Golden Lay Verses

Verse 235 (ஞான வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

அச்சுதனா மறுசோணச் சக்ர பாணி

அவன்பின்னாம் தங்கையெனத் துளிப்பா என்னை

இச்சகத்துள் யாவுமவ ளாட்டம் பாட்டம்

இவளுடனே யிணங்குவதே சித்தர் மார்க்கம்

மூலமடா காரணத்தை முற்றுங் காண

மூதாந்த முதியவர்கள் துணையே வேண்டும்

காலமடா காலத்தைக் கடந்த சாக்கிக்

காலகண்டி யவள்கணவன் கங்கைச் சாமி

காலனையும் வென்றுகொளச் சாக்கி யானான்

காலனிடம் வரம்பெற்றாள் விதர்ப்ப கன்னி

கருதுசிவ னோடிணைந்த மார்க்கண் டேயன்

கௌரியவள் விரதத்தால் காலம் வென்றாள்

Transliteration

Achchuthanaa marusONach sakra paaNi

avanpinnaam thangaiyenath thuLippaa ennai

ichchagaththuL yaavumava L aattam paattam

ivaLudanE yiNanguvadhE siththar maarkkam

moolamadaa kaaraNaththai muRRung kaaNa

moothaantha mudhiyavargaL thuNaiyE vENdum

kaalamadaa kaalaththaik kadandha saakkik

kaalakandi yavaLkaNavan gangaich saami

kaalanaiyum venRukoLach saakki yaanaan

kaalanidam varampeRRaL vidharpaa kanni

karuthusiva nOdiNaindha maarkkaN dEyan

kouriyavaL viraththaal kaalam venRaaL

Literal Translation

O Acyuta (Viṣṇu), discus‑bearing one of reddish hue—

calling me as though I were the younger sister (Tulippā/Tuḷasī?) behind him.

In this world, everything is her play and her song;

to unite/accord with her—this is the path of the Siddhars.

To see completely the root and the cause,

the support of very ancient, aged elders is required.

Time—indeed, one must become the witness who has crossed time;

Kālakāṇḍi—her husband—is the Gaṅgā‑Lord (Śiva who bears the Gaṅgā).

He became a witness so as to conquer even Yama (Death).

The Vidarbha maiden obtained a boon from Yama.

Mārkaṇḍeya, who joined with the intended/cherished Śiva,

by the vow/austerity of Gaurī, time was conquered.

Interpretive Translation

The verse points to a Siddhar vision in which the entire manifest world is the sportive movement of the feminine power (Śakti/Māyā). The Siddhar way is not mere rejection of that power but a disciplined “accord” with it—learning how to move with the cosmic play without being bound by it.

To penetrate the “root-cause” (mūla–kāraṇa), one needs the guidance and living transmission of elders (guru-lineage). The deeper instruction is to stand as the timeless witness (sākṣi) beyond changing time. In that witnessing, time and death (Kāla/Yama) are said to be overcome—illustrated through mythic exemplars: Śiva as Kālakāṇḍi/Gaṅgādhara, Mārkaṇḍeya’s Shiva-union that defeats death, the Vidarbha maiden (Sāvitrī) who wins a boon from Yama, and Gaurī (Pārvatī) whose vow/austerity “conquers time.”

Philosophical Explanation

1) “All is her play and song”: In Siddhar and Śaiva–Śākta idiom, the phenomenal world is not simply “illusion” to be dismissed; it is Śakti’s līlā—dynamic manifestation. Calling it “play” simultaneously affirms its power and hints at its non-ultimate status.

2) “To unite with her is the Siddhar path”: This can be read as (a) yogic integration of Śakti (prāṇa, kuṇḍalinī, embodiment) rather than world-denial, and/or (b) nondual discernment where one sees the play as play, remaining unattached while functioning within it. The phrasing preserves a deliberate tension: union may mean devotional alignment, yogic harnessing, or gnosis.

3) “Root and cause” (mūla–kāraṇa): The Siddhar goal is to perceive the origin-mechanism of bondage—how perception, desire, time, and body-processes arise and bind. In more technical Siddha registers, “cause” may include subtle constituents (vāyu/prāṇa dynamics, doṣa balance), karmic causality, and the alchemical basis of bodily transformation.

4) “Elders as support”: The verse insists on lineage and guidance—an epistemology of practice, not mere textual learning. “Ancient elders” may indicate realized Siddhars, gurus, or the accumulated authority of the tradition.

5) “Witness beyond time” (sākṣi beyond kāla): Becoming the witness is the key yogic move—resting as awareness that observes time rather than being carried by it. In Siddhar discourse this can also imply mastery over time-bound physiological decay (kāya-siddhi / longevity) through yoga and rasāyana, though the verse keeps it cryptic.

6) Mythic exemplars as coded instruction: References to Śiva (Kālakāṇḍi/Gaṅgādhara), Mārkaṇḍeya, Sāvitrī (Vidarbha maiden), and Gaurī are not mere stories; they encode methods: devotion (bhakti), vow/austerity (vrata/tapas), Shiva-refuge (śaraṇāgati), and the attainment of a state that is not owned by time (amṛta-like deathlessness or liberation). The verse suggests that ‘conquering time’ is achievable through alignment with Śiva/Śakti and stabilized witnessing—possibly both spiritually (mokṣa) and somatically (Siddha longevity).

Key Concepts

  • Acyuta (Viṣṇu) / chakra-bearer imagery
  • Śakti / Māyā as cosmic play (līlā)
  • Siddhar mārga (Siddhar path) as “accord/union” with Śakti
  • Mūla–kāraṇa (root and cause)
  • Guru/elders and lineage transmission
  • Kāla (time) and Kālan/Yama (death)
  • Sākṣi (witness-consciousness) beyond time
  • Śiva as Kālakāṇḍi (poison-bearer / time-conquering aspect) and Gaṅgādhara
  • Mārkaṇḍeya conquering death through Śiva
  • Vidarbha maiden (Sāvitrī) receiving a boon from Yama
  • Gaurī (Pārvatī) and vrata/tapas conquering time
  • Liberation and/or kaya-siddhi (deathlessness/long life) as implied goals

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “மறுசோணச்” (maru-sōṇaś): could indicate “reddish-hued,” “another Sōṇa,” or a regional/poetic epithet; the compound is unclear without broader context.
  • “துளிப்பா” (Tuḷippā): may point to Tuḷasī (holy basil) associated with Viṣṇu, a woman named Tuḷippā, or a cryptic epithet for Śakti; the line “as though his younger sister” complicates identification.
  • The pronoun “her” in “everything is her play and song” could mean Śakti, Māyā, a specific goddess, or (less likely) Tuḷasī personified; the verse intentionally does not name her plainly.
  • “இணங்குவதே” (to accord/fit/unite): can mean devotional alignment, yogic union, or pragmatic ‘going along’ with the cosmic process while remaining unattached—each shifts the teaching’s emphasis.
  • “சாக்கி” (saakki): could be “sākṣi” (witness), or a colloquial/metrical form; it might also be an epithet implying ‘attesting/seeing’ rather than a technical Vedāntic term.
  • “காலகண்டி” (Kālakāṇḍi): often evokes Śiva as Nīlakaṇṭha (poison-throated) and/or a ‘time-cutting’ form; the verse fuses poison-bearing, Gaṅgā-bearing, and time-conquering motifs.
  • “காலனையும் வென்றுகொள” (to conquer Yama): may indicate literal longevity/kāya-siddhi in Siddha medical-alchemical sense, or spiritual transcendence of death through realization.
  • The closing examples (Mārkaṇḍeya, Sāvitrī, Gaurī) may function as moral/devotional exemplars, or as encoded practice-instructions (tapas, vow, Shiva-refuge) pointing to a Siddhar technology of overcoming time.