Us being the loss of oneself. Birth and death pertain to the body only; but they are superimposed on the Self, giving rise to the delusion that birth and death relate to the Self.
In the effort to overcome birth and death man looks up to the Supreme Being to save him. Thus are born faith and devotion to the Lord. How to worship Him? The creature is powerless and the Creator is all-powerful. How to approach Him? To entrust oneself to His care is the only thing left for him; total surrender is the only way. Therefore he surrenders himself to God. Surrender consists in giving up oneself and one’s possessions to the Lord of Mercy. Then what is left over for the man? Nothing — neither himself nor his possessions. The body, liable to be born and die, having been made over to the Lord, the man need no longer worry about it. Then birth and death cannot strike terror. The cause of fear was the body; it is no longer his; why should he fear now? Or where is the identity of the individual to be frightened?
Thus the Self is realised and bliss results. This is then the subject matter [of the verse]: freedom from misery and gain of happiness. This is the highest good to be gained. Surrender is synonymous with bliss itself. This is the relationship.
Fruit is to reflect on the subject matter and gain knowledge which is ever-present, here and now. The stanza ends with ‘the immortal ones’
The remaining lines come from the original published version of ‘Upadesa Tiruvahaval’. 99-108
Maya is only the mind persisting vigorously in the form of thoughts. The destruction of the mind is the attainment of jnana. Thus did you declare to me, mean and pitiable as I was, giving me comfort and clear understanding. Praise be to you!
You taught: ‘To enquire what the mind is with the mind is the means to destroy the mind.’ Praise be to you!
You declared: ‘Instead of directly realising the Self that lies within the five bodily sheaths, to search to the very end of the many scriptures, which only give good advice, is pointless and a waste.’ Praise be to you!
This is probably a reference to an upadesa Bhagavan gave in Who Am 1?
Question: Is it any use reading books for those who long for release? Bhagavan: All the texts say that in order to attain release one should render the mind quiescent; therefore their conclusive teaching is that the mind should be rendered quiescent; once this has been understood there is no need for endless reading. In order to quieten the mind one has only to enquire within oneself what one’s Self is; how could this search be done in books? One should know one’s Self with one’s own eye of wisdom. The Self is within the five sheaths; but books are outside them. Since the Self has to be enquired into by discarding the five sheaths, it is futile to search for it in books. There will come a time when one will have to forget all that one has learned.’
109-114
“Bondage is merely the thought of the pairs of opposites,’ you assured me, impressing it upon my mind. Praise be to you!
Father, you bade me, worthless as I was, to utter with a collected mind the words: ‘Siva! Siva!’ Praise be to you! [Adding], ‘If you examine to whom those thoughts belong, bondage will cease.’ Praise be to you!
- Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk 567. 6 of 1 0
° Who am I?, question and answer 23.