தனையீன்றாள் தன்னுடனே தாய ரைவர்
தாய்வாணித் திருவுமையாள் வாலை ராணி
தனையீன்றான் தன்னுடனே தந்தையைவர்
தனையீன்றா னயனரியே ருத்ர னீசன்
தனையேன்ற மூலிகையே சுழுனைத் தும்பைத்
தழைதுத்தித் தூதுவளைத் துளசி யைந்தே
தனையேன்ற மந்திரந்தா னைந்தெழுத்தே
தனையோத வைந்துவகைக் கற்பம் காணே
tanaiyeendraal tannudanE taaya raivar
taayvaaNi't tiruvumaiyaaL vaalai raaNi
tanaiyeendraan tannudanE tantaiyavar
tanaiyeendraa nayanaariyE rutra neesan
tanaiyEndra moolikaiyE suzhunait tumpait
tazhaituttit toodhuvaLait tuLasi yaindE
tanaiyEndra mantirantaa naindezhuttE
tanaiyOda vaindu vagaik karpam kaaNE
She who bore the child—together with herself—[amounts to] five mothers:
Mother, Vāṇi (Sarasvatī), Tiru (Lakṣmī), Umāiyāḷ (Pārvatī), and Vālai Rāṇi.
He who bore the child—together with himself—[amounts to] five fathers:
the Father, Ayan (Brahmā), Ari (Viṣṇu), Rudra, and Īśan.
The herbs said to be “self-born” are five:
Cuzuṉai, Tumpai, Taḻai, Tuttி, Tūṭuvalai, and Tuḷaci.
The “self-born” mantra is the five letters.
If one recites it, one will see/obtain the fivefold karpam (rejuvenative elixir-practice).
The Siddhar points to a “birth” that occurs within itself: the seeker (or the inner elixir/realized self) is generated from the very powers that also constitute it.
On the ‘maternal’ side are five Shakti-forms—named as the Mother and the goddesses of speech/knowledge (Vāṇi), prosperity (Tiru), ascetic power (Umā), and a fierce/protective queenly power (Vālai Rāṇi). On the ‘paternal’ side are five Lord-principles—named as the Father and the deities of creation (Ayan), preservation (Ari), dissolution (Rudra), and sovereignty (Īśan).
This cosmology is then folded into embodied Siddha practice: five “self-arisen” herbs (listed) correspond to a fivefold medicine/alchemy (karpam), and its inner key is the five-syllable mantra (the pañcākṣara). Repetition of that mantra—externally over the medicines and internally in yoga—reveals the ‘five kinds’ of karpam: rejuvenation, stabilization, and the approach to deathlessness spoken of in Siddhar lore.
1) ‘Self-born’ as non-dual causality: The repeated phrase “tana(i) eṉṟa / tanai īṉṟa” (“self-born / self-begotten”) can be read as a Siddhar way of denying an external, separate cause: what is sought (the ‘child’) is born from the same reality that appears as mother and father. This matches a non-dual yogic sensibility: the jīva’s awakening is not imported from outside but arises when the practitioner recognizes the already-present ground.
2) Fivefold structuring (pañca-grammar) across deity, body, and medicine: Siddhar texts often map the cosmos into sets of five: the verse presents two pentads (mothers/fathers), then a pentad of herbs, then a pentad of mantra-syllables, culminating in five modes of karpam. The philosophical move is: the same ‘fivefold law’ governs divine functions, bodily energies, and pharmacological/alchemical transformation.
3) Goddess and god lists as functional principles, not mere mythology: Vāṇi (speech/knowledge) points to vāg-śakti and mantra; Tiru points to nourishment/ojas and auspicious vitality; Umā points to tapas, kuṇḍalinī discipline, and stabilizing power; Vālai Rāṇi suggests a fierce guarding/transformative śakti (often the role of Kālī/Durgā-like powers in Siddha contexts). Likewise Ayan/Ari/Rudra/Īśan can be read as creation–maintenance–dissolution–lordship within one’s own psycho-physical field.
4) Herbs as outer supports and coded inner yogic references: The plant list reads like a Siddha karpam formula (rejuvenants commonly used in Siddha medicine). Yet at least one term (“cuzuṉai”) phonetically echoes “suṣumṇā,” allowing a double reading: the ‘herb’ can also hint at the central channel, implying that true karpam is completed only when breath and awareness are brought into the inner channel. Thus external medicine and internal yoga are treated as one continuum.
5) The five-letter mantra as the pivot: “Aindheḻuttu” (“five letters”) most naturally indicates the pañcākṣara (na-ma-śi-vā-ya). In Siddhar logic, mantra is not only devotion; it is a catalytic agent that ‘cooks’ (pākam) both medicine and mind, making the karpam effective and directing it toward liberation rather than mere longevity.