SAIVA-SIDDHANTA

"
?2 THE TWO GEMS.
made that it
possesses this double nature or aspect, so to say,
and our own ps}^chological structure is such that we can
change from one to the other point. And each point of view
has its own vantage ground. A person going to a jeweller s
shop cannot afford to lose sight of either point, and if he does,
he is sure to make a bad bargain. What would we think of
this man, if he goes into the shop with the firm idea, that, of the
jewel he is going to buy, the gold is a mere name and delusion,
or the ornament is a mere name and delusion. When
bargaining, however, after he had once tested the fineness of
the gold, and colour, he need trouble himself no more about it,
and he can proceed to examine the shape of the ornament,
its size &c.
Taking this analogy, TirumUlar proceeds to point out the
same relation between the individual ego, the subject, and its
objective senses. The word used is ^sor, standing as it does
for the individual ego, jiva, soul, pau, or chit. The phrase
pen &ff6Bar
Si&<<>vnr
lj also t
brings out the meaning of l^esr and
t
it
cannot refer to the Supreme Brahman, as was interpreted by a
Hindu Idealist. Of course he could not help saying so, as the
being which he postulates above its senses (sesraffeaarwx&r) is
God, the Supreme. Saint Tirumular was prophetic enough to
see such a misinterpretation of his words, and it is therefore
why he sung the next verse, LLH&onp u&toppfgtj* the tree was
concealed &c. In our article on Mind and Body we have
fully discussed the relation which Saint Tirumular perceives
between the Individual Ego, the soul and its body and senses.
When the individual posit lives a purely objective existence, by
caring for his body, his comforts, his wealth, his pleasures, &c.,
his true self, the mind, is altogether identified with the world; and
he himself lies buried, concealed. Look at the words, our Saint
has selected. He does not cry false, false, delusion, delusion
at every turn. He actually uses wmpppfr, -wot/bisfjtf
concealed" and "is concealed"! Neither the soul nor the
world is a myth, a delusion ;
but only when the mind was- in an
objective condition, it was concealed by the object. When the