https://www.davidgodman.org/bhagavan-and-thayumanavar/7/
Bhagavan then cited some lines from Thayumanavar to illustrate his theme:
… those whose state of nishta [Self-abidance] is permanent
will not even entertain the thought that death exists.
This is not a thing to be taught to those of little understanding.
At the mere mention of it, numerous disputations will ensue.
Are not the divine-natured Markandeya and Suka,
and the rest of the [great] sages immortals, their minds transcended?Divine One, to whom
Indra and all the devas, Brahma and all the gods,
sages learned in the Rig and other Vedas,
the countless leaders of the celestial hosts,
the nine principal siddhas,
the Sun, the Moon and the rest of the planets,
the gandharvas, kinnaras and all the rest,join their palms together in worship!
My Lord, compassion’s home, who dance your dance
beyond the reach of thought, in consciousness’s Hall! (‘Karunakarakkadavul’, verse 7)........
Markandeya and Suka are deemed to be immortals, as are all the other sages who have permanently transcended the mind. Some of the commentators on this verse say that all the other beings who are listed after Markandeya and Suka are not immortal, and therefore have to continue to pay obeisance to forms of the divine.
It is worth noting that Devaraja Mudaliar noted in his reminiscences (My Recollections of Bhagavan Sri Ramana, p. 91) that Bhagavan once quoted him a portion of this same verse
(‘This is not a thing to be taught to those of little understanding. At the mere mention of it, numerous disputations will ensue.’)
Mudaliar understood this to mean that Bhagavan was occasionally circumspect about giving out some aspects of his teaching to people who were not ready for them because to do so would merely provoke pointless arguments.
The real ‘I’ and the spurious ‘I’
There was once a discussion in the hall about the true meaning of verse ten of Ulladu Narpadu Anubandham which states:
The body is like an earthen pot, inert. Because it has no consciousness of ‘I’, and because daily in bodiless sleep we touch our real nature, the body is not ‘I’. Then who is this ‘I’? Where is this ‘I’? In the Heart Cave of those that question thus, there shines forth as ‘I’, Himself, the Lord Siva of Arunachala. (The Collected Works of Sri Ramana Maharshi, p. 124)
Dr Srinivasa Rao asked whether [this stanza] does not teach us to affirm soham [repeating ‘I am He’ as a spiritual practice]. Bhagavan explained as follows.
It is said that the whole Vedanta can be compressed into the four words, deham [the body]
naham [I am not the body],
koham [Who am I?],
soham [I am He].
This stanza says the same. In the first two lines it is explained why deham is naham, i.e., why the body is not ‘I’ or na aham.
The next two lines say, if one enquires ko aham, i.e., Who am I?,
i.e., if one enquires whence this springs and realises it, then in the heart of such a one the omnipresent God Arunachala will shine as ‘I’, as sa aham or soham: i.e., he will know ‘That I am,’ i.e., ‘That is “I”‘.
In this connection Bhagavan also quoted two stanzas, one from Thayumanavar and the other from Nammalvar, the gist of both of which is:
‘Though I have been thinking I was a separate entity and talking of “I” and “mine”, when I began to enquire about this “I”, I found you alone exist.’
(Day by Day with Bhagavan, 23rd January, 1946)
his is the Thayumanavar verse:
O Supreme of Supreme!
Searching without searching who this ‘I’ was,
soon I found You alone
standing as the heaven of bliss,You alone, blessed Lord. (‘Paraparakkanni’, verse 225)
....
The following morning (Day by Day with Bhagavan, 24th January, 1946) Bhagavan showed Devaraja Mudaliar the written texts of both these verses, and he also added the following Thayumanavar verse which, in its middle portion, expounds the same theme:
Though you dwell as space and the other elements,
as all the worlds in their tens of millions,
as the mountains and the encircling ocean,
as the moon, and sun, and all else that is,
and as the flood of heaven’s grace;
and though, as I stand here as ‘I’,
you dwell united with myself,
still there is no cessation of this ‘I’.
And since I go blabbering ‘I’, ‘I’,
undergoing countless changes,
ignorant in spite of knowing all this,
will be it be easy to overcome the power of destiny?
Is there any means of awakening one,
who even before the day has ended,
remains, feigning sleep, his eyes tightly closed?
What, then, is the way that may be taught?
Yet, this vileness in unjust, so unjust.
Who is there to whom I might plead my cause?Supreme One, whose form is bliss,
whose unique fullness encompasses
this universe and that which lies beyond! (‘Anandananaparam’, verse 7)...
Mauna and the thought-free state
Mr Nanavati asked Bhagavan, ‘What is the heart referred to in the verse in Upadesa Saram where it is said, “Abiding in the heart is the best karma, yoga, bhakti and jnana?”‘
Bhagavan: That which is the source of all, that in which all live, and that into which all finally merge, is the heart referred to
Nanavati: How can we conceive such a heart?
Bhagavan: Why should you conceive of anything? You have only to see where from the ‘I’ springs.
Nanavati: I suppose mere mauna in speech is no good; but we must have mauna of the mind.
Bhagavan: Of course. If we have real mauna, that state in which the mind is merged into its source
and has no more separate existence,
then all other kinds of mauna will come of their own accord,
i.e., mauna of words, of action and of the mind or chitta.
Bhagavan also quoted in this connection the following from Thayumanavar:
(Day by Day with Bhagavan, 29th April 1946.)
O Supreme of Supreme!
If the pure silence [suddha mauna]
arises within me,
my mind will be silence,
my actions and words, all
will be silence. ( ‘Paraparakkanni’, verse 276)
.........
In Talks Bhagavan mentions that Thayumanavar mentions mauna in many places, but only defines it in one verse. The definition, given in Talks, is that ‘Mauna is said to be that state which spontaneously manifests after the annihilation of the ego’. (Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, talk no. 122)
The specific verse is not given, but in the Tamil edition of Talks, Viswanatha Swami identifies it as ‘Payappuli’, verse 14:
The unique source [tan], fullness [purnam],prevailed within, in my Heart
so that the ‘I’ which deemed itself
an independent entity
bowed its head in shame.
Conferring matchless bliss,
consuming my whole consciousness and granting me the state of rapture,
it nurtured in me the condition of mauna.
This being so, what more is there to be said?
......
This verse, a clear expression of the state that Thayumanavar finally reached, closely parallels the idea contained in Ulladu Narpadu, verse thirty, in which Bhagavan describes how the individual ‘I’ subsides into its source,
the Heart,
leaving only the perfection of the Self:
When the mind turns inwards seeking ‘Who am I?’ and merges in the Heart,
then the ‘I’ hangs down his head in shame
and the one ‘I’ appears as itself.
Though it appears as ‘I-I’, it is not the ego. It is reality, perfection, the substance of the Self.
(The Collected Works of Sri Ramana Maharshi, Ulladu Narpadu verse 30, tr. K. Swaminathan)
The similarities are so marked, it should come as no surprise that Bhagavan once commented that this was his favourite Thayumanavar verse (Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, talk no. 122.) It was included in the Tamil parayana at Ramanasramam, along with the nine verses from ‘Akarabuvanam-Chidambara Rahasyam’ that have already been given.
...........
Sri Bhagavan remarked how true the words were and emphasised each statement in the extract. Then he cited Thayumanavar in support of the state which is free from thoughts: (Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, talk no. 646)
The state in which you are not,
that is nishta [Self-abidance].
But, even in that state,
do you not remain?
You whose mouth is silent,
do not be perplexed!
Although [in that state] you are gone,
you are no longer there, yet you did not go.
You are eternally present. Do not suffer in vain.
Experience bliss all the time! (‘Udal Poyyuravu’, verse 53)
Two days after Bhagavan had cited Thayumanavar to illustrate Gandhi’s thought-free experiences, a visitor returned to the subject:
Devotee: Is not what Gandhi describes the state in which thoughts themselves become foreign?
Bhagavan: Yes, it is only after the rise of the ‘I’-thought that all other thoughts arise. The world is seen after you have felt ‘I am’. The ‘I’-thought and all other thoughts had vanished for him.
Devotee: Then the body sense must be absent in that state.
Bhagavan: The body sense is also a thought whereas he describes the state in which ‘thoughts do not come’.
Devotee: He also says, ‘It takes no effort to stop thinking’.
Bhagavan: Of course no effort is necessary to stop thoughts whereas one is necessary for bringing about thoughts.
Devotee: We are trying to stop thoughts. Gandhiji also says that thought is an obstacle to God’s guidance. So it is the natural state. Though natural, yet how difficult to realise. They say that sadhanas are necessary and also that they are obstacles. We get confused.
Bhagavan:
Sadhanas are needed so long as one has not realised it.
They are for putting an end to obstacles.
Finally there comes a stage when a person feels helpless notwithstanding the sadhanas.
He is unable to pursue the much-cherished sadhana also.
It is then that God’s power is realised.
The Self reveals itself.
Devotee: If the state is natural, why does it not overcome the unnatural phases and assert itself over the rest?
Bhagavan:
Is there anything besides that?
Does anyone see anything besides the Self?
One is always aware of the Self. So it is always itself.
(Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, talk no. 647)
......................end...............
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