Darkness, Light and Grace
Darkness is the nature of this world. Knowledge and wisdom being the light, compassion in the heart and grace of the Divine make one cross darkness. But darkness is approached in a different way also. There is a verse in the collection, Puratthirattu. This body is an earthern lamp. Thiri is the patience or abhyasa. Ghee is the concentration practice. The ultimate flame is the grace or compassion. This verse belongs to an ancient collection of Bharata venba that has found a place in the 500 year old anthology viz., Puratthirattu. And the verse is not over. It also talks about what happens when the cross-over is made from here to there with the help of the lamp. With the flame of grace or compassion lit by abhyasa and tapas, when one reaches the beyond, the darkness is transformed into open space. How to understand this? Darkness is there, being the nature of the world in which we find ourselves. One has the lamp, the body, the patience, the undaunted practice of concentration. At last the flame is lit. Darkness disappears and should you not see the objects various? But instead what happens? Darkness disappears and in its place you find open space, just open space, no observer, no observed, no interrelation or contexts. To understand this anomaly Sri Adisankara is helpful. In one sloka Sri Adisankara says - this transcendent light! what a surprise and what a mystery! Usually in the light things will be seen and in darkness things cannot be seen. But in the darkness of avidya various objects were seen but when the light of Jnana shines all the various objects are nowhere in sight!
'Body as the lamp; patience as the thread;
concentration as the ghee, the flame of grace is lit;
With it when one goes over to the beyond
Darkness is gone and only open space remains'
’மெய்தகளி யாகப் பொறையாம் திரிக்கொளீஇ
நெய்தவ மாக நிறைதரப் - பெய்தாங்கு
அருளாம் விளக்கேற்றி அம்மைப்பாற் செல்ல
இருள்போய் வெளியாய் விடும்.’
(Puratthirattu, Bhaarata venba)
Srirangam Mohanarangan
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