நீதிமான் கைக்கூலி பெற்று நீதி
நியமத்தை யேயுதைத்து நெறியைக் கொல்வான்
வாதிமான் வக்கீலும் பீசுக் காக
வாதிப்பான் பொய்மெய்யா வாதிப் பானே
கோதுவான் கோமான்கள் கோளின் வேந்தர்
குத்திரத்தார் குவலயத்தைக் குமைக்கின் றாரே
ஆதிவா னாண்டவனார் பாதம் போற்றி
அறநெறியி லேநிற்பார்க் கனைத்து மாமே
Neethimaan kaikkooli petru neethi
niyamaththai yeyuthaiththu neriyai kolvaan
vaathimaan vakkeelum peesuk kaaga
vaathippaan poymeyyaa vaathip paane.
kothuvaan komaanhal kolin venthar
kuthiraththaar kuvalayaththaik kumaikkin raare
aathivaa naandavanaar paatham potri
araneriyi lenirpaark kanaiththu maame.
“The man of justice, taking a ‘hand-wage’ (bribe),
Kicks aside the rules of justice and kills the (right) path.
The disputant—yes, even the vakīl (lawyer)—for the sake of fees,
Will argue, arguing (as though) false and true alike.
The wicked—great lords, kings who rule the sphere (the world),
Treacherous ones—keep crushing (tormenting) the earth.
Praising the feet of the Lord of the primal Sky (Ādivāṉ Āṇḍavaṉ),
For those who stand in the path of virtue, everything (is theirs / becomes right).”
Those appointed to uphold righteousness—judges, advocates, rulers—are shown as collapsing into corruption: bribes and fees become the real ‘law,’ and truth is treated as interchangeable with falsehood. The Siddhar laments that when authority itself turns deceitful, the whole world is pressed down and made to suffer. Against this social and moral inversion, the verse points to a steadier axis: devotion to the Primordial Lord (figured as “the Lord of the first Sky/Space”) and unwavering standing in aram (dharma/virtue). For the one who remains established in that righteous way, life’s order, protection, and true gain are said to come of themselves.
On the surface, the verse is a direct ethical critique: justice cannot survive where money becomes the hidden ruler. The “judge” who should discern right from wrong instead “kicks” (violates) niyama (rule/order) and “kills” neri (the path), while the lawyer argues for payment rather than for truth.
In Siddhar discourse, however, public institutions often mirror inner faculties. A secondary reading is possible: the “judge” can signify one’s discriminating intellect (buddhi) and conscience; the “lawyer/debater” can signify the reasoning mind that can justify anything when driven by desire for “fees” (gain, praise, sensory reward). When inner discernment is bribed, one’s inner ‘law’ collapses and the rightful path is lost.
“Kings who rule the sphere” can also be heard as worldly powers—or, more esoterically, as the forces that ‘rule’ embodied life (sense-powers, fate-like compulsions, or even planetary influences suggested by the word kōḷ). When these rulers are “treacherous,” the “earth/world” (kuvalayam) is crushed—either society at large, or the embodied field of experience.
The counter-force is not merely social reform but re-rooting: praising and holding to the “feet” of the Primordial Lord—often a Siddhar way of saying grounding oneself in the fundamental Reality (Śiva/Space/Ākāśa, the unmoving witness). Standing in aram (virtue aligned with truth) becomes both a moral posture and a yogic stabilizing principle; from that alignment, “everything” (protection, right outcomes, inner wholeness) is said to follow.