is what Vallalar teaches as Sanmargam (the True Path)!
[5] This is exactly what all Siddhas and Gnanis proclaim! This is not a religion! It is an incomparable, supreme way of life for all people of the world!
“Udambinaip petra payanavathellaam
Udambinul utthamanaik kaan”
This is an Avvai Kural uttered by Avvaiyar, the Mother of Wisdom!
“Otthathu arivaan uyirvaazhvaan matraiyaan
Setthaarul vaikkap padum”
This is the Wisdom proclaimed by the universal scripture, the Thirukkural!
“What is the same” (Othathu) refers to one thing being exactly identical to another! In this world, there are differences even among identical twins. In the human body, the only things that possess no difference are our two eyes! From the moment of birth until we reach 100 years of age, the only parts of our body that do not change in size are our eyes! The very first organ to form in the mother’s womb is the eye; anyone can donate their eyes, cannot they? Thus, we can realize that the eye is identical for everyone! For the 7 billion people in the world, the only thing that is exactly the same is the eye!! This is what is meant by “that which is the same.”
He who realizes that this “same” eye, the eye that is the Eight and the Two, is indeed the Holy Feet of the Lord—the Ultimate Truth, the Supreme Path—he will awaken, and he will truly live! He who does not know this is bound to perish! There is nothing else needed to know Wisdom(gnana) other than this!
Classical Tamil was meant to cultivate this path of Divine Grace! It is not for wasting time arguing over grammar and literature!! Learning is meant for spiritual refinement! Not for engaging in vain debates!
“Katror enbor mugatthirandu kan udaiyore”
He who does not understand the supreme greatness of the eye is truly blind! To be born in this spiritual land of India and yet fail to realize Wisdom makes one a mere burden to this earth!!