Summary 1

Summary 1

Now that we have completed thirty verses of Sivavakkiyam let us summary what we have seen so far.

The first verse is the traditional invocation to Lord Ganapathy, the elephant-faced God and an introduction to the composition.  Sivavakkiyar says that he will be reciting the Sivavakkiyam, aphorism of Siva, following contemplation on namacivaya, the mantra recited by innumerable Devas for eradication of their delusions and faults.  Removal of sins and delusion is the first step in any spiritual pursuit as otherwise one’s karma clouds one’s perception of the truth.  Hence, we find a prayer for removal of sins in the beginning of many a great composition. We have discussed the significance of Ganesha in the field of tantra and how worship of Ganesh fits with Siddha philosophy in our commentary on the first verse.

In the second verse, Sivavakkiyar summarizes the significance of namacivaya- that everything abides in this five-lettered mantra.  The manifested universe, the primal triad the active and inactive aspects of the Divine, all abide in the five letters.

In the third and the fourth verses Sivavakkiyar says that millions of people die seeking the Divine through means other than kundalini yoga.  He describes the yoga in a nutshell- the prana is raised up to the crown cakra through the middle nadi, sushumna. This accomplishment will confer eternal youth and redness of the body.

By saying that the kundalini yoga confers benefits to the body, Sivavakkiyar does not mean that having a beautiful youthful body is the ultimate goal.  He explains this by pointing out the impermanence of the body.  A body that was fragrant when alive smells offal upon death that those who admired it before will not think twice about handing it over to the cremator to burn it.

So what makes the body desirable, alive?  It is the Divine that remains within it.  Sivavakkiyar laments saying that so far he did not know about ‘that which remained within him’.  However, after he realized its presence, he got the clarity that there is nothing, no one, other than ‘that which remained within him’.  He specifies what this ‘something’ is in the next verse.   Verse 7 says that the ‘something’ mentioned before is ‘consciousness’ that which makes him think, be aware.  This awareness, according to him, is none other than the Divine.

Such a consciousness is not limited in nature.  It is all encompassing.  In the next verse he says that this consciousness is supreme.  The material universe-the seas, the sky, the earth, the thought the sound- the sight, the seer and the act of seeing are all manifestations of this entity.  The next question that arises is whether this consciousness is any one of the holy triads, Brahma, Vishnu or Rudra.  Sivavakkiyar answers this question by saying that the supreme consciousness is none of these three but that which is beyond them.  It is in fact beyond the beyond.  One cannot define it as big or small, black, red or white. Then how do we address this Divine as we cannot call it by a specific known name?

The word that would refer to it is Rama.  Ra is the agni beeja which burns one’s sin away and ma is the amrta beeja which confers eternity.  Rama is not a specific God but a quality of the Supreme consciousness.  It burns away one’s sins so that true realization dawns thus conferring permanent existence.  Hence, this mantra is uttered during all the worship rituals such as sandhya vandanam.  Sivavakkiyar explains further the supreme capacity of this mantra.  He says that this word is able to burn away even the five worst sins.  Rama is the living beings, individuals, the relationship that holds everyone and everything together and  that which created everything and dissolves everything.  Kashmir Shaivism explains how one can ascribe this quality to supreme consciousness. Everything has an existence only when it is reflected on the consciousness.  Thus, an idea, an object is born when it becomes a subject of the consciousness.  It ceases to exist when it stops doing so.

In the next few verses Sivavakkiyar dismisses erroneous ideas.  Mere recitation of Vedas will not reveal the Divine. The Divine is concealed within us like butter within milk.  The Divine is the cit, the consciousness that confers existence to everything. 

The first fifteen verses seem to be a unit.  They are like an introduction to the topics that will be discussed further in the composition.  Sivavakkiyar now goes back to explaining the greatness of namacivaya mantra.   This mantra when recited hundred times will burn away the sins(verse 16) the cause for a particular body.  Physical bodies are thresholds into this world of samsara.  The only threshold that will stop entrance into the world is the threshold in the crown, the sahasrara cakra (17).  How does this process work?  One has to shun the disease, desire and contemplate, Siva, the Supreme consciousness.  Then the Divine will turn this body into a silent one, the embodiment of supreme consciousness as there is nothing more to say or no one else present to explain it to. 

How to cut away desire? It is through kundalini yoga where the breath, instead of flowing through ida and pingala is made to flow through sushumna nadi.  Then the consciousness ascends with the fire of kundalini to sahasrara and confers realization thus terminating further births. Sivavakkiyar says that one need not even say all the five letters of namacivaya.  It is sufficient to realize the significance of the single letter, ci, the letter of the Divine and recite it to reap this benefit. When this is accomplished, nothing other than the eternal one, the supreme consciousness exists, not even the five letters of namacivaya and single letter of pranava, that is, nadha or the primordial sound exists.   

However, people do not realize this.  They spend all their time accumulating possessions as if they are going to be living forever.  When death comes knocking on the door none of these possessions, wealth, relationships etc., will save them or even accompany them in their journey out of this worldly existence.  This rule stands true for any soul whether it is a man or a woman as they are not intrinsically different.  Distinctions that are perceived are only at the body level. This is true for even the holy triad of Vishnu and Siva.  They are all manifestations of the same entity, supreme consciousness.   Hence, instead of wasting one’s time in empty rituals, visiting sacred places or water bodies, one should realize the presence of the Divine within oneself.