WRITTEN BY LONDON SWAMINATHAN
Post No. 13,532
Date uploaded in London – 10 August 2024
Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com
Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge.
this is a non- commercial blog. Thanks for your great pictures.
tamilandvedas.com, swamiindology.blogspot.com
https://www.pustaka.co.in/home/author/london-swaminathan
xxxx
Mysterious Light from Body: Sankara, Ramakrishna, Tirumular Confirm; My Research Notes on VC 37
When I read LIGHT FROM BODY in Viveka Chudamani (VC) and Tiru manthiram of Tamil saint Tirumular, I though tht they are talking about wisdom. When the ignorance of darkness is removed form one, wisdom will dawn upon that person. But it is NOT the LIGHT, they mention. It is real light from one’s body. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (RKP) actually saw it. If such a story comes from some unknown 1000-year-old saint, I wouldn’t bother. It is from a great saint who lived just 150 years ago in Calcutta.
Here is what Sri R K P says,
At the time of my practising austere Saadhanaas under the Panchavati, a man named Girija (disciple of Bhairavi Braahmani) came there. He was a great Yogi. Once when I wanted to come to my room in the dark night, he raised his arm and a strong light emanated from his arm pit and lighted the whole path. On my advice he gave up using that power and turned his mind to the realization of the highest Reality.
He lost that power subsequently, no doubt, but he gained in true spirituality.
Sri RKP warns about using miracles. They are the first tests God sends to every Yogi or Sidha. If one falls in the trap, one uses it to get Kaamini and Kaanchana= Woman and Gold. Now we see many Babas (baabaas)in jail for abusing miracles or faiths of the devotees.
xxxx
Now in VC, Sankara says,
यथा सुवर्णं पुटपाकशोधितं
त्यक्त्वा मलं स्वात्मगुणं समृच्छति ।
तथा मनः सत्त्वरजस्तमोमलं
ध्यानेन सन्त्यज्य समेति तत्त्वम् ॥ ३६१ ॥
yathā suvarṇaṃ puṭapākaśodhitaṃ
tyaktvā malaṃ svātmaguṇaṃ samṛcchati |
tathā manaḥ sattvarajastamomalaṃ
dhyānena santyajya sameti tattvam || 361 ||
361. As gold purified by thorough heating on the fire gives up its impurities and attains to its own lustre, so the mind, through meditation, gives up its impurities of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, and attains to the reality of Brahman.
ब्रह्मात्मनोः शोधितयोरेकभावावगाहिनी ।
निर्विकल्पा च चिन्मात्रा वृत्तिः प्रज्ञेति कथ्यते
सुस्थितासौ भवेद्यस्य स्थितप्रज्ञः स उच्यते ॥ ४२७ ॥
brahmātmanoḥ śodhitayorekabhāvāvagāhinī |
nirvikalpā ca cinmātrā vṛttiḥ prajñeti kathyate
susthitāsau bhavedyasya sthitaprajñaḥ sa ucyate || 427 ||
427. That kind of mental function which cognises only the identity of the Self and Brahman, purified of all adjuncts, which is free from duality, and which concerns itself only with Pure Intelligence, is called illumination. He who has this perfectly steady is called a man of steady illumination.
Now one may wonder whether Sankara talks about inner light (wisdom) or real body light like our electric torch light. I would say he meant both. Because the simile used is purification of gold.
xxxx
That is used by the author Tiru Valluvar of Tamil Veda Tirukkural as well,
The hotter glows the fining fire, the gold the brighter shines;
The pain of penitence, like fire, the soul of man refines.—Kural 267
சுடச்சுடரும் பொன்போல் ஒளிவிடும் துன்பஞ்
சுடச்சுட நோற்கிற் பவர்க்கு.– குறள் 267:
Valluvar also used it in the Chapter TAPAS (tavam in Tamil)
(From the fact Valluvar using Sanskrit word Tapas we know he meant the same that Sankara mentioned. Note the chapter name in Sanskrit. Valluvar used Sanskrit words in over 600 couplets out of 1330. All the 133 Chapters have the Sanskrit word Adhikaaram.)
Bengalis and Tamils interchange P/B and V (Avestan too)
xxxx
Manu Smriti
This is found in Manu Smriti before Tirukural:
दह्यन्ते ध्मायमानानां धातूनां हि यथा मलाः ।
तथेन्द्रियाणां दह्यन्ते दोषाः प्राणस्य निग्रहात् ॥ ७१ ॥
dahyante dhmāyamānānāṃ dhātūnāṃ hi yathā malāḥ |
tathendriyāṇāṃ dahyante doṣāḥ prāṇasya nigrahāt || 71 ||
Just as the impurities of metallic ores are consumed when they are blasted, even so are the taints of the senses consumed through the suspension of breath.—(71)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
When the ‘metallic ores,’ of gold for instance, are blasted in a furnace, what is left behind is pure gold; similarly when the senses apprehend their objects, the man feels joys and sorrows, and these are productive of sin; this sin is consumed through the suspension of breath.
For the man seeking Liberation, indulging in joys and griefs has been forbidden.
But even in a man who has given up all attachment, and has his organs under his control, these are bound to appear, in howsoever small a degree, through the sheer nature of things, whenever by chance various kinds of colour, sound &c. become presented before him. And it is for the removal of the taints due to these that breath-suspensions have to be practised.—(71)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
This verse is quoted in Mitākṣarā (on 3.62);—and in Vidhānapārijāta (II. p. 176).—Taken from Wisdomlib.com
xxxx
Nagarjuna, Father of Chemistry, also talks about magical lights in his book Yogaratnamala.
xxxx
Tamil Saint Tirumular also deals with Body Light in his Tiru Manthiram :
சோதி இரேகைச் சுடரொளி தோன்றிடிற்
கோதில் பரானந்தம் என்றே குறிக்கொண்மின்
நேர்திகழ் கண்டத்தே நிலவொளி எய்தினால்
ஓதுவ துன்னுடல் உன்மத்த மாமே
When Light Appears
If thus meditating,
Luminescence you glimpse at the Eye-brow centre
Know you are destined for bliss unalloyed;
If at the Throat’s Center
Lunar light you behold,
Then will your body,
In divine joy intoxicated be.
xxxxxx
சாற்றரி தாகிய தத்துவஞ் சித்தித்தால்
ஆற்றரி தாகிய ஐந்தும் அடங்கிடும்
மேற்றிகழ் ஞானம் விளக்கொளி யாய்நிற்கும்
பாற்பர சாயுச்சிய மாகும் பதியே.
1442: When This Truth Dawns Then is Union in Siva
When this Truth, beyond words, you perceive
The Siva Tattvas five bend below;
The light of Supreme Jnana dawns,
Illumines the Soul’s path
To the Finite goal
Of Sayujya union in Lord
My Comments
All the above quoted items may be interpreted as Inner Light (Wisdom); but they also mean shine in the body that is seen in many Yogis.
(I have seen Sri Santhananda of Pudukkottai with golden, shining body and long hair that was rolling on the floor. Swamiji Krishna of Ayakkudi told us that he had seen him doing Tapas in the forests of Sahyadri mountain (Western Ghats). Other saints like Kanchi Paramacharya (1894-1994) and Sringeri Sankaracharya Abhinava Vidyatheertha, Omkarananda of Theni had the light in their eyes. I was fortunate enough to get blessings from all the above great saints personally. All these Swamijis visited my house in Madurai due to my father V Santanam’s great devotion)
xxxx
Seeing is Believing by Elvis Presley
Every time I see the sun rise
Or a mountain that’s so high
Just by seeing is believing
I don’t need to question why
When I see a mighty ocean
That rushes to the shore
If I ever had cause to doubt Him
I don’t doubt Him anymore
Oh seeing, seeing, seeing is believing
And I see him everywhere
In the mountains, in the valley
Yes I know my God is there
Oh, in time I look above me
See the stars that fill the sky
How could there be any question
Only God can reach that high
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Bobby West / Glen Dale Spreen
Seeing Is Believing lyrics © Elvis Presley Music, Abg Elvis Songs, Carlin Music Delaware Llc
–Subham—
Tags- Seeing is Believing, Elvis Presley, Mysterious Light from Body, Sankara, Ramakrishna, Tirumular , My Research Notes on VC -37
Tamil and Vedas 