அப்புலிங்க மதைத்தொப்பு ளநனில் வைத்து
அடைவாகச் சம்புலிங்க மகத்துள் வைத்து
தப்பில்லாச் சாதிலிங்க மதைமெய் யோட்டித்
தழைவான சோதிலிங்க மொளித்துக் கொண்டு
மப்பில்லா வைத்திலிங்கம் துணையாய் நிற்க
மாவயிற்று லிங்கமதிற் சூடுண் டாக
கொப்பான கும்பலிங்கம் வேறாய்ப் போக
குணலிங்கம் தோன்றும்நவ நீதந் தானே
appuliṅga mataittoṟṟu ḷanaṉil vaittu
aṭaivākac campuliṅga makattuḷ vaittu
tappillāc cātiliṅga mataimey yōṭṭit
taḻaivāṉa cōtiliṅga moḷittuk koṇṭu
mappillā vaittiliṅgam tuṇaiyāy niṟka
māvayiṟṟu liṅgamatiṟ cūṭuṇ ṭāka
koppāṉa kumpaliṅgam vērāyp pōka
kuṇaliṅgam tōṉṟumnava nītaṉ tāṉē.
Placing the Appu-liṅgam in the depth of the navel,
placing, as a settled base, the Sambu-liṅgam within (the inner space),
setting in motion—without error—the Sādi-liṅgam with the body,
hiding within oneself the flourishing Sōti-liṅgam (liṅgam of light),
with the spotless Vaiti-liṅgam standing as support,
so that in the great-belly liṅgam heat comes to be;
when the towering Kumbha-liṅgam goes off as something separate,
the Guṇa-liṅgam appears—this indeed is “navanītam” (fresh butter / essence).
In the navel-region the practitioner establishes the “water-principle” (Appu-liṅgam), and inwardly fixes the Sambu-liṅgam as the stable center. Then, without mistake, the Sādi-liṅgam is made to ‘run’ through the bodily channels—while the inner Jyoti (Sōti-liṅgam) is kept veiled and conserved. With the Vaiti-liṅgam—understood as the healer/medicine (guru-force or alchemical catalyst)—as one’s aid, heat is generated in the ‘great belly’ (the inner furnace of digestion/transformative fire). When the Kumbha-liṅgam (the pot/breath-vessel/kumbhaka-state) separates out distinctly, the Guṇa-liṅgam manifests: the ‘navanītam’, the butter-like concentrated essence (subtle nectar) extracted from the whole operation.
This verse strings together a sequence of “liṅgams,” not as temple-icons but as operational markers in Siddhar inner work. A liṅgam here can signify: (i) an elemental principle (water, fire, etc.), (ii) a bodily locus (navel, belly, inner spaces), (iii) a yogic function (circulation through nāḍis, concealment of inner light, kumbhaka), and/or (iv) an alchemical stage (heating, separation, extraction of essence).
1) Navel as crucible: “toppuḷ” (navel) commonly stands for the maṇipūra region and for the internal ‘furnace’ where essences are cooked/transmuted. Establishing “Appu” (water) there hints at regulating bodily fluids/sexual essence (often coded as ‘water’) so it can be transformed rather than dispersed.
2) Inner stabilization: The “Sambu-liṅgam” placed ‘within’ can be read as fixing Śiva-awareness (Sambhu) in the heart/cave (guha) or as setting a central prāṇic axis. It functions as the steady reference so the subsequent movements do not become “mistaken” (tappillā).
3) Making the liṅgam ‘run’: “meyyōṭṭi” (“driving/setting it running with the body”) evokes directing prāṇa/essence through nāḍis. The “Sādi-liṅgam” may indicate a ‘proper method/path’ (sādhi/sādhanā) or a truth-principle (sat), i.e., the disciplined alignment that makes circulation effective.
4) Concealing the Jyoti: “Sōti-liṅgam” is the inner light. “Hiding” it does not necessarily mean denying it; in Siddhar idiom it often means guarding/conserving the subtle fire (tejas) and not wasting it through outward dispersion, speech, or uncontrolled sensory flow.
5) The ‘physician’ as support: “Vaiti-liṅgam” (vaidya/healer) points to medicine—either literal (herbo-mineral siddha preparations, rasāyana) or yogic (the guru’s upadēśa, mantra, and corrective intelligence). The line implies that the process requires a regulating “doctor-force,” otherwise heat and movement become harmful.
6) Heat in the great belly: The arising of “sūḍu” (heat) in the “mā-vayiṟu” (great belly) evokes both digestive fire (jaṭharāgni) and alchemical heating. It is the necessary tapas that cooks the ‘water’ into a more refined essence.
7) Kumbha-liṅgam separating: “Kumbha” can be a pot/retort in laboratory alchemy, but in yoga it also resonates with kumbhaka (breath retention) and with the body as a pot holding prāṇa. “Going separate” suggests a stage where the ‘vessel-function’ becomes distinct—either the practitioner enters a stable retention/state, or in laboratory terms the vessel-phase (distillation/collection) is differentiated.
8) Emergence of Guṇa-liṅgam as navanītam: “Guṇa” is ‘quality/virtue/constitution’ (also the tri-guṇas). The final product is called “navanītam,” literally fresh butter—an image for an extracted, concentrated essence obtained by churning/heating/separating. In Siddhar philosophy this can point to an amṛta-like nectar, a refined ojas, or the ‘essence of experience’—the pure yield after disciplined inner processing.
Overall, the verse encodes a transformation: from raw ‘water’/fluid essence, through regulated heat and controlled breath/vessel dynamics, into a stable, nourishing subtle essence—named in homely alchemical language as “butter.”