Golden Lay Verses

Verse 335 (மந்திர வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

அப்பனே யப்பாலே சிரசி லாத்யா

அம்பிகையென் வாலைப்பெண் ணமர்ந்துள் ளாளே

செப்பினே னவள்தானே சித்தர்க் கெல்லாம்

சித்தினியாம் பத்துவய தான பாவை

ஒப்பவே முதுகு நடுத் தண்டுக் குள்ளே

ஓரிழையாய் மூவிழையா யோடும் ரந்த்ரக்

கப்பிலே மூவிரண்டாம் கமல வைப்பின்

கான்முளைக ளறுவரையும் கண்டு கட்டி

Transliteration

appanē yappālē sirasi lādyā

ambikaiyen vālaippeṇ ṇamarndhuḷ ḷāḷē

seppinē ṉavaḷtānē siddharkk ellām

siddhiniyām patthuvaya dāna pāvai

oppavē mudugu naḍut taṇḍuk kuḷḷē

ōriḻaiyāy mūviḻaiyā yōḍum randhrak

kappilē mūviraṇḍām kamala vaippin

kānmūlaika ḷaṟuvaraiyum kaṇḍu kaṭṭi

Literal Translation

O Father—there, in the head, (is) the Primordial (Ādyā).

Ambikā, my “Vālai-peṇ” maiden, is seated within.

I said it: she herself is, for all Siddhars,

Siddhinī—the maiden of ten years.

Likewise, within the middle staff of the back (the central column),

As one thread, as three threads, they run—within the cavity of apertures.

If one places the “three–two” lotuses,

One can see the six sprouts—and having seen, bind (them).

Interpretive Translation

The verse points to the inner Śakti (Ambikā/Ādyā) abiding in the cranial region as an indwelling power, depicted as a very young maiden—an image for a fresh, unspent, subtle potency (Kundalinī-Śakti) rather than an external deity.

It then shifts to the “middle staff” of the spine: within the central channel, the inner currents are described as running like a single filament and also as three filaments—suggesting the central nāḍī and its associated/embedded currents (often read as Suṣumṇā with Iḍā–Piṅgalā, or a finer inner nāḍī within the central channel).

By arranging/activating the lotuses in a “three–two” pattern (commonly read as 3×2 = six), the practitioner perceives the six ‘sprouts’—the awakening centers/lotuses—and then ‘binds’ them: stabilizes, seals, or controls these awakened movements through yogic restraint (locks, breath discipline, and steadied attention), so the force does not dissipate but consolidates into siddhi/realization.

Philosophical Explanation

1) Deity-as-physiology (microcosm): The opening does not merely praise a goddess; it relocates Ādyā/Ambikā into the practitioner’s subtle body. Siddhar speech commonly collapses temple-theology into inner anatomy: “head” becomes a sanctum; the goddess is a function of consciousness and vital-force rather than a separate entity.

2) “Ten-year-old maiden” as coded yogic psychology: A “ten-year-old” (pattu-vayatu) is not literal pedophilic imagery but a cipher for (a) pre-pubertal purity/untouchedness, (b) quick responsiveness and volatility, and (c) latent creative power not yet ‘spent’ outwardly. Siddhar texts often describe Śakti as a girl/virgin to indicate subtle, undivided potency.

3) Spinal ‘staff’ and ‘threads’: “Middle staff of the back” (nadut-taṇḍu) is a standard Siddhar marker for the axial pathway (spinal column / central channel). “One thread / three threads” preserves a deliberate paradox: the current is one, yet appears as three. Yogically this can map to Suṣumṇā (one) with Iḍā and Piṅgalā (threefold flow), or to a single central route that contains a subtler inner conduit (Brahma-nāḍī) while still expressing as triadic polarity.

4) “Cavity of apertures” (randhra-kappu): Randhra can mean openings/foramina/pores, and in yogic code it also suggests subtle ‘gates’ (cakra-openings, cranial apertures, or junction points along the spine). “Kappu” (covering/protection) hints that these are enclosed, guarded spaces—revealed only through practice.

5) “Three–two lotuses” and “six sprouts”: The cryptic arithmetic strongly invites 3×2 = 6, aligning with the six primary lotuses commonly worked with before (or aside from) the cranial lotus. “Sprouts” (mulaigaḷ) indicates that these centers are not static wheels but living buds: they ‘sprout’ when breath, attention, and inner heat/essence begin to mature.

6) “Bind (katti)” as alchemical containment: To ‘see’ is not enough; the awakened force must be bound—i.e., sealed, contained, or made steady—so it transforms rather than leaks out as sensation, emotion, or scattered siddhi-chasing. In Siddhar idiom this can imply bandhas/mudrās, disciplined vāyu control, or the ‘coagulation’ phase of inner alchemy (gathering and fixing the subtle essence).

Key Concepts

  • Ādyā (the Primordial Śakti)
  • Ambikā as inner Kundalinī-Śakti
  • “Maiden” imagery as coded subtle-force symbolism
  • Nadut-taṇḍu (central spinal axis / suṣumṇā region)
  • One-thread and three-thread currents (unity/triad of nāḍīs)
  • Randhra (apertures/gates) and concealed inner passages
  • Kamala (lotus) as cakra-center
  • “Three–two” (3×2) reading leading to six lotuses/sprouts
  • Mulaigaḷ (sprouts) as awakening/activation signs
  • Katti (binding/sealing) as yogic lock and alchemical containment

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “சிரசி லாத்யா” can be read as “in the head is Ādyā” (locative) or as an invocation linking ‘head’ with the primal state; the grammar is compact and allows both devotion and anatomy.
  • “வாலைப்பெண்” may mean (a) ‘plantain/banana maiden’ (a fertility/softness image), (b) ‘sword-maiden’ (power/defense), or (c) ‘tail/serpent-maiden’ (Kundalinī as serpent). Siddhar usage often intends layered readings simultaneously.
  • “சித்தினி” can denote an accomplished female adept, the inner Śakti who grants siddhi, or a technical name for a specific śakti-function; the verse does not force a single definition.
  • “பத்துவயது” (ten years) may encode a stage-count, a purity/untouchedness metaphor, or a numerological cue; it may not be a biographical age.
  • “ஒரிழை / மூவிழை” (one thread / three threads) could map to Suṣumṇā vs Iḍā–Piṅgalā–Suṣumṇā, or to a single channel with three internal layers (gross/subtle/subtlest).
  • “ரந்த்ரக் கப்பிலே” may refer to vertebral openings/nerve channels (physiological reading) or cakra-gates/occult apertures (subtle-body reading), and the text keeps both in play.
  • “மூவிரண்டாம் கமல வைப்பின்” is syntactically cryptic: it may mean ‘place the lotuses as three and two’ (3×2), ‘the third and the second lotuses,’ or ‘in the place where three and two (currents) meet’; the verse does not disambiguate.
  • “ஆறுவரையும்” may mean ‘up to the six (centers),’ ‘the six boundaries/limits,’ or ‘the six sprouts’; Siddhar diction allows numerical, spatial, and psychological meanings at once.
  • “கண்டு கட்டி” can mean ‘having seen, bind/control’ (yogic restraint), or ‘recognize and fasten/establish’ (stabilize realization), leaving open whether the “binding” is primarily breath-based, mind-based, or alchemical.