Golden Lay Verses

Verse 368 (சித்த வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

பொய்யுடனே புரட்டுமிகும் சூதும் வாதும்

போந்துருளும் புவிதனிலே பொய்கள் மங்கி

மெய்யுறவே விளக்கதுதா னிருளைப் போக்கி

மேதினியைக் காட்டுதல் போல் அஞ்ஞானத்தை

ஐய்யறவே தான்நீக்கி யகண்ட ஞானத்

தனந்தசச்சி தானந்தத் தொளி விளக்காய்

உய்யுறவே தானுரைத்தே னிந்த நூலை

உவந்துபணிந் தறிந்துமகிழ்ந் துய்யு விரே

Transliteration

poyyuṭanē puraṭṭumigum sūthum vāthum

pōnturuḷum puvitanilē poykaḷ maṅki

meyyuṟavē viḷakkatuthā nir uḷaip pōkki

mētiniyaik kāṭṭutal pōl aññāṉattai

aiyyaṟavē tān nīkki yakaṇḍa ñāṉat

taṉantasacchi tāṉantat toḷi viḷakkāy

uyyuṟavē tān uraittē n

Literal Translation

With falsehood, there is much perversion—cunning and contentious disputation;

On this rolling earth the lies thicken and spread.

So that one may truly reach the Real, as a lamp drives away darkness

And, as if revealing the ground/earth, so too (it) shows (by removing) ignorance.

So that doubt is cut off, it removes ignorance by itself, and becomes the lamp of vast knowledge,

The radiant lamp-light of Sat–Cit–Ānanda.

For (your) living liberation I have spoken/uttered this book;

With delight, bow, understand, rejoice, and be liberated.

Interpretive Translation

In a world where speech and conduct are twisted by lies—where clever schemes and argumentative sophistry multiply—truth becomes obscured. This teaching is offered as an inner lamp: like a physical lamp that dispels darkness and reveals what was always present, it dispels ignorance and makes the Real evident. When ignorance falls away, doubt is severed; what remains is the boundless clarity of knowledge, experienced as the luminous reality of Sat–Cit–Ānanda. The author declares that the work is spoken for the sake of liberation, urging the listener/reader to approach with reverence, understanding, and joy, and thereby “live free.”

Philosophical Explanation

The verse functions like a preface or colophon: it contrasts the ordinary social world—characterized by “poy” (falsehood), “purattu” (twisting/turning things upside down), “soothu” (craft, deceit, strategem), and “vaatham” (disputation, polemics)—with the Siddhar’s stated aim: direct apprehension of truth.

The central metaphor is the lamp (viḷakku). Literally, a lamp removes darkness and reveals the already-existing ground. Philosophically, this is a standard jñāna-metaphor: ignorance (ajñāna) is not a positive substance but a covering; knowledge does not manufacture reality, it discloses it. The “ground/earth” (mētini/pūvi) suggests what is stable and present beneath swirling appearances—also echoing the idea that the Real is prior to the mind’s constructions.

The phrase “Sat–Cit–Ānanda light” ties the Siddhar’s message to a non-dual/advaitic register: reality as Being–Consciousness–Bliss is not merely an object to be argued about (“vaatham”), but to be recognized as one’s own nature through the removal of ignorance and doubt. The instruction to “bow, know, rejoice” implies a discipline of receptivity: humility (to undo egoic contention), understanding (to cut doubt), and a resultant joy/bliss (ānanda) that signals a shift from debate to lived realization.

While not explicitly alchemical or medical in vocabulary, the “lamp/light” can also be read in Siddhar idiom as the inner jyoti (subtle illumination) born of yogic maturation—an experiential criterion that replaces worldly ‘proofs’ and quarrels.

Key Concepts

  • poy (falsehood) and purattu (distortion/twisting)
  • soothu (craft/deceit) and vaatham (disputation/polemics)
  • ajñāna (ignorance) and doubt (aiyam)
  • lamp/light (viḷakku) as metaphor for jñāna
  • revelation rather than creation of truth
  • Sat–Cit–Ānanda (Being–Consciousness–Bliss)
  • akanda jñāna (boundless/undivided knowledge)
  • liberation while living (uyyuravu / uyyu-vīrē as ‘be saved/liberated’)
  • reverent approach to teaching (bowing, understanding, rejoicing)

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “போந்துருளும் புவிதனிலே” can be read as “on the earth that rolls/turns” (cosmic motion) or as “in this world that keeps circling” (cyclical, repetitive worldly life).
  • “பொய்கள் மங்கி” may mean “lies have increased/thickened” or “truth has been submerged/overwhelmed by lies” (i.e., lies becoming dense like fog).
  • “மேதினியைக் காட்டுதல் போல்” literally ‘showing the earth/ground’: it can imply (a) revealing what is right in front of one (the obvious Real), or (b) revealing the ‘ground’ of being (ontological foundation).
  • “ஐய்யறவே” can mean ‘so that doubt is cut’ or ‘so that uncertainty is removed entirely’; the stress may be on intellectual doubt or existential wavering.
  • “அகண்ட ஞானத் தனம்/தனம்” may be heard as ‘wealth/treasure of boundless knowledge’ (jñāna-dhana) or as ‘the firm/undivided state of knowledge’; both fit Siddhar usage.
  • “சச்சிதானந்தத் தொளி விளக்கு” can be taken as a doctrinal reference to non-dual Brahman, or as an experiential yogic ‘inner light’ that confirms realization; the verse keeps both possibilities open.
  • “உய்யுறவே… இந்த நூலை” can mean ‘I spoke this book so that you may be liberated’ (soteriological purpose) or ‘I spoke it having attained liberation’ (authorial standpoint), since Siddhar self-positioning often blends both.