Golden Lay Verses

Verse 379 (சித்த வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

கருவச்சி மனைமச்சின் மாடிக்கு ளத்தமுதின்

உருவச்சி யருவச்சி ஊமைக்கும் அத்தையவள்

மருமச்சி மருகச்சி வானுற்ற மித்தையுடன் - வருவாளே

குருமச்சி களபச்சி மாகற்ப வித்தையவள்

குமரச்சி யமரச்சி வேலுற்ற சக்தியவள்

அருவிச்சை யயனிச்சை ஞானத்தின் வித்துமவள் - கலைவாணி

பருவச்சி திருமெய்ச்சி மாலுக்க கத்தியெழில்

சிரநச்சி சிவனுச்சி மேலுற்ற ணைத்தநதி

பரதமச்சி பரமத்தை பாகத்தி ணைத்தசிவை – அபிராமி

கருமச்சி கலையுச்சி காலக் கணக்குதவும்

கருவச்சி வருமச்சி சாமத்தி சைத்தஅனை

கருநொச்சி கவசச்சி காமுற்ற பொற்புதவும் – எமதாயி

Transliteration

karuvachchi manaimachchin maadikku laththamuthin

uruvachchi yaruvachchi oomai(k)kum aththaiyaval

marumachchi marukachchi vaanutRa miththaiyudan - varuvaaLee

kurumachchi kalapachchi maakarpa viththaiyaval

kumarachchi yamarachchi veelutRa sakthiyaval

aruvichchai yayanichchai gnaanaththin viththumaval - kalaivaaNi

paruvachchi thirumeychchi maalukka kaththiyezhil

siranachchi sivanuchchi meelutRa Naiththanathi

barathamachchi paramaththai paagaththi Naiththasivai – abiraami

karum

Literal Translation

“Karuvacchi—within the upper room/loft of the household—(she is) the nectar in the ‘eight’ (attamutu / eightfold-nectar).

Uruvacchi, Aruvacchi—she who is even an ‘aunt/mother’ to the mute.

Marumacchi, Marukacchi—with the ‘celestial’/sky-reaching ‘miththai’ (a power/skill/illusion), she will come.

Gurumacchi, Kalapacchi—she who possesses the ‘makarpa’/makaram art (viththai).

Kumaracchi, Amaracchi—she whose power is lodged in the spear (vēl).

Aruvicchai, Ayanicchai—she who is the very seed of gnosis/knowledge; (she is) Kalai-vāṇi.

Paruvacchi, Tirumeycchi—for Māl (Viṣṇu), the beauty of the sword.

Siranacchi, Sivanucchi—the river that has joined/merged upon the summit of Śiva’s head.

Parathamacchi—Śivai who is joined as a ‘portion/half’ to the Supreme (paramam); (she is) Abirāmi.

Karumacchi, Kalaiyucchi—she who helps the reckoning of time.

Karuvacchi, Varumacchi—the mother who fashioned the sāma(m) (watch of time / sāma-chant).

Karunocchi, Kavasacchi—she who bestows the gold-like splendor desired by Kāma; (she is) our mother.”

Interpretive Translation

The verse strings together many cryptic “-acchi” epithets for the Divine Feminine—at once mother, mistress, aunt, and inner power. She is praised as:

- the amṛta/nectar hidden in the “loft” (the uppermost interior), suggesting the secret nectar experienced at the crown in yogic ascent;

- the one who gives voice even to the mute (awakening speech, mantra, insight);

- the one who arrives with sky-reaching siddhi and with arts/techniques (viththai) that include alchemical, astrological, and ritual competencies;

- the spear-embedded power (Śakti as piercing/awakening force, also echoing Murukaṉ/Skanda’s vēl);

- the seed of jñāna itself—identified with Kalai-vāṇi (Sarasvatī as knowledge and the arts);

- the beauty that becomes a weapon for Viṣṇu (protective, dharmic cutting-through);

- the “river” that merges at Śiva’s head-top (the inner Gaṅgā: nāḍī-flows converging at the cranial summit);

- Abirāmi, the Śakti joined as Śiva’s half—non-dual union of Consciousness and Power;

- the measurer of time (kāla-gaṇakku)—the subtle intelligence behind cycles, timing, and maturation;

- the protective sheath (kavacam) and the medicinal/herbal force (karunocchi), granting both protection and the luminous “gold-like” attainment that desire seeks, but transmuted into higher radiance.

Overall, the poem is less a simple hymn than a coded map: the Goddess is simultaneously devotional deity, yogic kuṇḍalinī, and siddha-śakti governing medicine, mantra, time, and inner alchemy.

Philosophical Explanation

1) One Goddess, many operational names The repeated “-acchi” (a Tamil honorific for a woman of authority—mother/mistress) frames the Divine Feminine as the single agency behind multiple functions: speech, knowledge, protection, timing, transformation. Siddhar diction often multiplies names not to multiply entities, but to show one Śakti acting through many registers.

2) Yogic anatomy encoded as household and landscape “Upper room/loft” and “nectar” commonly point to the crown (ūrttva-mārga) where amṛta is said to drip/flow when the inner channels are purified. “River joined on Śiva’s head-top” resonates with the image of Gaṅgā on Śiva, and yogically with nāḍī-currents (iḍā–piṅgalā–suṣumṇā) converging and stabilizing at the cranial summit.

3) Knowledge (Sarasvatī), power (Vēl), and protection (Kavacam) By naming Kalai-vāṇi (Sarasvatī) and also invoking the spear-bearing power, the verse links jñāna-śakti (illumining intelligence) with kriyā/śakti (piercing activation). “Kavasacchi” foregrounds the protective, boundary-making aspect—essential in siddha practice where energies and substances must be contained and sealed.

4) Siddha “viththai”: arts that are simultaneously spiritual and technical “Viththai” in Siddhar usage can mean mantra-technology, yogic method, medical craft, alchemical processing, and even coded instruction. The poem’s catalogue suggests that the same Śakti is the hidden intelligence inside all these methods.

5) Time as a spiritual instrument “She who helps the reckoning of time” can be read as: (a) practical jyotiṣa/auspicious timing, (b) the maturation of practice (pakkuvam), and (c) Kāla as Śakti—time itself as the transforming fire that ripens body and mind, and in alchemy ‘cooks’ substances to a higher state.

6) Desire transmuted The closing gesture—granting the “gold-like splendor” desired by Kāma—can be read as either worldly prosperity or, more characteristically for Siddhars, the transmutation of desire into tejas (radiance) and sādhana-fruit (a stable luminous attainment).

Key Concepts

  • Śakti as the Divine Mother (-acchi epithets)
  • Amṛta (nectar) and crown experience (ūrttva ascent)
  • Kuṇḍalinī and nāḍī convergence (inner river / Gaṅgā-on-Śiva symbolism)
  • Mantra and speech-bestowal (mute given voice)
  • Jñāna-śakti (Kalai-vāṇi / Sarasvatī)
  • Kriyā/awakening power (vēl / spear symbolism)
  • Ardha-nārī / Śiva–Śakti non-dual union (Abirāmi as the joined half)
  • Kavacam (protection, sealing/containment)
  • Siddha viththai (coded techniques: yoga, medicine, alchemy)
  • Kāla-gaṇakku (time reckoning: auspicious timing, ripening, transformation)

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • Many compounds (karuvacchi, uruvacchi, marumacchi, etc.) are not standard dictionary forms; they may be deliberate sound-coded epithets, regional goddess-names, or punning blends (e.g., karu = womb/blackness; uru/aruvu = form/formless).
  • “Attamutu” can be heard as ‘eightfold nectar’ (aṭṭa-amutu), or simply ‘excellent nectar’; Siddhar usage often hints at amṛta associated with the crown.
  • “Ūmai” (mute) may be literal (granting speech) or yogic (the silent mind; the unspoken mantra).
  • “Miththai” can mean illusion/falsehood, but in siddha-poetic contexts it may indicate māyā-śakti, a siddhi-like marvel, or a ‘craft’ that appears impossible.
  • “Kalapacchi” could be read as ‘kalāpam’ (paste, sandal/unguents; also a ritual/alchemical coating) or as a pun on ‘kili/pacchi’ (parrot/green), both used in Tamil esoteric imagery.
  • “Makarpa / maakarp(a) viththai” is unclear: it may point to makara symbolism (Capricorn, aquatic monster, sexual/creative force), an astrological key, or an alchemical term distorted in transmission.
  • “Parathamacchi” may pun on ‘Bharatam’ (dance/measure) or ‘paradam’ (mercury) which is central in Siddha alchemy—either reading changes whether the line is about art/measure or about mercurial alchemical Śakti.
  • “Sāmaththi saiththa anai” can mean ‘the mother who made the sāma (a watch/period of night)’ or ‘the mother who established Sāma (Vedic chant/intonation)’; both time and sound are plausible siddha themes.
  • “Karunocchi” is also a medicinal plant name (Vitex negundo) associated with protection/healing; it may be literal materia medica or symbolic ‘herb-power’ of the Goddess.
  • “Gold-like splendor” may be read as material wealth, alchemical ‘gold’ (transmutation), or inner tejas; Siddhar poetry often keeps all three in play.