Golden Lay Verses

Verse 319 (மந்திர வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

ககரத்தின் வரிசையெலாஞ் சிருட்டி மார்க்கம்

ஙகரத்தின் வரிசையெலாம் ஙார்ண ரந்த்ரம்

சகரத்தின் வரிசையெலாம் சையோ கந்தான்

ஞகரத்தின் வரிசையெலாம் ஞானப் பொக்கம்

டகரத்தின் வரிசையெலாம் டங்கா நாதம்

ணகரத்தின் வரிசையெலாம் டண்ணாகந்தான்

தகரத்தின் வரிசையெலாம் தகர வித்தை

நகரத்தின் வரிசையெலாம் நமனங் கண்டீர்

Transliteration

kakaraththin varisaiyelāñ chirutṭi mārkkam

ṅakaraththin varisaiyelām ṅārṇa ranthram

chakaraththin varisaiyelām chaiyō kanthān

ñakaraththin varisaiyelām ñānap pokkam

ṭakaraththin varisaiyelām ṭaṅkā nātham

ṇakaraththin varisaiyelām ṭaṇṇākanthān

thakaraththin varisaiyelām thakara viththai

nakaraththin varisaiyelām namaṉaṅ kaṇṭīr

Literal Translation

“All the series (class) of ‘ka’ is the path of creation.

All the series of ‘ṅa’ is the kāraṇa-randhra (the causal aperture).

All the series of ‘ca’ is ‘saiyō-kantān’ (one called/known as Saiyō-Kantān).

All the series of ‘ña’ is the ‘gnāna-pokkam’ (the course/portion/flow of wisdom).

All the series of ‘ṭa’ is the sound of the drum (ṭaṅkā-nādam).

All the series of ‘ṇa’ is ‘ṭaṇṇā-kantān’ (one called/known as Ṭaṇṇā-Kantān).

All the series of ‘ta’ is the ta-kāra-viddai (the ‘ta’ science/technique).

All the series of ‘na’—know/see— is ‘namanam’.”

Interpretive Translation

The Siddhar encodes inner yogic realities through the Tamil consonant-classes: the ‘ka’ set indicates the outward, manifesting (creation) current; the ‘ṅa’ set points to the subtle “causal opening” (often read as the brahma-randhra or crown aperture); the ‘ca’ set is linked with an experience/persona called “Saiyō-Kantān” (suggesting a throat/kantha-centered union or a named inner principle); the ‘ña’ set is the movement into gnosis—“the track/stream of jñāna.” The retroflex ‘ṭa’ set corresponds to the inner percussion of nāda (the drum-sound heard within). The ‘ṇa’ set is tied to a cooling/obscure state or figure named “Ṭaṇṇā-Kantān.” The dental ‘ta’ set is the operative “ta/tha” discipline (a coded yogic method). Finally, the ‘na’ set culminates in “namanam”: either bowing/surrender (ego-submission) or the encounter with Yama/death (the deathward limit that forces transcendence).

Philosophical Explanation

This verse uses the Tamil alphabet (varisai / consonant-class) as a cryptic map of sādhanā. In Siddhar literature, letters are not merely phonetic units but seed-signs that “stand for” currents (vāyu/naḍi), apertures (randhra), inner sounds (nāda), and stages of realization.

1) “Ka-varisai = sṛṣṭi-mārggam” frames ‘ka’ as the direction of manifestation: the tendency of prāṇa/mind to project names and forms. It can be read as the outward-going path (pravṛtti) or the generative power that must later be reversed.

2) “Ṅa-varisai = kāraṇa-randhra” points to a subtle ‘opening’ associated with causality itself (kāraṇa). Many Siddhar readers will connect this with the brahma-randhra at the crown, an exit/entry of prāṇa where causal knots loosen, though the text keeps it elliptical.

3) The “ca” and “ṇa” lines name “Kantān” figures. “Kantam/kaṇṭha” can mean throat (the viśuddha region), but also “neck/throat” as a symbolic chokepoint where sound (mantra), breath, and nectar/essence are regulated. The verse does not explicitly say “chakra,” so it remains a suggestive identification rather than a fixed one.

4) “Ña-varisai = jñāna-pokkam” uses “pokkam” as a ‘way/side/course/flow,’ implying that jñāna is not a static idea but a direction of movement in consciousness.

5) “Ṭa-varisai = ṭaṅkā-nādam” invokes nāda-yoga: inner sound perceived without external striking. “Drum-sound” commonly signals anāhata-nāda (unstruck resonance) and the refinement of attention.

6) “Ta-varisai = ta-kāra-viddai” suggests a technical discipline keyed to a phoneme (‘ta/tha’). Siddhar texts often encode practice-instructions through syllables rather than stating techniques openly.

7) “Na-varisai = namanam” is the culminating sting: it can mean “bowing/prostration” (namana—surrender of ego) or can allude to “Naman” as Yama/death (the power that ends embodied pride). Either way, the final ‘na’ points to the end of self-assertion—through surrender or through mortality—where realization becomes unavoidable.

Overall, the verse is less a grammar lesson than a yogic-alchemical cipher: phonetic families become signposts for manifestation, causal transcendence, sound-current, and the final humbling of the individual self.

Key Concepts

  • Tamil consonant-classes (varisai / varga) as esoteric code
  • Sṛṣṭi-mārggam (path/current of creation, outward manifestation)
  • Kāraṇa-randhra (causal aperture; possible brahma-randhra reading)
  • Kaṇṭha / Kantān (throat symbolism; chokepoint of breath and mantra)
  • Jñāna-pokkam (course/flow/track of wisdom)
  • Nāda-yoga
  • Ṭaṅkā-nādam (drum-like inner sound)
  • Ta-kāra viddai (phoneme-coded yogic technique)
  • Namana / Naman (surrender vs death/Yama motif)
  • Cryptic Siddhar pedagogy (deliberate concealment of method)

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “காரண ரந்த்ரம் (kāraṇa-randhra)” can be read anatomically (a subtle cranial aperture like brahma-randhra), metaphysically (a ‘gap’ in causality), or mantrically (a locus accessed by sound). The verse does not pin it down.
  • “சையோ கந்தான் (saiyō-kantān)” is opaque: it may be a named inner deity/state, a title of a Siddhar or guru, or a coded reference to ‘sa-yoga’ (union) centered at the throat (kaṇṭha).
  • “ஞானப் பொக்கம் (jñāna-pokkam)”—“pokkam” can mean way/path/side/portion/flow; thus the line may indicate a ‘route of gnosis,’ a ‘region of knowledge,’ or the ‘movement/flow’ of insight.
  • “டங்கா நாதம் (ṭaṅkā-nādam)” could be literal drum imagery, a technical marker for anāhata-nāda experiences, or a sign for specific internal sound-phenomena used in concentration.
  • “டண்ணாகந்தான் (ṭaṇṇā-kantān)” is uncertain in form and sense; it may imply ‘cooling’ (taṇ/taṇṇi) qualities, a specific epithet, or a phonetic cipher paralleling the ‘Saiyō-Kantān’ line.
  • “நமனம் (namanam)” can mean humble bowing/surrender (namana) or hint at Yama/death (Naman) as the final teacher; the verse preserves this double edge.