Golden Lay Verses

Verse 233 (ஞான வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

வாணியென வேவேதன் வாக்கில் நிற்பாள்

வானமெலாம் வையமெலாம் படைப்பாளன்னை

ராணியென வேமாயன் மார்பில் நிற்பாள்

ரக்ஷைதரும் லக்ஷிமியாய் ரக்ஷிப் பாளே

வேணியெனச் சிவனிடத்தே பாகங் கொண்டாள்

வேதாந்த மோனத்தின் வியப்பாய் நிற்பாள்

மாணியெனும் லிங்கத்தை யணைந்து தாங்கி

மாணிக்க மணிப்பீடச் சோதி யன்னை

Transliteration

vāṇiyena vēvētaṉ vākkil niṟpāḷ

vāṉamelām vaiyamelām paṭaippāḷaṉṉai

rāṇiyena vēmāyaṉ mārpil niṟpāḷ

rakṣaitarum lakṣimiyāy rakṣip pāḷē

vēṇiyenaś civaniṭattē pākaṅ koṇṭāḷ

vētānta mōṉattiṉ viyappāy niṟpāḷ

māṇiyenum liṅkattai yaṇaindu tāṅki

māṇikka maṇippīṭaś cōti yaṉṉai

Literal Translation

As Vāṇi, she stands within the speech of the Veda-knower (the Veda-maker).

As the Mother who creates—she is the maker of all the sky and all the earth.

As Queen, she stands upon Māyan’s (Viṣṇu’s) chest.

As Lakṣmī who grants protection, she protects.

As Veṇi (the braid/consort), she took a share (a half) with Śiva.

She stands as the marvel of Vedānta’s silence.

Embracing and bearing the liṅga called “Māṇi,”

She stands—the Mother, the radiant Light on the ruby/jewel pedestal.

Interpretive Translation

One Mother is praised through her multiple stations: as Speech (Vāṇi) in the creative utterance, as the power that brings forth cosmos and earth, as the auspicious presence on Viṣṇu’s heart that safeguards, as Śiva’s own share in non-separate union, and as the wonder of the Vedāntic stillness where words end. Holding the inner liṅga—named Māṇi (jewel/Manonmanī/precious seed)—she abides as the luminous Mother, enthroned as pure radiance on a “jewel-seat.”

Philosophical Explanation

The verse compresses a pan-Indic theological map into a Siddhar-style pointer: the many goddess-names are not separate deities but one Śakti seen through different functions.

1) Vāṇi in the creator’s speech: “Vāṇi” (Sarasvatī) signifies vāk (sound/speech), mantra, and the intelligible ordering of experience. Creation is presented as issuing through speech/utterance—an idea that can be read cosmologically (world-creation) and yogically (mantra, nāda, and the arising of thought).

2) Lakṣmī on Viṣṇu’s chest: Lakṣmī traditionally dwells on Nārāyaṇa’s chest, marking protection, sustenance, auspiciousness, and the heart-seat of preservation. In an inner reading, this points to a stabilizing power at the heart (hṛdaya)—the capacity that “protects” life-force, wellbeing, and continuity.

3) Śiva’s share (ardha-bhāga): “took a share with Śiva” evokes Ardhanārīśvara (half-male/half-female). Philosophically this indicates non-duality of consciousness (Śiva) and power (Śakti): liberation is not flight from embodiment but recognition that awareness and its dynamic display are one.

4) Vedānta’s silence: The line about “the marvel of Vedānta’s silence” turns from named forms to the apophatic end of inquiry—where speech cannot capture the Real. The same Mother who is vāk is also what dissolves vāk. This paradox is central: Śakti is both expression and the cessation of expression.

5) Bearing the liṅga called “Māṇi” and the “jewel pedestal”: Siddhar diction often relocates temple imagery into the body. The liṅga can indicate the subtle sign/seed (bindu), the axis of inner worship, or the stabilized center of consciousness. “Māṇi” (jewel) suggests a precious, concentrated essence (seed/ojas/bindu) and also hints at “Manonmanī” (a Goddess-name associated with the transcendence of mind), keeping the referent intentionally open. “Maṇippīṭa” (jewel-seat) can be read as the sanctum-throne in a shrine and, yogically, as an inner seat (heart, ājñā, or sahasrāra) where radiance (joti) is directly known.

Overall, the verse is a unity-claim: the same Mother is word, world, wealth, protection, union, and silence—culminating in the inner liṅga/light realization rather than mere external mythology.

Key Concepts

  • Śakti as one appearing as Sarasvatī (Vāṇi), Lakṣmī, and Pārvatī
  • Vāk (speech) and mantra / nāda as creative principle
  • Preservation and protection (rakṣā) as divine function
  • Ardhanārīśvara: non-separation of Śiva and Śakti
  • Vedāntic mauna (silence) and the limits of language
  • Liṅga as inner sign/axis; bindu/essence imagery
  • Joti (inner light) and maṇippīṭa (jewel-seat/throne)

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “வேவேதன்” can be read as Brahmā (connected with the Vedas) or more generally as “the one who knows/makes the Veda”; the line functions either as a mythic placement (Sarasvatī with Brahmā) or as a metaphysical claim (speech within the creative intelligence).
  • “வேணியென” literally relates to “braid/locked hair,” but also functions as an epithet for the consort; it may point simultaneously to Pārvatī’s iconography and to Śakti as the ‘bound/contained’ power united with Śiva.
  • “வேதாந்த மோனத்தின் வியப்பாய்” may mean the wonder of Vedānta’s silence (mauna as realization) or the wonder that silence itself is the ‘end of Veda’—suggesting both contemplative cessation and a doctrinal endpoint.
  • “மாணியெனும் லிங்கம்” can mean (a) a liṅga named “Māṇi” (jewel-liṅga), (b) the precious inner ‘seed’ (bindu/essence) held by Śakti, or (c) a veiled allusion to “Manonmanī” (mind-transcending goddess) linked to liṅga-worship—none of which is decisively fixed by the wording.
  • “மணிப்பீடச் சோதி” can be read externally as temple imagery (lamp/light on a jeweled pedestal) or internally as yogic radiance established at a subtle “seat” (heart/ājñā/sahasrāra), preserving the Siddhar tendency to keep both readings viable.