

Arutperunjothi Agaval: Couplet: 451
அதுவினு ளதுவா யதுவே யதுவாய்ப்
பொதுவினுள் நடிக்கும் பூரணப் பொருளே!
That
Indwelling
In
that
Denoted
By
“that”,
That
Itself
Denoted
By
“that”,
That
Which
Poses,
Presents
Itself
As
Ordinary,
Common
Reality,
That
Which
Dances
In
The
Universal
Theater
Of
Consciousness,
OmniLight Complete Reality!
Note: This couplet is a brilliant play on the Tamil word “அது” or That, alluding to the famous declaration “That Thou Art” (Sanskrit: Tat Tvam Asi) in the Chandogya Upaniṣad. In this Upaniṣadic declaration, “That” refers to ultimate reality, and the import is that the individual self is in its essence identical to the Atman or Universal Self.
The import of this Agaval couplet is that the OmniLight is the indwelling referent (inner essence) and the manifested referent (outer form) of anything picked out by the term “that”.
The Tamil word “பொது” (Podhu) denotes the ordinary, common, and public reality, but it also traditionally alludes to the “Hall of Consciousness-Space” in the great temple of Siva at Chidambaram, Tamilnadu, India.
The Arutperunjothi Agaval is Ramalingam’s magnum opus of spiritual enlightenment poetry composed in 798 couplets in 1872. In later posts, I will offer commentaries on these couplets.