ஒருமிச்சம் தனையுச்சிச் சிகரத் தேற்றி
ஓயாம லோய்ந்துநின்றே ஜெப முடித்தால்
கருமிச்சம் கனலுடைய கண்டம் கண்டம்
கருத்தென்னும் சுடர்ப்பரிதிக் கண்டம் கண்டம்
அருமிச்ச மாஞ்சோமத் தமிர்த கண்டம்
அப்பாலாம் மின்கொடியின் கண்டம் கண்டம்
தருமிச்ச மவைதாண்டித் தாரை தாண்டி
சர்வபரி பூரணத்தைக் கூட லாமே
orumichcham thanaiyuchchich chikarath thERRi
OyAma lOynthunindRE jepa mudiththAl
karumichcham kanaludaiya kaNdam kaNdam
karuththennum sudarpparithik kaNdam kaNdam
arumichcha mAnjOmath thamirtha kaNdam
appAlAm minkodiyin kaNdam kaNdam
tharumichcha mavaithANdith thArai thANdi
sarvapaRi pUraNaththaik kUda lAmE.
If you raise the “one miccham” up to the crown’s summit,
And, without ceasing, standing in stillness, complete the japa,
(Then) the “black miccham” with fire—stage by stage;
The sun-like radiance called “thought” (or “intent”)—stage by stage;
The rare miccham, the nectar of the great Soma—stage by stage;
Beyond that, the “lightning creeper” (flash-vine)—stage by stage;
Transcending those “dharma-micchams,” crossing the thārai,
You can unite with the All-surpassing Fullness (complete perfection).
By lifting a single subtle essence (the “miccham”—read as a concentrated remainder/seed such as breath, bindu, or a distilled life-force) to the crown-centre, and by unbroken japa performed in unwavering inner stillness, the practitioner passes through successive inner “segments/stages”: a dark/opaque phase that becomes fiery; a phase of sun-like clarity associated with mind/intent; a rarified, lunar “soma-nectar” phase; and then a further ascent marked by lightning-like movement (often read as kuṇḍalinī’s flash through the subtle channel). Passing beyond even these refined stations and crossing the final subtle “flow/stream” (thārai), one may merge into the state of total, all-encompassing completeness.
1) What is being “raised” (miccham): The verse does not define miccham, but it behaves like a single concentrated remainder that can be “placed” at the crown. In Siddhar idiom this can point to (a) prāṇa consolidated by mantra and attention, (b) bindu/seed-essence conserved and sublimated, or (c) the residual “extract” of bodily constituents after refinement (an alchemical remainder turned into power). The instruction is not merely anatomical; it is an operation of attention, breath, and subtle substance.
2) Method: japa without interruption, in stillness: “Without ceasing” and “standing stilled” suggests continuous mantra where the body and gross mind do not wander. Siddhar japa is often not only vocal repetition but an internal resonance that steadies vāyu (breath/prāṇa) and gathers scattered awareness into a single thread.
3) “Stage by stage” (kandam kandam) as inner gradations: The repeated phrase implies an ordered sequence rather than a single leap. It can be read as successive transformations of the same essence as it rises (or as successive centres/knots it negotiates). Because Siddhar diction is cryptic, “kandam” can mean “section/stage,” yet it also echoes yogic “knots/regions,” and even hints at “throat” (kaṇṭham) by sound-association—leaving a deliberate ambiguity about whether these are experiential phases, chakra-regions, or both.
4) The symbolic sequence (dark → fire → sun → soma-nectar → lightning): - “Black miccham, with fire”: a first purification where opacity (tamas, impurity, raw bodily residue) meets inner heat (tapas, kuṇḍalinī heat, digestive/alchemical fire). In alchemical language this resembles calcination/blackening followed by ignition. - “Thought as radiant sun”: mind/intent becomes a ‘sun’—either because discursive thought is transmuted into a single bright cognition, or because a solar current (piṅgalā/tejas) predominates as clarity and will intensify. - “Soma-nectar (amṛta)”: a classic yogic sign—cool lunar essence associated with preservation, rejuvenation, and the ‘deathless taste.’ Medically, this can be mapped to ojas-like vitality (though Siddhar texts often keep it symbolic rather than biochemical). - “Lightning creeper”: a common image for kuṇḍalinī’s sudden, flashing ascent through suṣumṇā; “creeper/vine” also suggests something that climbs, coils, and spreads—serpentine yet botanical.
5) “Transcending even these” and “crossing thārai”: The verse warns that even sublime inner lights, heat, nectar, and energetic surges are still “segments”—attainments within the path, not the end. “Crossing thārai” can indicate moving beyond a final subtle current/stream (possibly the last trickle/flow of bindu or amṛta, or a decisive passage beyond a subtle channel-condition). Only after that does one “join” the “Sarva-pari-pūrṇam,” a fullness that exceeds all partial states.
6) End-state: Sarva-pari-pūrṇam: This is presented as an all-surpassing completeness—readable as nondual fullness (Śiva/Brahman/Para), or as perfected integration where nothing remains outside realization. The verse frames liberation as ‘union’ (kūdal) rather than mere experience: the practitioner does not merely witness stages but goes beyond them into plenitude.
Overall, the teaching is: use uninterrupted mantra and unwavering stillness to lift a refined essence to the crown; recognize the successive inner phenomena (heat, light, nectar, lightning) as stages; do not stop at them; cross the final subtle stream and abide in total completeness.