Arunachala
: The Spiritual Center of the world
Each of the spiritual centers of India
has its own character and its own line of tradition;
and among them all it is Tiruvannamalai (Arunachala)
that represents the most direct, the most formless
and the least ritualistic of paths, the path
of Self-enquiry, whose gateway is silent initiation.
This is expressed in the old Tamil saying: “To
see Chidambaram, to be born at Tiruvarur, to
die at Banaras or even to think of Arunachala
is to be assured of Liberation.” “Even
to think of” because in the case of the
direct path physical contact is not necessary.
Hence, it was no accident that the Maharshi
made Tiruvannamalai and its sacred Arunachala
Mountain his home.
When the Maharshi attained Self-realization
through a swift, spontaneous act of Self-enquiry
while yet a lad of sixteen, he left home and
set out as a sadhu for Arunachala. He remained
there for the duration of his life. At the time
of his passing, more than fifty years after
his arrival, a bright star was seen moving slowly
across the sky and sinking behind the peak of
the holy mountain. This was a clear indication
not only of his devotion to Arunachala but also
his Oneness with it. Through his compositions,
his sayings and his life the importance of Arunachala
as a spiritual center has once again risen to
eminence. The Maharshi called Arunachala the
spiritual Heart of the world. Aruna, which means
‘red, bright like fire’, does not
signify the mere fire that gives off heat. Rather,
it is Jnanagni, the Fire of Wisdom, which is
neither hot nor cold. Achala signifies hill.
Thus, Arunachala means the ‘Hill of Wisdom’
Tiruvannamalai, at the foot of Arunachala, is
a town of medium size, 120 miles southwest of
Chennai, an ancient village with a large and
splendid temple. Certain yearly festivals draw
large crowds of pilgrims to Tiruvannamalai from
all over South India. This is especially so
at Karthigai (known also as Deepam), which usually
falls in November. On this occasion a beacon
light of clarified butter (ghee) is lit at nightfall
on the summit of the mountain. At the Ashram
itself, of course, the greatest festivals are
the anniversaries of the birth and passing of
the Maharshi (Jayanti and Aradhana), which fall
respectively at the winter solstice and the
spring equinox.
Although associated with the most simple and
direct spiritual path, Tiruvannamalai is not
the most famous of India’s holy places,
for the direct path can never be the most popular.
It is more austere than some other paths and
hence it is perhaps rather for the intrepid
few than for the many. Indeed, the method of
Self-enquiry had almost gone out of use in recent
centuries. It was the Maharshi who revived it,
gave it a new directness, simplicity and universality
and made it accessible to all seekers through
his grace and guidance.
There is a Puranic story about the origin of
the hill. Once Vishnu and Brahma fell to disputing
which of them was the greater. Their quarrel
brought chaos on earth, so the Devas approached
Siva and besought him to settle the dispute.
Siva thereupon manifested himself as a column
of light from which a voice issued declaring
that whoever could find its upper or lower end
was the greater. Vishnu took the form of a boar
and burrowed down into the earth to find the
base, while Brahma took the form of a swan and
soared upwards to seek its summit. Vishnu failed
to reach the base of the column but “beginning
to see within himself the Supreme Light which
dwells in the hearts of all, he became lost
in meditation, oblivious to the physical body
and even unaware of himself, the one who sought”.
Brahma saw the flower of an alse plant falling
through the air and, thinking to win by deception,
returned with it and declared he had plucked
it from the summit.
Vishnu admitted his failure and turned to the
Lord in praise and prayer: “You are Self-knowledge.
You are OM. You are the beginning and the middle
and the end of everything. You are everything
and illuminate everything.” He was pronounced
great while Brahma was exposed and confessed
his fault.
In this legend, Vishnu represents the mind and
Brahma the intellect, while Siva is Atma, the
spirit.
The story continues that, because the lingam
or column of light was too dazzling to behold,
Siva manifested himself instead as the Arunachala
hill, declaring: “As the moon derives
its light from the sun, so other holy places
shall derive their sanctity from Arunachala.
This is the only place where I have taken this
form for the benefit of those who wish to worship
me and obtain illumination. Arunachala is OM
itself. I will appear on the summit of this
hill every year at Kartigai in the form of a
peace-giving beacon.” This refers not
only to the sanctity of Arunachala itself but
also to the pre-eminence of the doctrine of
Advaita and the path of Self-enquiry of which
Arunachala is the center. One can understand
this meaning in Sri Bhagavan’s saying,
“In the end everyone must come to Arunachala.”
Giripradakshina
The circumambulation of Arunachala (Giripradakshina)
has been prescribed as a panacea for all the
ills of life. The Maharshi encouraged all of
his devotees to make the nine-mile circuit,
even those who were infirm, knowing for certain
that the spiritual benefits of giripradakshina
far outweighed any physical hardships. He said,
“The greatness of this giripradakshina
has been described at length in Arunachala Puranam.
Lord Nandikesa asked Sadasiva about its greatness
and Sadasiva narrated as follows: “To
go round this hill is good. The word ‘pradakshina’
has a typical meaning. The letter ‘Pra’
stands for the removal of all kinds of sin;
‘da’ stands for the fulfillment
of desires; ‘kshi’ stands for freedom
from future births; ‘na’ stands
for the granting of deliverance through jnana.
One should go round either in mouna (silence)
or dhyana (meditation) or japa (repetition of
Lord’s name) or bhajan (singing praises)
and thereby think of God all the time. One should
walk slowly like a woman who is in the ninth
month of pregnancy.”
Another day while describing its benefits, the
Maharshi was recorded to have said, “Really,
it is difficult to describe the pleasure and
the happiness one gets by this pradakshina.
The body gets tired, the sense organs lose their
strength and all the activities of the body
become absorbed within. It is possible thus
to forget oneself and get into a state of meditation.
As one continues to walk, the body automatically
gets harmonized as in the asana state. The body
therefore becomes improved in health. Besides
this, there are several varieties of medicinal
herbs on the hill. The air that passes over
those herbs is good for the lungs.
“Pilgrims become absorbed in their Atma
by walking with no other thought than that of
God. Giripradakshina is also the same thing.
The body becomes light and walks of its own
accord. There will not be the feeling that we
are walking. The dhyana that you cannot get
into while sitting, you get into automatically
if you go for pradakshina. However unable a
person is to walk, if he once goes round the
hill he will feel like going again and again.
The more you go, the more the enthusiasm for
it. It never decreases. Once a person is accustomed
to the happiness of Pradakshina, he can never
give it up.”
These days it is a common sight to see hundreds
thousands of pilgrims piously treading the pradakshina
route on purnima, the full moon night, and there
are also a good number of devotees that make
the circuit daily. The Maharshi often walked
around the hill taking a whole day, several
days or sometimes even a week. This came to
an end in 1926 when he felt that the attention
he attracted while doing pradakshina inconvenienced
others. But of the early days of his wanderings
he has said that there was not a single spot
on the hill where he had not set his foot.
The Maharshi’s “Five Hymns to Arunachala”
are the ecstatic outpourings from the spiritual
heart of a fully illumined sage united forever
with his beloved, Arunachala. There is immense
inspiration and guidance on the path in each
and every stanza of these poems.
When I approach Thee regarding Thee as having
form, Thou standest as a Hill on earth. If with
the mind the seeker looks for Thy (essential)
form as formless, he is like one who travels
the earth to see the (ever-present) ether. To
dwell without thought upon Thy (boundless) nature
is to lose one’s (separate) identity like
a doll of sugar when it comes in contact with
the ocean (of nectar); and when I come to realize
who I am, what else is this identity of mine
(but Thee), O Thou Who standest as the towering
Aruna Hill. — Sri Arunachala Ashtakam,
verse 3
Map of Arunachala
and Shrines [Click on map to enlarge the size]
