Meikandadevar
Nayanaar lived in the 13th
century. He was born in
a village called Thiruvennainallur
in Tamil Nadu. He was named Thiruvennkaadan after
his parents had prayed devotedly
to the presiding deity of
the village, Thiruvenkaadu, located
nearby. He was also addreesed
by his Sanskrit name, Svethavanan.
He is
considered as the first
authentic preceptor of Truth
and has interpreted the
term Advaitham, not in the
usual negative way as
"not two but
one," but by replacing it
with a new interpretation.
To quote
Thomas Merton,
"In mystical union,
God and man, while remaining, no doubt, metaphysically
distinct,are practically and experimentally
'one spirit' ".
Caiva
Sidhaantam is called the "quintessence
of Vedaanta" and to distinguish
it from Kevala Advaitha, it
is called Suddha-adhvaitham,
that is, pure Advaitha.
Just
as the Maandookya Upanishad
with its 12 verses has
a voluminous "kaarika" (commentary)
by Gauda paada, and with
a "bhaashyam" (super commentary)
to it by Sankara,so too
Meikandadevar's Civa-jnaana - Bodham
has a kaarika and a
bhashyam in Civa-jnaana - siddhi by
Arunnandi Civanaar and
Civa-jnaana - prakaasam by Umaapathy
Civam respectively.
The
bases of knowledge of Caiva
Sidhaanta are in the 12
Thirumurais
(practices and rituals)
and in the 14 Saastraaas
(philosophical treatises ).
Civa - jnaana - bodham is
considered the pinnacle.
Meikkanda
Devar, the first of the
philosophers in the Caiva
Sidhaanta
and his work, the
briefest of all religious
scriptures, as brief as the
Maandukya Upanishad, and
the corner-stone of the philosophy
is but a
codification of doctrine,
dogma, metaphysics and philosophy
scattered through the pages
of the Thiruvaachakam,the Thirumurais
and the Thirumanthiram.
His composition,Civajnaabodham
consists of 12 aphorisms
/ verses (sutras) 40 lines,
216 words, 624 letters of
alphabet and 81 couplets.
The 12
aphorisms/verses (sutras) are divided
into 4 sections, 2 of
which fall under a General
chapter and the other 2
under a Special chapter. Each section
comprises 3 verses.
Meikandar
has culled the gist of
the several "sutras "in 12
pithy
sentences. To quote Gordon Mathews,
they are :
* God who
causes dissolution is the
primal source of the world.
* How the
world is evolved again
* The existence
of the soul
* The existence
of the soul
* God's service
to souls
* The real
and the non real
* A supplement
to the above
* How the
soul obtains knowledge
* How the
soul is purified
* How desire,
the fetter, is removed
* How the
soul reaches the sacred feet
of God
* How God,
invisible and unknowable, can be
worshipped
as
visible and knowable
çèá¨õëª
-- Introduction
æùª
- firmly rooted
Íùª
- banyan
å¨Èùª
- shade
ëéù
(ëéù²
)
- mountain
(doubt)
ô¨ùªùèõÐ
(¬ùªùèõÐ
) -
archer (without)
íÕó¨á
- bestowed
by
âçèùªùèõÐ
(âçèóªóèõÐ
) - the
unchiselled One
¬éú
ëùõÐ
- cin
mudra (symbol of contemplation)
-
at the Lotus feet
åùªùèõÐ
- good
people
µéäôîõ
- renders
The unchiselled
One,
(Pollaar, as he is
called)
With His Cin
Mudra
Seated under the
shade of the firmly rooted
banyan,
In contemplation,
Renders to
all the good people,
That which has
been offered at His Lotus
feet
And which has
been bestowed by,
The Archer who
bent the mountain as a
bow,
Siva, the Undoubtable
One
íéôáìæÐæëª
-- Address to
the Assembly (Prologue)
êëªéë
-
of themselves
ãúõÐåÐÊ
-
on realizing
êéë
-
(and) the Being
ãéìá
-
having
êäª
-
in them
ãúõÐôèõÐ
-
they will know
öëªéë
-
me
ãéìéë
-
that which is my possession
öéë
-
my
¬æÈèõÐ
-
will not belittle
êëªéë
-
themselves
ãúõèõÐ
-
those who do not realize
ãúõèõÐ
-
will not realize
ã짪Æ
-
elephant
¬éáåÐÊ
-
in agreement
êëªë¨äª
-
in them
ãúõèéë
-
lacking in a total
view
îæóèëª
-
not listen
µ÷äª
-
external appearance
Those who on
realizing of themselves,
As having the
Being in them
Will not belittle
me or that which is
my possession
Those who do
not realize themselves
Will not realize
(Like the five
blind persons each identifying
only one part of the)
Elephant
(And hence) lacking
in total view
Who will not
listen or be in agreement
Of its external
appearance.