பசிவந்த போது ருசியைக் களைந்து
புசியென்ற போத மது யோகம்
ருசி கண்டபோது பசியைக் களைந்து
புசி யென்ற போதமது சோகம்
pasivantha pOthu rusiyaik kaLainthu
pusi yenRa pOtha madu yOgam
rusi kaNdapOthu pasiyaik kaLainthu
pusi yenRa pOthamadhu sOgam.
When hunger comes, casting away taste,
that state called “eating” is yoga (union/discipline).
When taste (relish) is found, casting away hunger,
that state called “eating” is sorrow.
If one eats because the body truly needs food—without being led by the tongue’s craving for flavor—then eating itself becomes a yogic act (a disciplined, unifying practice).
But if one eats because of taste and relish, while the real need (hunger) is absent or ignored, then eating becomes a practice that breeds sorrow—bondage, dullness, and later distress.
The verse contrasts two inner drivers behind the same outer act (eating). The Siddhar uses “hunger” (பசி) and “taste” (ருசி) as symbols for necessity versus sensory attachment.
1) Literal/ethical layer (discipline of the tongue): - “When hunger comes, remove taste”: eat simply, without chasing pleasure. Here the tongue is restrained; the act remains aligned with need. - Such eating is called “yoga”: yoga here is not merely posture, but right regulation—acting without slavery to sense-craving.
2) Psychological-yogic layer (bondage vs integration): - Eating from hunger = a functional act; it supports steadiness of mind, reduces agitation, and can harmonize prāṇa. - Eating from taste = the senses lead the mind; craving repeats; satisfaction is brief; the mind becomes more dependent. This is called “sōgam” (sorrow), because pleasure-based consumption tends toward regret, heaviness, illness, or renewed longing.
3) Siddha medical resonance (diet as medicine): In Siddha thought, food is a primary regulator of bodily humors and inner fire (digestive heat). Eating according to true hunger supports digestion and balance; eating for taste alone tends to disturb digestion and bodily equilibrium, producing later suffering—thus “sorrow.”
4) Cryptic inversion (where the poem is intentionally sharp): The same word “pusi”/“eat” is declared yoga or sorrow depending solely on the inner cause. The Siddhar’s point is that karma/bondage is determined less by the object and more by the attachment (or lack of it) behind the act.