शिवज्ञानबोध (मेय्कण्डार - शैव सिद्धान्त का आधारभूत दार्शनिक सूत्र ग्रन्थ)

50 SIVAGNANA BOTHAM.
No Tamil man will begin the smallest piece of writing without
prefixing Pillayar shuli. The significance being forgotten, it
is thought of as a sectarian symbol, and the bigoted among
Vaishnavas to whom the Pranava is as important, begin now to
use ஸ்ரீ instead. Why it is called Pillayar shuli is, because God,
Ganesha, represents Pure Sat, Brahm and the elephant Head is
the Pranava symbol. Cf. the popular Tamil couplet.
பிரணவப்பொருளாம் பெருந்தகை ஐங்கரன்
சரண அற்புதமலர் தலைக்கணிவோமே.
The popular Sanscrit slokas in praise of Ganesha also des-
cribe Him as Pranava Sorupi. The illustration contained in
this stanza is a beautiful one.
(d). This contains another explanation of Pranava. Sivam
was first stated as True Sat or Brahm. I have shown that the
form of Ganesha shows Him to represent True Sat or Brahm.
The very name of Subramanya signifies that He is True Brahm.
The word Uma meaning Sakti is composed of u, m and a, i. e.
Om manifested. So these different words or mantras are differ-
ent modes of expressing the same Principle, the True Sat, in
symbol, sound and language. So Om, Sri Panchatchara, Gane-
sha mantra, Subramanya mantra and Devi mantra are mere
equivalents and denote the Samashti Pranavu; when analysed i.e.
regarded as Vyashti, it becomes divided into Natham, Vinthu,
a, u, and m. ‘a’ represents creation or origin as its place is the
place of origin of all sounds. ‘u’ or ‘oo’ represents sthithi, as,
when after proncuncing ‘a’ we bring it to a stand for an instant
by converging the lips, ‘u’ is formed ; when we close our mouths
after pronouncing ‘a’ and ‘u,’ ‘m’ is formed and hence it repre-
sents Samharam. Binthu and Natham are the form and sound
of these letters.
2. This explains that man's intelligence only receives play
and brightness and is capable of infinite improvement, when