Vallalar says jnana is like a fortress that saves us by keeping enemies out. And who are these enemies? They are qualities such as kama and lobha. Lord Siva, in the form of Dakshinamurthy, imparted jnana to the sages Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana, and Sanatkumara. He did not talk, but gave them jnana through His silence. How is this possible, we may wonder. The Lord indicated what they needed to do, to reach Him, and He did this just by using the fingers of His right hand, M.A. Manickavelu said in a discourse.
His fingers portray the cin mudra, also called the jnana mudra. Each of the fingers has a symbolic meaning. The middle finger is ego. The little finger is illusion. The ring finger is karma. The pointing finger is the jivatma and the thumb is the Paramatma. Dakshinamurthy’s pointing finger touches the thumb, while the other three fingers stand apart. What this indicates is that if the jivatma is to get close to the Paramatma, the ego, illusions and karma should be got rid of. Silence (mauna) is of three types. Kashta mauna is to be as still as a block of wood. Vaang mauna is to refrain from speaking. These two types come over a period of time, with practice. But there is a third category and that is mano mauna, the silence of the mind. In other words, the mind is indifferent to everything. This mauna comes only with the grace of the Lord.
Arunagirinatha, in his Kandar Anubhuti, talks about all three types of silences. Appar, in a verse on Lord Tyagaraja of Thiruvarur, talks of Lord Siva’s “arutkaN,” eyes that shower mercy. He says that without this mercy, none can attain Him. In Arputha Thiruvandadi, Karaikkal Ammaiyar says Siva had referred to her as ‘amma’ (mother). His grace, she says, has enabled her to cross the samsaric ocean.