tiruvachakam

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THE ASCENT 

The first ten stanzas known as a decad speak of the dawn 
of divine illumination. The only preparation necessary to 
lead one to this ladder is to relinquish all possessions, mate¬ 
rial and mental, and seek nothing. The rhythmic ebb and 
flow of aspiration and rejection of Manivachakar constitute 
this bouquet on the Dawn of Truth. 

91 


The second posy unfolds the petals of discernment. The 
degree of advance towards the Beloved depends upon true 
knowledge and an intensely positive state of mind of the 
devotee. The injunctions of the scriptures and rituals ,should 
be followed until his conviction has become firm and well 
rooted. 

The third stage in this holy ascent is the first rap of love 
within himself. Doubts and fears assail him. Is it possible 
for a man to merge himself entirely in universal love? The 
question also involves another problem. Is it all “Thou” .or 
the impersonal “That”? Can there be dual throbs between 
himself and the world of persons and. things? ' The answer 
is given in the third lyric entitled “Dying unto self*’, when 
he discerns “this body” instead of “my body.” 

In the fourth stage, his devotion to the Divine Master is 
accentuated by worship, by discourses on the’Beloved, by 
remembrance of His sustaining initiation, and above all by 
the realisation of the need for purging the mind of all gross-, 
ness and baseness. “Purify my outer and Inner self, Qh 
Light serene,” is his refrain in this.decad. : '/ 

The fifth stage depicts the surrender of all his actions to 
the Beloved Guru..; His suffering becomes most, acute when 
perchance he forgets Him. He consecrates bis body, mind 
and spirit at His Feet. “I tender to Thee my all.” 

The sixth avenue reveals the loneliness at his separate 
existence from the Beloved. The attendant miseries of sepa¬ 
ration, and the lure of distractions caused by the ephemeral 
things of the world gnaw upon his peace. 

In , the seventh step of the mystic ascent, we find the. de¬ 
votee exhausted and be prays for the all-embracing .balm of 
divine love that shall steady him in his doubts. “That I 
may not falter, look upon me with tender love.” ' ’ 

Then the veil of darkness begins to recede and 1 the *bard 
walks in the light' of grace flowing from the Divine mbUnt. 
In meekness most lowly, he presses forward. So sweet is his 
experience as he realises his nearness to the “Unfolding of 
Bliss,” and this is the eighth step in his journey upward. 

In the ninth decad, we see the pilgrim of eternity with a 
halo of purity, as he takes his stride with the holy companions

of the most exalted Beloved. This association with the band 
of illumined devotees uplifts him and he sings the beauteous 
decad on “The rapture of Realisation.” 

Finally he reveals the last stage of all, “The ecstasy of 
Bliss.” Inexpressible is the rapture of this experience, as he 
soars on the topmost peak of beatific bliss. 

Long and arduous had been his ascent. By constant re¬ 
membrance of his Beloved and by spontaneous acts of 
charity, purifying his heart of all dross, and weeping at the 
suffering of bus fellow beings on earth, tossed by the allure¬ 
ments of this world and chastising himself through remorse 
and reproach for evety shortcoming in his devotion, he at 
last reaches the mount of sublime peace. The last ode in 
this Canto seeks to portray a state of Peace that passeth 
understanding — a blissful experience indeed. 

A seeker of Truth having obtained the object of his search 
sees that alone, hears that alone, speaks of that alone and 
thinks of that alone. The Scribe of Eternal love regards him¬ 
self as the humble servant of humanity. He is ready to render 
service to all beings and thus serve God! He is at once a 
servant as well as a lover, who with choking voice expresses 
the infinite articulations of sacrifice and love. 

How effectively and touchingly does our Poet unveil the 
secret recesses of the heart, the impalpable suggestions, the 
silent mutations, the mental labyrinth of motives and pre¬ 
texts. Manikkavachakar depicts in the odes on the Sublime 
Cento, the most sacred as well as the most opprobrious 
shrines of the inner man. The progress of the soul is traced 
in few marked stages and the hundred stanzas occupy a 
unique place in -Tiruvachakam and in Hindu Philosophy, in 
that they contain the quintessence of the poet’s experience of 
Truth. Every line is impregnated with his love for his God- 
Guru who had initiated him at Tirupperunturai. “At all 
times, love is the highest common factor in life.” 
adb 4 fold qualities:
M.: The knowers say that the sadhanas consist of
an ability to discern the real from the unreal,
no desire for pleasures here or hereafter,
cessation of activities (karma) and
 a keen desire to be liberated.

Not qualified with all these four qualities, however hard one may try, one cannot succeed in enquiry. Therefore this fourfold sadhana is the sine qua non for enquiry.

“Oh despicable Mind! Arise and go, go now after Him—, 
He who stole your heart and held supremacy there.”. v 
“Whither shall I look for Him, now that he has left me.” 
Manivachakar has been singled out to play the role of 
a lover, in search of his Beloved in this Divine Comedy. As 
is natural with inexperienced actors, we see that his acting is 
somewhat artificial, and he strides the stage restlessly and 
too fast
. He becomes nervous and stands in need of spon¬ 
taneity, born of true understanding. 

“Give me Grace that I may love Thee unfalteringly; 

That my Iqve shall melt the interstices of my heart — 

Oh, Thou Rock of precious Gems!” 
The Rock of God is contrasted with his frail and love-lorn 
frame. It was his firm conviction that if he were blessed with 
the “manna of grace”, then he would not dread any ills or 
look for satisfaction elsewhere. Armed with the weapon of 
discernment, he felt sure he could play any role.
“What is the role you wish to play?” asks His Beloved. 
“The role of a humble ‘sevika’ (servant) unto Thee”, is the 
poet’s reply in the second stanza. “But first give me thy 
manna of grace”. A pure heart alone can worship Truth. 
Therefore the poet tells us that the discipline of observing 
the rules and rituals of devotion becomes a valuable sadhana 
(practice). Such preparation helps the inflow of His Love. 
‘.‘Though I lack all these practices, yet am I not thy serf? 
Thou who vanquished me! ’Twas Not my will! Oh for thy 
nectar!” 
“So dense have I become that my ignorance shadows my 
path; not following the hard and narrow path of service, I 
stumble into alluring pitfalls and distracting attachments. 
Help me to perform such righteous acts that would uplift 
me. Enlighten me to adore Thee as lord of the universe and 
yet to behold Thee as dwelling in every object in this uni¬ 
verse; Lift me to see Thee in the elements, serve thee in life 
with understanding, experience thy relationship in all around; 
so that I may annihilate egoism which brings about the 
misery of separateness and greed. How shall I find thee as 
the mover of all things so near and yet so far, seen and un¬ 
seen, and finding Thee, how shall I pay my obeisance?” 
5. 2. 15. The poet disparages the avowed acts of the deyas 
who seek the lord in order to gain more glory and power. 

“I extol Thee so that Thou can’st save me ' 

From the misery of a useless life”. ,
“I sink; I totter; Endure. I cannot”. 

The voice of his Guru is heard in stillness and he is 
comforted: 

“Why despair? The remedy lies in your hands”. 

The poet counsels wisdom to his wayward mind to steady 
itself by constant concentration on the object of his love. 
“You could not have lived Oh mind, if ye had not praised 
the glory of the Lord”. The slow and leisurely rhythm of this 




lyric is appropriate to a soliloquy, where Manivachakar dis¬ 
cerns the urgency for right understanding. In the third decad 
of Tiruchatakam, is worked out the steps by which man can 
attain right understanding. « 





Mortification of the Self 
'is it all “I” or all “Thou”? 

The poet is moved to follow the path of love, in order to 
assuage his sense of separation from the Supreme Self. Mani¬ 
vachakar relies on two main techniques to heighten his en¬ 
deavour, as he climbs up the Mount of Love. The incom¬ 
prehensible nature of his Beloved is constantly penetrated by 
the poet’s references to vedic and agamic allusions, and by 
his many illustrations of traditional beliefs and rituals. 
Secondly, we have in sharp contrast the picture of himself, 
an object of abject insignificance, having been chosen as His 
“vassal” of love! He was unworthy and was not meant for 
this high calling. How could his frail mortality withstand 
the torrential flow from the source of Love? The result of 
this encounter is witnessed in his maddening sensations of 
gasping, panting, throttling, choking, benumbing, melting, 
resisting, escaping until in. overwhelming awe, fear, disgust, 
pathos heroic, defiance and mirthsome frolic (the classic 
rasas of emotional experiences) he is strengthened to receive 
the offerings of Love divine. He was not ready for it but 
he was whipped into acceptance. 
When Manikkavachakar realised that there was absolutely 
no way ‘Out’, and that his enslavement was absolute, van¬ 
quished as he was by the insuperable power of the Divine 
will, he gave up his isolation and separateness and it was 
then that he experienced His living presence within him. It 
was at this juncture that he began his ascent on the mystic 
mount of love* step by step. Since his enslavement, he had 



not e\en the prerogative to cast aside his body, for it was not 
“his own”, and therefore he determined to make it a fitting 
temple of God. This was the refrain of the third decad on 
“a dying unto self”. This spiritual unity synchronises with 
his third ascent up the mystic mount of love. 



106

In the sixth step of his ascent up the mystic mount of 
love, the pilgrim-lover incessantly chants the praises of 
his Guru. He looks forward to the companionship of the 
saints of God and protects himself against the tremendous 
pull of attachments from the external world.
Detachment to the world 
alone will not suffice. Attachment must actively spring in 
the core of the heart and the depth of the mind to the 
“Matchless, Supreme, Spotless one, the Mystic Dancer at 
Tillai. No longer can I continue to abide in this body. Oh 
Sankara, My felicity!”
Adoration to the Lord both in his formless and manifested 
aspect, is an effective device adopted by our bard of Tillai 
to attain His feet. The whole Poem of Tiruvachakam is a 
poetic.garland of adorable incantation to the Beloved Lord. 
That it is beneficial to attach oneself to the highest Love 
is conveyed by sage Tiruvalluvar: 



Suddenly, the lover becomes transported in an ecstatic joy 
which radiates his horizon and he sings the song of Rapture, 
“No longer can I glorify Thee from a distance. 

My steps falter in the climb of steep ascent. 

Therefore do Thou come to me ever so soon. 

Now and save me from this prison habitation, 

By melting the bars of iron be thy alchemy of love

...To be liberated from all taints of humanity 
And so attain the Feet of Siva.” 
“Leaving aside the 
great devas. He came down to earth as a sage and called 
me; freed me from the misery of life and made me wise. 
The lowly One filled my heart with love, entered (8. 2.) 
therein as essence of sweetness and taught me the way of 


Truth”. 
He came down to earth (8. 3.). His body gleaming with 
holv ash and thrilled my heart with joy untold. Of his own 
accord. He came in human form (8. 4.) and enriched my 
stony self with the tender love of a mother. I tasted sensa¬ 
tions queer and inward happiness when the essence of love, 
wisdom and joy appeared in the horizon of my heart. His 
Grace transformed my hard nature; it was like transmuting 
a stone by filling it with the juice of a ripe fruit (8. 5.)
The poet on the summit of his experience recounts the 
nature of His initiation in 8. 6. 


“He instructed me in things unknown. 

He made visible things unseen before. 

He revealed Himself to me as Light and Truth. 

Granted me the honey of His Grace; 

And while the world mocked at me, 

He attuned my whole being to His Music”. 
171
My dim sense of unreality wanes little by little, as nearer 
and nearer I draw unto thy light. In no objects, are Thou 
manifest. Who can know Thee’? Svetasvatara Upamshad 
Mantras 16 and 20 also resound the same sentiments. “Sure¬ 
ly is He the Guardian of all in every creature hid; in whom 
the seers of Brahm, powers divine are (all) conjoined. Thus 
knowing Him, one cuts the bonds of Death. Him knowing 
(in his form, benign Siva) in every creature hid, thought 
One, yet all embracing, knowing Him God, from every bond, 
one is free”. “Smaller than small, yet greater than great, 
in the heart of these creatures God doth repose. That free 
from desire he sees clearly with his grief gone, by His 
Grace”. 
“I’ll yearn, as a cow yearns for her call. 

Let my pining soul melt in love, 

’Neath Thy resounding Feet”. 


St. Manivachakar reveals the intimate relationship of the 
finite to the Infinite in the mystic language of love. The 
nature of the union is described in the imagery of love. 

“Tears stream from my eyes and gush from the heart, 

My frame shivers with the thrills of love 
As I gaze at the sublimity of my sovereign Lord; 

My voice falters, hands clasp adoringly. 

My flower offerings quiver to deck Thy feet; 

With such trepidations of love, am I drawn to Thee, 

Oh Lord.” 
When the soul is in mystic union with' the Eternal Love 
and Wisdom of the Lord, then the soul is not conscious of 
its separateness; distinctions one and all melt away. 

“I raise my complaint against Thee. 

And I do so out of my love for Thee. 

To guide and strengthen me is Thy duty. 

Lo! I fall upon the thorns of life — 

No more! Call me to Thee.” 
We see the poet surrendering his thoughts, his actions and 
life itself at the feet of the Lord. The way to the freedom 
of the spirit is through entire self-surrender. The Reality of 
the Eternal Truth streams through the objective and subjec¬ 
tive plane of the poet’s existence, and fills his whole being. 
Therefore he finds it irksome to lead a life apart from the 
light of ‘Sivam’. Life does not consist entirely of what we 
see and hear and feel in the visible world which is under¬ 
going change in time and space. It is continually touching 
an invisible world of eternal values. This life is eternal and 
blissful. 

Manivachakar portrays his existence on earth as one that 
is always overshadowed by the lures of the deceitful senses, 
and he prays for divine Grace to lead him forward in me 
path of realisation. His child-like trust is so vividly brought 
out in this lyric. The saint alludes to his early struggles with 
his earthly master, the Pandyan king under whom he haa 
served as the premier minister. 
189
The purpose of life cannot 
be understood by the mastery over this changing world of 
ours, and the processes of life here with all its magnificent 
achievements. It is the glimpse into the invisible world of 
eternal values which can illumine the problems of human 
existence. To be in tune with the rhythm of this invisible 
world of light and truth and to experience it in its fullness, 
is the significant message of this poem. 
The poet’s soul no longer feels a prisoner in the body. 
Having communed with the untarnished glory of the supreme 
light, it too partakes of its essence. Manivachakar never gets 
tired of looking back to the great event of his life, when the 
Grace of the Lord flowed into his heart—his initiation and 
consecration by the Guru. 
Before the wakening light stirred him, he was bound up in 
the fetters of worldliness. Then the Lord revealed to him. 
His Holy feet. It was like giving a dog, a golden dais. He 
reviewed his life, past and present, and was filled with holy 
sadness at his utter worthlessness. There is sadness without 
anguish, bom of gratitude and love. 

We get a glimpse of the saint after his consecration. He 
has wandered from place to place in the highways and by¬ 
ways chanting the name of Siva, and growing in beauty and 
stature by sipping the fragrant waters of His Grace m me 
fullness of realisation. 


The senses five ceased their tyrannical hold on me. 

As I beheld His benign Grace 

And I drew nigh to the Lord of Tillai. 
212
In this lyric is communicated the joy of communion with 
the holy saints of God. Having seen the beatific vision, 
Manivachakar feels intensely that he cannot endure any more 
separation from the Lord. This intense yearning for spiri¬ 
tual reunion with the One infinite Self, can only be assuaged 
by dwelling on the blissful enjoyment of his initiation by 
the Guru and recalling the experience again and again in 


an intimate and abundant fashion.
It gives great joy to Manivachakar to feel that the Lord 
not only vouchsafed His grace on him alone, but on all those 
who sought His Love. Illustrations of His Grace are freely 
drawn from the Tiruvilaiyadal Puranam. Love is the surest 
means of attaining His Feet. Where there is Love, grace 
will flow and the beatific vision, the Reality, can be known 
and enjoyed. Such understanding Love will eliminate all 
doubts of multiplicity and one can see the unity in the midst 
of diversity. The holy word of God can be heard only by 
His grace and through our Love. The refrain “They who 
know His nature. His ways, worth, deeds, power and grace 
shall gain communion with our sovereign Lord” is resonant 
with the understanding Love of a Siva bhakta. 
The journey to God should be undertaken in a true spirit 
of detachment and contemplation, in the company of the 
tested and truthful devotees. Those who pursue the goal 
steadfastly should not falter at any stage of the journey, nor 
halt because of their weakness. “In Him lies our strength 
and the self realises the SELF. In a beautiful stanza, he 
describes the nature of the true “Bhaktas”, devotees of the 
Lord. 

"They are self-possessed, with no ties binding them: 

Guided by their own inner light, they are their own master*. 

Oft they ask, ‘Who are we? What is ours?’ Away with desires! 

Illusion all! and so vanquishing the ‘Ego’, 

Join ye the holy band of saints of the King — 

Realise that in His Will lies the true goal of Life. 

Relinquishing all that is false and unreal. 

Be ye ready to follow the light that gleams 

From the beatific Feet of the Lord of Tillai.” 





In the answer to the question, ‘who is dear to the Lord and 
Master?’ we find the poetry and philosophy of Tiruvacna- 
kam, the Testament of Love and Beauty epitomised: 

“He is dear who annihilates the Ego and tunes his 

will to His Love. 

Desire and indignation completely abandoned, these 

pilgrim-seekers 

Should get ready immediately, for there is not much t ' m ® 

left on earth. 

Adorable are those men of God who surrender their 

will to His Will in peace. 

If they do not hasten, the gates of Sivapuram might be 

shut ’ere they reach there.
Manivachakar’s love for humanity flows freely in these 
songs. He is impatient with those who waver and loiter. 
“Let those loitering people stay on, but we shall proceed, 
away from the fleeting world.” 45. 7. “We shall reach 
‘Sivapura’ (city-of God) while the gates are yet open.” ~~ 
45 . 8 . How shall we proceed on our journey? 

“We shall sing, and adore Him with all our hearts 
And offer Him the blossoms of our Love. 

No barriers shall hinder our happy way. 

And afflictions we shall not despise.”
St. Manivachakar reiterates his faith that the joys of ful¬ 
filment can best be anticipated by chastening the mind with 
pure thoughts, exalting our Love for Him and being in 
tune with His Will. 45.9. 

“Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall realise 

perennial Bliss.” 

At the journey’s End, there awaits the glorious consum¬ 
mation. 

“Ye shall taste to the full the nectar of Grace, 

And filled with love exceeding, ye shall immerse 
In the Ocean of Bliss”. 
Ever since the Lord ‘pierced him with the arrow of 
realisation’ and awakened his inner eye, Mamkkavachakar 
was able to realise that the divine grace was the greatest 
panacea against the miseries of Life. He traces the stages 
of God Realisation. The soul gets diffused with the light 
of the Lord, the kindly shepherd who leads His nock to 
Mukti, from where there is no return. 

The unparalleled gift of His love is the privilege of a 
holy man of God whose heart is the holy of holies tor the 
Lord. The transfigured saint is full of gratitude at tnei in¬ 
finite showers of grace from the source of IneltaDie cuss. 

“The Lord of Perunturai has made my heart 
His abode, and lighted it with Love. 

His coming has cleft sorrow’s bonds 

For ever, and banished darkness from my ken. 

What perfect bliss I experience”. 
219
The soul of the liberated Jivan Mukta. is in a state of 
transcendent vitality, as it is about to enter the serenity of 
bliss eternal. In the immediacy of this at tainm ent of ful¬ 
filment, Manikka Peruman breathing in- the atmosphere of 
infinity looks tenderly with a soul melting with love upon 
the world he is about to bid farewell, and communicates 
to them the bliss in store for the liberated Jivan Mukta. 
at the same time, he reviews all his past efforts to 
attain His Beatific Feet, so that the s eeke rs after him may 
also foflow this wondrous WAY OF LIFE. 
Saiva Siddhanta interprets the famous Upanishadic 
term ‘advaita’ as meaning ‘ananya’. It is a non-dual re¬ 
lationship between two things which are inseparably connect¬ 
ed like fire in wood; ghee in milk, juice in fruit, and oil in 
gingelly. In many of the Tiruvachakam lyrics, we find this 
relationship stated beautifully. 
When the soul acts in the body, the good and the bad 
results of its deeds are termed Karma. Maya which provides 
the agents, for the development of the soul, does not help the 
soul to understand the Lord beyond its ken. The finite 
cannot perceive the Infinite. Therefore Maya is viewed as a 
bond, because it limits the soul’s vision. The soul in com¬ 
bination with Anavam and Maya directs its actions, not 
always in the right way. The poet compares the might of 
delusion to the tempestuous billows. 34. 6. Thus the soul 
gets entangled in the mesh of its deeds, and ‘Karma’ is thus 
said to be one of the bonds.
 “I mistook as delightful 
this hovel (body) with dense darkness and the result of 
strong deeds”. Hence we find that Anava, Maya and Karma 
are said to be the three bonds of the soul which should be 
got rid of, if the soul should realise bliss
This is the picture of our ‘bhakta’ as he appeared before 
the initiation by his Sat-Guru at Perunturai. The dawn of 
true wisdom breaks the shackles of the five senses and Mani- 
vachakar takes the name of Panchakshara, ‘Namasivaya’— 
the name of the sacred glory, the name of Lord Siva, the 
word of Life. 

The lustrous Light with benign Grace 
Pierces the murky clouds of Maya and bestows 
Wisdom true for me to receive: 

And all Thy Glory, when I thus perceive, 

That Self is known aind a sigh I heave”. 
God performs the five-fold action (Panchakritya) because 
of his inherent infinite compassion to redeem souls from the 
bonds of mala — the principle of darkness— which holds 
them in its grip. Of these five actions, “srishti” (creation) 
is the first. It is meant to make the bonds of ‘pasa’ fit'for 
dissolution in due time, by creating the necessary bodies, 
organs and environments required for each soul. The second 
activity is “sthithi”. It is meant to protect or preserve for 
a time the created things, so as to enable the souls to enjoy 
the fruits of their action, and thus get rid of them, “Samhara” 
is the third activity which consists in dissolution of bodies 
and worlds in order to give rest to the wearied souls, and 
help them to get rid of the fatigue of their births and deaths. 
The fourth act is “Thirobhava”, which means concealment 
of the Lord from the gaze of the soul until it steadily enjoys 
the fruits of Karma, and at the same time makes sufficient 
progress in spiritual knowledge and longing for union with 
the Lord, rejecting the Pasa which has been holding it so 
far in bondage. The last act is known as ‘anugraha’ — 
bestowal of ineffable bliss on the aspirant soul after it has 
become fully qualified to feel at one with the Lord and enjoy 
His ‘Ananda’, infinite joy. It is only when we understand 
the above import of the Dance of Siva at Tillai, that we can 
fully appreciate Manivachakar’s ecstasy in the Tillai Odes. 





In the ode on 
Tiruchadakam (5) it is said that Man by the grace : of a Guru 
begins seriously to enquire about the whence and the whither 
of himself and of the world, and about the means of attain¬ 
ing freedom from the imperfections of human life and of 
becoming one with the Supreme Being. Several births are 
required before man can reach the final goal. He has to 
practise several disciplines to build up a good and strong 
character. He has to achieve purity in body, thought, word 
and deed. He has to learn to refrain from evil and to tty 
to do good to others. 
...and that the 
highest gift of Love is to become merged in the Lord, will 
spur mankind down the ages to quicken their pace in their 
march on the path of Bhakti. Such union with the Supreme 
will also mean freedom from all imperfections and conferm¬ 
ent of eternal bliss.
When man yearns for a vision of God, for communion and 
union with Him, the Lord appears in suitable forms to his 
Bhaktas, as seen by Manivachakar in Tirupperunturai, Tiru- 
kalukunram and Tillai. 
In the later lyrics written at Tillai, Manivachakar had 
ceased to crave and beg for Grace. He had attained At-One- 
ment.' How do. we prove it? .If man realises that all the 
activities of all insentient and sentient creatures in the Uni¬ 
verse are really the activities of God, then he stands one 
with God. His very body and his physical and mental ap¬ 
paratus will be transformed as they become instruments of 
God. When thus ‘anava’ becomes powerless to attack, ‘maya* 
and ‘karma’ will also become incapable of disturbing the 
punned soul. -When in this manner the soul has got rid of the 
influence of anava, karma, and maya, the vision of the 
Grace of God will dawn, followed by the vision of Sivam, as 
manifested in the Odes on Tiru Tellenum, Tiru Empavai, 
Eagle Mount and the Testament of Attainment. 





In the Temple Lyric (22), the soul sees the infinite com¬ 
passion of the Lord, and the manner in which He has been 
helping the soul all through its stages of evolution — from 
its ‘kevala avastha’ right up to the ‘suddha avastha’, — by 
ever remaining in union with it, by helping the soul to see 
and by seeing Himself as well, and by promoting activity 
calculated to wear out the bonds of ‘pasa\ The realisation 
of this infinite compassion and love of the Supreme melts the 
heart of St. Manivachakar, freed as he is from ‘pasa\ Over¬ 
whelmed by a sense of gratitude, he loves the Lord intensely 
— Vide Ode on Dedication (33) and Prayer (32). These 
are some of the most plaintive strains in the whole range of 
religious poesy, Li
The concept of the “Feet of God” is the nearest we can 
get to the reality of the intimate relationship of God with 
man. It makes us concentrate on the one eternal Truth of 
God’s Transcendency and Immanence. Through His five¬ 
fold acts. He energises the world and the heart of man. In 
Tiru Empavai lyric, the poet unfolds the truth underlying the 
manifested and unmanifested ways of Grace, symbolised in 
the Lotus Feet of theLord.

The advaita relation becomes complete when the Lord takes 
into His Own the self-less love of the soul, and the ; soul in 
turn merges into the boundless Grace of Siva. 

“Though it has attained to the knowledge of everything, 

The .‘Knower’. knows nothing but the known”.