Golden Lay Verses

Verse 122 (மை வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

இருமூன்று துப்பு ளடக்கி அருகான பட்டை யிடித்து

கருமூன்று கானல் முடக்கி கருவாவின் பட்டை பொடித்து

அருமூன்று பாவம் மடக்கி அறமூன்றும் அகத்து ளொடுக்கி

தருமூன்று வடிவ மகற்றி தவமூண்டு காய்ச்சு துடக்கி

Transliteration

irumūṉṟu tuppu ḷaṭakki arukāṉa paṭṭai yiṭittu

karumūṉṟu kāṉal muṭakki karuvāviṉ paṭṭai poṭittu

arumūṉṟu pāvam maṭakki aṟamūṉṟum akattu ḷoṭukki

tarumūṉṟu vaṭiva makatṟi tavamūṇṭu kāyccu tuṭakki

Literal Translation

Restrain the “two–three” spittle/discharge, and pound the bark of arukāṉ.

Block the “black three” mirage/illusion, and powder the bark of karuvāvi.

Subdue/fold the “rare three” sins, and press/contain the threefold virtue (aram) within.

Remove the “dharma three” forms, and, with austerity ripened, begin the heating/cooking (process).

Interpretive Translation

Bring under control the dual-and-triple movements (of breath, humors, or inner currents) and begin the work of grinding down the outer “rinds” (protective coverings) that bind awareness.

Stop the threefold darkened delusion that appears as a mirage, and further refine what is coarse into a subtle powder.

Conquer the three deep impurities called “sins,” and internalize a threefold discipline of virtue.

Then cast off the three forms/conditions that define embodied existence, and ignite tapas—the inner heat—so the transformation can be “cooked” to completion.

Philosophical Explanation

The verse is structured like a Siddhar recipe that deliberately braids two registers: (1) outward pharmaco-alchemical instruction (pounding bark, powdering, heating) and (2) inward yogic purification (restraint, ending delusion, conquering impurities, transcending forms). Siddhar texts often present laboratory operations as ciphers for inner operations; “bark” (paṭṭai) can signify both medicinal rind and the protective/outer layer of the self that must be stripped and pulverized.

The repeated numerical markers—“two–three,” “black three,” “rare three,” “dharma three”—invite multiple Siddha/Śaiva triadic mappings. The “three sins” can align with the three malas (āṇava, karma, māyā) or with a threefold moral stain (thought–speech–deed). “Mirage” (kāṉal) is a standard metaphor for māyā: what seems real from a distance but vanishes on approach. The instruction to “block” the mirage implies stabilizing perception so the mind no longer projects.

The final line’s “heating/cooking” (kāyccu) can refer to calcination/processing in rasavāda (mineral/metal medicine) and simultaneously to tapas or kuṇḍalinī-agni (inner fire). In both readings, heat is what completes transmutation: in the lab it fixes and matures a compound; in yoga it digests impurity, consolidates prāṇa, and supports realization. The arc of the verse thus moves from bodily regulation → cognitive de-illusionment → ethical/ontological purification → transformative inner heat, culminating in a state implied (but not stated) as siddhi/attainment.

Key Concepts

  • Triadic symbolism (multiple ‘threes’)
  • Breath/humor restraint (possible link to vāta–pitta–kapha or prāṇa control)
  • Māyā as mirage (kāṉal) and the cessation of delusion
  • Three impurities / three sins (possible malas: āṇava, karma, māyā)
  • Threefold virtue/discipline (aram) internalized
  • Alchemical grinding/powdering as inner refinement
  • Tapas / inner heat (kāyccu) and yogic transformation
  • Cryptic herb-code (plant names as possible bodily/yogic correspondences)

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “இருமூன்று” (“two–three”) may mean (a) a combined set of dualities and triads (sun–moon and a third channel; guṇas; humors), (b) simply “two or three” (a dosage/quantity), or (c) a coded reference to yogic counts in breath retention.
  • “துப்பு” can be read as saliva/phlegm/discharge (a bodily humor) or as a coded term for a particular internal secretion/essence; thus the first line can be medical, yogic, or both.
  • The plant names “அருகான்” (arukāṉ) and “கருவாவி” (karuvāvi) are not uniquely identifiable across regions/manuscripts; they may be literal materia medica or deliberate ciphers for inner ‘barks’/sheaths or nāḍi-sites.
  • “கருமூன்று” (“black three”) may refer to three dark states (tamas-dominance, threefold ignorance, three malas) or to three ‘blackened’ bodily factors; “black” can be moral/ontological rather than visual.
  • “கானல்” can mean mirage/illusion, but can also suggest deceptive ‘seeing’/appearance; “முடக்கி” can mean block, paralyze, or shut down—ranging from sensory withdrawal to stopping a pathological flow.
  • “அறமூன்று” (“three arams/virtues”) could be (a) thought–speech–action ethics, (b) three disciplines (icchai–kriyai–jñāna as lived dharma), or (c) another triad known to the author’s lineage.
  • “தருமூன்று வடிவம்” (“three forms”) may denote (a) gross–subtle–causal bodies, (b) three states (waking–dream–deep sleep), (c) three guṇas, or (d) three existential conditions; the verse does not lock to one system.
  • “காய்ச்சு” (heating/cooking) may be literal alchemical heating (calcination/processing) or inner yogic heat (tapas/kuṇḍalinī agni); the closing instruction intentionally sustains both readings.