Shivavakkiayar, one of the well-known Siddhars, is a 10th-century Tamil devotional poet and mystic. Two of his poems are reproduced below.
Shivavakkiayar, one of the well-known Siddhars, is a 10th-century Tamil devotional poet and mystic. Two of his poems are reproduced below.
Melt with the heart inside1
In the four eternal Vedas,
In the study and reading of scripts,
In sacred ashes and in holy writs
And muttering of prayers
You will not find the Lord!
Melt with the heart inside
And proclaim the Truth.
Then you will join the light
Life without servitude.
He is not Hari, He is not the Lord Siva.
He is the Ultimate Cause,
In the Beyond of Beyond,
Transcending Blackness, Redness, and Whiteness.
Immovable.
Try not to understand:
He is not big, He is not small.
He is Infinite Distance,
Immovable,
Transcending even
Supreme Quiescence.
Kindling fires2
Listen
you who take always sacred baths
you who kindle sacrificial fires
you who pour in tons of ghee
hear words of wisdom
hear
The Fires and holy waters
are within
Behold
remember and attest
An endless undiminished light
will appear and union in oneness
be
FOOTNOTE
- (Ed. Kamil Zvelevil), The poets of the powers. Retrieved from http: www.hindu.glog.com/2008/01/sivavakkiyar-poems.html
- Translated by Kamil Zvelebil, reproduced from: http://karkanirka.org/2008/04/10/cittar-poems-civavakkiyar/