காலத்தான் காலனவன் நெய்யை வாங்கி
கனிவாகக் கந்தகத்தைக் கசக்கிப் போடு
மாலத்தான் மால்கிரந்தி முடிச்சைக் கூட்டி
மகிழத்தான் மசியத்தான் மசக்கிப் போடு
ஆலத்தான் ஆலினுடை விழுது கொண்டே
ஆழத்தி லேபுதைத்துப் புடத்தைப் போடு
சாலத்தான் காலின்கீழ்ப் படியும் பாரு
சார்ந்திட்ட கந்தகமும் கட்டிப் போமே
kālattān kālanavan neyyai vāṅki
kanivākak kantakattaik kasakkip pōṭu
mālattān mālkiranti muṭiccaik kūṭṭi
makiḻattān masiyattān masakkip pōṭu
ālattān ālinuṭai viḻutu koṇṭē
āḻatti lēputaiththup puṭattaip pōṭu
sālattān kālinkīḻp paṭiyum pāru
cārntiṭṭa kantakamum kaṭṭip pōmē.
“At the proper time, take ghee;
softly rub the sulfur and put it in.
With the ‘mālam’, gather and join the knot of the ‘māl-granthi’;
with makizh and with masi, grind it and add it.
Taking the banyan’s hanging roots,
bury it deep and subject it to a puṭam (sealed heating/calcination).
Watch: it will settle beneath the foot / at the bottom.
The sulfur that has thus adhered will also become ‘bound’ (fixed).”
Work on sulfur with an unctuous medium (ghee), then repeatedly combine, knot, and grind it with specified adjuncts (makizh, masi, banyan aerial roots). Seal it, bury it in the earth, and apply controlled furnace-heat (puṭam) so that the volatile becomes subdued and settles. When the process succeeds, the sulfur ceases to behave as a roaming, unstable principle and becomes ‘kattu’—a fixed, bound, stabilized sulfur suitable for further Siddha operations (medicine/alchemy), and—by analogy—an inner fixation of the restless energies.
This verse speaks in the mixed register typical of Siddhar works: a practical laboratory instruction and an inner-yogic allegory.
On the practical/alchemical plane, it describes “binding” (kaṭṭu) of kandhakam (sulfur). Ghee suggests an oleaginous, moderating carrier that allows sulfur to be kneaded without harsh burning, while “grinding” (masakkal) and “rubbing” (kasakkal) indicate trituration—an essential step in Siddha mineral processing to make the substance receptive to transformation. The mention of plant materials (makizh) and masi (soot/black carbon-like matter) points to organic adjuncts used either as reducing agents, absorbents, or catalysts in purification/fixation. Banyan aerial roots (ālin viḻuthu) evoke astringent/latex-bearing botanical matter and also the image of “rooting” a volatile substance into stability. Burying and puṭam together signify incubation in the “womb of earth” followed by tapas-like heat: an alternation of concealment (earth’s cool, dark steadiness) and transformation by fire (puṭam).
On the inner plane, the verse’s vocabulary (“kālan” time/death; “granthi” knot) can be read as yogic instruction. Sulfur—fiery, sharp, and volatile—mirrors the rajasic-agni impulse in the body-mind. Ghee corresponds to soma-like unctuousness and calming nourishment. “Granthi” in yogic discourse refers to knots (energetic/psychic obstructions) that must be ‘tied’ or ‘brought together’ in a controlled way rather than left dispersed. The burial and puṭam become metaphors for withdrawal (interiorization) and disciplined heat (austerity/prāṇāyāma/kuṇḍalinī tapas) that causes the ‘volatile’ to settle “under the foot”—i.e., to be brought under mastery. The end-state, “bound sulfur,” parallels the siddha ideal: the restless principle becomes stable, serviceable, and no longer escapes.