Golden Lay Verses

Verse 130 (வாத வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

சரியுள்ளஞ் சரியான சரிவுப் பாதை

தனையுரைப்பார் அறிவுள்ளார் தமக்குத் தானே

பரிவுள்ளம் கொண்டசித்தர் பிரிய மாகப்

பண்புள்ளோர் வாழ்வதற்கே வாதை சொன்னார்

பிரிவுள்ளம் கொண்டதனால் மரிப்புள் ளோராம்

பேதையரே என்வார்த்தை பிசகா தப்பா

தரிவுள்ள வேதைதனைத் தருவார் சித்தர்

தகையுள்ள திறப்புவழி தன்னைச் சார்ந்தால்

Transliteration

sariyuLLañ sariyaaṉa sarivup paathai

taṉaiyuraippaar aṟivuLLaar tamakkut taaṉe

parivuLLam koṇḍacittar piriya maakap

paṇpuLLoor vaazhvataṟke vaatai soṉṉaar

pirivuLLam koṇḍataṉaal marippuḷ Loor aam

peetaiyare eṉvaarttai pisakaa tappaa

tarivuLLa vetaitaṉait taruvaar cittar

takaiyuLLa tiṟappuvazhi taṉṉaic saarndaal

Literal Translation

A right (straight) heart—(this is) the right sloping/leaning path.

Those who can speak of it are the ones with knowledge—(it is) for themselves (known inwardly).

The Siddhar with a compassionate heart, lovingly,

spoke of “vāthai” so that those of good character may live.

Because they possess a heart of separation, they become those who die.

“O foolish ones!”—my words do not slip, do not go wrong.

The Siddhar will give the sustaining Veda (true knowledge);

if one attaches oneself to the fitting path of “opening/unlocking,” (one reaches it).

Interpretive Translation

Keep the mind/heart true; that very inner rectitude is the proper course.

Only the truly knowing can point to it, because it is confirmed in their own direct experience.

Out of compassion the Siddhar gives an instruction—also a “remedy/discipline”—so that the well-disposed may truly live (live well, and live long).

Those who persist in “separation-mindedness” (egoic division, alienation, ‘me vs. you,’ split from the Real) remain bound to death.

This is not a mistaken claim.

The Siddhar bestows the supporting “Veda” (authoritative inner gnosis), and if one takes refuge in the apt “opening-way” (the secret method that unlocks the inner passage), one arrives at the intended state.

Philosophical Explanation

The verse sets up a sharp contrast between (1) “straightness/rightness of heart” and (2) “separation-mindedness.” In Siddhar idiom, the former is not merely ethics; it is a yogic alignment—an inner integrity that makes the path workable. The latter is not merely social divisiveness; it is metaphysical duality (the entrenched sense of being cut off), which is named as the root-condition for mortality.

The Siddhar speaks “vāthai” for the good to live: this line deliberately carries multiple registers. On one register, vāthai is “affliction/torment,” meaning the Siddhar warns of the suffering that follows a wrong orientation so that the virtuous can avoid it and live rightly. On another, Siddha medical language hears vāthai as connected with vāta/vāyu (wind, prāṇa)—suggesting that the teaching is also a practical regimen for life-extension: controlling prāṇa, balancing humors, and preventing decay.

“The Veda” here functions less as external scripture and more as a symbol of unshakable, sustaining truth—knowledge that ‘holds’ (supports) life and liberation. The closing “opening-way” suggests a technical gate: the unlocking of an inner passage (often read in Siddhar yoga as the opening of subtle channels, the ‘door’ in the crown, or the opening of an inner state). The teaching thus ties moral-spiritual orientation (non-separation, compassion, rectitude) to a concrete yogic/medical praxis that aims at freedom from death (or at least mastery over the forces that drive dying).

Key Concepts

  • சரி உள்ளம் (straight/right heart; inner integrity)
  • சரிவு / பாதை (inclination/slope; ‘course’ or ‘way’)
  • அனுபவ-அறிவு (knowledge validated in one’s own experience)
  • பரிவு (compassion as Siddhar motive)
  • பண்பு (virtue/character as qualification)
  • பிரிவு உள்ளம் (mind of separation/dualism; egoic division)
  • மரணம் (mortality as consequence of separation)
  • வாதை (affliction; also possible hint to vāta/prāṇa discipline)
  • வேதை (Veda as sustaining truth/gnosis)
  • திறப்பு வழி (opening/unlocking path; secret gate/technique)

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “சரிவுப் பாதை” can read literally as a ‘sloping path,’ but idiomatically it may indicate an ‘inclined/attuned course’ of mind; some may also hear a technical yogic hint (directionality of breath/prāṇa or an inward descent of attention).
  • “தனையுரைப்பார் அறிவுள்ளார் தமக்குத் தானே” may mean (a) only the wise can describe it and they know it privately by experience, or (b) the wise speak of it chiefly for their own kind (the qualified), not for the unripe.
  • “வாதை” can mean (a) suffering/affliction warned against, (b) an instruction about vāta/vāyu (wind-principle) in Siddha medicine/yoga, or (c) a ‘doctrine/argument’ (vāda) in some contexts—each yields a slightly different emphasis.
  • “வேதை” is most naturally ‘Veda’ (authoritative knowledge), but in Siddhar usage it can imply not book-scripture but an inner, sustaining revelation/gnosis.
  • “திறப்புவழி” can mean a general ‘method that unlocks,’ or a specific yogic ‘gate’ (opening of nāḍīs, suṣumṇā, brahmarandhra); the verse preserves this technical vagueness.