The region or place where the holy Lord resides is the Andam (universe)! This itself is Thiruvandappaguthi. Andam means the world – the earth. The spiritual meaning (Gnana Porul), however, is that Andam(sphere) means the eye! This is figurative language (Paribhashai)! Pattinathar sang, “The eye is as beautiful as the universe”! Therefore, Manikkavasagar sings entirely about the eye throughout this whole decad.
”Andap paguthiyin undai pirakkam”
Of the Andam region – a part of the eye is the pupil! It is undai – round – a sphere – like a planet – like the planet Earth! Pirakkam refers to its function! What is the function of the Earth? Rotation! Similarly, the pupil of the eye also rotates! This is a tremendous secret of wisdom. What happens if the Earth stops rotating? If the pupil stops rotating, it means death! This is exactly what Manikkavasagar is saying! The pupil of eyes, which is a part of the Andam, rotates!
Its immeasurable nature cannot be expressed in words. The immensely rich vision seen in it cannot be described! siddhar Kagapusundar says, “All unseen visions can be seen in the eye, my boy”
“Innuzhai kathirin thunanup puraiyach”
God is omnipresent, without being restricted to ‘here’ or ‘there’. There is no place where He is not! He enters even the tiniest atom and exists as a ray, as light. He is the atom of the atom! An extremely, extremely subtle light!
“Sookkamodu thoolaththu”
God manifests as the human gross body and also as the subtle(sukma) body!
“Kotkap peyarkkung kuzhagan”
The beautiful one (Kuzhagan) possesses a rotating nature! God exists beautifully as the eye with a rotating nature, doesn’t He? By His rotation, power (Shakti) is born! Energy is generated. By that energy, the light will increase! If the light increases, the three impurities (mum-malam) will be destroyed!’
“Aruvagai samayath tharuvagai yorkkum
Veedube raayninra vinnoor paguthi
Keedam puraiyung kizhavon”
Do you know what that place is, which is a part of the heaven where people of the six religions(samayam) and those following various paths are said to have attained liberation? Manikkavasagar states that before Sivam, it is like a microbe invisible to the eye! If so? The liberations attained through devotion, karma, and yoga—namely Salokam, Samipyam, and Sarupam—are exactly what Manikkavasagar calls a very small, insignificant microbe or worm that cannot be seen by the eye before Sivam!! True liberation is attaining Mukthi through wisdom. That alone is the state of Sayujyam! Wisdom within wisdom, the state of perfection, is merging as Sivam with Sivam! The path to that is to seek a true Guru of wisdom (Gnana Sadguru), bow to him, receive the teachings of wisdom and the initiation of wisdom (Gnana Deeksha), and perform penance! Only then will the Kizhavon—the ancient one, the one preceding an indescribable time, that is, our ancient Paramasivam—bestow His grace! He will transform us, who are Jivas, into Sivam!!
Arukkanir sothi amaiththon thiruththagu
Mathiyil thanmai vaiththon thinthiral
Theeyin vemmai seithon
Sivam – the Light – the Paramatma Himself gave light to the sun! Like the Lord, He gave cool light to the moon! The one who gave intense heat to the fierce fire (Agni) is also our Sivam! He Himself shines as our eyes!
”Kannaal yaanung kanden kaanga”
This Thiruvandappaguthi speaks entirely about the pupil, which is a part of the eye, and about Sivam, the inner light within its needle-point sized hole. Lord Manikkavasagar says, “I myself saw with my eyes! The Sivam, the light that shines in my pupil!” He tells you too to “see, see” (kaanga kaanga) 40 times. “See that I have realized it is Sivan!” “See how He took dominion over me and graced me!” Wishing that we too should see with our eyes like this, he tells us to “look! look! see! see!” With what shall we look! With our eyes, of course! He is telling us to look at the eye itself!! Herein lies the secret! The high wisdom! With the eyes, one can see the whole world!? How to see the eye with the eye? Shouldn’t we think about this?!
This is the spiritual practice of wisdom (Gnana Sadhana)! We must perform penance to see our eye, the light of the pupil! You can see it only as you continue to perform penance after receiving the teachings and initiation from a true Guru of wisdom (Gnana Sadguru) and thereby gaining sensation/awareness in your eyes. Your eyes! The God who is the eye! The Sivam that is the light in the eye! See! See! You will see only if you stay awake! Whatever those who meditate with closed eyes see is all illusion (Maya)! They will become arrogant, lose their intellect, and get ruined thinking they have obtained a vision! It is difficult for those caught in illusion to recover! To break free from illusion, surrender to a true Guru of wisdom (not a Guru of devotion, karma, or yoga!) and get your middle eye opened through the initiation of wisdom (Gnana Deeksha)! Only then will you attain wisdom!
First, open your eyelids! Stay awake (Vizhithiru)! Only by staying awake will awareness come! Awareness alone will multiply knowledge! It will eradicate ignorance! “Stay hungry” (Pasithiru) with the soul’s hunger to attain union (Sayujyam) with Sivam – the Supreme – the Great Light! Instead of wandering behind fake gurus, instead of roaming through forests and mountains in the name of devotion, karma, and yoga, instead of wandering around temples and ponds seeking merit without going to ashrams devoid of wisdom, “Stay alone” (Thanithiru)! Only if you know yourself can you know the One who created you! Who are you? Where did you come from? For what purpose are you living? Why were you born? How long will you live? What is birth? What is death? Are you even a human being if you do not know the answers to such various questions? Is it a life to just eat what is cooked, accept what comes, and live by whatever you see and whatever guise you take? Do you realize that even birds and animals live more wonderfully than you? Illusion (Maya) will enchant you! Ego (Aanavam) will put you to sleep! Karma will kill you! To remain without being enchanted, without sleeping, and without dying! To be eternal, awareness is needed! Therefore, “Stay awake” (Vizhithiru)! Be united in your eyes (Vizhi)
”Senjudar vellam thisaithisai thevitta varaiyurak
Kethak kuttang kaiyara vongi”
One who has received the initiation of wisdom (Gnana Deeksha) will continually multiply the awareness/unarvu in his pupil! He will keep performing the penance of wisdom! At that time, water from his eyes – tears – will pour like a waterfall! As days go by, the inner light within the needle-point hole of the pupil will increase! How? The pupil is always rotating, isn’t it? When the spiritual seeker (Gnana Sadhakan) places his awareness there, the initiation of wisdom obtained through a true Guru of wisdom (Gnana Sadguru) is what grants that awareness! The rotational speed of the pupil will increase! The light in the center of the rapidly rotating pupil will spread and multiply! There, outside the eye, a flood of tears! Inside the eye, a flood of light! Our Lord Manikkavasagar beautifully calls it a flood of red flame (Senjudar Vellam)! The light spreading in all directions will rush into the dry eye and fill it with light! The flood of light originating from the pupil – the flood of red flame – will rush inwards! Our penance of wisdom is indeed the rising, growing light going inside and merging! Merging with the soul’s light (Atma Jyothi) inside is bliss, supreme bliss! An experience of wisdom!
”Aruvaraich santhin vaan sirai katti”
In the experience of wisdom, the flood of red flame will surge and rush, filling the inside with light just like filling a valley! Then, like the path of a river in the crevices of a mountain, like a mountain waterfall, like a canal, it will enter wherever there are gaps and holes! From both eyes into the seat of the soul (Atmasthanam) inside there is a thin, subtle nerve! That itself is what Siddhars call the ‘hair like bridge’ (Mayirp paalam). No one who has not received the initiation of wisdom (Gnana Deeksha) can ever know this! Let the whole world come to know the experiential states of wisdom crystal clearly! I am writing all this with the noble and high intention that everyone should attain wisdom!! No one in this world so far has spoken of wisdom so openly and publicly!! With the blessings of Thiruvarutprakasa Vallalar, Vaalai kumari, and countless Siddhars and sages, I am writing all this!! Read! Become refined! Attain wisdom!
Now let’s come to the subject. Through the ‘hair bridge’ that goes from the two eyes all the way inside to the seat of the soul (Atmasthanam), the light of the pupil will surge and flow as a river of red flame! A ‘river of fire’ (Neruppaaru) will run through the ‘hair bridge’! The river of fire comes and runs through experience! The river of fire runs and merges into the sea, the sea of Sivam, the Great Light, which is the seat of the soul! It must merge. That is the pinnacle of the spiritual practice! That blissful experience cannot be described in words, it is supreme bliss. Ecstasy! Great bliss! Supreme bliss! Bliss of the soul! Satchidananda! Both the ‘hair bridge’ and the ‘river of fire’ are inside within the inner space (Aagayam)! Wonderful! Amazing! A blissful state known and experienced only by practitioners of wisdom!
”Malar kulavaay koli”
Flower (Malar – symbolized as eye) – the eye-flower. Flower pond (Malar Kulam) – the eye filled with tear-water. Kulavaay – the mouth of the pond – mouth – doorway. Koli – marble. In the eye-flower’s entrance (the pond’s doorway), the pupil is present like a marble. To see everything like this as the meaning of wisdom – the true essence – is true knowledge and wisdom!
”Koorirut kooththodu kunippon vaazhga”
Lord Sivam – Divine Light – Natarajan is dancing in the darkness, they say?! How? Even though our pupil has a needle-point sized hole, it is covered by a thin membrane. Inside a closed room, it is dark, isn’t it! There, Lord Natarajan is dancing. That is why Lord Manikkavasagar sings about the Lord saying He practiced the dance at midnight, He dances in the pitch darkness! Through a master of wisdom (Gnanasiriyar – gnanaGuru), we must receive initiation, light up our dark eyes, and make them bloom. We must make Sivan emerge from the dark room, from the eye, and dance before us in the open hall (Ambalam). We must witness that and attain supreme bliss.
”Thanne rillon thaaneyaana thanmai”
The Lord is the peerless, unique great leader, the omnipresent Supreme Being who has no equal or superior. He Himself entered into me and took form as me. The Supreme Soul (Paramatma) Himself resides within us as the individual soul (Jivatma). God Himself is our soul! This is indeed true wisdom!
”Arut perun theeyin adiyom”
Lord Manikkavasagar calls God the “Great Fire of Grace” (Arutperun-thee). Thiruvarutprakasa Vallalar calls Him the “Supreme Light of Grace” (Arutperun-jothi). Both are one and the same! In the words and experiences of sages, there is no difference! We are devotees of the Supreme Light of Grace (Arutperunjothi)!