எத்தனைதா னிருந்தாலு மென்னே பென்னே
இருக்குமிட மிருப்பிடமா யில்லை யென்றால்
எத்தனைதான் சிந்தித்தும் பயன்தா னென்னே
இறையளவும் மோனநிலை யில்லை யென்றால்
எத்தனைதான் வந்தித்தென் நிந்தித் தென்னே
ஈசனரு ளாங்கவச மில்லை யென்றால்
அத்தனையும் பாழாகும் கந்த னென்பாய்
அவனருளால் பாவமெலாம் விலகிப் போமோ
Eththanaithaa nirundhaalum enne penne
Irukkumidam iruppidamaa yillai yendraal
Eththanaithaan sindhiththum payanthaa nenne
Iraiyalavum monanilai yillai yendraal
Eththanaithaan vandhiththen nindhith thenne
Eesanaru laangavasam illai yendraal
Aththanaiyum paazhaagum kandha nenbaay
Avanarulaal paavamelaam vilagip pomo.
“However much (one may have/one may be), what is it then, O maiden?
If there is no place to stay—no proper abode—
However much one thinks, what benefit is there?
If there is not even a little of the state of silence (mouna),
However much I have paid homage, what is it; however much I have censured, what is it?
If there is no protective ‘armour’ that is the grace of Īśa (the Lord),
All of that becomes wasteland/ruin, you who say ‘Kandan’.
By his grace, will all sins indeed depart and go away?”
Possession, striving, and even intense reflection become fruitless if one has not found a true “abode” (an inner seat) and at least a trace of yogic silence. Likewise, cycles of devotion and denunciation do not reach the goal unless the Lord’s grace itself becomes one’s protection. Without that grace, everything collapses into futility; with it, karmic impurities can fall away.
The verse is built as a sequence of conditional negations (“if not…, then what use is…?”), a common Siddhar strategy to dismantle reliance on outer supports.
1) “Irukkumidam / iruppidam” (place to stay/seat): On the surface it is shelter or stability. In yogic idiom it can imply the “seat” required for sādhana—steady posture, steady mind, or the inner locus (heart-center, or the central channel) where awareness can ‘remain’ without scattering. Without such an abode, all accumulation—whether wealth, learning, or even spiritual effort—does not mature.
2) “Sindித்தல்” (thinking/contemplation): The Siddhar critique is not of discernment itself but of thought that never crosses into direct stillness. Thus “even if one thinks a lot” is dismissed when “mouna-nilai” is absent.
3) “Mouna-nilai” (state of silence): Not merely refraining from speech, but cessation of mental noise—the settling of vṛtti, the quiet in which the ‘I’ sense loosens. The phrase “iṟai aLavum” (“even to the tiniest measure”) stresses that without at least a small experiential taste of inner silence, contemplation remains theoretical.
4) “Vandித்தேன் / nindித்தேன்” (I praised/worshipped; I blamed/censured): This can be read as (a) the futility of ritual and social religiosity without inner transformation, and/or (b) the non-ultimate nature of dualities (praise/blame) that still bind the mind. Either way, the point is that action and reaction, devotion and aversion, remain ineffective if grace has not ‘covered’ the seeker.
5) “Īśan aruḷ-āṅ kavasam” (the grace of Īśa as armour): “Kavasam” suggests protective covering. In Siddhar registers it can be inward (grace as the only true protection against karmic and mental forces), while also echoing the kavacam-hymn tradition (protective chants) where the text hints: the chant itself is powerless unless it is animated by grace.
6) “Kandan” (Skanda/Murugan; or “the Seen/Realized”): Addressing “you who say ‘Kandan’” may admonish the devotee who verbally invokes a deity-name while lacking the inner conditions (abode, silence, grace). The concluding question—“will sins depart by his grace?”—is rhetorically pointed: yes, but only when grace is truly received, not merely spoken about.
Overall, the teaching aligns with Siddhar soteriology: inner stabilization (abidance), experiential silence, and divine/guru grace are decisive; without them, quantity of effort—possessions, thoughts, praises, or arguments—does not yield liberation or purification.