Annamalai Venba

Annamalai Venba

Page 2

Mountain where the black male monkey

Plucks the fragrant sweet mango fruit,

And bestows it on his female partner.

Mountain who is blissful to those who are free

From the mind's wandering thoughts.

Five-hued mountain:

Annamalai.

Mountain where dwells,

As an enduring cloud of compassion

My Guru, Om Namasivaya, performer of great austerities.

Mountain of surpassing greatness.

Mountain difficult for Mal and Brahma to seek:

Annamalai.

Mountain who stood as a tall pillar of fire

Unreachable to the sight and minds of Mal and Ayan,

Who entreated him.

Mountain of compassion who bestowed his grace on me.

Ruddy mountain, difficult to see and beyond compare:

Annamalai.

Mountain who yields up to the devotees who sing his praises

All the things that they desire,

The foremost of which is liberation.

Mountain clad in lasting glory.

Mountain who, as Sadguru, ruled over me,

Wicked wretch that I am:

Annamalai.

Mountain who grants the boons

Desired by the ascetics who honour and worship him,

Reciting the five holy letters

Which are praised in all the worlds.

Mountain always abounding with wise ones and their virtuous ways:

Annamalai.

Mountain who came softly as a devotee of Bhairava,

To the delight of the illustrious saint

Who slew his own child to serve him.(22)

Mountain who, as the bird Simbul

Did battle with the form of Narasimha:

Annamalai.

Mountain who shares half his form with Unnamulai.

Mountain whose sight is precious to the eye and sweet like nectar. Mountain whom the heavenly ones extol.

Mountain whom devotees daily mediate upon with worship and praise: Annamalai.

Mountain who delights in the Tamil song-garland

Sweetly recited by my Lord, full of grace, Namasivayan.

Mountain crowned with a fraction of the moon.

Mountain who sports in the company of his servants

Who devote their love to him:

Annamalai.

Mountain by whom all are engendered,

The gods, the three who are said to be gods to the gods themselves,

The inhabitants of earth, and the rishis.

Mountain who, in extolling his greatness,

We speak of as being without father and mother:

Annamalai.

Mountain to whom it is seemly for love-filled devotees,

Contemplating him in their thoughts, to perform puja.

Mountain who dwells in the heart of true devotees

In whom attachment to the wavering mind,

Which leads to desire, has been destroyed:

Annamalai.

Mountain to whom his most virtuous devotee, Namasivaya,

Offers praise, daily strewing abundant flowers before him.

Mountain sought on that day by the two.

Mountain who performs his dance eternally in Tillai's mystic hall: Annamalai.

Mountain who forever wards off the affliction of birth and death. Sadguru who rules over me, dog that I am,

I who sought his golden foot,

The foot that bestows goodness,

And which Mal, though he dug down through the earth

Wearing the vile head of a boar, was unable to see:

Annamalai.

Mountain to whom his devotees make obeisance,

Singing of and celebrating his divine nature,

Who consumed the cruel poison, saving the world from destruction. Mountain who wears the white ash over his whole body:

Annamalai.

Mountain who stood as a brilliant effulgence in Tillai's wood,

In Kasi, in holy Arur, in southern Madurai and in Nellai.(23)

Mountain whom the ancient Vedas sing.

Mountain who eternally inspires those who love him,

Performing the sacred dance in their hearts:

Annamalai.

Mountain, the vision of whose golden head and foot

Mal and Ayan seeking, could not know.

Mountain who became my Guru, Namasivaya,

To cut through the attachments

Of his devotee's evil wandering mind:

Annamalai.

Mountain surrounded by many carpeted groves.

Mountain upon which heavy showers of sweet perfumed rain

Are ever pouring down.

Mountain where the waters of flowery verdant meadows

Incessantly gushing forth, flow down:

Annamalai.

Mountain who, seeing the great austerities, without limit

Which she performed in solitude to save the whole world,

United with the Mountain's daughter as half of himself (24)

And gracefully stands affording his protection:

Annamalai.

Mountain whose meaning blossoms forth abundantly

For those who, taming the treacherous unruly senses,

And bringing them under control,

Have purified their minds and attained serenity.

Mountain of celestial ambrosia,

Who, whatever may befall, deigns to appear:

Annamalai.

Mountain whose foot, entering, moves in the hearts

Of those of fit understanding,

Who have subjugated the five senses and three gunas (25)

So that their fires cannot be kindled.

Mountain who came not upon the earth in a mother's womb,

And was not born:(26)

Annamalai.

Mountain who, in the ancient city of Madurai, praised in song,

Ate the sweet cakes and then fetched and carried earth

So that the Vaigai River would not break its banks.(27)

Mountain who in the Golden Hall eternally performs his dance: Annamalai.

Mountain, heavenly pathway of Siva-jnana,

Invisible both to him of the lotus

Who flew through the whole heavenly sphere

In the form of a swan, seeking him,

And to beautiful Lakshmi's royal Lord,(28)

Who, taking the form of a boar, searched all the lower worlds: Annamalai.

Mountain who, dwelling in Madurai's city of wide renown,

Examined exquisite Tamil verse in the company

Of the poets of the noble first academy.(29)

Mountain of surpassing excellence, who came upon the earth

Taking the form of the Guru, Namasivaya:

Annamalai.

Supreme mountain!

Mountain who is the first cause, without beginning.

Mountain, one half of whom is the Mother.

Mountain who chants and sings the Vedas.

Mountain who is justice.

Mountain who is yantra and tantra.

Mountain who is the five-syllable mantra proclaimed aloud:

Annamalai.

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(22) A story from the Periyapuranam in which Sirutondar, to fulfil a vow made to Siva, kills his own son and offers him to a passing sadhu to eat. The sadhu belonged to the Bhairava sect, which is noted for its wild ways. The sadhu, who turned out to be Siva himself, had come to test Sirutondar. After the offering had been made, proving Sirutondar's faith and devotion, Siva restored the boy to life.

(23) Chidambaram, Benares, Tiruvarur, Madurai and Tirunelveli: all places where Siva has manifested and performed miraculous deeds.

(24) Parvati was the daughter of Himavat, meaning 'the mountain'. This is the story referred to in footnote eleven.

(25) Rajas, tamas and sattva, the interplay of which determines the quantity and quality of one's thoughts.

(26) Saivas make a point of stressing that Siva, unlike Vishnu, has never been born on earth. He manifests, rather than incarnates, whenever the need arises. The earlier reference to him not having a father and mother makes the same point.

(27) See footnote eight. on Page 1

(28) Lakshmi is the consort of Vishnu.

(29) In ancient times there were three sangams or assemblies which examined the works of Tamil scholars and poets and passed judgement on them. In the first sangam Siva himself appeared incognito and acted as one of the judges.