The Great Sayings of Chellappaswami (1840-1915)
His Four Mystical Mahavakiyam
As this never-before-seen new portrait by Baani Sekhon in India depicts, Challappaswami (the guru of Yogaswami) was a remarkable and unusual sage. He lived at Nallur Temple under a bilva tree and once he finished a meal, he often broke the clay pot it was served in. He said little, and would repeat a single sentence for a year, as if it were his meditation for that time and he wanted to keep it alive in the minds of those who came to him. Yogaswami captured the sayings, and four among them became his Mahavakiyam, his Great Sayings.
They are cryptic and not necessarily obvious though people quote them freely and frequently. At the request of devotees in Sri Lanka, we have this week offered some insights (a bhashya) into their meanings and we share those with you today.
ஒரு பொல்லாப்பும் இல்லை
Oru pollappum illai
There is not a single imperfection.
The ordinary point of view regarding events in our personal life and the lives of our family, community, nation and the world is that some things should not be happening, such as violent conflicts between nations. As unfortunate as these things are, they are, from a higher perspective, right and necessary. Such events need to happen for mankind’s evolution. They are the fruits of mankind’s past actions—karmas working themselves out.
The mystically minded understand that Śiva, a perfect God, has created a perfect world. If we accept this as true, then we begin to see all things—great and small—as His work, His divine creation. Not just the vast and troubling realities like global hunger, national poverty, or devastating storms and droughts, which the reasoning mind may judge as flawed or chaotic—but also the more personal experiences: an uncle’s dishonesty, a child’s untimely passing, a friend’s terminal illness. Though it is natural for the mind to see such events as wrong or unjust, in the deepest sense, Chellappaswami assures us: all is Śiva, all is good.
Gurudeva said: “When through meditation, we view the universe from the inside out, we see that there is not one thing out of place or wrong. This releases the human concepts of right and wrong, good and bad. Our benevolent Lord created everything in perfect balance. Good or evil, kindness or hurtfulness return to us as the result, the fruit, of our own actions of the past. The four dharmas are God’s wisdom lighting our path. That which is known as evil arises from the instinctive-intellectual nature, which the Lord created as dimensions of experience to strengthen our soul and further its spiritual evolution.”
எப்பவோ முடிந்த காரியம்
Eppavo mudintha kariyam
The work was finished long ago.
By saying “The work was finished long ago,” the mahavakya pulls us out of linear thinking. The soul’s evolution, liberation, and even its current state are not “in progress” as the mind tends to think. The goal has already been reached—because from the vantage point of Paraśiva, there is no journey, only realization of what is and always was.
This saying affirms that the ātmā is eternally pure, perfect and untouched by karma, maya, or duality. Whatever spiritual struggle we seem to undergo is part of the relative experience, but in truth, the soul is ever-liberated, ever-complete. The kāriyam—the work of knowing the Self, of reaching Siva—has already been done.
Chellappaswami’s phrase collapses the apparent duality between effort and result, seeker and sought, path and goal. In the monistic theism of our lineage, Siva is not apart from the soul—He is the soul. Thus, there is nothing to be attained, only a veil to be lifted.
The ego says: “I must reach God, realize Sivaness,” “I must progress,” “I am not there yet.” Chellappaswami’s mahavakiya declares: “That is an illusion. The journey is already over.” What remains is awareness, not effort. Being, not becoming.
Gurudeva said: “From an absolute perspective, our soul is already in nondual union with God, but to be realized to be known. We are That. We do not become That. Deep within this physical body, with its turbulent emotions and getting-educated mind, is pure perfection identical to Śiva’s own perfections of Parāśakti and Paraśiva. In this sacred mystery we find the paradoxes of oneness and twoness, of being and becoming, of created and uncreated existence subtly delineated. Yea, in the depth of our being, we are as He is.
நாம் அறியோம்
Nam ariyom
We know not.
Even the greatest scientists—let alone the sages—know the limits of knowing. They realize that Siva’s universe is vast beyond imagining, inconceivably vast and complex, and that what the rational mind comprehends is but a pittance compared to the fullness that truly is. To know the limits of knowledge is a wisdom reserved for the wise.
Young souls, knowing precious little, often count themselves knowledgeable and wise. But the truly wise, like Chellappaswami, know how little they know. They have glimpsed the immensity of Siva’s universe, touched the edge of its unfathomable mystery, and are reflective enough to admit that the human brain cannot contain even an iota of Sivaness—so great is He. Thus, in true humility, it becomes easy for them to say, “I don’t know.”
Gurudeva said: “The Self: you can’t explain it. You can sense its existence through the refined state of your senses, but you cannot explain it. To know it, you have to experience it.”
“The intellect in its capacity to contain truth is a very limited tool, while faith is a very broad, accommodating and embracing faculty. The mystery of life and beyond life, of Siva, is really better understood through faith than through intellectual reasoning.”
முழுதும் உண்மை
Muluthum unmai
All is truth.
From the ordinary point of view, the world is made up of separate things—people, places and objects—all seemingly distinct and divided. But from the awakened view of the siddhar, everything is Śiva. The whole of existence—every form, every thought, every moment—is divine. The phrase “All is truth” is another way of saying “All is God,” or “All is sacred.”
Chellappaswami challenges the common belief that the world is illusion (māyā) to be overcome. For him, and for those illumined like him, the world is not false—it is utterly real. It is truth. The fullness of life is a revelation of the Divine, not a distraction from it.
To such souls, the everyday world shimmers with sanctity. They see multiple layers of existence at once. Where others see chaos and division, they see order and unity. Where others see the ordinary, they behold the miraculous. Water is life-giving ambrosia. A flower is a marvel. A butterfly is a cosmic wonder. All is truth.
Yogaswami said: “Night and day in Nallur’s precincts, Chellappan danced in bliss. Even holy yogis merged in silence do not know him. He keeps repeating, “All is truth,” with radiant countenance. Night and day in Nallur’s precincts, Chellappan danced in bliss. To end my endless turning on the wheel of wretched birth, he took me ‘neath his rule and I was drowned in bliss. “There is nothing in the objective. All is truth”—His grace made maya’s shrouding darkness to depart. In that state, my body and soul were his possessions. O wonder! Who in the world is able to know this? Night and day in Nallur’s precincts, Chellappan danced in bliss.”
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