From The Garland - 103 - 106

[Guest guest]

om namo bhagavate sri ramanaya

103

The Self unchanging hidden behind

Maya throws up into the mind's

Sky the strong rope of the three states,

Mounted on which the jiva plays

His tricks, sustained by what he knows not.

104

The God supreme, who gave to maya

Her sovereignty, appears to us,

Poor extroverts, as if Himself

Were subject to the treacherous tricks

Which she with His permission plays.

105

'Him all things obey,' means only

That they behave, as various

Beings, sentient and insentient,

Stir, move and act in the mere presence

Of the thought-free sun arisen

In the heavens.

[cf. This passage from Who am I? ­­ Without desire, resolve or effort, the sun

rises; and in its mere presence the sun-stone emits fire, the lotus blossoms,

water evaporates, people perform their various functions and then rest.]

106

In the mere presence of the eternal

Sun, the loadstone spits out fire;

The lotus bud blossoms, the water-lily

Closes, and all creatures move

Or rest according to their nature.

[The 'loadstone', magnetic oxide of iron, like a convex lens was used to ignite cotton-wool.]

(Sri Muruganar's The Garland of Guru's Sayings - Trans. Prof. K. Swaminathan, Tiruvannamalai; 1996)