Golden Lay Verses

Verse 156 (யோக வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

தேரான மனமதை நேராக வேநிலை

சேர்த்துவது ஞானமாகும்

வேரான விண்ணிலே போரான வினையிலே

வில்விஜயன் யோகமாகும்

Transliteration

thErAna manamathai nErAga vEnilai

sErththathu gnyAnamAgum

vErAna viNNilE pOrAna vinaiyilE

vilvijayan yOkamAgum.

Literal Translation

“The mind that has not been ‘tested/clarified’—to join it into the state that is straight (indeed) is jñāna.

In the sky/space that is the root, in the karma (vinai) that is a battle, the ‘bow‑victor’ becomes yoga.”

Interpretive Translation

To take an unsteady or undiscerning mind and set it upright—held in a direct, unbent steadiness—is itself wisdom (jñāna).

And in the primal inner ‘space’ (ākāśa)—even while one stands in the battlefield of karma—Arjuna’s way (the bow‑victor’s stance: acting amid conflict without collapse) is yoga.

Philosophical Explanation

The verse links two paired ideas:

1) **Jñāna as rectification of mind**: “Straightness” (nēram/nērāga) points to an inner alignment—non-crookedness, non-wavering, and a mind that does not bend toward compulsive reactions. “To join (cērttal)” suggests yoking or integrating the mind into a stable ‘state’ (nilai). In Siddhar usage, jñāna is not merely information but a *condition* of mind: clarity and steadiness.

2) **Yoga amid karma’s battle**: “Vinai” is action and also karmic residue; calling it “battle” (pōr) frames ordinary life—duty, desire, fear, consequence—as the arena where yoga must be proven. The phrase “root-sky/space” (vērāna viṇ) can be read as the causal/subtle space that underlies experience (ākāśa as a ‘root’ element), or as an inner yogic ‘space’ where awareness is anchored. Within that, the “bow‑victor” (Vilvijayan, commonly echoing Arjuna) evokes the Bhagavad Gītā’s central image: yoga taught in a battlefield—steadiness in action, not escape from action. Thus, the Siddhar compresses a teaching: **steadied mind is jñāna; steadied action in karmic conflict is yoga**.

A secondary Siddhar-typical physiological hint is possible: the “bow” can suggest the body/spinal axis as an instrument; ‘victory’ then is mastery of the inner aiming (attention/prāṇa) toward the subtle ‘space’—but the text does not force this reading, keeping its cryptic openness.

Key Concepts

  • manas (mind)
  • nilai (state/steadiness)
  • nēram / nērāga (straightness, directness, uprightness)
  • jñāna (wisdom as a stabilized condition)
  • vinai (karma; action and its bonds)
  • pōr (battle; conflict as spiritual arena)
  • viṇ / ākāśa (sky/space; subtle inner space)
  • Vilvijayan (bow-victor; Arjuna as emblem of karmayoga)
  • karma-yoga (yoga in action; steadiness amidst duty)

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “தேரான (tērāṉa)” can mean ‘unexamined/undiscerning’ or ‘unsettled/unrefined’; either yields a different nuance: lack of discrimination vs lack of steadiness.
  • “வேநிலை” may be read as a split “வே” (an emphatic ‘indeed’) + “நிலை” (state), i.e., “நேராகவே நிலை” (‘the straight-indeed state’), rather than as a separate technical term.
  • “வேரான விண்ணிலே” can mean (a) ‘in the sky that is the root/cause’ (ākāśa as primordial), (b) ‘rooted in the sky/space’ (awareness anchored in subtle space), or (c) a yogic topography hinting at an internal ‘space’ accessed from the ‘root’. The verse allows all three.
  • “போரான வினையிலே” can be heard as ‘in the karmas that wage war (against the seeker)’ or ‘in action that itself is war-like’; it can point to inner conflict (vāsanā struggle) or outer duty-conflict (Gītā context).
  • “வில்விஜயன்” most naturally evokes Arjuna (‘victor with the bow’), but it can also function as a coded archetype: the one who has mastered ‘aiming’ (attention/prāṇa) or the disciplined agent who prevails in karmic struggle.