OmniLight Invocations 365

சத்திய ஞான சபை (Sathiya Gnana Sabhai) or The Great Hall of Truth-Knowledge, and place of special manifestation of OmniLight, designed by Ramalingam without any formal training in architecture. It was constructed in 1871 and opened to the public in January 1872. It has no anthropomorphic idols or images.

Arutperunjothi Agaval: Couplet: 429

அடக்குந் தலைவர்க ளளவிலர் தம்மையும்

அடர்ப்பற வடக்கு மருட்பெருஞ் ஜோதி!

Cosmic

Curbing,

Constraining,

Controlling

Designer-Governors

Innumerable,

Created,

Designed,

With

Selected

Limited

Curbing

Powers,

And

Controlled

Benevolently,

By

OmniLight Of Supreme Compassion!

Notes:

This couplet belongs to a set of couplets on the five types of cosmic designer-governors: creators, protectors, controllers, concealers, and revealers. All these five types of primordial cosmic designer-governors are subject to the supreme powers of creation, protection, regulation, concealment or obscuration, and revelation or illumination, of the OmniLight.

What we perceive as destruction is part of this task of curbing, constraining, and controlling, in order to maintain balance, proportion, order, harmony, and renewal of a kind, and on a scale, we may not have the capacity to understand.

Since the couplets in this great work of mystical poetry affirm the existence of five types of primordial designer-governors (I should point out that there are five basic powers of consciousness: creation, protection, regulation, concealment, and revelation or illumination), a couplet (# 294) in this Agaval affirming the existence of destroyer designer-governors must not be misconstrued as implying the existence of a sixth type of cosmic designer-governors:

அழித்தல்செய் தலைவரை யவரண் டங்களை

அழுக்கற வமைத்த வருட்பெருஞ் ஜோதி!

Translation:

Destroyer-governors and their worlds,

Organized without deficiency,

By

OmniLight Of Supreme Compassion!

Rather, destruction is part of the process of regulating, constraining, curbing, or controlling. It is one of the means of regulation and control. Therefore, it falls within the powers of these controlling or curbing designer-governors. Thus, there are only five types of cosmic designers and governors, and the reference in couplet # 294 to destroyer designer-governors is only a different description of the curbing designer-governors.

It is noteworthy that these couplets extend the notion of design beyond creation (not ex nihilo creation or “creation out of nothing”, but creation by a process of fine-tuning or development) to protection, regulation, concealment, and revelation. In other words, there is not only developmental creation, but also protection, regulation, concealment or obscuration, and revelation or illumination by these cosmic designer-governors.

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.