Golden Lay Verses

Verse 135 (வாத வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

காய்ச்சியதோர் நறும்பாலில் சீனி சேர்த்துக்

கற்கண்டுப் பொடிதூவிக் களிப்பி னோடே

ஆச்சியவள் முலைப்பாலி னருமை கூட்டி

அதனோடே குங்குமப்பூக் கமகம் கூட்டித்

காய்ச்சியவள் காத்தாயி உமையா என்னை

சாவித்ரீ காயித்ரீ சகல மாதா

பாய்ச்சியவள் பாதத்தே பகிர்ந்திட் டாயேல்

பாகமடா பகற்கனவும் பலிக்கும் பாரே

Transliteration

Kaaychiyathor narumpaalil cheeni serththuk

Karkandup podiththoovik kalippi nodae

Aachchiyaval mulaippaali narumai kootti

Athannodae kungumappook kamagam koottith

Kaaychiyaval kaaththaayi umaiyaa ennai

Saavithree kaayithree sagala maathaa

Paaychiyaval paathaththae pakirnthid taayael

Paagamadaa pakarkanavum palikkum paarae.

Literal Translation

Into some fragrant milk that has been boiled, add sugar;

sprinkle powdered rock-candy, and (do it) with delight.

Add the preciousness of that chaste woman’s breast-milk;

along with that, add saffron-flower and “kamakam” (a fragrant substance).

She who boiled it—Kaathayi, Uma—to me,

Savitri, Gayatri, the Mother of all:

if you portion it out / distribute it at the feet of the one who poured (it),

it becomes a boon—see, even day-dreams will bear fruit.

Interpretive Translation

Prepare a sweet, perfumed milk-mixture: boiled fragrant milk, sweetened with sugar and rock-candy, enriched with the ‘value’ of maternal/breast-milk, and scented with saffron and an added fragrance (“kamakam”).

Recognize the one who ‘cooks’ and ‘bestows’ it as Shakti herself—Kaathayi/Umai, Savitri/Gayatri, the universal Mother. If the prepared portion is offered and shared at her feet (or at the feet of the one through whom her grace flows), it turns into an efficacious ‘pākam’ (cooked elixir/boon): even what seems merely imagined in daylight is said to become attainable.

Philosophical Explanation

On the surface the verse reads like a recipe for a milk-based offering (or medicine): milk boiled, sweeteners added, then rare/precious additives (breast-milk; saffron; a fragrance). In Siddhar diction, however, “pākam” (the cooked syrup/elixir) often also signals an alchemical or yogic ‘cooking’—a transformation produced by heat/tapas, concentration, and grace.

The ingredients can be read in two simultaneous registers: 1) Ritual/medicinal: sweetened milk with aromatic substances resembles prasāda or a strengthening tonic; breast-milk is portrayed as the pinnacle of nourishment and tenderness (“arumai”—rarity/value). 2) Inner-yogic/alchemical: “milk” can hint at refined essence (ojas/amṛta-like nourishment), “sweetness” at bliss (ānanda) and the softening of inner austerity, aromatics (saffron/musk-like scent) at subtle ‘fragrance’—the sign of purified nāḍi/prāṇa and sanctified body. The repeated stress on “boiling/cooking” points to the necessity of heat: disciplined practice that ‘matures’ raw substances into a potent essence.

The goddess-list—Kaathayi (often a local fierce/guardian Mother), Uma (Śakti as Pārvatī), Savitri and Gayatri (mantra-deities linked with solar intelligence and transformative chanting), “Sakala Mātā” (Mother of all)—frames the entire preparation as dependent on Śakti. Offering “at the feet” indicates surrender, grounding, and transmission: the efficacy is not merely chemical, but granted through devotion/lineage contact. The concluding promise that “even daytime dreams will bear fruit” can be read as (a) worldly wish-fulfillment through divine favor, or (b) siddhi-like potency where intention, mantra, and matured inner essence converge to make the ‘unreal’ become real.

Key Concepts

  • pākam (cooked syrup/elixir; maturation through ‘cooking’)
  • nārum pāl (fragrant/boiled milk)
  • sugar and kalkandu (sweeteners; ‘sweetness’ as bliss/beneficence)
  • breast-milk (mulleppāl) as supreme nourishment/rarity
  • kungumappū (saffron) as aroma/radiance
  • kamakam (ambiguous fragrant additive, possibly musk-like)
  • Śakti / universal Mother (Kaathayi, Uma, Savitri, Gayatri)
  • offering at the feet (pāda-sevā; surrender; transmission)
  • prasāda/medicine dual-use
  • wish-fulfillment vs siddhi (pakarkanavu ‘day-dream’ bearing fruit)

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “kamakam” is unclear: it may denote a specific perfume (musk/civet-like), a scenting agent, or a coded alchemical additive; the verse does not specify.
  • “ācciyavaḷ” can mean a virtuous householder woman/mother, a ‘chaste’ woman, or symbolically the Mother-Goddess herself; the grammar allows both devotional and domestic readings.
  • Whether the verse is a literal culinary/medicinal instruction, a temple-offering protocol, or an encoded inner-yoga/alchemical process (or intentionally all at once) remains open.
  • “pāycciyavaḷ” (“she who poured/caused to flow/impelled”) may refer to the goddess who bestows grace, or to the officiant/guru through whom the offering is given; thus “at her feet” can be goddess-centered or guru-centered.
  • “pākam” can mean a cooked syrup/tonic, a ‘share/portion’ to be distributed, or metaphorically a ‘boon’ ripened by practice and grace.
  • “pakarkanavu” can be read as ordinary daydreams (worldly desires) or as waking visions/intentions in a yogic sense; the ‘fruit’ can be mundane success or siddhi-like efficacy.