Arunachala! The giver of Nithyananda

The Shiva linga has been described in Tantra as the ultimate form for cosmic energy flow. It represents the perfect union of male and female energies.

Man does not need another being to experience the bliss energy in him. If he dives into the depths of his being, he can experience it as continuous surging tides that rise and fall within himself causelessly. The localized peak energy experience which happens through union with another being, can very well be an experience of every body cell, without the presence of the other. Energy need not be dissipated through the other being, but can be contained within oneself as an eternal and ecstatic dance. This phenomenon is what is represented in the Shiva linga – the ultimate God form created for worship.

The Shiva linga symbolizes the energy flow that happens when Existence unites with itself to create waves of bliss that rise and fall within, not without. It is the ultimate symbol of the state of samadhi, where mere existence is bliss.

The temple of Arunachaleshwara in Tiruvannamalai is the biggest Shiva temple in Bharat. It is one of the five sacred linga sites of Shiva in South Bharat. Here Shiva is worshipped in his elemental form of fire, as one of the pancha bhutas - the five elements of nature. These five elemental energies are: earth, water, fire, air and ether.

The other temple sites where Shiva is worshipped are: Chidambaram where Shiva he is worshipped as ether or space, Kalahasti where he is worshipped as air, Kanchipuram where he is worshipped as earth and Tiruvanaikkaval where he is worshipped as water. It is also believed that Shiva appeared to his consort Parvati here in Arunachala as a column of fire on the day of Kartikai Pournami (Kartikai is the Tamil month of November-December and Pournami is the full moon day) and fulfilled her desire to unite with him.

The temple of Arunachala has been praised in the songs of the 7th century Tamil Saint Tirugnana Sambandar, and is believed to have existed long before that. It is mentioned in ancient Tamil verses that just remembering Arunachala assures liberation! Such is the greatness of this mountain.

A mystical trail, a wondrous journey Around the Mountain of Light That kindles a yearning inexplicable That draws the soul into... pray what? That raises one to the peak of awareness… That somehow seems to call, 'Come on in my dear child…'

From every corner of the town Forever accessible to the seeking eye Haunting the soul through every crevice Are You not the One That liberates Through just Remembrance of You? O Arunachala!

Through the form of fire dear One, You protect the devotees who take refuge As cool shade dear One, You heal the aching heart Making my birth complete, You draw me into Divinity... O Arunachala!

Your stillness speaks a million words Drawing millions to Your very heart Exuding transcendental glory That seems to include every enjoyment of the world... O Arunachala!

O peerless Gem! Why can't the wavering mind know There is nothing greater than Thee There is nothing more to seek That You are Mother, Father, Beloved As well as the Master who liberates in bliss That relationships are but illusory And You are the only One That binds Only to set us free? O Arunachala!

Help me break the shield of my ego That makes me feel separate from You Help me fall in the ocean of Your love And bond with Your formless form So near yet so far Liberate me from this illusory separation O Arunachala!

Mountain magnet are You An effulgence of love The fiery Linga form… Blessing Brahma and Vishnu And every other soul thereon From the holy town of Arunachala O Arunachala!

Heart center of the universe are You Where Shiva dwells eternally Luring the seeking ones To the mystical land of eternity Pull me in so I may reach You And merge unto the beyond that is Thee, O Arunachala!

Without awareness I may resist Don't heed it O Arunachala! Listen only to my conscious calls And break me from the mind That keeps me separate from Thee, O Arunachala!

Burn my guilt, anger, lust and jealousy That seem to veil Thy grace upon me Rest my mind so I may feel At ease to come to Thee, O Arunachala!

How long to stay in delusion How much further to reach You How much more I wonder You say it is a moment Then grace me to encounter That elusive moment, O Arunachala!

Take me to that realm That is silent and beyond words Take me to the Self The true nature of You and me Let me experience Thy prowess And the real me… No more pining from ignorance O Arunachala! Grace me

Years wasted in separation have gone by… I still wander in Your space, Oblivious of Thy loving grace Heed my Being not my Mind I pray to You O Arunachala!

As You wipe out our threefold karma And liberate us from the cycle of birth Grace us to act out of intelligence So we may deceive our senses, O Arunachala!

*karma – unfulfilled actions of ours that cause us to enter into the cycle of birth and death continuously

• We freeze in our trail at Your first sight And drown in Your majesty As we melt in Your sweet face Deceive us O beloved One! So we may fall in love to rise And experience the joy of Your reality! O Arunachala!

Like rising tides one after the other Thoughts come and go so violently The tempest of which is too much to endure How is it possible to move From the gross to the subtle, Except with Thy Grace O Arunachala!

As we seek Your mystical abode Make us mature and set us free From our very mind and conditioning That we carry so faithfully O Arunachala!

The Fire Hill of the Satya Yuga The Ruby Hill of the Treta Yuga The Gold Hill of the Dvapara Yuga The Rocky hill of the Kali Yuga O Arunachala! You rose as the Divine Hillock As Nithya Arunachala Shiva!

• Nithya – eternal *Yuga – An age of the world per Hindu Cosmology. Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali are the four yugas.

The Sun, the Moon, Dwellers of the Earth and Heaven, The Supreme Yogis of the eight cardinal directions Reach You in eternal bliss O Hara Hara Shiva Shiva Nithya Arunachala Shiva!

Only You can cause deep surrender In body, mind and spirit And take us unto You Revered Arunachala!

You are guarded by the eight Lingas: By Indra Linga on the East Agni Linga on the South East Yama Linga on the South Nirudhi Linga on the South West Varuna Linga on the West Vayu Linga on the North West Kubera Linga on the North And Isanya Linga on the North East

And You guard us in turn How fortunate we truly are! O Arunachala!

Embodiment of the five Elements Abode to celestial beings Siddhars, Munis, Rishis, Yakshas and Gandharvas Revel in Thy arms as they float in bliss Basking in the Oneness with You O Arunachala!

Aruna, red or fiery like the Sun Achala, immovable like the Hill The immovable Hill of the Fire of Wisdom are You Lighting every being with the very Fire… O Arunachala!

Circling You on a Monday delivers us from life and death; On a Tuesday, delivers us from doubts and anxieties in the material world; On a Wednesday, brings great wisdom and understanding to us; On a Thursday, draws all goodness in this samsara sagara – ocean of Life; On a Friday, brings us the supreme experience of inner bliss! On a Saturday, removes fear of occult influences and enlightens us; On a Sunday, makes us embrace the energy of the Sun god within us How truly blessed are we, O Arunachala!

Wandering mendicants dwell upon You Eternally immersed in Thy Name Blissfully drifting in Thy Space With a peace and calm unknown thus far Nestling like in the mother's womb Moving from loneliness to aloneness

They glimpse again their true state of bliss That they had in their mother's womb That Golden Age of innocence Tainted by the wand of illusion When delivered into this samsara sagara O Arunachala!

*samsara sagara – ocean of life and death

Like how a cow walks around a pole In diminishing circles only to discover That it can't move any more That the rope has rested in surrender; So also, are You not the One Who shortens the mind that circles You Arresting it finally So we may rest in Your delightful Self Free from our own self forever! O Arunachala!

All our effort to just be Is rewarded by Your sheer Grace Such is Your infinite compassion That every step we take towards You You make it a step towards our own Self Changing devotion to You as devotion to our Self So we may awaken to the profound Oneness In You and everything else O Arunachala!

Abiding on Earth as the fiery Mountain As the Shiva Linga Arunachaleshwara As an enlightened master in different forms For over thousands of years… Compassion personified are You For the yearning ones As Arunadri, Sonadri… Through 108 Names You are called By the devoted ones who sing Your glory, O Arunachala!

In this Divine Land chosen by You To manifest in Your glorious Mountain form Blessed are the ones who move around Knowingly or unknowingly From morning till night every day of the year Immersed in something or other But the ear hearing Your name always And the tongue uttering Your Divine Name An eternal blessing from You O Sonesa!

• Destroy me Arunachala Let me be me no more Let me be You Who are Mahadeva, Shiva! O Arunachala!

Abode to thousands of enlightened Ones Divine Mother and spiritual incubator are You… A place of penance for the sincere seeker Five-Hued Mountain are You… Ganga and other sacred rivers Flow in Your lap Nandana the garden of Indra

Is Your very forest; Through Your very presence on planet Earth You radiate the possibility for every being To catch the spark of Inner Light O Arunachala, grace me!

• Are You not the world condensed That circumambulating You Is circling the world How fortunate are we To have You as the Mountain of Light! O Arunachala!

As Arunachaleshwara and Mother Unnamulayar You manifested in the temple For us to worship and pray for Thy grace Granting boons no sooner than they are asked Sustaining the fallen heart and raising it one more time O Arunachala!

You gave Adisesha the strength to bear the Earth You graced the Devas to win over the Asuras You restored many sinners to their purest forms You bestow upon us blessings before we even ask O Arunachala!

*Devas and Asuras refer to divine beings and demons respectively

Mightier than the Meru are You Or Kailash or even the Mandara Your waters are holier than the Ganga The birds, animals and other living creatures Who dwell upon You Are more sacred than even the Divine Beings Who bless us from above O Arunachala!

• Neither wealth nor knowledge can attract You Only love and surrender can You destroy our ego of knowledge And pride of wealth And make us beings of pure love O Arunachala!

Was it not on the Coral hill of Your Divine Space That Divine Mother sat in meditation? And experienced the explosion of Light And merged unto Her Lord on His left Which the world celebrates As the Festival of Lights?

Make me too merge unto You Through penance of any measure if You will For I know not what is to be done Grace me O Arunachala!

Amidst theories and revelations Of the Big Bang and the Black Hole With twinkling eyes You sit… The explosions and dissolutions Happening in Your very heart As Ananda Leela! Is it not true That they happen in my body too For are You not my soul, O Arunachala!

*Ananda Leela – blissful divine play

The Universal Self are You With Divine Light that pervades And justice that flourishes Drawing every seeker From every corner of this world To eternal fulfillment O Arunachala!

Are You not the Energy manifest And the fullness of Knowledge? Then why do I fathom You Through the darkness of my ignorance? Let me only bask in Thy Glory And rise in Thy bliss As a speck of Thy effulgence, O Arunachala!

As millions circumambulate You On the radiant new moon day You churn the wandering minds Bringing heightened awareness into oneself Opening the way to the ultimate experience Of Self illumination, O Arunachala!

Every crevice in Your Self Seems to resound with the Truth Stirring the very being With inexplicable mystique Leading the aware one To depths unknown To discover that You and the Self Are not different but One… Arunachala Shiva!

Eternal auspiciousness are You That pervades this universe every moment; Death and disease too are You That come by in one's life; Make me see everything as equal and auspicious And happening in Your very being, O Arunachala!

When success stops impressing me And I fall into the depression of my being Let me feel Your enveloping Presence And heed Your call, O Arunachala!

Part 2: Arunachala! The giver of Nithyananda_English_part_2.md

As the clouds nestle against You at day And the crescent moon adorns You at night You continue to radiate Light Piercing the sky and pervading the universe With the intensity of twelve rising suns Yet no heat, only Light, O Arunachala!

Motionless being are You Yet the cause of all motion; God of desire are You Yet desireless Yourself; Make me melt with devotion to Thee As the only wisdom ever, O Arunachala!

As the stars move around You in sheer delight Neither the oceans, the wind or fire can touch You Who cares for name or fame? Let me only merge unto You, O Arunachala!

Let me not be arrogant and forget You Even in the most deceiving moments May I remember You with utmost revere As my God and saviour In this life of mine, O Arunachala!

Shake my very being Till all falsity leaves me So I may rise in purity And resonate with You, O Arunachala!

Mere feeding of Your wandering ascetics Is considered an unequalled deed Then why am I in such heavy delusion Of Your greatness? Make me see that You are the One Who creates, sustains, destroys, conceals and liberates As pure Divine Play, Nithya Arunachala Shiva!

Formless in form Wordless in words Timeless in Time are You

O Arunachala!

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