Golden Lay Verses

Verse 305 (மந்திர வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

சக்தியடா சத்துசிந்த்ா னந்த மாதா

சர்வமடா கர்வமடா சகஜத் தாயார்

சித்தியடா சித்தமெனுங் கோயிலுள்ளே

சிந்தையெனும் தீவினுள்ளே சிரசின்மேலாம்

சித்தமணிப் பீடத்தே சித்தத்துள்ளே

சித்தாந்த மாஞ்சிவத்தி னிதயப்பூவில்

பத்துவய தாகவந்த பாலை யாத்தாள்

பரத்தையடா பரிபூர்ணப் பயனுற் றோர்க்கே

Transliteration

sakthiyadaa saththusindhaa nantha maathaa

sarvamadaa karvamadaa sakajath thaayaar

siththiyadaa siththamenung koayilullae

sinthaiyenum theevinullae sirasinmaelaam

siththamanip peedaththae siththaththullae

siththaantha maanjivaththi nithayappoovil

paththuvaya thaakavandha paalai yaaththaal

paraththaiyadaa paripoorna payanur roarkkae

Literal Translation

It is Śakti indeed—the Mother who is Sat–Cit–Ānanda.

She is everything indeed; she is also the ego/pride indeed—the innate (sahaja) Mother.

She is siddhi indeed—within the temple called “mind”.

Within the “island” called thought—(and/or within the “evil” called thought)—atop the head.

On the jewel-seat (cintāmaṇi / siddha-gem pedestal), within the mind.

In the heart-flower (heart-lotus) of Śiva who is the great Siddhānta.

She who came as a ten-year-old—the one who gives/guards milk (the milk-maiden / nurse).

She is the “parattai” indeed—for those who have attained the complete fruit (paripūrṇa fruition).

Interpretive Translation

Śakti—named as the very Sat–Cit–Ānanda Mother—pervades all, even appearing as the egoic principle that binds.

Yet she is also the innate Mother (sahaja-śakti) who grants siddhi.

She is not sought outside: she abides in the inner shrine of mind; she is encountered in the field of thought itself, and (cryptically) ‘above the head’.

Seated on the wish-fulfilling jewel-throne within consciousness, she blooms as the heart-lotus of Śiva/Siddhānta.

She appears as a youthful, pure maiden who nourishes (milk), and she yields her full benefit only to those who have ripened into complete realization (paripūrṇa-phala).

Philosophical Explanation

1) Nondual identity of Śakti with Sat–Cit–Ānanda: The opening compresses theology into a formula—Śakti is not merely a power belonging to the Absolute; she is spoken of as the very Mother who is Being–Consciousness–Bliss. This aligns with a Siddhar tendency to treat Śiva-Śakti not as two, but as a single reality appearing with two emphases.

2) ‘She is everything; she is also ego’: The verse refuses a simple moral split. If Śakti is “all” (sarvam), then even ahamkāra/garva (ego-pride) is included as her manifestation. In yogic terms, the same power that, when contracted, becomes ego and bondage, when clarified becomes siddhi and liberation.

3) Interiorized temple and the geography of practice: “The temple called mind” shifts worship from external shrine to inner anatomy. The following images map subtle-yoga topography: (a) the domain of thought (sindai) as the medium where bondage is woven, yet also where transformation begins; (b) “atop the head” evokes the cranial summit (often read as sahasrāra or the upper vault where kuṇḍalinī culminates); (c) “heart-flower” evokes the heart-lotus (hṛdaya/padma) where Śiva is realized. The poem holds both ‘head’ and ‘heart’ without resolving them, suggesting a deliberate Siddhar ambiguity: realization is simultaneously a summit (transcendence) and a heart-bloom (immanence).

4) Jewel-seat (cintāmaṇi / siddha-gem): The “mind-jewel pedestal” can be read yogically as the stabilized, luminous seat of awareness (the ‘gem’ of consciousness), and alchemically as the Siddhar motif of the transforming ‘stone’ (cintāmaṇi) that turns base states into perfected ones. The “seat” implies enthronement: Śakti becomes sovereign when mind is refined.

5) Ten-year-old milk-maiden: Siddhar literature often encodes the force as a ‘maiden’—fresh, unmixed, and potent. “Ten years” can signal pre-sexual purity, completeness of a cycle (a closed decimal), or a cryptic measure in internal alchemy (a stage of ripening). “Milk” can point to nourishment (ojas), cool lunar essence, or the ‘white’ refining principle that tempers heat in kuṇḍalinī/rasāyana processes.

6) ‘Parattai’ and the ethics of attainment: “Parattai” literally points toward a ‘public woman/courtesan’, yet it can also be heard as “para-” (supreme) with a feminine ending—‘the Supreme Woman/Mother’. If the courtesan-sense is intended, it functions as a shock-metaphor: Śakti gives herself freely, but only to those who have matured into “paripūrṇa fruit” (complete fruition). The verse thus ties grace to ripeness: not mere desire, but readiness and completion.

Key Concepts

  • Śakti
  • Sat–Cit–Ānanda
  • Sahaja (innate/natural state)
  • Sarvam (all-pervasiveness)
  • Garva / Ahamkāra (ego-pride principle)
  • Siddhi
  • Mind as temple (inner shrine)
  • Thought as field of bondage and transformation
  • Crown/top-of-head locus (sahasrāra / cranial summit)
  • Heart-lotus (hṛdaya-puṣpa)
  • Śiva–Śakti unity
  • Cintāmaṇi / jewel-seat (wish-fulfilling gem; alchemical symbol)
  • Milk/ojas and lunar-cooling symbolism
  • Paripūrṇa-phala (complete fruition)

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “சத்துசிந்த்ா னந்த” likely compresses Sat–Cit–Ānanda, but the sandhi/orthography allows minor uncertainty in segmentation.
  • “கர்வமடா” can mean ego/pride (garva/ahamkāra), but could also be read more generally as the self-asserting or binding function within manifestation.
  • “சிந்தையெனும் தீவினுள்ளே”: “தீவு” can mean ‘island’ (thought as an island/realm), while “தீவினை” suggests ‘evil deed/sin’ (thought as the root of karmic evil). The verse may intentionally play on both.
  • Location is double: “atop the head” (a transcendence/crown reading) and “in Śiva’s heart-flower” (an immanence/heart reading). The poem does not force a single chakra map, which is typical of Siddhar cryptic style.
  • “சித்தமணிப் பீடம்” may be (i) a yogic ‘throne’ of stabilized consciousness, (ii) cintāmaṇi as wish-fulfilling jewel, or (iii) an alchemical ‘siddha-gem’ motif used for transformation/elixir metaphors.
  • “பத்துவயதாக வந்த” could be literal (a ten-year-old maiden), symbolic of purity/complete measure, or a coded stage-number in inner alchemy.
  • “பாலை யாத்தாள்” can be heard as a milk-giver/milk-maiden (nourishing essence), but the compound is not fully transparent and may conceal another pun (e.g., ‘pālai’ as wasteland/tinai imagery versus ‘pāl’ as milk).
  • “பரத்தையடா” can mean ‘courtesan/prostitute’ (a deliberate shock-metaphor for Śakti’s accessibility/power), or can be re-heard as ‘para’ (supreme) + feminine sense (‘the Supreme Woman/Mother’).