Golden Lay Verses

Verse 112 (மை வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

கருவான மைசெய்யச் சித்தர் கோடி

கலையாக வேயுரைத்தார் துறைகள் கோடி

உருவான மைசெய்யச் சித்தர் கோடி

உலகத்தை யேசுற்றி உளுத்துப் போனார்

குருவான ஒருமையைக் கண்டா ரில்லை

கூத்தாடிக் கூத்தாடி யலுத்துப் போனார்

அருவான புழுவினத்தை மருவுக் குள்ளாம்

அச்சான கருவினத்தை நாடி னாரே

Transliteration

karuvāna maiceyyac cittar kōṭi

kalaiyāka vēyuraittār tuṟaikaḷ kōṭi

uruvāna maiceyyac cittar kōṭi

ulakattai yēcūṟṟi uḷuttup pōṉār

kuruvāna orumaiyaik kaṇḍā rillai

kūttāṭik kūttāṭi yaluttup pōṉār

aruvāna puḻuviṉattai maruvuk kuḷḷām

accāṉa karuviṉattai nāṭi ṉārē

Literal Translation

Crores of Siddhars set about making the “karu-mai” (dark/seed-like ‘mai’).

Crores of sects and approaches spoke of it as an art (kalai).

Crores of Siddhars set about making the “uru-mai” (formed/manifest ‘mai’).

They went around the world and grew worn out.

They did not behold the Oneness that is the Guru.

Dancing and dancing, they became exhausted.

Within the ‘maruvu’ (abiding-place/attachment) lies the formless worm-kind.

They searched for the stamped/moulded “karu-inam” (seed/embryo-kind).

Interpretive Translation

Countless Siddhars, and countless lineages, became occupied with preparing and perfecting a certain “mai” (whether elixir/collyrium/black preparation) in its causal (‘karu’) and manifest (‘uru’) states, treating it as a technical art with many routes. They wandered everywhere and performed, yet failed to recognize the Guru as non-dual Oneness. Meanwhile, within their own abiding (the body–mind, or attachment itself), a subtle, formless “worm” persists—an inner gnawing lineage of impulse/ego/karma. Still, they kept seeking a fixed ‘seed-cause’ as though it were an external object or a stamped substance to be obtained.

Philosophical Explanation

The verse opposes multiplicity (crores of arts, sects, techniques, travels, performances) to the single point of Siddhar realization: “the Guru as Oneness.” In Siddhar idiom, the contrast of “karu” (seed/cause, womb, latent origin) and “uru” (form, manifest body or product) can point both to metaphysics (causal vs. manifest) and to praxis (unrefined vs. perfected preparation). The repeated “mai-seyya” suggests an esoteric making—possibly anjana/collyrium or an alchemical black preparation—often associated with siddhi-display; thus “dancing” can be read as outward performance (koothu) or restless activity in pursuit of powers.

Against this, the line about the “formless worm-kind” indicates an inner infestation that survives all outer accomplishments: desire, egoity, vasana, karmic gnawing, or subtle life-force cravings that “abide” within attachment (maruvu) or within the body as a hidden habit-lineage. The critique is not necessarily anti-alchemy, but anti-distraction: without insight into non-dual unity, even refined techniques remain within the play of cause-and-form, and the seeker keeps chasing the ‘seed’ as an object rather than dissolving the very seed of bondage (the causal knot/impurity) through realization.

Key Concepts

  • karu (seed/cause/womb; causal state)
  • uru (form/manifestation; formed state)
  • mai-seyya (making ‘mai’: possibly collyrium/anjana, ink, or black alchemical preparation)
  • kalai (art/technique; yogic or alchemical skill)
  • thurai (paths/sects/approaches)
  • world-wandering (external seeking)
  • koothu / koothadi (dance, performance; also ritualistic display)
  • guru as oneness (non-dual realization)
  • aruvu (formless/subtle)
  • puzhu (worm: symbol of gnawing vasana/ego/karma)
  • maruvu (abiding-place/attachment; possibly the body as locus of clinging)
  • acchu / achchaan (stamped, moulded, fixed; conditioned seed)

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “mai” can mean ordinary ink/black pigment, collyrium (anjana) linked to occult vision, or a coded term for a black alchemical compound; the verse keeps it deliberately non-specific.
  • “karuvana” and “uruvana” may distinguish causal vs. manifest states (metaphysical) or raw vs. perfected stages of a preparation (technical/alchemical).
  • “koothadi” can denote literal dancing/performing arts, ritual-tantric display, or a metaphor for restless activity and showy siddhis.
  • “maruvu” can mean the place one dwells (body/heart-space) or “attachment/clinging” itself; thus the ‘worm’ may be physiological imagery, psychological habit, or karmic tendency.
  • “aruvana puzhu” (formless worm) can be read as subtle desire/ego (vasana) or as a cryptic reference to an internal vital process that ‘gnaws’ unseen.
  • “achchana karuvinam” may refer to the fixed ‘seed of bondage’ (anava/karma-bija), to bindu-like generative essence, or to a specific alchemical ‘base substance’ sought as the primal matrix.