கப்பெனவே கவ்விடவே கொப்பளமே அப்பளமாய்
சிப்பியிலே முத்துமிலைச் சப்பிடவே சத்துமிலை
kappenavē kavvidavē koppalamaē appalamāy
sippiyilē muttumilaiç sappiḍavē sattumilai
When it is bitten with a sudden “kap” (sound), the swelling/froth becomes like a thin appalam (papad). In the shell there is no pearl; if one chews and eats it, there is no “sattu” (substance/nourishment/strength).
What appears puffed-up is only froth and collapses into a brittle thinness; what you assume to be pearl-bearing is in fact empty. Taking such things in—whether as food, pleasure, or doctrine—yields no real essence or strength.
The verse works like a compact Siddhar “tests of reality.” A bubble/froth (கொப்பளம்) signifies what is inflated yet empty: appearances, vanity, sensational claims, or unstable experiences that seem substantial until examined. The image of appalam (அப்பளம்)—thin, brittle, and quickly broken—suggests how the “big” becomes trivial when subjected to direct contact (biting/gnawing: கவ்வுதல்).
The second line extends the critique through the oyster-shell motif: one expects a pearl, but finds none. This functions as a warning against projecting value into containers—outer forms, bodies, rituals, or impressive vessels of speech—without verifying the inner essence. “Eating/chewing” implies adoption or consumption: accepting and internalizing something. Yet it gives no “சத்து” (sattu), a word that can mean nutritional potency, strength, vital essence (ojas-like), or effective power. Thus the verse cautions that unexamined pursuits—whether sensual, intellectual, or spiritual—may not increase real vitality or realization.
In Siddhar registers, a medical-yogic echo is also possible: “kap” (கப்-) can hint at கபம்/kapha (phlegm). Frothy mucus may look like volume but has no sustaining essence; swallowing it does not nourish. Read this way, the verse can be both a bodily observation and a spiritual analogy: do not mistake froth (surface agitation) for nectar (true inner elixir).