சூக்கமடா சூக்கத்தின் சூக்கம் சூக்கம்
சுலபத்திற் சுலபமடா அஜபை யென்னும்
ஆக்கமுயர் காயித்ரி யதனைச் சொல்வேன்
ஆதியந்த முங்கடக்கு மமர வித்தை
நோக்கமடா பீடறிக்கண் நுதற்கண் நோக்க
நுணுக்கமடா வுண்ணாவி லண்ணா வ்ான
தூக்கமடா தூங்காமற் தூங்கி ஞானச்
சுடரொளியாம் சகஜநிலைப் பரம ஹம்சம்
Sookkamadaa sookkaththin sookkam sookkam
Sulabaththir sulabamadaa ajabai yennum
Aakkamuyar kaayithri yathanaich solven
Aathiyantha mungadakku mamara viththai
Nookkamadaa peedarikkann nutharkan nookka
Nunukkamadaa vunnaavi lannaa vaan
Thookkamadaa thoongaamar thoongi nyaanach
Sudaroliyaam sagajanilaip parama hamsam
“It is subtle, indeed—subtle; the very subtlety within the subtle.
Easiest among the easy is what is called ‘Ajapai’ (the unuttered/effortless mantra).
I will speak of that exalted Gāyatrī that brings increase (ākkam).
(It is) the deathless/immortal science (amara-vidyā) that goes beyond beginning and end.
Look, indeed—look with the ‘pīṭa-aṟi’ eye (or: the eye that knows the seat); look with the forehead-eye (the brow/third eye).
It is subtle indeed—within the ‘uṇṇāvi’ (the consuming/breathing life-force) is the Lord/Master.
It is sleep indeed—sleeping without sleeping, (entering) the wisdom-light,
The radiant flame of knowledge: the natural state (sahaja-sthiti), the supreme Haṁsa (Paramahaṁsa).”
The teaching is a “secret within the secret”: the subtlest practice is also the easiest—Ajapa, the mantra that repeats by itself.
This is presented as a higher Gāyatrī: an immortal vidyā that transcends all notions of beginning and end.
One is told to “look” inward—specifically to the brow-center (and to an additional “eye” associated with the bodily ‘seat’), and to discover that the very breath/life-current contains the Master.
Then comes a paradoxical yogic “sleep”: a sleepless sleep in which awareness does not lapse, and the inner light shines forth as the spontaneous (sahaja) state—the supreme Haṁsa/Paramahaṁsa realization.
1) “Subtle within the subtle” (சூக்கம் … சூக்கத்தின் சூக்கம்): Siddhar idiom for an inner, non-gross method—less about external rite and more about minute attention to prāṇa, awareness, and an inner “seeing.” The repetition of “sūkṣma” functions like a seal: this is not ordinary instruction but the innermost.
2) Ajapa and “higher Gāyatrī”: In many yogic/Siddha lineages, Ajapa-japa refers to the mantra that naturally accompanies the breath (often linked with Haṁsa/So’ham). Calling this “Gāyatrī” reframes Gāyatrī not merely as a Vedic meter/mantra but as an inner, prāṇic recitation that “brings ākkam”—increase, growth, or the building/refinement of the inner body (kāya-siddhi implications). Thus “amara-vidyā” can mean both (a) liberating knowledge beyond time (beginning/end), and (b) a life-extending, body-transforming yogic science.
3) “Look with the brow-eye” and the other “eye”: The explicit “forehead-eye” (நுதற்கண்) points to ājñā-cakra or inner gazing at the brow center—standard in Kuṇḍalinī and Siddha practice. The additional cryptic “pīṭa-aṟi-kaṇ” suggests another locus of perception tied to a “seat” (pīṭam)—possibly a foundational center, a stabilizing point, or a technical Siddha term for an inner organ of sight. The verse deliberately pairs two “eyes,” implying a vertical integration (a base/seat and a brow command-center) or a double mode of seeing (somatic seat-awareness + subtle visionary sight).
4) “Within the uṇṇāvi is the Master”: “Uṇṇāvi” can be read as the breath/life-wind that ‘consumes’ (metabolizes) and sustains; in Siddha physiology, prāṇa is intimately tied to digestion, heat, and transformation (medical-alchemical register). The claim is theological and experiential: divinity is not elsewhere but embedded in the living breath-current itself.
5) “Sleep without sleeping” and sahaja: “To sleep without sleeping” describes yogic nidrā/samādhi where the senses and discursive mind quiet, yet awareness remains luminous. The result is “jñāna-sudar-oḷi”—a knowledge-light—identified with sahaja-sthiti (natural, uncontrived abiding). The title “Paramahaṁsa” marks the realized adept whose consciousness remains in that spontaneous state, beyond deliberate effort—fitting the earlier stress on Ajapa (effortless recitation).