Lyrics:


Well when I was a boy they called me Venka Taraman
And I lived with my family in Tiru Chuzi
Then one day in a room in a house in Madurai
A sudden terrifying fear of death came over me

And my body became rigid and I stopped breathing
Still conscious and aware that this “I” was existing
Apart from this body that lay dead beside me
And this all flashed through me in what seemed like an instant
A direct experience of truth in the moment

I called it deep down, deep down, deep down in Patala Lingum

Well it seemed like a command to search for my real father
For the one who calls me from this ever after
So I boarded a train for Tiru Vanamalai
And arrived at the temple of Aruna Chaleshwar
Sitting down in silence for what seemed like an eternity

Then some poor young beggar boys full of hope and curiosity
Came each day to play tricks in an attempt to disturb me
So I moved to a place there, where I could just sit quietly
To an underground pit that they called Patala Lingum

So I went deep down, it took me deep down, here I am deep down, in Patala Lingum
Deep down, here I am deep down, it took me deep down, in Patala Lingum

Well I’m deep down in Patala Lingum
Where the rats and mosquitoes are eating my body
And the sweet smell of death is forever upon me
Unaware of discomfort and a bodily existence
Just entirely full of this bliss in the moment
I’m just lost and absorbed in the self here all through me
Knowing nothing at all cause there’s nothing new to me
I’m just deep down in Patala Lingum, deep down

Deep down, here I am deep down, it took me deep down, in Patala Lingum

Well I’m deep down in Patala Lingum
Away from the pundits and the spiritual teachers
And the boys throwing stones but I’m not here to see them
Unaware of the blood that sticks to my loin cloth
Cause I’m totally absorbed in the bowels of this mountain
And there’s nothing to tell and there’s no-one to tell them
About the boy and his journey down to Patala Lingum

Deep down, here I am deep down, it took me deep down, in Patala Lingum
Deep down in Patala Lingum
And I’d rather be here than to be with my family
Well my mother came searching but she didn’t find me
And now I cannot move away from her samadhi
There’s no day, there’s no night cause the sun doesn’t shine here
There’s no time, there’s no way to say just how long I’ve been here
And I’ve really no idea or thought in the mind here
Because only this I that exists is existing
And everything else is just illusion persisting
Paying no attention to whatever is found here
Let it all come to rest here down, in Patala Lingum

Deep down, here I am deep down, it took me deep down, in Patala Lingum

Well I’m deep down in Patala Lingum
I was always here and forever I’ll be there
Well its not really down, really up or really anywhere
Just a way to describe that which has no description
Just a word for a song that appears to flow through me
To be written, to be sung, to be listened, to be spoken
By itself, for itself, be it closed or be it open
No beginning, no end, to this infinite wisdom
Let is all disappear down into, Patala Lingum

Deep down, here I am deep down, it took me deep down, in Patala Lingum