Golden Lay Verses

Verse 68 (மணி வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

வாசியெனும் பரியதனை யிழுத்து வாங்கி

மாசறியா வேசியுடன் மதசைய் யோகம்

வாயில்நடு வேசெலுத்தி மனைக்குள் ளேகி

மாண்டானென்று றுலகத்தார் பாடை கட்ட

ஊசிவிழும் ஊனுடலும் சூக்க மாகி

உம்பருல கோடுறவாம் ககன மார்க்கத்

தேசொளியாம் சித்தாந்தத் திருவே கண்டீர்

செப்பரிதா மாகாய கமனம் கண்டீர்

Transliteration

vaasiyenum pariyathanai yizhuththu vaangi

maasaraiyaa vesiyudan madhisaiy yogam

vaayilnadu veseluththi manaikkul leagi

maandaanendru ulakaththaar paadai katta

oosivizhum oonudalum sookkamaagi

umbarula koduravaam gagana maarkkath

desoliyam siddhaanthath thiruve kandeer

sepparithaa maagaaya gamanam kandeer.

Literal Translation

Drawing in and reining back the horse called “vāsi,”

perform the yoga of rapture/desire with the stainless “vēsi.”

Direct it through the middle of the mouth (or gate) and enter within the house;

the people of the world, saying “he has died,” will bind the funeral bier.

The flesh-body, where even a needle would fall (without response), becomes subtle;

through the “sky-path” (kakana-mārga) there is kinship/commerce with the celestial world.

Behold the sacredness of the Siddhānta, which is the light of direction (or light of the land);

behold the hard-to-speak “going” (gamana) into the great void/space (mahā-ākāśa).

Interpretive Translation

Restrain and draw inward the breath—likened to a restless horse—and, with the pure but enigmatic feminine principle (the “vēsi”), practice the union-yoga that intensifies inner power.

Guide the current into the central passage and enter the inner chamber of the body.

To outsiders the yogi appears dead—so still that rites may be prepared—yet the gross body is made inert while the subtle body becomes active.

Then, by the ‘sky-way’ of inner ascent, one moves in the supramundane realm, encountering the luminous core of Siddhānta and an inexpressible passage into vast space-consciousness (mahā-ākāśa).

Philosophical Explanation

The verse uses a layered Siddhar code in which physiological yogic technique, metaphysics, and deliberate social inversion (appearing “dead” while inwardly awake) are braided together.

1) “Vāsi” as the horse: In Siddhar and broader Tamil yogic idiom, breath (vāsi/vāyu) is compared to a horse that must be pulled back and reined in. “Drawing it in” points to prāṇāyāma and breath-retention—methods to still outward-going life-force and concentrate it.

2) The “vēsi” (prostitute) image: Siddhar diction often uses shocking or socially marginal figures to indicate a power that is available everywhere yet not ‘owned’ by convention. It may signify: - a feminine śakti (kundalinī / inner power), - the sense-current that ‘sells itself’ to objects (hence “prostitute”), now made “stainless” by discipline, - or an esoteric counterpart channel/force required for yogic ‘union.’ The text does not settle the referent; the ambiguity is part of its method.

3) “Middle of the mouth/gate” and “entering the house”: The “gate” can be the mouth/nose region (entry of breath), while “the middle” evokes the central channel (suṣumṇā / madhya nāḍi). “House” commonly denotes the body as a dwelling, but also the inner chamber (heart-cave, cranial vault, or subtle center) where consciousness ‘resides.’ The instruction suggests redirecting prāṇa from lateral/outward pathways into the central ascent.

4) Apparent death and subtle-body operation: When the breath is suspended and the senses withdraw, the body can appear corpse-like—so unresponsive that ordinary observers assume death (“they bind the bier”). The phrase about a needle falling on the flesh underscores extreme stillness/insensitivity, implying profound pratyāhāra and kuṇḍalinī-led trance. The ‘gross body’ (ūṇ-uṭal) is quieted while the ‘subtle’ (sūkṣma) mode becomes operative.

5) “Kakana-mārga” (sky-path) and mahā-ākāśa: The ‘sky-way’ is a classic Siddhar/Haṭha image for inner ascent into the space of consciousness—often linked with khecarī-like symbolism (moving in the ‘sky’), cranial centers, or the experience of inner vastness. “Kinship with the celestial world” indicates contact with suprasensory states, siddhi-like perception, or transpersonal domains.

6) “Siddhānta as directional light” and the inexpressible passage: The culmination is not merely a yogic feat but a metaphysical recognition—truth as ‘light’ (tejo/tejas) that orients being. Yet it remains “hard to speak” (cepparitu): a hallmark of Siddhar pedagogy, where ultimate realization is indicated but not exhaustively described, preserving the gap between experience and language.

Overall, the verse frames yogic mastery as (a) controlling breath and inward currents, (b) entering central subtle pathways, (c) transcending bodily appearances (life/death), and (d) realizing an expansive space-consciousness aligned with Siddhānta.

Key Concepts

  • vāsi (breath / life-wind)
  • horse metaphor (breath as mount to be reined)
  • vēsi (cryptic feminine figure / śakti / senses—ambiguous)
  • yoga of union/rapture (intensified inner practice)
  • madhya (central pathway; suṣumṇā implication)
  • body as house (inner chamber symbolism)
  • corpse-like stillness (apparent death; trance)
  • sūkṣma (subtle body/state)
  • kakana-mārga (sky-path; inner ascent)
  • mahā-ākāśa (great space/void consciousness)
  • Siddhānta as luminous truth
  • ineffability (cepparitu—hard to speak)

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “vēsi” can denote (i) a feminine śakti (kundalinī), (ii) the senses/mind that ‘prostitutes’ itself to objects, (iii) a partner-principle (iḍā/piṅgalā or other dual forces) made ‘stainless’ through discipline; the verse leaves this open.
  • “vāyil-nadu” (middle of the mouth/gate) may point to (i) breath passing through the nasal/mouth gate into the central current, (ii) the throat region as a ‘gate,’ or (iii) a symbolic ‘middle’ of speech/sound where prāṇa and mantra converge.
  • “māṇḍān enru ulakattār pāḍai kaṭṭa” can be literal (the yogi is mistaken for dead) or rhetorical (social death—withdrawal from worldly identity).
  • “ūsi viḻum ūṇuḍal” may mean extreme physical insensitivity (a needle could fall/pierce without response) or simply the motionless inertness of the gross body during deep samādhi-like absorption.
  • “kakana-mārga” can be read as a nāḍi/cranial route, a khecarī-coded ‘sky travel,’ or an inner phenomenology of expanding space; the text does not specify a single technique.
  • “mahā-ākāśa gamana” may indicate actual ‘travel’ in subtle realms (siddhi framing) or the inward ‘going’ into vast, objectless awareness (non-dual framing); both are consistent with Siddhar idiom.