சென்னியது உன்பொன் திருவடித்தாமரை; சிந்தையுள்ளே
மன்னியது உன் திருமந்திரம்; சிந்துர வண்ணப்பெண்ணே!
முன்னிய நின் அடி யாருடன் கூடி முறை முறையே
பன்னியது என்றும் உன் தன் பரமாகம பத்ததியே.
Śĕnniyadu unbŏn tiruvaḍittāmarai; śindaiyul̤l̤e
Manniyadu un tirumandiram; śindura vaṇṇappĕṇṇe!
Munniya nin aḍi yāruḍan kūḍi muṟai muṟaiye
Panniyadu ĕṇḍrum un tan paramāgama pattadiye.
Translation:
Your golden lotus like feet are on my head. In my thoughts is your auspicious mantra ever. O damsel who has a red hue! I have followed your devotees and with right procedures have practiced your methodical worship.
Śĕnniyadu – on the head unbŏn – golden tiruvaḍittāmarai – lotus feet. Abirāmi Bhattar in this stanza speaks the means and how to worship Devi. He constantly contemplates on Her holy feet and imagines that it is placed on his head. This kind of worship is also prescribed in the bhavanopanishad, which instructs the Sādhakā to invoke the aspects of the great goddess in various parts of body and mind and finally contemplate her on crown chakra. Golden lotus could also subtly convey here the crown chakra.
Tirumandiram verse # 1200 states as below:
Āre tiruviṉ tiruvaṭi kāṇpārkal̤
Nere niṉṟuoti niṉaiyavum vallārkkuk
Kārer kuḻali kamala malaraṉṉa
Cīreyum cevaṭi cintaivait tāl̤e tāl̤e.
On Whom She Confers Her Grace
Who shall behold the Feet of that Holy One?
To them who seek Her Presence
And constant meditate,
The Lady of cloud-dark tresses
Revealed Her Holy Feet, Lotus-like,
And placing them on their thoughts,
Blessed them with Her Grace.
Source: http://www.bhagavadgitausa.com_TirumantiramTamil-EnglishAll.htm
Author’s Translation: The one who can with one pointed attention recite her mantra and contemplate her. The one with dark cloud like hair, will place her lotus like feet in the mind/thought of the Sādhakā. In order to have Her lotus feet the Sādhakā has to follow the dictums as per Tirumandiram, which is again equivocally advocated in this verse of Abirāmi anthathi i.e have one pointed attention and contemplate on Her in meditation, the line Manniyadu – Sedimented/ repeated -un – yours tiru- Auspicious, Shree mandiram- Mantra explains this. Maniyadu also means the mantra has to be absorbed in the mind, which would eventually lead to the ajapa state after which, the Sādhakā will ever be in the constant repetition of mantra, there are various ways that a person can enter in to the ajapa state which are prescribed, one such way is aligning the mantra with breath, Shri Ravi Guruji’s article on Aligning Breath with mantra shows how to do this. When Abirāmi Bhattar says Manniyadu, he means this ajapa.
Also in this line while referring to “Tiru Mandiram” – it refers to her Auspicious mantra and also subtly says that all her mantras are auspicious. However the subtlest message here is that, it is her Soḍaśi mantra that Bhattar has repeated. Mantra also means constant contemplation on the conscious existence of oneself, according to Shiva Sutras, the supreme mantra itself is “aham” where A-represents the Siva, Ha- represents Śakti and M- represents the existence of individual self, the idea is to go back to the source which is A through constant contemplation of Śakti in “Ha” by the nara or human being in the state “M or Ma”.
Shri Ravi Guruji’s commentary on Shiva Sutras Verse #22
Mahāhradānusandhānānmantravīryānubhavaḥ महाह्रदानुसन्धानान्मन्त्रवीर्यानुभवः
further states that the all the collective sound of all fifty one letters in Sanskrit leads to the sound aham. Which is nothing but the one supreme consciousness, Śakti as a connecting principle leads one to this supreme consciousness as she is the one who manages the expansion between subtle to gross and vice versa.
The “Ha” syllable here also means the “hamsa” mantra which is the natural breathing rhythm of human beings, which when aligned will take one back to the source.
śindura vaṇṇappĕṇṇe! – A lady with red complexion – Devi is referred to of reddish complexion throughout this literature. Red here deals mainly with the act of creation, and compassion towards the beings and take them back to the source when they are ready for the final merger.
Munniya nin aḍi yāruḍan – Devotees who are senior to me / Guru kūḍi – Be with them muṟai muṟaiye – Follow the dictums and process recommended in the worship Panniyadu – Performed ĕṇḍrum – Every day un tan – yours paramāgama pattadiye – Supreme methodical worship
Bhattar has approached a Guru, performed Guru Seva to him, learnt all the methodical or “Krama” in the worship of Devi from him. Eventually has done her the puja to Devi every day as dictated by the Agamas/Tantras. In general the Śaktā tantras are also known as a Śaktā Agamas. Among the Śaktā agamas Bhattar has followed the supreme Agama and its methodical instructions. Which is clearly known by his choice of word “Parama” which means supreme.
Since Bhattar has mentioned her mantra as “Tiru Mandiram” or Mantra with Shreem in it, we can safely conclude that the mantra is Soḍaśi and the tantra or agama he followed for his personal worship is Śrīvidyā. However when we look at his profession as a priest in the Siva temple, there are separate Agama scriptures that govern the rituals and puja methods in the Siva temples of Tamil Nadu. He could have also followed the prescribed methods in those temple related Agamas that contained instructions set for the priests working in the temple and dictums for their personal worship as well.
Referring multiple other stanzas for which commentaries will follow in due course, Abirāmi Bhattar refers to the form of Abirāmi with Sugarcane bow, flower arrows etc., which are unique to Śrīvidyā tantra. The weightage to Śrīvidyā tantra is more in this case. As temple idols installed by Agama rules, will very rarely have the image of Devi with Sugarcane bow and flower arrows, as most of images will follow the Saiva Agama rules which may minimally advocate such an image for Devi.
Abirāmi Bhattar in this stanza, if read from bottom, gives steps for a Sādhakā in how to move towards the source of creation. He also gives his practical experiences through this stanza. It is also interesting to note that in this stanza Abirāmi Bhattar did not advocate the contemplation on her form, rather advised on the mantra form, subtly conveying that the Sādhakā should slowly move towards subtler forms of worship.
1. Be with the devotees of Devi
2. Learn the methodical worship of her and understand it completely
3. Perform regular puja everyday, there by setting a discipline for Sadhana
4. Approach a suitable Guru who is devoted to Devi
5. Learn from him the supreme Soḍaśi mantra
6. Act on the instructions given by one’s Guru
7. Advance to the Ajapa state by contemplating on her Supreme Mantra
8. Finally realize her feet in the Crown chakra
Abirami Samayam 