The verse hinges on deliberate wordplay: *kāl* can mean “leg” and also “time/phase,” and the repeated “one… the other…” can indicate alternating practice as much as physical crossing. The outer image—legs and hands arranged in a fixed way—functions as a marker for yogic containment: posture (āsana) plus sealing actions (mudrā/bandha) that prevent dispersion of vital essence.

The “staff” (*taṇḍam/dandam*) is a classic Siddhar cipher. At the literal level it is simply a rod that must be straight and properly placed. At the yogic level it commonly points to the *meru-daṇḍa* (the spinal column) and to the central channel where awakening is possible. “Two sides” suggests the paired currents (iḍā and piṅgalā); “opposite/front” can also imply the anterior/posterior axis of the body or competing directional pulls of prāṇa. If these are “not set right,” prāṇa does not enter the central channel.

“Guru‑nāḍi” is likewise polyvalent: it can be read as the suṣumṇā itself (the channel through which the inner Guru instructs), or as a specific subtle pathway activated by initiation and disciplined practice. “Lightning” evokes the sudden, flashing rise of kuṇḍalinī/prāṇa. “Bindu” is semen/seed in the bodily register, but also the subtle drop—ojas/amṛta—whose preservation and sublimation is central to Siddha yoga and rasavāda (inner alchemy). Thus the verse compresses a doctrine: bodily sealing and energetic balance allow the seminal/essential principle to be redirected upward rather than outward, becoming spiritual potency under the Guru’s principle.