l . O Love in the shape of Arunachala! Now that by Thy Grace Thou hast claimed me, what will become of me unless Thou manifest Thyself to me, and I, yearning wistfully for Thee and harassed by the darkness of the world, am lost? (How) can the lotus blossom without the sight of the sun? Thou art the Sun of suns; Thou causest Grace to well up in abundance and pour forth as a stream!

2. O Arunachala, Thou Form of Love Itself! I am loveless and do not think of Thee and melt with love for Thee like wax over the fire. But does it become Thee, once having claimed me, if instead of producing such love in me, Thou letst me now be lost? O Bliss rising from Love! O Nectar springing in the heart of devotees! Heaven of my refuge! Thy pleasure is mine. It is also my joy, O Lord of my Life!

3. Arunachala who art the Lord! Drawing me with the cords of Thy Grace, although I had not even dimly thought of Thee, Thou didst decide to kill me outright. How then did poor me offend Thee that Thou dost leave the task unfinished? Why dost Thou torment me thus leaving me suspended between life and death? Fulfil Thy wish1 and long survive me all alone O Lord!

4. What did it profit Thee to choose out me from all those living in the world, to rescue my poor self from falling into the dreary waste (of samsara)2 and hold me at Thy Feet? Lord of the ocean of Mercy! Even to think of Thee puts me to shame. Arunachala, (long) mayst Thou live! I bow my head to Thee and bless Thee.3

5. Lord! Thou didst bring me by stealth and all these days hast held me at Thy Feet. Lord! Thou hast made me (to stand) with hanging head (dumb), like an image when asked what is Thy nature! Deign to ease me in my weariness struggling like a deer that is caught in a net. Lord Arunachala! what can be Thy will? (Yet) who am I to comprehend Thee?

6. Lord of my Life! I have always been at Thy Feet, like a frog (which clings) to the stem of the lotus; make me instead a honey bee which (from the blossom of the Heart) sucks sweet honey of Pure Consciousness; then shall I have deliverance. If I lose my life while clinging to Thy Lotus Feet it will be for Thee a standing column of ignominy, O Blazing Mountain of Light spreading red rays! O (wide) Expanse of Grace, more subtle than the ether!
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1 Alternatively: what austerities left incomplete (in previous births) have won me Thy special favour? (Cf. The Marital Garland of Letters, verse 25). What more is left for me to gain or fulfil?
2 Samsara is the universal flux of manifestation.
3 Alternatively: to be blessed by Thee.

7. O Pure one! if the five elements consisting of ether, air, fire, water and earth, the numerous living-beings and every manifest thing is nothing but the Pure Consciousness that Thou art, how then can I (alone) be separate from Thee? Since Thou shinest in the Heart, a single Expanse without duality, how can I come forth distinct therefrom? Show Thyself planting Thy Lotus Feet upon his (the ego’s) head as it emerges, O Arunachala!

8. Thou hast destroyed my ability to prosper in the world and made a wastrel of me; this condition is miserable and no one is happy; to die is better than to live thus, O Transcendental Self in the form of a mountain and shining as the cure for the madness (of worldliness)! Grant me, mad (for Thee) in vain, the sovereign remedy of clinging to Thy Feet!

9. O Transcendent! I am the first of those who have not the Supreme Wisdom to clasp Thy Feet in freedom from attachment. Ordain Thou that my burden be transferred to Thee and my free will effaced, for what indeed can be a burden to the Sustainer (of the Universe)? Lord Supreme! I have had enough (of the fruits) of carrying (the burden) of this world upon my head, parted from Thee. Arunachala, the Supreme Itself! Think no more to keep me at a distance from Thy Feet!

10. I have discovered a new Thing! This Hill, the lodestone of lives, arrests the movements of anyone who so much as thinks of it, draws him face to face with It, and fixes him motionless like Itself, to feed upon his soul thus ripened. What (a wonder) is this? O souls beware of It and live!1 such a destroyer of lives is this Arunachala, which shines within the Heart!

11. How many are there who have been ruined like me for thinking this Hill to be the Supreme.2 O men! disgusted with this life of intense misery, ye seek a means of giving up the body. There is on earth a rare drug which without actually killing him, will annihilate anyone who so much as thinks of it. Know that it is none other than this Arunachala.
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1 Alternatively: O Souls! think upon it and be saved!
2 Alternatively: How many are there who have lost (their ego) for having thought this Hill to be the Supreme?

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