ஊன மற்றதே உன்மணி யாகும்
மோன முற்றதே முன்மணி யாகும்
வான முற்றதே மன்மணி யாகும்
கோன கத்ததே குருமணி யாமே
Ūna maṟṟatē uṇmaṇi yākum
Mōna muṟṟatē munmaṇi yākum
Vāna muṟṟatē manmaṇi yākum
Kōna kattatē kurummaṇi yāmē.
“That which is without flesh becomes the Unmaṇi (Unmani) jewel.
That which is complete silence becomes the Munmaṇi (Munmani) jewel.
That which is the sky/space made complete becomes the Manmaṇi (Manmani) jewel.
That which the Lord/King has cried/caused-to-be-learned—indeed, that is the Gurumaṇi (Guru-gem).”
When the yogin removes identification with the gross body (“flesh”), the ‘jewel’ called Unmani—an awareness beyond ordinary mind—reveals itself. When silence (mōnam) becomes perfected and unbroken, another inner ‘jewel’—Munmani—arises as a prior or foundational clarity. When inner space (vānam/ākāśa) is fulfilled—an expanse-like awareness in which mind’s movements settle—the Manmani ‘jewel’ manifests. Yet the decisive jewel is the Guru-principle itself: the Lord’s teaching/utterance (or inner call) through which these states are recognized and stabilized.
The verse speaks in Siddhar code by naming four “maṇi” (jewels), which can be read as subtle attainments rather than external objects. “Jewel” commonly signifies an inner, incorruptible essence—often the distilled clarity that remains when grosser layers are transcended.
1) “Flesh removed” (ūṉ maṟṟatu): This points first to dis-identification from the gross body and its compulsions (hunger, lust, fear, decay). In Siddha-yoga and Siddha-medicine, ‘flesh’ can also stand for heaviness (tamas) and the perishable constituents; removing it implies refinement into subtle essence. The result is named “Unmani”: traditionally, a state beyond ordinary mentation—mind not functioning as the ruler.
2) “Silence completed” (mōnam muṟṟatu): Not mere absence of speech, but the consummation of inner quiet where discursive thought subsides. In such a silence, the ‘jewel’ appears—Munmani—suggesting something ‘prior’ (mun-) to mind’s chatter: a foundational stillness or pre-mental luminosity.
3) “Sky/space completed” (vānam muṟṟatu): ‘Sky’ is a standard Siddha metaphor for ākāśa—inner space, vastness, and the ungraspable substrate in which sensations and thoughts arise. ‘Completed’ implies maturation into stable spacious awareness (sometimes also hinting at the completion of elemental refinement in inner alchemy). This is called Manmani: either ‘the mind-jewel’ (mind clarified into a gem-like instrument) or ‘the jewel within mind’ discovered when mind becomes transparent.
4) “The Lord/King’s kaththathu”: The culmination is attributed to the “King” (kōn: Lord, often Śiva, or the ruling principle) and to “kaththathu,” a word that can mean ‘uttered/roared’ or ‘taught/learnt by recitation.’ Thus the Guru-jewel may be (a) the divine utterance/inner sound that guides realization, or (b) the teaching received and assimilated from the Guru/Lord. In Siddhar thought, liberation is not merely a private psychological state; it is confirmed and transmitted through Guru-grace and the right upadēśa (instruction), which ‘crowns’ the earlier refinements.