Golden Lay Verses

Verse 152 (யோக வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

உத்தமர்கள் உனைக்கண்டே உருகிப் பொங்கி

உடல்கருக்கிக் கண்டரஸ வாத மங்கே

சித்தமில்லா அருவழியைச் சீச்சீ யென்றே

சிவவழியோர் வழியூது வீரே சங்கே

Transliteration

uttamarkaḷ unaikkaṇḍē urukip poṅgi

uṭalkarukkik kaṇḍarasa vāta maṅgē

cittamillā aruvaḻiyaic cīccī yeṉṟē

civavaḻiyōr vaḻiyūtu vīrē caṅgē

Literal Translation

Seeing you, the noble ones melt and surge forth;

(calcining / scorching) the body, they found there the doctrine of rasavāda (alchemy).

Those without chitta (mind/insight) say “chee, chee” at the formless path;

those on Śiva’s path blow the conch that proclaims the Way—O heroic conch.

Interpretive Translation

When the mature seekers behold the true principle (guru/deity/elixir), they are inwardly liquefied—devotion and inner heat rise. By “burning” the body—i.e., cooking the fleshly nature through tapas and yogic fire—they arrive at rasavāda: the secret art/science that transmutes and preserves. Those lacking inner discernment ridicule the subtle, formless discipline; but the Śaiva way is publicly affirmed and ‘sounded’ like a conch, guiding seekers toward the true path.

Philosophical Explanation

The verse contrasts two communities: (1) “uttamar” (the ripe, ethically and yogically refined) who respond to truth with inner melting (urugi) and rising energy (pongi), and (2) those “without chitta” who dismiss what cannot be grasped by ordinary sense and conventional religiosity.

“Udal karukki” (scorching/calcining the body) carries layered Siddhar meanings. Literally it can suggest severe austerity; medically/alchemically it evokes processes like drying, roasting, calcination—operations used to prepare minerals/herbs into potent medicines. Yogically, it points to the inner heat of tapas, prāṇāyāma, and kuṇḍalinī-agni that “cooks” impurities (mala), making the body a fit vessel.

“Kandarasa vādham” (readable as *kandarasa/ gандa-rasa* + *vādham*) evokes mercurial/rasāyana traditions—an “alchemy of rasa” aimed at transmutation and longevity (kāya-siddhi). Siddhar usage often keeps both registers active: a practical pharmaco-alchemical method and a metaphor for transforming embodied consciousness.

“Aru-vazhi” (formless/subtle path) aligns with Śaiva mysticism: the non-iconic, inward route toward Śiva as arūpa (formless), often opposed by those who rely only on outer markers. The conch (śaṅkhu) is both ritual (temple proclamation of Śaiva identity) and symbolic: the sounding of the path, akin to the inner nāda (sound-current) that ‘announces’ the way within.

Key Concepts

  • Uttamar (the mature/noble seekers)
  • Urugi-pongi (melting and surging: devotional liquefaction and rising inner energy)
  • Udal karukki (scorching/calcining the body: tapas, yogic heat, or alchemical processing)
  • Rasavāda (Siddhar alchemy/rasāyana; transformation and preservation of the body)
  • Aru-vazhi (formless/subtle path; arūpa-mārga)
  • Chitta (mind/insight; also discernment needed for subtle teachings)
  • Śaiva mārga (Śiva’s path)
  • Conch (śaṅkhu) as proclamation/inner nāda

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “You” (unai) can refer to Śiva, the guru, the Siddhar’s teaching, or an alchemical substance/elixir (rasa) that reveals itself to the worthy.
  • “Udal karukki” may mean harsh ascetic mortification, yogic ‘cooking’ via inner fire, or literal pharmaco-alchemical calcination/roasting processes used in rasāyana preparations.
  • “Kandarasa vādham” is not fully transparent: it can be read as a specific named rasavāda school/recipe, as ‘(there) the discourse/doctrine of rasa-alchemy,’ or as a coded term for mercurial/sulfuric operations (gandha/gandhaka resonances).
  • “Sīchchī” (“chee, chee”) could mark moral disgust, skepticism, or ridicule toward non-ritual, non-visible disciplines—leaving open whether the target is the formless Śaiva path or the alchemical-yogic methods themselves.
  • “Vazhi-ūthu” (blowing/proclaiming the way) can be literal temple conch-blowing, metaphorical public endorsement of Śaiva mārga, or an inner yogic ‘sounding’ (nāda) that guides the practitioner.