Śrī Aruṇācala Akṣaramaṇamālai verse 18

In a Zoom meeting of the ‘Ramana Maharshi Foundation UK’ on 10th December 2022 Michael James discusses verse 18 of Śrī Aruṇācala Akṣaramaṇamālai:

கீழ்மே லெங்குங் கிளரொளி மணியென்
      கீழ்மையைப் பாழ்செய் யருணாசலா

kīṙmē leṅguṅ kiḷaroḷi maṇiyeṉ
      kīṙmaiyaip pāṙcey yaruṇācalā

பதச்சேதம்: கீழ் மேல் எங்கும் கிளர் ஒளி மணி, என் கீழ்மையை பாழ் செய் அருணாசலா.

Padacchēdam (word-separation): kīṙ mēl eṅgum kiḷar oḷi maṇi, eṉ kīṙmaiyai pāṙ sey aruṇācalā.

English translation: Arunachala, gem of light that shines below, above and everywhere, annihilate my lowness.

Explanatory paraphrase: Arunachala, gem of light [the infinitely precious light of pure awareness, ‘I am’] that shines below, above and everywhere [that is, that shines within me at all times and in all states, whether my mind is in a low state of impurity and immaturity or an elevated state of purity and maturity], [by drawing my mind inwards to see you as you actually are] annihilate my baseness [the darkness of my self-ignorance, which is what rises as ego, the false awareness ‘I am this body’].

This episode can also be watched as a video, 2022-12-10a Ramana Maharshi Foundation UK: Michael discusses Śrī Aruṇācala Akṣaramaṇamālai verse 18, and a more compressed audio copy in Opus format (which can be listened to in the VLC media player and some other apps) can be downloaded from here.

After discussing this verse of Śrī Aruṇācala Akṣaramaṇamālai Michael answers questions about this and other aspects of Bhagavan’s teachings, particularly the practice of self-investigation and self-surrender, and this part of the meeting is recorded in a separate episode: Śrī Aruṇācala Akṣaramaṇamālai verse 18 Q&A.