பயனில்லாச் சொல்லகற்றிப் பயனே கூறல்
பயனதையு மினிதான பழமாய்ச் செப்பல்
நயனில்லாக் கடுவழிக ளவைவிட் டோடல்
நாட்டமெலா மருள்நாட்ட மாகக் கொள்ளல்
அயனில்லா தெவையுந்தா னாகக் காணல்
அத்துவிதத் தாலின்பச் சித்தம் பேணல்
இவையெல்லா மருங்குணமா மீசற் கன்பாம்
இடர்நீக்கிச் சுடர்காட்டும் நியமந் தானே
payanillaach sollakatrip payanE kooRal
payanataiyu minithAna pazhamAych seppal
nayanillaak kaduvazhiga Lavaivid tODal
naattamelA maruLnaatta mAgak koLLal
ayanillA tevaiyunthA nAgak kANal
aththuvithath thAlinbap chiththam pENal
ivaiyellA marunguNamA meesark kanbAm
idarnIkkiś chudarkAttum niyaman thAnE.
Learning words that yield no benefit, speak only what is beneficial.
Speak even that benefit pleasantly, like (sweet) ripened fruit.
Abandon and run away from the harsh paths that lack discernment.
Take all “seeing/looking” (all objects of sight and all cravings of the gaze) as a bewildered, deluded seeing.
See everything as oneself, with no “other/creator” apart from that.
By non-duality (advaita), cherish the blissful mind of realization.
All these are close virtues; they are love for Īśa (the Lord).
This indeed is the niyama (inner observance) that removes distress and shows the Light.
Do not accumulate speech or learning that does not transform life; speak only what truly helps.
Let even helpful speech come out matured—sweet, gentle, and timely.
Leave behind severe, unexamined disciplines and crooked ways that do not arise from clear insight.
Treat every perception and every pull of the senses as prone to भ्रम/மருள் (bewilderment), and therefore do not grant it final authority.
Recognize all experience as the Self alone—without a second—so that no separate “other” remains to bind you.
Abide in the bliss of advaita, protecting that state as one protects a sacred flame.
This way of living is itself devotion: love toward Śiva/Īśa.
Such niyama dispels suffering and reveals the inner radiance.
This verse frames “niyama” not as external rule-keeping but as an inner discipline that ripens speech, perception, and identity into nondual clarity.
1) Discipline of speech and learning: “பயனில்லாச் சொல்லகற்றி” critiques mere accumulation—rhetoric, disputation, or memorized doctrine—when it does not lessen suffering or increase clarity. The Siddhar standard for “benefit” is pragmatic-spiritual: speech should heal, stabilize the mind, and orient one toward truth. “பழமாய்ச் செப்பல்” (speaking like ripe fruit) suggests inner alchemy: words become “ripe” only when the speaker’s mind has matured—then speech is naturally sweet, non-injuring, and nourishing.
2) Discernment versus harsh paths: “நயனில்லாக் கடுவழிகள்” points to austerities or methods that are severe but not illumined by “நயனம்” (clear seeing/discriminative insight). The Siddhar critique is not of tapas itself, but of tapas without wisdom—practices that intensify ego, dogma, or bodily harm while missing liberation.
3) Re-educating perception: “நாட்டமெல்லா மருள்நாட்டமாகக் கொள்ளல்” can mean that all sense-appearances (and the very act of craving-laden looking) are implicated in “மருள்” (bewilderment/illusion). The instruction is epistemic humility: do not treat sensory or mental appearances as ultimate. This aligns with yogic interiorization (pratyāhāra-like restraint) and with Vedāntic suspicion of prapañca as binding when taken as final.
4) Nondual seeing and the end of the ‘other’: “அயனில்லா தெவையும் தானாகக் காணல்” is the pivot. The verse moves from ethical refinement to ontological insight: seeing all as “தான்” (Self) with no second. “அத்துவிதம்” explicitly confirms advaita: liberation arises when subject-object duality collapses, revealing the luminous ground (“சுடர்”).
5) Blissful mind and devotion as one: “அத்துவிதத் தாலின்பச் சித்தம் பேணல்” instructs sustaining the realized mind-state (siddha-citta) rather than merely glimpsing it. The next line equates these virtues with “love for Īśa”: for Siddhars, jñāna (nondual clarity) and bhakti (love) need not conflict—love becomes the affective fragrance of nonduality, and nonduality becomes the truth-body of devotion.
6) ‘Showing the Light’: “இடர் நீக்கிச் சுடர் காட்டும்” can be read as the removal of existential affliction (fear, sorrow, bondage) and the dawning of inner radiance—often resonant with yogic descriptions of inner light (antar-jyoti) that accompanies stabilized awareness. The verse thus maps a complete inner discipline: from purified speech → wise method → disenchanted perception → nondual recognition → sustained bliss → devotion expressed as virtue.