Golden Lay Verses

Verse 107 (மணி வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

சுண்டிடவே வித்தையெலாம் பலித்துப் போச்சு

சுருக்கமடா எவருக்கும் கூறா தேநீ

பண்டமடா பாவங்கள் பலவே செய்வார்

பரமனடி காணாதார் பச்சை மோகம்

கொண்டிடுவார் போகத்தின் கூற்றைக் காண

கூட்டங்க ளாய்வந்தே குலவி நிற்பார்

மண்டையடா பத்தியங்கள் பலதே கூறி

வாகான பைத்தியமே போவென் பாயே

Transliteration

suṇḍiḍavē vittaiyelām palittup pōccu

surukkamaḍā evarukkum kūrā tēnī

paṇḍamaḍā pāvaṅgaḷ palavē seyvār

paramanaḍi kāṇātār paccai mōkam

koṇḍiḍuvār pōkattiṉ kūṟṟaik kāṇa

kūṭṭaṅga ḷāyvantē kulavi niṟpār

maṇḍaiyaḍā pattiyangkaḷ paladē kūṟi

vāgāna paittiyamē pōven pāyē

Literal Translation

“When it is pinched/contracted, every ‘vidyā’ (art/skill) has borne fruit and passed into success.

It is a ‘surukkam’ (a compressed secret/summary); do not tell it to anyone.

People commit many sins.

Those who have not seen the Feet of the Supreme (Paramaṉ) have ‘green’ (fresh, unripe) infatuation.

To see the ‘kūṟṟu’ (Death/death-sentence) of pleasure, they will seize pleasure,

then come as crowds, arrive, and stand clinging/mingling.

Skull-headed (or: “O head!”) they speak of many ‘paththiyam’ (dietary/disciplinary regimens).

O useless/empty madness—go away, O pāyē (O mat/bed; by extension, O body/mind resting on it).”

Interpretive Translation

“There is an inner act of ‘pinching/contracting’ by which the whole of real knowledge ripens into siddhi; it is not for public talk.

But people, unable to behold the Supreme Reality, remain caught in raw desire. They chase pleasure while ignoring its built-in executioner—Death—and gather in crowds that only intensify attachment.

They then proclaim many outer ‘regimens’ (fasts, diets, rules) as if discipline itself were liberation.

This is hollow religiosity: let such madness depart from me (from this body/mind).”

Philosophical Explanation

The verse contrasts (1) an esoteric, internal yogic/alchemical operation with (2) external, social, and performative spirituality.

1) “சுண்டிடவே” (pinch/contract) is presented as a catalytic inner key: by a small, precise action “all vidyā” bears fruit. In Siddhar idiom this can point to a bandha-like contraction (retaining/raising vital essence), a prāṇic lock, or another “small” secret technique that transmutates the practitioner (an alchemical logic: a minimal trigger produces total transformation). The speaker insists it is a “சுருக்கம்” (compressed essence/secret) and should not be broadcast—typical of Siddhar texts that encode methods rather than teach them openly.

2) The ethical and metaphysical critique: those who do not see “பரமனடி” (the Supreme’s Feet: the stable ground of liberation, often Śiva) remain in “பச்சை மோகம்” (unripe, green delusion/desire). “Bhoga” (sensual enjoyment) carries its own “கூற்று” (Yama/death-sentence): pleasure is inseparable from decay, exhaustion, karmic consequence, and mortality. Yet people still flock together—“crowds” that ‘cling’—suggesting both social conformity and the amplifying of desire through association.

3) “பத்தியங்கள்” (paththiyam) are real in Siddha medicine/yoga (dietary restrictions, compatible foods, timed regimens), but here the target is those who merely talk about them (“many paththiyams”) as a substitute for realization. Thus the verse is not rejecting discipline; it rejects discipline-as-display without the inner conversion that comes from direct seeing of the Supreme.

4) The closing dismissal—“vain madness, go away”—is directed to “பாயே,” a Siddhar trope where the body (or the mind that reclines in the body) is called a mat/bed. The speaker commands the deluded mode of life (crowd-pleasure-rule-talk) to leave the embodied field of practice.

Key Concepts

  • vidyā (knowledge/arts) and their ‘fruit’ (palithal)
  • secret teaching (surukkam) and deliberate concealment
  • pāva (sin) and karmic habit
  • Paramaṉ aḍi (the Supreme’s Feet) as liberation-ground
  • moha (delusion/desire), ‘pachchai’ (unripe/green craving)
  • bhoga (sensual enjoyment) and kūṟṟu (Death/Yama; fatal consequence)
  • crowd-mentality and attachment-by-association
  • paththiyam (dietary/disciplinary regimen) vs inner realization
  • critique of performative religiosity
  • body/mind as ‘pāy’ (mat/bed) imagery

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “சுண்டிடவே” can mean literally “to pinch/squeeze,” but in Siddhar code may point to a yogic lock (bandha), a retention of vital essence, nose-breath control, or a small decisive inner act that triggers siddhi.
  • “வித்தை” can be read as ordinary ‘skills/arts’ or as mantric/occult ‘siddhi-vidyā’ (esoteric powers/knowledges).
  • “சுருக்கம்” can mean ‘summary,’ ‘compression,’ or ‘secret essence’—the line may imply both brevity and concealment.
  • “பரமனடி” could be devotional (Śiva’s feet) or non-dual (the ultimate ground of awareness); the text keeps both possibilities open.
  • “பச்சை மோகம்” may mean ‘fresh, vigorous desire’ or ‘immature, unripe delusion,’ emphasizing either intensity or immaturity.
  • “போகத்தின் கூற்றைக் காண” can be read as (a) ‘to see the death-sentence inherent in pleasure’ (disenchantment) or (b) ‘to witness/encounter death because of indulgence’ (consequence).
  • “குலவி நிற்பார்” can mean ‘stand mingling/clustered,’ but can also carry the sense of ‘clinging, cuddling, fondling,’ sharpening the critique of attachment.
  • “மண்டையடா” may be an insult (‘skull-head!’), an address (‘O head!’), or a rhetorical exclamation; Siddhar diction often keeps the tone deliberately abrasive.
  • “வாகான” is unclear: it may mean ‘hollow/fruitless/empty’ (a negating epithet) or be a dialectal/phonetic form; the verse does not fully resolve it.
  • “பாயே” may be (a) the literal mat/bed, (b) the body-as-bed, (c) the mind resting on the body, or (d) a familiar address to a disciple/companion; Siddhar poems often slide among these.