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Atma Panchakam
श्रुति स्मृति पुराणानाम् आलयम करुणालयम्।नमामि भगवत्पादम शंकरं लोक शंकरम्॥ Shruti Smriti puranam alayam karunalayam Namami Bhagavadpadam Shankaram Lokashankaram. Jaya Jaya Shankara Hara Hara Shankara Preface: The Great Refactor Adi Shankara was the ultimate System Architect. At a time when the ‘Source Code’ of human existence was fragmented into a thousand buggy versions, he arrived to…
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Maya Panchakam
Root Cause Analysis of the Human Cognition Exploit Alas, how unfathomable, inscrutable and variegated is this Maya அஹா!! முடியாததையும் முடித்துக் காட்டும் மாயா Maya Panchakam by Adi Sankaracharya’s a work consisting of five stanzas, Sri Sankara brings out succinctly how Maya makes incompatibles appear together and shows how it brings about what appears logically to be…
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Vairagya Shatakam
விழித்திரு விழித்திரு – ஆதி சங்கரர். ஆதி சங்கரர் அருளிய வைராக்ய ஸ்லோகங்கள் ஒரு காவல்காரன். வழக்கம்போல் தப்பட்டை அடித்துக்கொண்டு நடுநிசியில் ”ஜாக்கிரதை” என்று கத்திக்கொண்டே போவான்…. ஒருநாள் அவசரமாக வேறு ஒரு ஊருக்கு போகவேண்டி இருந்ததால் அவன் வேலையை அவன் பிள்ளை செய்யவேண்டியதாயிற்று…. அவன் பிள்ளை முன் ஜன்மத்தில் ஒரு #வேதமறிந்த பண்டிதனாக இருந்தவன். எனவே பூர்வ ஜன்ம வாசனை ஞானம் இருந்தது…இரவில் அவன் தப்பட்டை அடித்துக்கொண்டு ஜாக்கிரதை சொல்லிக்கொண்டு தகப்பன் வேலையை செய்தான்….அடுத்த நாள்…
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Bhaja Govindam
போற்றிடு கோவிந்தம் By Sri Adi Sankaracharya (and his disciples) The Acharya is believed to have composed the Bhajagovindam during his famous pilgrimage to Kashi (Benares). The fourteen disciples are said to have accompanied him. The story goes that when he was walking along the streets of Kashi, he was pained to observe an elderly man…
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Nirvana Shatakam
ஆத்ம ஆறு – Tamil translation Mano-Buddhy-Ahangkaara Cittaani NaahamNa Ca Shrotra-Jihve Na Ca Ghraanna-Netre |Na Ca Vyoma Bhuumir-Na Tejo Na VaayuhCid-Aananda-Ruupah Shivo[a-A]ham Shivo[a-A]ham ||1|| Meaning: I am not mind, nor intellect, nor ego, nor the reflections of inner self. I am not the five senses. I am beyond that. I am not the ether, nor the earth,…
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Kaupeena Panchakam
With Tamil Translation by Raghu Jagannathan Kaupeena Panchakam Of Adi Sankaracharya ஏன் கோமனம் · 5 Slides 01 / 05 ஏன் கோமனம் வேதாந்தமும் சித்தாந்தமும் வாழ்க்கை என்றவன் பிட்சை பாத்திரத்தில் கிடைத்தே உணவு என்றவன் சுகமும் துக்கமும் சமம் என்றவன் ஓ கோமணதாரியே நீயே பாக்கியமானவன் Vedantha Vakhyeshu Sada ramantho, Bhikshannamathrena trishtimantha, Vishokamantha karane charantha, Kaupeenavantha Khalu bhaghyavantha 1 Always thinking about words…
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The Festivalo Festivals
It was a matter of profound mystery to Mahi why the household calendar—lists Festivalo festivals the calendar suddenly bleeding red days. He stood before it, tracing the alarming succession of red-lettered holidays, and frowned. Beside him, Jo was attempting to untangle a string of dried mango leaves while their grandmother, somewhere in the dark interiors…
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Drama or Trauma?
A Thatha’s Dilemma: Recover or Discover Beyond? I have been somewhere else. There were blinding white lights, disembodied voices, and rubber-gloved hands moving over me. Strangers shouting at me to breathe, to squeeze their fingers, to open my eyes. I remember none of it clearly. Or perhaps I remember too much, and none of it…
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Sankarayanam: A Śaṅkaralogue
Carrying Ādi Śaṅkara from the landscapes of Bhārat to the landscape within. Author’s Note: This is a record of an inner journey, not a strictly historical account. The ‘I’ who travels is the reader as much as the writer. The Tamil verses that surface are my own renderings, made years earlier in an attempt to…
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The Missing Purifier: We Filter Everything Except the Mind
We purify our water, filter our air and curate our digital feeds. But what purifies the mind that shapes our desires, our systems and our relationship with the natural world? 1. The Purification Paradox There is a water purifier. There is an air purifier. There are filters for spam, unwanted content and almost everything that…
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My Foot, Where will you Walk?
They taught me to stand up for myself.They called it social justice. But they have not yet paved my path to walk home. My foot! Where is the freedom to walk? The world is fighting for the last mile. Satellites go up. Starlink wants to connect the unconnected. Billionaires debate market access, politicians trade barbs,…
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My Shadow Gives Me New Time and Direction
How In Praise of Shadows made me look at my photographs differently I came across Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s In Praise of Shadows almost by accident. I started it without expectation. By the last page I opened the archive. Tanizaki notices beauty in what modernity tries to clear away: shadow, muted colour, aged surface, the patina of…
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The Economics of an Egg
A strange little egg appeared on my timeline recently. At a time when an algorithmic agent can answer a student’s question before a teacher has finished writing it on the board — when machines can write the essay, solve the equation, and synthesise the philosophy in seconds — an old poem by the late Tamil…
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RaRe: Raghu’s Republic
The Freedom to Be Disliked A man with five months of runway writes a constitution of one sentence, then goes to look at a broken air conditioner. January 26, 2027, was not just another Republic Day. It was a RaRe moment. Across India, the morning woke to saffron and green, to brass bands tuning up…
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Walking the Space of Chidambaram
चिदम्बरक्षेत्रयात्रा • சிதம்பர ரகசியம்
To enter the temple of Chidambaram is to step into a physical diagram of human consciousness. Unlike temples centered around a heavy stone icon, the innermost sanctum here guards an empty space.
The famous Chidambara Rahasyam (the secret of Chidambaram) is represented by a curtain pulled aside to reveal a wall hung with golden vilva leaves—and nothing else. The worship is directed to Space itself (Akasa).
“The pilgrim travels miles across dusty roads only to be shown that the ultimate sanctuary is space without form.”
Walking the stone corridors at dusk, as oil lamps flicker against granite pillars carved nine hundred years ago, one realizes that South Indian temple architecture was never meant to house a deity; it was constructed to house an experience.