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Yean (Thiruvasagam enum) Thaen

Yean (Thiruvasagam enum) Thaen why honey? A companion piece to “Anbe Sivam — and what the great masters knew about leaving.” That piece ended with Manickavasagar’s Sivapuranam and the word thaen — honey — which he chose as the final word of his preamble. This one stays with that word a little longer. The preamble to the Sivapuranam is eight lines. In the original Tamil: தொல்லை இரும் பிறவிச் சூழும் தளை நீக்கி અல்லல் અறுத்து ஆனந்தம் ஆகியதே எல்லை மருவா நெறி અளிக்கும் வாதவூர் எங்கோன் திருவாசகம் எனும் தேன் Word by word, what Manickavasagar is saying: தொல்லை (Thollai) — ancient, primordial, beginningless. The soul has been at this a very long time. இரும் (Irum) — vast, heavy, dark. பிறவி (Piravi) — birth, embodiment. The cycle of it. சூழும் (Soozhum) — enveloping, surrounding on all sides. தளை (Thalai) — fetters, shackles, the chains that bind consciousness. நீக்கி (Neekki) — having removed, severed. અல்லல் (Allal) — suffering, affliction. અறுத்து (Aruthu) — cut off, terminated. ஆனந்தம் (Aan...
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Anbe Sivam (Love is God)

Anbe Sivam (Love is God) and what the great masters knew about realization and true love I spent a good half hour recently in conversation with a LLM about the Siddhar tradition, and it went somewhere I didn’t quite expect. What started as a question about five great Siddhars turned into something closer to a meditation on why the greatest masters — across cultures, across centuries — seem to arrive at the same conclusion at the end of their lives. Not more complexity. Simplicity. A single seed, left behind, that anyone could carry. Anbe Sivam. Love is God. Two Tamil words that Thirumoolar placed at the heart of three thousand verses, as if to say: this is all of it, really. What they actually left behind The Siddhar tradition is full of extraordinary technical mastery.  Bogar, the alchemist, had seven thousand secrets. He traveled between India and China. He understood things about the body and the elements that we are still trying to decode. And his lasting legacy? An idol at P...
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A healthy morning routine inspired by Skanda Purana

A lasting impression of my maternal grandfather, Swargiya Shri Gopalan, was his repeated chanting of 5 sanskrit words “ Ganga Gomata Gita Aswatha Deepajyoti ”. He was a noble soul who only thought and did good. I was too young to ask him the significance, but I remember him saying just the smarana (remembrance) of these 5 elements is beneficial.  My vague recollection was that he had heard the Sankaracharya (I am assuming Mahaperiyavar ) mention this and he considers this a eloquent wise saying ( Subhashita ). These words have echoed in my thoughts for a while.  Recently I decided to search the origin of these specific 5 elements and found they are traditional liturgical verses composed by later saints to summarize the essence of the Puranas for the common person. They are "Puranic in spirit" with the 3 Gs (Ganga Gomata Gita) directly referred to in Skanda Purana. Reflecting further, it seems to me these 5 elements could symbolize what are considered part of a healthy morni...
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