The light that busts the darkness

Pranava Pravaaham – The Surge of Aum - Verse 6

Tamil poem by Kavignar Perumal Rasu

English rendering by Vamanan

I wrestled with it, I railed at it, I boxed it and even tried calling it names.

It wouldn’t leave, the engulfing darkness.

Darkness at noon. Darkness in a crowd. Darkness alone.  Only darkness.

Then light dawned all of a sudden. A glowing candle in my hands. Who lit it? Whence came the light? I didn’t know. But the darkness retreated. The gloom was gone.  The night had taken to its heels.

Like light quelling darkness, there is a radiance whose very presence puts darkness to flight. A light that abhors worry and weakness, fear and diffidence, anger and greed.

I can’t seek the light anywhere else, My Lord. I can’t afford to be turned away in darkness from any door.

I seek your sanctum alone, I seek the source of all light.

Lift the veil and let the light shine

Pranava Pravaham – The Surge of Aum

By Kavingnar Perumal Rasu

Rendered in English by Vamanan

The sky turns blue, the world turns bright, and all the creatures of the earth feel fresh life tingling in their nerves.

The sun is the wonder of our lives, but just a man’s palm can hide it from his sight!

How petty the notions that blind me from the all-pervading presence of the Divine!

Thought, coming in pairs of good and bad, high and low shuts me away from the engulfing skies of  endless light.

Give me the vision of your vastness, O Lord, rend asunder the veils of ignorance that hide  the horizons of my being!

The darkness of light and the light of darkness

Pranava Pravaaham  - The Surge of Aum 

By Kavingnar Perumal Rasu

Rendered in English by Vamanan

Light, I thought, My Lord, illumines things.

Then the light came adazzling, and I could not see a thing.

At dawn, I welcomed the sun with a glad heart as it drove away the darkness, but lo! along with the darkness were gone all the stars.

The sun which dissipates the darkness also draws the blinds on the many worlds of the heavens.

There is darkness in light and there is light in darkness. My Lord, it is you who give eyes to light, and it is you who give sight to darkness. The Light of all lights, the true light of consciousness…Shine thee in my heart! 

Pranava Pravaaham - The surge of Aum

Pranava Pravaaham – The Surge of Aum

By Kavingnar Perumal Rasu

Rendered in English by Vamanan

Verse 3

Walking with you along the shores of life, my Lord,  how many flowers have I not chanced upon. What wondrous hues, what indescribable loveliness!

And in every flower you have shown me the uplifting breath of Your fragrance, the unfailing solace of your presence!

The morning rays of the sun, which gild the sea in swathes of gold, reveal the unsparing sanctity of your power, My Lord. But the nights drench the world with the cool nectar of your loving grace.

As I lie in the lap of the golden sands, I know that you hold me  patiently in your bosom as Mother Earth, home to humanity, and giver of life itself.

I take safe haven in the cool shades of your feet, My Lord, knowing that I shall wander the galaxies holding your hand. 

Waves of Aum

Verse 2 of Pranava Pravaham – by Kavignar Perumal Rasu

English rendering by Vamanan

In the flowering of the day and the deepening darkness of the night, in the pink shoots that paint the trees red and the withered leaves that tire of being swept by the wind and yearn for the embrace of the earth, in all the great beginnings and endings, My Lord, I see your smile and signature. And in all that was and wasn’t you were and are, the fullness beyond Time, the never-ending plenitude.

O Lord, how you permeate and envelop all the disparate things of the world, holding them in the unifying embrace of your grace! I see your smile in the lowly hut and the magnificent mansion, in the street urchin and the child in the lap of luxury…You are asking me to rid the world of all disparity by seeing your presence everywhere.

It was then that I heard your voice equally, O Lord, in the shrieks of the suffering, the tenderness of the compassionate and the mocking laughter of the callous….it was then that I saw your rapturous dance everywhere, in pain, suffering and happiness!

Let this last, My Lord, this vision of your ubiquitous presence, lest I lose my way in the quagmires of duality.

Perumal Rasu on the Voice

Shri Perumal Rasu is a poet, painter, teacher and yogi.

In this youtube interview (originally from Jaya TV), he speaks of his spiritual experiences. Feel the pulsation of truth in his words.

I have been fortunate to be a friend of Shri Perumal Rasu. through Kalaignan Masilamani.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TJAofpjW7s 

Waves of Aum

PRANAVA PRAVAAHAM - The surge of Pranava

Verse 1


Tamil original by Kavingar Perumal Rasu
English rendering by Vamanan


O Lord, you smile at me from every window, you greet me at every door.


You bloom before me as the worlds without number, and as I lay my head on the pillow with your name on my lips, you merge all the worlds into yourself.


I stand below the star-spangled skies in the secret dawn of the worlds, and you make me climb with you to the heavens.


How varied are your forms, My Lord! 


The tiger stalking its prey, the elephant protecting its herd, the deer flying like so many arrows loosened by a master archer.... pulsations of a single power that I feel,  manifold waves of a single energy that I hold. 
The surge of Pranava....the onrush of Aum. It's the same music in the symphony of the spheres, and in the heart of the atom. Aum.


Wherefore my Lord, did you choose to enlighten me of this world drama, and made me take part in it with the consciousness that you are the director, and every move of mine is your wish, your will, your sway?


You now send your near ones to me, to guide me, to fill me with the fullness of your grace and consciousness. You come to me as my master and guide. 


I stand with bowed head at the world altar of yours, My Lord, accept me as my offering at your lotus feet.