Sri Arunachala Padigam

Introduction by Sri Michael James

Sri Arunachala Padhikam (ஸ்ரீ அருணாசல பதிகம்), means the ‘Eleven Verses to Sri Arunachala’. It was composed by Sri Ramana after the opening words of the first verse, ‘Karunaiyal ennai y-anda ni’ (கருணையால் என்னை யாண்ட நீ), had been persistently arising in his mind for several days. Finally he composed a verse beginning with these words, which mean ‘you who by [your] grace accepted [took possession of, ruled over or cherished] me [as you own]’.

This first verse ended with the word அன்பே (anbe), a vocative case-form of அன்பு (anbu), which means ‘love’, and the next day the words அன்புரு வருணாசல (anburu v-arunachala), which mean ‘Arunachala, the form of love’, began to arise persistently in his mind, so with them as the opening words he composed the second verse, which ended with the word இறையே (iraiye), a vocative case-form of இறை (irai), which means ‘lord’ or ‘God’. The next day a series of words beginning with இறை (irai) began to arise persistently in his mind, so with them as the opening words he composed the third verse, which ended with the word ஊழி (uzhi), which means ‘aeon’ or ‘world’.

In this way for nine consecutive days he composed one verse each day, and on the tenth day he composed two verses. Each of these eleven verses began with the last word (or more precisely, the first metrical syllable of the last foot) of the previous verse, thus forming a song in a style of concatenation that is called antadi or ‘end-beginning’.

In this patikam or poem of eleven verses that thus poured forth from the heart of Sri Ramana, the first nine verses are beautiful prayers, and the last two are powerful assurances, in which he reveals how Arunachala will unfailingly destroy the soul or separate selfhood of anyone who is attracted to him, thinking him to be the supreme reality, by drawing his or her mind selfwards and thus subduing all its mischievous activity and making it motionless like itself.

Arunachala Padigam Commentary by Sri Sadhu Om, translated by Michael James
Verse 1
If You, who by (Your) grace have taken me as Your own, do not (now) graciously bestow upon me Your (true) vision (the vision of Self or Atma-Darsana) what will be my condition if this body leaves (me) after (my) suffering intensely (like this) in the miserable world of darkness (ignorance or mental delusion) longing (for Your true vision) ? Can a lotus blossom without seeing the sun? O (Embodiment of) love called Arunamamalai (the great Aruna Hill), where grace springs forth in abundance and gushes out as a torrent, (You) being the Sun to the sun (the consciousness which illumines everything), can my mind-lotus blossom without seeing Your True Vision? 1

Verse 2
O Arunachala, the form of love! Having taken (me) as your own, does it befit (You now) to ruin me by not bestowing love for You upon me, who am devoid of (such) love by which I would think of You in the heart, soften and melt like wax in fire? O Bliss resulting from love! O unsatiating Ambrosia welling up in the heart of (Your) devotees ! what (is there for me) to say ? Your will is my will; that (alone) is happiness for me, O Lord of my life! 2

Verse 3
Having by the rope of Your grace drawn me, who did not have (the least) idea to think of You, the Lord, You stood (determined) to kill (me) without (leaving even) a little life. What wrong have I, (this) poor wretch, done (to you)? What little obstacle now (remains to prevent You from destroying me completely) ? Why to torture me thus, keeping (me) half-alive? O Arunachala, who are the Lord! Fulfilling (Your) intention (to destroy me completely), may You live for long aeons (for all eternity) as the (only existing) one! 3

Note : The words ‘irai uyir indri kondrida’, which are here translated as ‘to kill (me) without (leaving even) a little life’, also means ‘to kill (me) without (leaving a trace of the false distinction) God and soul’.

Verse 4
What profit did You gain from me (by selecting me) from among (all) the people living in (this) world? Having saved (this) poor wretch (myself) from falling into the void (of worldly delusion or Maya), You kept (me) fixed at your Feet (or in your state). O Lord, who is the ocean of grace! When I think (of Your Supreme Grace and of my extreme unworthiness) I feel very great shame. Glory to You, O Arunachala ! My head bows down praising and adoring You! 4

Verse 5
O Lord! Having brought me (to You) by stealth (unknown to anyone), You have kept (me) till this day at Your Feet. O Lord! (in reply) to those who ask (me) what Your (real) nature is, You have made (me remain) like a head-bent statue (because the nature of God cannot be expressed in words, being beyond the range of the mind, speech and body). O Lord! So that I may not be like a deer (caught) in a net, bring about the destruction of my wearisome suffering! O Arunachala, who are the Lord, who is (this) poor person (myself) to know what (Your) will is? 5

Verse 6
O Supreme Reality! Though I have always remained at (Your) Feet, I am (still like) a frog (remaining) at the stem of a lotus (that is, I am still unable to know your true greatness). If (instead) You make (me) as a flower-bee which drinks the excellent honey of the state of consciousness (the state of true knowledge or Jnana), there will be Salvation (that is, I will attain Salvation). O light of spreading red rays in the form of a Hill ! O space of grace (the space of self or Atmakasa) more subtle (even) than the (physical) space! (If You let me remain like a frog and do not make me like a flower – bee, and) if (in this condition) I leave (my) life at your divine lotus-feet, it will be forever a standing column of blame for you. 6

Verse 7
If the (five) elements – space, air, fire, water, earth and (all) material objects, which manifest as the many living beings, are not other than You, the space of light (the space of consciousness or chitakasa), who else am I (but You)? O Blemishless One! Since You shine without another in the heart as the space (of consciousness), who am I who come out as another (that is, who am I who rise as I am so-andso)? O Arunachala! placing (your) vast lotus-Feet on his head (on the head of this rising ‘I’, the ego), come out(and manifest Yourself as the real ‘I’). 7

Verse 8
Having destroyed (in me) the intelligence to know the way of making a living in the world, You have made (me) worthless. If You keep (me) thus (in this condition), it will not be happiness for anyone (for me, for You or for the world) but only misery. Death indeed is better than this (kind of) life. O supreme who have taken the form of Aruna Hill, which shines on earth as the medicine for the madness (of desire for the world) ! Graciously bestow upon me who, (in spite of) being possessed by the madness (of love for You), am deprived of the fruit (of Jnana), the rare medicine (of your grace) which will unite (me) with your Feet (that is, which will make me one with your supreme state of Self). 8

Verse 9
O Supreme! (I am) the supreme (foremost) among those who do not possess the supreme wisdom to cling to Your Feet without (having any other) attachment. Make my actions cease, (taking them) as Your burden, (for) what will be a burden to You, who sustain (the whole universe)! O Supreme! what I have gained by holding this world on my head (that is, by bearing the burden of samsara), having let go of You, is (now) enough (for me). O Arunachala, who are the Supreme! do not think hereafter of keeping me away from Your Feet (or state). 9

Verse 10
I have seen a wonder, (this) magnetic Hill which forcibly attracts the soul! Having suppressed the mischievous (mental) activities of the soul who has thought of It (even) once, having drawn (that soul) to face towards Itself, the One, and having made it motionless (achala) like Itself, It feeds upon that sweet (pure and ripened) soul. What (a wonder) this is! O souls! Be saved by thinking of this great Arunagiri, the destroyer of the soul (the ego) who shines in the heart! 10

Note : In this verse Sri Bhagavan reveals how Arunachala roots out the ego of those who think of It even once. Having once been thought of, Arunachala works in the mind in such a way as to make the mind’s mischievous activities (cheshta) subside ; then It draws the mind inwards to face Self, the one Reality, and there by makes the mind motionless like Itself. Knowing from His own personal experience the wonderful power that Arunachala has to make the mind’s activities subside, to draw its attention towards self and thereby to destroy it, Sri Bhagavan confidently declares in the last line of this verse, ‘O souls, Be saved by thinking of this great Arunagiri, the destroyer of the soul who shines in the heart’.

Verse 11
Oh! How many are those who like me have been destroyed by thinking this Hill to be the Supreme! O people who are wandering about thinking of a means to give up the body, having given up the desire for this (worldly) life due to (its) increasing misery, there is on earth one rare medicine which, when (merely) thought of once in the mind, will kill (the ego) without killing (the body)! Know that it is indeed Aruna Hill! 11