Golden Lay Verses

Verse 275 (மந்திர வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

ஓம்மூன்று பதம்பூமி புவனம் ஸ்வாஹம்

ஓமேதான் தத்தாகும் சத்துமாகும்

ஓம்தத்சத் ஸவிதுர்வ ரேண்யம் ஓம் ஓம்

ஓம் பர்க்கோ தேவஸ்ய தீமஹீம் ஓம்

ஓம்தீயோ யோநப்ர ஜோதயாத் ஓம்

ஓம்ஏழு புவனத்தால் வாசியேற்றி

ஓங்காரக் காயத்திரி மூடிபோட்டு

ஓமாபோ ஜ்யோதியென வாசிமாற்றி

Transliteration

ōmmūnru patampūmi puvanam svāham

ōmētān tattākum cattumākum

ōmtatcat caviturva rēṇyam ōm ōm

ōm parkō dēvasy tīmahīm ōm

ōmtīyō yōnapra jōtayāt ōm

ōmēḻu puvanattāl vāciyēṟṟi

ōṅkārak kāyattiri mūṭipōṭṭu

ōmāpō jyōtiyena vācimāṟṟi

Literal Translation

“Om—three steps/quarters: earth, the worlds—svāhā.

Om itself becomes ‘That’; it becomes ‘Sat’ (being/truth).

Om—tat sat—(of) Savitṛ, the most worthy (to be chosen/adored)—om, om.

Om—‘We meditate on the splendor (bharga) of the god’—om.

Om—‘May that (He) impel/illumine our intellects’—om.

By (means of) the seven worlds, raising and seating the ‘vāsi’ (control/breath/utterance),

sealing/closing it with the Oṁkāra-Gāyatrī,

transforming the ‘vāsi’ into (the formula) ‘Om—āpo—jyoti’ (Om—water—light).”

Interpretive Translation

The verse places the Gāyatrī-Mantra inside a Siddhar yogic procedure. Om is treated as the root-sound whose “threefoldness” (three steps/three measures/three states) spans earth and the cosmos, offered inwardly as svāhā (an oblation into the inner fire). By japa and contemplation of “tat–sat” and the full Gāyatrī, the practitioner lifts the vāsi—understood as regulated breath and/or mantra-bearing speech—through the seven planes (often mapped to seven worlds or seven centers). Having raised it, one “seals” the practice with Oṁkāra-Gāyatrī (a protective/locking mantra-bond), and then converts that controlled current into a subtler elemental state: from āpo (water/fluids/nectar) into jyoti (inner light), i.e., transmuting vital fluid and breath into luminous consciousness.

Philosophical Explanation

1) Om as the cosmological key: The opening compresses Siddhar metaphysics into a mantra-grammar: Om is not merely a preface but the substance of the “threefold” reality (often read as the three mātrās A–U–M; or waking–dream–deep sleep; or the three worlds). “Earth/worlds” and “svāhā” imply an inner yajña: the universe is ‘offered’ into consciousness.

2) Importing the Vedic Gāyatrī into Siddha yoga: The central lines are the well-known Gāyatrī-Mantra (tat savitur vareṇyaṃ… bhargo devasya dhīmahi… dhiyo yo naḥ prachodayāt), framed by repeated Om. In Siddhar usage, this is not only devotional but technical—sound (nāda) is used to purify dhī (the intellect) so it can bear the ascent of prāṇa/kuṇḍalinī.

3) Seven worlds as an internal ladder: “Seven bhuvanas” can be read as external cosmology (seven worlds) and simultaneously as the inner vertical axis of practice (seven loci/levels). “Raising and seating” suggests directing prāṇa upward and establishing it (sthāpanā) in a higher seat—classically the head or the “crown.”

4) “Sealing” as bandha/closure/guarding the secret: “Mūḍi pōṭṭu” can mean locking the breath-current (kumbhaka with bandhas), enclosing the mind from dispersion, or concealing the method (Siddhar secrecy). The seal is specifically “Oṁkāra-Gāyatrī,” implying that the mantra itself functions as the lock and the protective cover.

5) Alchemical and medical undertone—āpo → jyoti: Siddhar texts often treat the body as an alchemical field where fluids (āpo: water, semen/ojas, rasa) can be refined into radiance (jyoti: tejas, consciousness-light). Thus the final move describes a transmutation: what is ordinarily fluid vitality is made into luminous awareness, an echo of Siddha aims of longevity and deathlessness (kāya-siddhi) through inner refinement.

Overall, the verse is both mantra-citation and coded instruction: recite/realize Om and Gāyatrī, raise the regulated current through seven planes, seal it, and convert elemental vitality into inner light.

Key Concepts

  • Om (Oṁkāra) as primal sound and cosmological principle
  • Gāyatrī-Mantra (Savitṛ, bharga, dhī, prachodana)
  • Tat–Sat (ultimate reality; truth/being)
  • Svāhā as inner oblation (antaryāga)
  • Seven bhuvanas (cosmic planes and/or inner centers)
  • Vāsi / vāsiyam (breath-control, mastery, mantra-bearing speech)
  • Sealing/locking (mūḍi pōṭṭu: bandha, kumbhaka, protective closure, secrecy)
  • Āpo (water/fluids/nectar) and jyoti (inner light/tejas)
  • Transmutation of vital essence into consciousness-light (Siddha alchemical-yogic aim)

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “மூன்று பதம்” (“three steps/quarters”) can refer to: (a) the three mātrās of Om (A–U–M), (b) the three states of consciousness, (c) the three worlds traversed by Trivikrama/Vāmana, or (d) the ‘three feet’/structure associated with mantra-metre; the text keeps it deliberately compact.
  • “பூமி புவனம்” may be a simple pairing (“earth and worlds”) or a technical map from the gross plane (earth/body) to subtler planes (bhuvanas).
  • “சத்துமாகும்” can be read as “becomes Sat (truth/being)” or as “becomes sattva” (purity/clarity) or even “becomes essence/substance” (sattu).
  • “வாசி” in “வாசியேற்றி… வாசிமாற்றி” may mean: (a) vāsi as regulated breath (prāṇa under control), (b) vāci/utterance (mantra-speech) by phonetic closeness in colloquial usage, or (c) vāsiyam as the Siddhar power of mastery/attraction; the verse allows more than one layer.
  • “ஏழு புவனத்தால்” can mean “by means of the seven worlds” (cosmic support) or “through the seven worlds” (a vertical ascent).
  • “மூடிபோட்டு” can mean yogic ‘locking’ (bandha/kumbhaka), ritual ‘covering/sealing’ (protecting the mantra-field), or intentional concealment of a secret method—common in Siddhar cryptic pedagogy.
  • “ஓமாபோ ஜ்யோதி” can be heard as a mantra-fragment (“Om āpo jyoti…”) or as a doctrinal statement (“Om: water becomes light”), i.e., either recitation-instruction or alchemical assertion; the text does not force a single reading.