Vallalar, in his Deivamanimanalai, laments that his mind is not under his control. This is an anguish expressed by many saints, to make us realise that control of the mind is the first step towards God realisation, said M.A. Manickavelu in a discourse. Thayumanavar compares the mind to a monkey. A monkey is always restless, and never remains in one place for long. The mind is also akin to a monkey, because it never remains focused on anything. It keeps thinking of different things, one after another. When this is the nature of the mind, how can we concentrate on God? Vallalar compares the mind to a mad monkey, in another work of his. He addresses his mind as a monkey and declares to his mind, “Do not think I am like others. You cannot control me.”
Thayumanavar speaks of the importance of keeping the mind free of worldly thoughts. In Kandar Anubhuti, Araunagirinatha says that Lord Muruga taught him to be silent. Silence is a form of penance, and aids meditation. Constant chattering bodes no good. Most of us have not acquired the practice of remaining silent and still, and therefore, our minds too do not remain focused on God. Even when we go to a temple, the mind is in rewind mode, going over the day’s activities and happenings. Or we spend time observing how others in the temple are dressed. True worship is to feast one’s eyes on the deity in such a way that when we come home and meditate, we are able to bring up before the mind’s eye the deity we saw in the temple.
Vallalar also says that his old karma follows him. The solution to this is again worship of God. Appar says that after he witnessed the dancing form of Siva in Chidambaram, his karma was destroyed. This means his sanchita, prarabdha and agamaya karma were all destroyed in one stroke.
