ககனமதில் நடனமிட மவுனமணி வேண்டும்
கருதிச்சை யாங்கடலைக் கடந்துவர வேண்டும்
அகமுகமும் அறநெறியின் அருளுமுற வேண்டும்
அவைமுடிய முடியிலுறும் அதையுரைசெய் கின்றேன்
kakanamadhil nadanamida maunamani vendum
karuthichchai yaangkadalaik kadandhuvara vendum
aghamugamum araneriyin arulumura vendum
avaimudhiya mudiyilurum adhaiyurai seykindren.
To dance in the sky/ether, the jewel of silence is needed.
Having reflected (or with intention/desire), one must cross this ocean.
The inner and the outer ‘face’ too must be by the grace-method of the path of virtue.
When those are accomplished, they settle in the crown/top—this I declare.
If you would move freely in the subtle inner space (the akasha of yoga), you must first obtain the ‘jewel’ of mauna—silence that stills thought.
With steady resolve, you must cross the sea of worldly entanglement.
Let your inner state and outer conduct be shaped by dharma, and ripened by grace.
When these mature, awareness rises and becomes established at the ‘crown’ (the highest seat); this is what I am explaining.
The verse ties liberation to a sequence: (1) mauna, (2) crossing an ocean, (3) dharmic alignment of inner/outer life, and (4) establishment in “mudi.”
1) “Dancing in the sky/ether” (ககனமதில் நடனமிட) can be read as more than physical imagery. In Siddhar idiom, “kakanam/akasha” often points to subtle inner space—either the mind’s open expanse when thoughts cease, or the yogic inner channel where prana moves. “Dance” then becomes the spontaneous, unforced functioning of awareness (or prana) when obstruction is removed; it may also allude to Śiva’s dance as the still center within movement.
2) “Jewel of silence” (மவுனமணி) is a technical spiritual requirement: not mere speechlessness, but a concentrated stillness where mental noise subsides. Calling it a “jewel” suggests it is both rare and of high ‘value’—a compact, luminous attainment that enables the next stage.
3) “Crossing the ocean” (கடலைக் கடந்துவர) is a classical symbol for crossing saṃsāra—desire, fear, habit, and identification. The word “கருதிச்சை” can carry two pressures at once: (a) careful reflection/intention and (b) desire/impulse. Siddhar ambiguity allows both: one crosses by right resolve and discernment, and also by transforming desire (not merely suppressing it) into a disciplined drive toward truth.
4) “Inner and outer face” (அகமுகமும்) signals integrity between inward condition (thought, intention, consciousness) and outward expression (speech, action, social conduct). “Araneri” (அறநெறி) is dharma/virtue as an embodied discipline; “arul-murai” (அருளுமுறை) adds that technique alone is insufficient—maturation depends on grace (guru’s transmission, divine favor, or the natural ‘softening’ that comes when egoic strain drops).
5) “Settling in the crown/top” (முடியிலுறும்) can be read yogically as stabilization at the summit of awareness (often mapped to sahasrāra/crown) where duality loosens and attention rests in a unified, luminous stillness. It can also mean the ‘crowning’ completion of the path—finality, accomplishment, or enthronement of wisdom.
Overall, the verse argues that the highest yogic freedom (“dance in akasha”) is not attained by force or display, but by the inner jewel of mauna, the crossing of saṃsāric turbulence, ethical refinement of life, and the indispensable element of grace—culminating in stable realization at the summit.