kākaḍa āratī (paramātmayā śrīraghupatī)

The kakad arati, sung before dawn with a torch of cloth, and this Marathi one turns every part of its own apparatus into what it means. The wick, it says, is the three qualities, dipped in the ghee of duality; what is waved is the light of one's own self, the jiva and Shiva together. The lamp being carried round the image is therefore also the burning away of the thing the singer is made of, and the arati describes that instead of describing Rama. Eight lines carry it. Of all the aratis in this cluster it is the one furthest from a household song and closest to a piece of Vedanta set to a tune.