120
Troubled by the five senses,
A potful of pride,
The youthful body has gone in vain, alas!
As the bumblebee, drinking
Fragrance, stops fluttering –
When will you take me in,
O Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender.
Bumblebee: used to describe the mind attaining a state of bliss whose source is within the self, and thus ceasing to wander.
121
Life slips away,
Future is going to ruin;
Beloved wife and children
Go their own ways.
Do not die barren, O mind, don’t:
In the company of devotees of
Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
I found secure life, O mind.
122
Four quarters of the day
They rush for food;
Four quarters of the night
They rush to sorrow.
Like the washerman who stands in water
Yet dies of thirst,
They know not the great treasure
That is in themselves,
O Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender.
123
We have thoughts of the linga,
We have thoughts of our devotees,
We have thoughts of our first ones.
Other than the thought of our
Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
Why do we want
To talk of the world, O brother?
Devotees, first ones: refer to the devotees at various levels of perfection in their devotion.
124
The courtyard of the Siva devotee
Is Varanasi, is it not true?
In his courtyard the sixty-eight
Holy springs, is it not so?
The scriptures bear witness:
‘If one drinks the waters of Kedar
Or dies at Varanasi
Or looks at the holy mountain,
One shall not be born again.’
If you turn around,
To the left and right is Kedar
And just outside is Varanasi.
With dispassion for seed
And devotion for sprout,
O Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
Your devotees’ courtyard
Is a grain greater than the holy confluence.
Varanasi: Banaras, Kasi.
Kedar: Kedarnath in the Himalayas, a place of pilgrimage sacred to Siva.
125
By the words of the joyful,
Sorrow got a respite;
When emotion was intimate,
Memory got a respite.
By associating with your devotees
I became merged in you
And your love contained me,
O Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender.
126
If you look, speak and listen,
It is a great joy.
What is impossible with
The grace of your devotees?
O Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
To the assemblage of your devotees
What is impossible?
127
Associating with the ignorant
Is like trying to light a fire
By rubbing stones;
Associating with the wise
Is like taking butter
After churning curd.
O Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
Associating with your devotees
Is like a hill of camphor
Catching fire.
Camphor catching fire: camphor leaves no residue after burning.
128
Why do you make me talk?
My hair is loose, my face is sad,
My body is melting.
O brothers, why do you make me talk?
O fathers, I have been through much,
Becoming has stopped for me,
Crooked ways are no more.
Becoming devoted, I have joined
Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
And am free of family.
A vacana that addresses the assembly of devotees at Kalyana.
129
Show me those who have forgotten
The changing ways of the senses
And have joined themselves to the linga.
Show me those who,
Having loosened the bonds
Of the darkness of lust,
Have devotion for life-breath.
Show me the true devotees,
Pure in body, mind and speech,
Who have taken refuge in your grace,
O Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender.
130
I suffered meditating on sorrow,
Can’t see the linga of light.
He won’t be caught in strings of words;
He withers the marrow, troubles the mind.
If one knows the supreme
As well as oneself
He is the yogi.
I bow to his feet,
O Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender.
131
Does not a chain bind,
Be it made of gems?
Does not a net restrain,
Be it made of pearls?
If heads are cut off
With a golden knife,
Will they not die?
If caught in devotion
To the dividing ways of the world
Will birth and death cease,
O Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender?
132
For the coming of your devotees, O lord,
I will decorate the temple with festoons.
For the coming of your devotees, O lord,
I will wear my royal headgear,
O lord, if your devotees come to my house,
I will plant their lotus feet in my heart,
See, Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender.
133
O lord, having seen your true devotees,
The veil over my eyes was torn off today;
Having bowed at the holy feet of your true devotees,
The fate written over my forehead was wiped off today.
O Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
Having seen the feet of Basavanna, your devotee,
I kept bowing in adoration, again and again.
134
I defeated Kama, the god of desire,
O Basava, by your strength.
By your grace, O Basava,
I will hold on to the moon-wearer.
What if I am called by a woman’s name?
In meditation, my form is masculine,
O Basava, by your kindness.
Restraining the over-lustful
Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
I am united, not knowing the two,
O Basava, by your mercy?
A vacana in praise of Basava, the founder leader of the assembly of devotees.
Moon-wearer: Siva; see note to 98.
Masculine: here stands for strength (of purpose).
Over-lustful: Siva is ever impatient for union with the devotee.
135
Desiring, imagining, I sat, O mother, being scorched;
Deluded kissing, I went mad, O mother;
Ever, never giving up, I believed him with joy.
If my god, Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
Does not like me
What shall I do, O mother?
136
Listen, my friend, listen. I had a dream:
I saw a mendicant, seated on the hill;
This beggar with red matted locks and pearly teeth came and loved me.
Embracing him, I was afraid.
Seeing the jasmine-tender Channamallikarjuna,
I closed and opened my eyes, wonder-struck.
One of a number of vacanas that describe Akka’s dream of uniting with her beloved lord, sometimes with slight variations. Siva as the han
dsome beggar, irresistibly attractive, is found also in the puranas (ancient lore, legends).
Opened my eyes: some texts have ‘closed and opened my eyes’; opening to the inner vision and withdrawal from the outward-directed senses indicated.
137
I have worn turmeric paste over my body,
Ornaments of gold,
And clothes fit for gods.
Come, O man,
Come, O jewel among men:
Your coming is the coming of my own life breath.
Come, O jasmine-tender Channamallikarjuna,
Waiting for your coming
My mouth is all dry.
Turmeric paste: used as an antiseptic and as a beauty aid by women in India.
Gold, clothes fit for gods: all symbols of great value, corresponding to the value of the adored ‘jewel among men’.
Waiting: literally ‘watching the path’.
138
Seeing the divine form
That shines in splendour
Within the eyes, I forgot myself, O mother.
Seeing the beauty of the jewelled crown, the snake bracelet,
Smiling face, and the pearly teeth,
My mind vanished.
So, Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
Is my bridegroom
And I his bride; listen, O mother.
139
O lord, what shall I say of the ways
Of the wise ones, born from the linga?
Their ways are the scriptures,
Their speech is the Vedas;
Can they be said to belong to the world?
For this scripture bears witness:
‘As the seed born of the tree,
Again gets merged in the tree,
Those who leave the world of Rudra
Are born in the world of Siva.’
From the seed the mighty fig tree is born,
That tree again inheres in the seed;
Similarly, from the linga
The wise ones are born,
Then they merge again in the linga.
Taking refuge in these wise ones
I am free from birth,
See, Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender.
140
Over his red, radiant matted locks
Shines the tender white crescent.
He wears snake jewels for earrings,
And a garland of skulls.
If you see him, O mother,
Ask him to come just once.
The eye of Govinda is on his toe;
This is how you can recognize
Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender.
141
I saw the divine form
With shining red matted hair for diadem,
Pleasing rows of shining pearly teeth
And smiling face;
Illuminating the twice-seven worlds
With the glow of his eyes.
Seeing him, my eyes’ famine
Is gone today.
I saw the great one
Who makes all the males female.
I saw the supreme guru
Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
Ever united with the primal Sakti.
Seeing him, I am saved.
Twice-seven worlds: according to popular belief there are fourteen worlds, seven in ascending and seven in descending order, with the earth being placed in the middle; different scales of values are implied.
Makes all the males females: a notion found in mystical traditions throughout the world.
Primal Sakti: the positive as well as negative aspects of the Absolute, being and becoming.
142
Listen, O sister, I had a dream:
I saw rice, betel nut, coconut
And palm leaf festoons;
I saw the mendicant with small matted locks
And shining pearly teeth,
Come begging, O sister.
I ran after him and caught him by the hand
While he was running away;
Seeing Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
I opened my eyes.
A vacana in which the dream theme recurs.
Rice, betel nut, etc.: symbols of abundance, used as decorations at all auspicious occasions, especially marriages.
Opened my eyes: arrived at true understanding.
143
O birds that keep on chattering,
Have you seen, have you seen?
O swans that play in the great lakes,
Have you seen, have you seen?
O cuckoos that sing in high notes,
Have you seen, have you seen?
O bumblebees that swarm and play around,
Have you seen, have you seen?
O peacocks that dance on mountain peaks,
Have you seen, have you seen?
If you know, please do tell me
Where Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender, is.
144
O bumblebees, O great tree,
O lustrous moon, O koel bird,
I beg just one thing from each of you:
If you see my lord,
Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
Please call and show me.
145
If the cloth that covers them slips,
Men and women become shy.
If you, lord of life,
Envelop the whole world,
What is there to be shy of?
If Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
Sees with the whole world as eyes,
What shall you cover and hide, O man?
146
I went watching the path of the stars
In the boundless ocean of glory
Shipping things from island to island.
If I know the silent speech of
Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
He will take me, as before.
Reference is made in the vacana to yogic practices: the islands may be the cakras, and the silent speech the ultimate silence in union.
As before: before the separation.
147
Kama, the god of desire, does not know;
He was burnt to ashes.
Time, who is death, does not know;
He was trampled down.
Brahma, the creator, does not know;
His head was plucked off.
Listen, O mother, listen:
Vishnu, the preserver, does not know;
He had to tend cattle.
The three worlds do not know;
They were burned by the eye in the forehead.
Therefore, Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender, is my husband,
What shall I describe of his greatness,
Beyond birth and death,
O mother?
The vacana contains references to the various gods being punished for their non-absolutist positions in regard to understanding the Supreme, here called Siva; all references are to popular mythology as found in the puranas.
Time … death: the god of death, also Time as the All-devouring Kala.
148
Within the body, the bodiless came to be;
Within the individuated,
The non-individuated came to be;
Within becoming, the becomingless came to be;
Within the mind, great remembrance came to be;
O Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
As you have nurtured me,
Seeing to my head, breasts and such organs,
I belong to your true way.
Seeing to … organs: perhaps meaning that, while these organs belong to Nature, as a woman the poet is troubled by their ability to arouse passion in men.
149
Beyond the body, beyond the mind,
Beyond the great,
Beyond that there is no logic,
As there is no thinker;
Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
Is the real principle, unreachable.
The great: ghana,
‘weighty’, and maha, ‘great’, found in different texts, refer to the causal factor from which the mind arises.
Logic: tarkane is usually translated ‘witness’ but can also be ‘logic’, from tarka, a branch of Indian logic, nyaya. The usual ratiocinative methods are not enough to reach the Absolute.
Unreachable: some readings have ‘the principle that cannot merge with Channamallikarjuna’, but the text adopted here makes more sense, Channamallikarjuna himself being the principle.
150
Trees rubbing against each other
Fired sparks that burned the trees around.
Minds rubbing against each other
Understanding was born,
And it burned the enveloping bodily qualities;
Show me such wisdom of the wise
And save me,
Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender.
Minds: originally mana mana, ‘mind and mind’.
151
Make me go from house to house
Begging with outstretched palms, O lord!
Even if I beg, O lord,
See that they don’t give.
If they give, O lord,
Make it fall to the ground.
When it falls to the ground, O lord,
See that the dog gets it before I pick it up,
Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender.
The renunciant is enjoined by the tradition to beg for bodily sustenance, like a honeybee, so that s/he can devote all effort to learning and teaching.
152
Songs for Siva Page 7