Śrī Aruṇācala Akṣaramaṇamālai verse 11

In a Zoom meeting of the ‘Ramana Maharshi Foundation UK’ on 27th August 2022 Michael James discusses verse 11 of Śrī Aruṇācala Akṣaramaṇamālai:

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ஐம்புலக் கள்வ ரகத்தினிற் புகும்போ
      தகத்தினீ யிலையோ வருணாசலா

aimbulak kaḷva rahattiṉiṟ puhumbō
      dahattiṉī yilaiyō varuṇācalā

பதச்சேதம்: ஐம் புல கள்வர் அகத்தினில் புகும் போது, அகத்தில் நீ இலையோ அருணாசலா?

Padacchēdam (word-separation): aim pula kaḷvar ahattiṉil puhum pōdu, ahattil nī ilaiyō aruṇācalā?

English translation: Arunachala, when the five sense-thieves enter the heart, are you not in the heart?

Explanatory paraphrase: Arunachala, when the five sense-thieves [namely viṣaya-vāsanās, which are the seeds that sprout as desires for the pleasures that are seemingly derived from the five kinds of sense-objects] enter [my] heart [to steal my attention away from you], are you not in [my] heart? [So why do you not protect me from them?]

This episode can also be watched as a video, 2022-08-27a Ramana Maharshi Foundation UK: Michael discusses Śrī Aruṇācala Akṣaramaṇamālai verse 11, and a more compressed audio copy in Opus format (which can be listened to in the VLC media player and some other apps) can be downloaded from here.

After discussing this verse of Śrī Aruṇācala Akṣaramaṇamālai Michael answers questions about this and other aspects of Bhagavan’s teachings, particularly the practice of self-investigation and self-surrender, and this part of the meeting is recorded in a separate episode: Śrī Aruṇācala Akṣaramaṇamālai verse 11 Q&A.