Kanthar Anubhuthi - verse 43

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Transliteration:

 

thoosaa maNiyum thukilum punaivaaL, nEsaa murugaa ninath— anp— aruLaal aasaa nikaLam thukaLaayina pin, pEsaa anubhoothi piRanThathuvE. 43

 

Meaning:

 

She who wears clean gems and clothes, Her Beloved, O Muruga, by Thine Love-Grace, The desire-chain having been reduced to dust, Was born Speechless-Experience, grand indeed most. "O Lord Muruga, the Beloved of her (Valli) who wears clean (garlands or ornaments made of) gems and clothes! By Thine Love-Grace, the desire-chain was shattered to dust (i.e., destroyed) and then Speechless-Experience (i.e., Direct Experience or Sakshatkara) was born."

 

 

Skanda Puranam: Valli — Personification of Anbu (love)

Valli is the Jivatman. Her wearing clean clothes represents the whole-souled aspiration (love) of the purified Jiva to attain the Lord. Valli is Iccha-Sakthi — purified and ennobled emotions — which is all-consuming divine love, Anbu. She is a personification of Anbu. This Anbu, therefore, denotes all that she stands for — absolute purity developed by intense Sadhana, single-minded devotion and firm determination to attain the Lord, all carried on patiently and unremittingly, with great enthusiasm, awaiting the Lord's grace. This Jiva's self-effort (or Anbu) draws divine grace (Arul) according to the degree of its intensity. To the extent the Jiva is pure and evinces love for God, to that extent divine grace manifests itself, i.e., to that extent the Lord becomes the Jiva's beloved. The love-attracted-grace, in turn, helps the Jiva put forth greater effort and thus, draw more grace. Love attracts grace and grace enriches love. When this joyous process goes on steadily and reaches its zenith, love and grace fuse into one another and become "love-grace" — Anbarul.

 

Arul (Grace) vs. Anbu (Love)

Now, while the grace of God, the love is of the Jiva. But Arunagirinathar says, "By Your love-grace," i.e., not only the grace is His, the love (or effort) of the Jiva is also His. How is this? The Jiva is a part of Isvara (God) and it has no existence of its own. Hence, on ultimate analysis, the Jiva's effort is also Isvara's only; it is a way of working of His will (or grace). Divine grace expressed through the Jiva is self-effort (or love); Arul working through the Jiva is Anbu. It is called love when expressed through the Jiva; it is called grace when received (or experienced) by the Jiva. In fact, the two go together right from the beginning of Sadhana and experiences come at every stage of development of the soul, in varying degrees, though only at the culminating point of Samadhi they fuse into one another totally and give birth to God-experience. Tough the Jiva might regard itself as the doer of Sadhana, its effort is also Isvara's only even from the very start of Sadhana; but it is realized to be so only in the state of Samadhi. Men of wisdom, therefore, often say: God it is that appears to be in bondage, to be doing Sadhana, that showers and receives grace, that experiences freedom (or realization). Everything seems to be a play of God, very marvelous and mysterious, baffling human understanding, as Lord Krishna says, "One sees This (the Self or God) as a wonder; another speaks of It as a wonder; another hears of It as a wonder; yet having heard, none understands It at all." (Gita: II-29). Such is the mystery of "Your-love-grace", and the purpose and peculiarity of the usage of "love-grace" (Anbarul) is to denote the commingling (or fusion) of the two — to destroy the desire-chain and give birth to Speechless-Experience.

Desire is a chain that stands in the way of Anubhuthi

Arunagirinathar calls desire a chain. A chain has a two-fold aspect. It acts as a fetter to bind the soul; and in itself it consists of rings, linked to one another. It is desire that stands in the way of attaining Anubhuthi. Desires bind the soul to earthly existence and subject it to birth and death, again and again. Desire is bondage and freedom from desire verily constitutes liberation. This, the Kathopanishad beautifully puts as, "When all the desires lodged in the heart are cast out, the mortal becomes Immortal here and now." The lesser the number (or intensity) of desires, the greater is the happiness, being closer to God; and the more the desire, the greater is the misery, being away from God. How far one is from God can thus, be known by the number of desires that one cherishes (or the intensity of desires that assail a person.)

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