கருணையுடன் வாலைப்பெண் கனகப் பாதக்
கழல்பணிவார் கொண்டபர போதம் வேண்டும்
சுரணையுடன் பெண்கள்மல ரடியில் வீழ்ந்து
சுகரூப மாய்ப்பணிவார் பேதம் வேண்டும்
சரணமெனச் சகஜமுடன் சிரிக்கும் நல்ல
சற்குணராம் மாதரிடும் சாதம் வேண்டும்
மரணமிலா மதிப்பெண்ணா ளாகா யப்பூ
மலரவைப்பா என்பெனும்ப்ர ஸாதம் வேண்டும்
karuṇaiyuṭan vālaippeṇ kanakap pāthak
kazhalpaṇivār koṇṭapara pōtham vēṇṭum
suraṇaiyuṭan peṇkaḷmala raṭiyil vīḻndhu
sukarūpa māyppaṇivār pētham vēṇṭum
saraṇamenach sakajamuṭan sirikkum nalla
saṟkuṇarām māthariṭum sātham vēṇṭum
maraṇamilā mathippeṇṇā ḷākā yappū
malaravaippā enpenumpra sātham vēṇṭum.
With compassion: for those who bow to the ankleted feet—golden feet—of the youthful maiden, the “supreme awakening” (para-bodham) is needed.
With keen attention: falling at the flower-like feet of women, for those who bow in service as a form of bliss, “difference / discernment” (pēdham) is needed.
Saying “refuge!” and smiling naturally: from those good women of true virtues, their “food / offering” (sādam) is needed.
From the deathless woman—beyond reckoning / beyond valuation—the “grace” (prasādam) called “I will make the sky-flower bloom” is needed.
I seek four attainments, all granted through reverent surrender to the feminine principle: (1) the supreme awakening that comes from compassionate worship of the golden-footed Maiden (Shakti/Guru-grace); (2) the subtle discernment needed to serve at the lotus-feet of the “women” (whether literal saintly women or inner Shakti-powers) without confusion; (3) the nourishing “food” that the naturally joyful, virtuous feminine bestows (outer alms/teaching, or inner amṛta/ojas); and (4) a final, paradoxical grace—one that can accomplish the impossible (“make the sky-flower bloom”) and thus points toward deathlessness (kāya-siddhi) or the deathless state of realization.
The verse is structured like a petition for successive “needs” (vēṇḍum): para-bodham, pēdham, sādam, prasādam. In Siddhar usage these can be read simultaneously as devotional, yogic, and alchemical.
1) “Youthful maiden with golden ankleted feet”: This readily reads as Devī/Shakti, or the living embodiment of grace (sometimes also the Guru’s śakti). “Feet” are the foundation (ādāra): bowing to the feet signals surrender, humility, and grounding of practice. “Compassion” (karuṇai) is not merely moral kindness; it is the softened heart that allows grace to descend.
2) “Falling at women’s flower-feet… bliss-form… pēdham”: “Women” (peṇkaḷ) may be literal virtuous women, but in Siddhar cryptic diction it can also indicate the feminine power within—the śakti that opens the inner lotuses. “Pēdham” literally means difference/distinction; in practice it can mean discriminative clarity (viveka) so that devotion does not collapse into mere sensuality, fantasy, or social scandal, and so that one can distinguish essence (śakti/grace) from outer form. The phrase “becoming bliss-form” hints at absorption (ānanda-svarūpa), but the text still insists on discernment rather than intoxicated surrender.
3) “Those good women… saying ‘śaraṇam’… their sādam”: “Śaraṇam” (refuge) denotes surrender (śaraṇāgati). “Sādam” is plain food/rice in ordinary Tamil, but Siddhar layers permit it to indicate “nourishment” as upāya: teachings, alms, and also inner nourishment—amṛta, prāṇa, or conserved essence (ojas). The “natural smile/laughter” (sahajamudan sirikkum) evokes sahaja-bhāva: effortless equanimity, not forced austerity.
4) “Deathless woman… ‘make the sky-flower bloom’… prasādam”: “Sky-flower” (āgāyappū) is a classical image for what cannot exist (an impossibility), yet Siddhars also use such impossibilities to name siddhi: the grace that makes the impossible possible. Thus the “prasādam” sought may be the crowning transformation: either (a) the bodily alchemy of kāya-siddhi (deathlessness), or (b) the deathless realization in which ‘death’ loses meaning. Calling the giver a “deathless woman” keeps the source ambiguous: it can be an outer goddess/saintly feminine presence, or the inner, immortal śakti/kundalinī that grants the final reversal of limitation.
Across all four, the verse maintains a characteristic Siddhar tension: devotion and surrender are essential, but so are alertness and discernment; nourishment is both mundane and subtle; and the final goal is spoken through paradox (the blooming of a sky-flower).