Golden Lay Verses

Verse 13 (குருபரம்பரை வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

பாரறியக் கருவூரிற் கருவூர்ச் சித்தர்

பலப்பலவாத் தலந்தோறும் மூர்த்தி தீர்த்தச்

சீருருவாய்த் தெய்வமெனத் தேவி யென்ன

திகழ்வேதா கமத்தினுரைச் செவ்வி யென்ன

நேருருவாய் நிமையுருவாய் நிலைக்குஞ் சூக்க

நினைவுருவாய் அனைவரையும் வாழ்விக் கத்தான்

ஆருருவா யானந்த மயமாய்ச் சித்தர்

அருளுருவாய் வந்தார்கள் அவர்தம் பாதம்

Transliteration

paaraRiyak karuvooriR karuvoorch chiththar

palappalavaath thalanthORum moorththi theerththach

seeruruvaayth theyvamenath thEvi yenna

thigazhvEtha akamaththinuraich chevvi yenna

nEruruvaay nimaiyuruvaay nilaikkunj chookka

ninaivuruvaay anaivaraiyum vaazhvikkaththaan

aaruruvaa yaanantha mayamaaych chiththar

aruLuruvaay vanthaarkaL avartham paatham

Literal Translation

Known to the world—

In Karuvūr (Karūr), Karuvūr Siddhar,

In many, many sacred sites—(as) image (mūrti) and holy waters (tīrtham);

As a beautiful/auspicious form—(as) “God”; (as) “Goddess/Devi,” they say;

As the radiant saying/teaching of Veda and Āgama—(as) the fitting/true word, they say;

As a direct form, as a “nimai”-form, as the subtle (sūkṣma) that stands/abides;

As a form of thought/remembrance—making all beings live/flourish;

Who/what a form!—as a Siddhar made of bliss,

They came as a form of grace: their feet.

Interpretive Translation

Karuvūr Siddhar—famed in the world—appears not only in Karuvūr but across many sacred places, present both as consecrated icon and as sanctifying tīrtha. He is spoken of as divine—sometimes in the idiom of God, sometimes in the idiom of Devi—while also being the living “right meaning” of Vedic and Āgamic teaching. He is simultaneously manifest and subtle: immediate and graspable, yet also minute/instantaneous and enduring as sūkṣma reality. As consciousness taking the shape of remembrance, he sustains the life of all. In that indescribable mode—bliss-natured and grace-bodied—he “comes”; and the verse ends in surrender to his feet.

Philosophical Explanation

1) Sacred geography vs. inner presence: The verse starts with an outward, temple-centered map—“many sacred sites,” “mūrti,” “tīrtham.” In Siddhar usage, this can be read both literally (icons and temple waters) and as an inner-yogic hint: “mūrti” may gesture to embodied presence (the guru’s form, or the yogic body), while “tīrtham” can suggest purifying crossings/flows (inner channels, sacred currents of prāṇa) without forcing a single reduction.

2) Veda–Āgama reconciliation: By saying he is the “utterance/meaning” of Veda and Āgama, the verse positions the Siddhar as the reconciler of scriptural worlds: Vedic authority and Āgamic (tantric/temple) method. “Sevvi” (“proper/right”) implies not mere quotation but the correct alignment of doctrine with realized experience.

3) Deivam and Devi: The line that pairs “God” with “Devi” suggests a non-sectarian or non-dual devotional grammar: the Siddhar can be praised in Shiva-idiom and Shakti-idiom. It may also imply the inseparability of consciousness and power (Śiva–Śakti), a key Siddhar and tantric premise.

4) Gross–subtle continuum: “Direct form … subtle that stands” frames him as both accessible (near, evident) and sūkṣma (not objectifiable). This matches Siddhar metaphysics where the realized one can be encountered as person/guru while also being the pervasive principle.

5) Thought-form and salvific remembrance: “Ninaivu-uruvāy” (as a form of thought/remembrance) indicates a yogic method: he is present in meditation, in japa-like recollection, and in the mind’s purified awareness. The claim that he “makes all live/flourish” reads as both cosmic sustenance and the guru’s function of awakening life-force and right living.

6) Bliss and grace as ‘form’: Ending with “ānanda-mayam” and “arul-uruvam,” the verse identifies the Siddhar not primarily by biography but by ontological marks: bliss (ānanda) and grace (arul). The final “their feet” is the standard siddhar-bhakti gesture of refuge—feet as locus of transmission, humility, and entry into the path.

Key Concepts

  • Karuvūr Siddhar
  • mūrti (icon / embodied presence)
  • tīrtham (sacred water / purifying crossing)
  • Veda
  • Āgama
  • sūkṣma (subtle reality)
  • ninaivu (remembrance / thought-form)
  • ānanda (bliss-nature)
  • arul (grace)
  • guru-pāda (the feet of the realized one)
  • Śiva–Śakti / Deivam–Devi idiom

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “மூர்த்தி தீர்த்தம்” can be taken straightforwardly as temple icon and sacred waters, but can also hint at embodied yogic presence and inner purificatory ‘crossings/flows’ without excluding the literal temple reading.
  • “தேவி யென்ன” may mean (a) he is also spoken of as Devi/Shakti, (b) an address to ‘O Devi,’ or (c) an idiom indicating divinity in both masculine and feminine theological registers.
  • “நிமை யுருவாய்” is unclear: “nimai” can suggest moment/instant (blink-like), a measure of time, or a quality such as order/rightness; the verse may be stacking temporal subtlety (momentary) with ontological subtlety (sūkṣma).
  • “நேருருவாய்” could mean ‘near/accessible form’ or ‘straight/direct form’ (i.e., not indirect or merely conceptual).
  • “ஆருருவாய்” can be read interrogatively (‘who/what a form is that?’) or as an exclamatory ‘indescribable form,’ preserving the siddhar’s deliberate refusal to be pinned down.
  • “வந்தார்கள்” is a respectful plural; it can denote honorific singular (‘he came’) or hint at a plurality (e.g., siddhars/guru-lineage) while still centering Karuvūr Siddhar.