In a Zoom meeting with the Ramana Maharshi Foundation UK on 9th November 2024, Michael discusses Śrī Aruṇācala Navamaṇimālai verse 1.

ஸ்ரீ அருணாசல நவமணிமாலை: Śrī Aruṇācala Navamaṇimālai

Verse 1

அசலனே யாயினு மச்சவை தன்னி

லசலையா மம்மையெதி ராடு — மசல

வுருவிலச் சத்தி யொடுங்கிட வோங்கு

மருணா சலமென் றறி.

acalaṉē yāyiṉu maccavai taṉṉi

lacalaiyā mammaiyedi rāḍu — macala

vuruvilac catti yoḍuṅgiḍa vōṅgu

maruṇā calameṉ ḏṟaṟi.

பதச்சேதம்: அசலனே ஆயினும், அச் சவை தன்னில் அசலை ஆம் அம்மை எதிர் ஆடும். அசல உருவில் அச் சத்தி ஒடுங்கிட, ஓங்கும் அருணாசலம் என்று அறி.

Padacchēdam (word-separation): acalaṉē āyiṉum, a-c-savai-taṉṉil acalai ām ammai edir āḍum. acala uruvil a-c-satti oḍuṅgiḍa, ōṅgum aruṇācalam eṉḏṟu aṟi.

அன்வயம்: அசலனே ஆயினும், அச் சவை தன்னில் அசலை ஆம் அம்மை எதிர் ஆடும். அசல உருவில் அச் சத்தி ஒடுங்கிட, அருணாசலம் ஓங்கும் என்று அறி.

Anvayam (words rearranged in natural prose order): acalaṉē āyiṉum, a-c-savai-taṉṉil acalai ām ammai edir āḍum. acala uruvil a-c-satti oḍuṅgiḍa, aruṇācalam ōṅgum eṉḏṟu aṟi.

English translation: Though being actually he who is motionless, in that assembly hall he dances opposite Mother, who is acalā. Know that when that śakti subsides back in the motionless form, Arunachalam is exalted.

Explanatory paraphrase: Though he [Lord Siva] is actually acalaṉ [he who is motionless, being the one immutable ground from which and in which everything else appears], in that assembly hall [of Chidambaram] he dances [in the form of Nataraja] opposite [the divine] Mother, who is acalā [the consort of acalaṉ]. Know that when that śakti [the divine Mother] subsides back in the motionless form [the original, natural and fundamental form of Lord Siva], Arunachalam is exalted [that is, in the motionless form of Arunachalam, which rises high above all his other forms, Lord Siva shines exalted in his natural state as pure being].

Padavurai (word-explanation): அசலனே (acalaṉē): actually motionless, actually he who is motionless {acalaṉ is the masculine form of the neuter acalam, a Tamil form of the Sanskrit acala (the negative and opposite of cala, ‘moving’, ‘moveable’, ‘unsteady’, ‘unfixed’, ‘inconstant’ or ‘fickle’), ‘unmoving’, ‘motionless’, ‘immoveable’, ‘steady’, ‘fixed’, ‘constant’, ‘permanent’ or ‘mountain’; and the suffix ē is an intensifier that in this context implies ‘actually’, ‘definitely’ or ‘certainly’} | ஆயினும் (āyiṉum): though being, though [he] is {ā is a verb that means ‘be’, ‘become’ or ‘come into being’; āyiṉ is a conditional form of it, ‘if being’ or ‘if [anything] is’; and the suffix um when added to a conditional changes its meaning from ‘if’ to ‘even if’ or ‘though’, so āyiṉum means ‘though being’ or ‘though [anything] is’} >>> so ‘அசலனே ஆயினும்’ (acalaṉē āyiṉum), means ‘Though being actually he who is motionless’, thereby implying:

Though he [Lord Siva] is actually acalaṉ [he who is motionless, being the one immutable ground from which and in which everything else appears]

<<< அ (a): that {distal demonstrative prefix} | சவை (savai): assembly, meeting, council, assembly hall, court {a Tamil form of the Sanskrit sabhā, referring here to the cit-sabhā, the ‘court of awareness’, namely the sacred hall in Chidambaram where Siva in the form of Nataraja danced before his consort, the divine Mother, in order to still her frenzied dance} | தன்னில் (taṉṉil): in it {locative (seventh case) form of the generic pronoun tāṉ, serving here as a case-marking suffix to savai, so a-c-savai-taṉṉil means ‘in that assembly hall’} | அசலை (acalai): she who is motionless, the Goddess as the consort of the motionless Lord Siva {Tamil form of the Sanskrit acalā, the feminine form of acala, ‘unmoving’ or ‘motionless’} | ஆம் (ām): being, who is {future adjectival participle used generically in a present tense sense} | அம்மை (ammai): mother, the divine Mother {an alternative form of ammā} | எதிர் (edir): before, opposite, in front of {adverb} | ஆடும் (āḍum): he dances {third person neuter future form of āḍu, ‘dance’, ‘act’, ‘play’ or ‘move’, but in Tamil third person neuter future forms of verbs (which end with ‘um’ and are the same in both singular and plural) are often used generically in a gender-neutral and partially tense-neutral sense, referring not to the past but to either the present or the future (particularly to express present actions or states that are predictable, typical, habitual, customary or to be expected), so in this context āḍum is used as a third person masculine form of the present tense: ‘he dances’} >>> so ‘அச் சவை தன்னில் அசலை ஆம் அம்மை எதிர் ஆடும்’ (a-c-savai-taṉṉil acalai ām ammai edir āḍum), means ‘in that assembly hall he dances opposite Mother, who is acalā’, thereby implying ‘in that assembly hall [of Chidambaram] he dances [in the form of Nataraja] opposite [the divine] Mother, who is acalā [the consort of acalaṉ]’, and hence this first sentence, ‘அசலனே ஆயினும், அச் சவை தன்னில் அசலை ஆம் அம்மை எதிர் ஆடும்’ (acalaṉē āyiṉum, a-c-savai-taṉṉil acalai ām ammai edir āḍum), means ‘Though being actually he who is motionless, in that assembly hall he dances opposite Mother, who is acalā’, which implies:

Though he [Lord Siva] is actually acalaṉ [he who is motionless, being the one immutable ground from which and in which everything else appears], in that assembly hall [of Chidambaram] he dances [in the form of Nataraja] opposite [the divine] Mother, who is acalā [the consort of acalaṉ].

<<< அசலவுருவில் (acala-v-uruvil): in the motionless form, in [his] motionless form {compound of acalam, ‘unmoving’, ‘motionless’ or ‘immoveable’, and uruvil [locative (seventh case) form of uru, a Tamil form of the Sanskrit rūpa, ‘form’], ‘in form’} | அ (a): that {distal demonstrative prefix} | சத்தி (satti): Sakti, the Goddess as the personification of divine power {a Tamil form of the Sanskrit śakti, ‘power’} | ஒடுங்கிட (oḍuṅgiḍa): when subsiding, when ceasing, when becoming still, when [she] subsides, when [she] subsides back {infinitive used idiomatically in the sense ‘when subsiding’} >>> so ‘அசலவுருவில் அச் சத்தி ஒடுங்கிட’ (acala-v-uruvil a-c-satti oḍuṅgiḍa) means ‘when that śakti subsides back in the motionless form’, thereby implying:

when that śakti [the divine Mother] subsides back in the motionless form [the original, natural and fundamental form of Lord Siva]

<<< ஓங்கும் (ōṅgum): rises high, is exalted {third person neuter future form of ōṅgu, ‘rise high’, ‘ascend’, ‘surge’, ‘grow’, ‘increase’, ‘flourish’ or ‘be exalted’, but used here generically in a present tense sense} | அருணாசலம் (aruṇācalam): Arunachala {Tamil nominative (first case) neuter form of the Sanskrit aruṇācala} | என்று (eṉḏṟu): saying {an adverbial participle implying ‘that’, ‘thus’ or ‘as’} | அறி (aṟi): know, be aware {the root of this verb, used here as an imperative} >>> so ‘ஓங்கும் அருணாசலம் என்று அறி’ (ōṅgum aruṇācalam eṉḏṟu aṟi) means ‘know that Arunachalam is exalted’, and hence this second sentence, ‘அசலவுருவில் அச் சத்தி ஒடுங்கிட, ஓங்கும் அருணாசலம் என்று அறி’ (acala-v-uruvil a-c-satti oḍuṅgiḍa, ōṅgum aruṇācalam eṉḏṟu aṟi), means ‘Know that when that śakti subsides back in the motionless form, Arunachalam is exalted’, which implies:

Know that when that śakti [the divine Mother] subsides back in the motionless form [the original, natural and fundamental form of Lord Siva], Arunachalam is exalted [that is, in the motionless form of Arunachalam, which rises high above all his other forms, Lord Siva shines exalted in his natural state as pure being].

Note: When Bhagavan was living in Virupaksha Cave, a dikṣitar (one of the community whose members are the hereditary trustees and priests of the Chidambaram Nataraja Temple) used to visit him whenever he came to Tiruvannamalai, and since he cherished a desire to take him to visit the Nataraja Temple, he would often talk to him about its greatness. However, though Bhagavan always listened to him with apparent interest, he never showed any sign of wanting to visit there, so eventually one day the dikṣitar told him directly that Chidambaram is even greater than Tiruvannamalai, because among the pañcabhūta-sthalas (five places sacred to Lord Siva, each one representing one of the five elements), Chidambaram is the ākāśa-liṅgam (space-liṅgam, space being the first, most subtle and most fundamental of the five elements) whereas Tiruvannamalai is just the agni-liṅgam (fire-liṅgam), but Bhagavan just smiled and kept quiet, so the dikṣitar asked him to think about it, saying he would return later to ask him whether he would like to visit Chidambaram. Before he returned Bhagavan composed this verse, and showed it to him when he came back. Being a learned person, the dikṣitar understood the import of the verse and accordingly acknowledged the greatness of Tiruvannamalai, so he prostrated to Arunachala and Bhagavan and never again tried to persuade him to visit Chidambaram.

There are several stories about the dance of Nataraja, and several variants of each story, but the one that Bhagavan refers to in this verse is briefly as follows: After vanquishing and killing a demon, the divine Mother began to dance in a wild frenzy, thereby endangering the entire universe, so the dēvas and others prayed to Lord Siva to protect them. He therefore took the form of Nataraja and began to dance in front of her, and in her frenzy she challenged him to a dancing competition, so it was only when he won the competition that she was subdued and ceased dancing.

However, though he danced in the form of Nataraja in the cit-sabhā (court of awareness) in Chidambaram, his real nature (svarūpa) is pure being, which is eternally and immutably motionless (acala) and therefore devoid of all doing. In Tiruvannamalai, therefore, he remains acala in the form of the great mountain Aruṇācala, and when the divine Mother was drawn to Aruṇācala to do tapas (spiritual austeri