Ulladu Narpadu - first mangalam (contd. further)

[Guest guest]

Namaste all.

 

The next sentence in the Mangalam – 1 Verse is:

 

uLLa-poruL uLLal-aRa uLLatte uLLadAl

 

uLLamenum uLLa-poruL uLLal evan?

 

 

Translation (by Lakshmana Sharma) quoted by Peter in his post:

Since that (Reality) dwells, thought- free, in the Heart, how can It -

Itself named the Heart - be meditated on? And who is there, distinct

from It, to meditate on It, the Self whose nature is Reality

Consciousness?

 

[Note by VK: Bhagavan Ramana's masterly handling of classical poetic

Tamil can be appreciated even by non-Tamil people, when I tell you

that he uses the words

uLLam = mind;

uLLadu = that which exists; (uL = interior, content);

uLLal = thinking, thought, meditation (comes from the verb form)

uLLam = heart (Bhagavan Ramana's usage, when the context permits),

in all possible combinations so that the verse manifests as a lilting

poetry!]

 

Now we go to the commentary by WHO (Lakshmana Sharma):

 

Here the Tamil word `evan' must be taken in two meanings,

namely, `who?' and `how?', according to Bhagavan's own words. [That

is why, in Lakshmana Sharma's translation above, there are two

sentences in English for this one sentence of Tamil].

 

In sum, this sentence says: The svarUpa of brahman is without mind

[Note: thought-free = uLLal-aRa] and full of peace; it is in the

heart (uLLam). This Reality (the existing thing = *uLLa-poruL*) will

show up only in the heart, that is devoid of the mind (uLLal-aRa =

mind-without). When the mind is active and poised outside It will not

show up `as is' (=*uLLapaDi*). What does it mean to say it will not

show up as is? It means it will show up as jIva-Ishvara-jagat. By

this very reason brahman cannot be thought of (=*uLLal*) by the

mind.

 

Why cannot brahman be thought of by the mind? There are several

reasons for this. One of them will be understood when we come to the

verse *madikkoLi tandu*. But here there are two reasons given. 1.

Mind by nature imagines differences in brahman of pure non-duality,

and treats them as real; 2. There is no intelligence, sentience

(*cit*) other than brahman to meditate on it or think of it.

 

We shall consider the first reason. First mind imagines a duality of

inside and outside (the mind) and thinks that there are universes,

other jIvas, God – all of these are outside. This is mind's nature.

We have already seen that all this imagined world etc. have an

adhishhTAna (substratum) reality of brahman and they are all Aropitam

(superposed) on that brahman. By the logic that the superposed thing

hides the show-up of the existence of the substratum, the superposed

universe hides the existence of the substratum of brahman. So long as

mind is focussed outside (=*bahir-mukham*) brahman, instead of

showing up as is, shows up as jIva-Ishvara-jagat. Once the mind is

focussed inside (*antar-mukham*) it joins up with its original

location, the heart, and there mind loses its `mind'-nature

and `vanishes'. So the three kinds of shows, namely jIva, Ishvara

and jagat also do not show up and brahman shows up as the AtmA,

without any obstacle. Of course mind does not see it, nor does it

know!

 

Here we have talked as if there is something called heart or *uLLam*

which is the `location' for brahman but in reality it is not

different from brahman; so neither it is the location nor does

brahman is `located' in a place. The seeker who is after Self-

Realisation needs to change from his look-outside to a look-inside

and for this purpose the heart was spoken of as a sAdhana (means) and

there is nothing more meant. The heart (spiritual interior) itself is

brahman. Look at the 2nd line in the above text: *uLLamenum uLLa

poruL*:

*uLLam* = heart,

*enum* = named

*uLLa poruL* = that which exists.

This means: brahman itself is what is called the heart, because uLLa-

poruL is brahman only.

 

Since brahman is in this (inner) heart, it shows up as is when the

mind has vanished. When the mind is otherwise engaged outside, It

will not show up. We already observed that that is when all the

imaginations about the three things happen and they hide brahman.

Thus it is clear that those whose minds are turned outside will not

realise brahman.

 

Now we shall go to the second reason: namely, to think of brahman,

there is no other sentient entity (cetana). The jIva that thinks of

itself as knowing another entity is a false jIva. When the mind is

turned outside, such a false jIva appears to be real. When mind turns

inside, that is, merges in the uLLam (heart) , that false jIva

vanishes. The false jIva is only an imagination; so there is no one

to meditate on brahman. The conclusion is: brahman is not amenable to

the mind's thinking.

 

Then how do we ever `think' of or meditate on, the brahman which is

the Atman? This question is answered by the fourth line of Mangalam-1

verse.

(To be continued)

 

PraNAms to all seekers of Truth.

PraNAms to Bhagavan Ramana.

profvk