உப்பினத்தை யேதேடி யுழலா மற்றான்
உள்ளமதி லேதெளிந்தா ரூதும் தாரை
சப்பினமாம் பகைநட்பும் சமமாய்ப் போகச்
சாவினத்தின் கப்பியெலா மகற்றிப் போடு
தப்பறியாத் தவச்சாவி தன்னைக் கொண்டே
சகஜநிலைத் தாள்திறந்து சமாதி கூடு
ஒப்பறியாக் குருநாதன் துணையாய் நிற்க
உத்தமனே யோகநிலை கிட்டும் பாரே
uppinaththai yEthEdi yuzhalA maRRAn
uLLamathi lEththuLaindhA rUdhum thArai
sappinamAm pagainatpum samamAyp pOgach
sAvinaththin kappiyelA magaRRip pOdu
thappaRiyAth thavachchAvi thannaik koNdE
sahajanilaith thALthiRandhu samAdhi kUdu
oppaRiyAk kurunAdhan thuNaiyAy niRka
uththamanE yOganilai kittum pArE.
Do not roam about searching for the “salt-kind.”
When the intellect in the mind becomes clear, the trumpet is sounded.
Let the dregs called enmity and friendship pass into sameness;
cast away all the “guards/bindings” belonging to the clan of death.
With the faultless key of tapas (austerity/discipline) in hand,
open the latch of the sahaja-state and unite with samādhi.
When the incomparable Guru-Lord stands as your support,
O noble one—see!—the yogic state will be obtained.
Do not waste your life chasing external ingredients or classifications (the “salt-kind”).
When the mind becomes lucid, the inner call (like a trumpet) arises.
When friend and foe are seen evenly, and the residues of partiality fall away,
the constricting bonds of mortality are driven out.
Using the unerring “key” of disciplined practice,
you open the natural (sahaja) inner door and enter samādhi.
With the matchless Guru as your firm support,
yoga ripens into attainment.
The verse moves from outward seeking to inward stabilization. The opening prohibition—“do not roam seeking the salt-kind”—can be read as a warning against chasing externals: either (1) worldly pursuits and social identities, or (2) alchemical “salts” and technical ingredients pursued as ends in themselves. In Siddhar idiom, “salt” (uppu) often points to bodily/chemical principles and the tangible side of practice; the poet redirects the seeker from wandering acquisition to interior clarity.
Once the mind’s discernment becomes “clear,” an inner sign appears: “the trumpet is sounded.” This can indicate nāda (inner sound), the awakening call of practice, or the moment when prāṇa becomes steady enough that subtler perception emerges. The next instruction is ethical-psychological and yogic: friendship and enmity—treated as “dregs/impurities”—must become equal (samam). Equanimity is not moral indifference but the cessation of reactive polarity that keeps attention scattered.
With equanimity comes release from “the guards/bindings of the clan of death.” Mortality here functions as both literal death and the entire regime of limitation—fear, time-bound identity, and karmic compulsion. “Kappi” can suggest custody, restraint, or warding forces; the line implies removing whatever keeps consciousness confined to the perishable.
The practical instrument is “the faultless key of tapas.” Tapas is disciplined heat: sustained practice, restraint, and the transformative ‘fire’ that ripens body-mind. With this “key,” one opens the “latch” (thāḷ) of sahaja-nilai—the natural state. Sahaja is portrayed as a door that is already present but latched; it is not manufactured, only unlocked. “Uniting with samādhi” then becomes the stabilization of that natural state rather than a temporary trance.
Finally, the verse anchors attainment in grace and correct guidance: the incomparable Guru stands as aid/support. The culminating promise—“the yogic state will be obtained”—frames realization as a convergence of inner clarity, equanimity, disciplined practice, and Guru-shelter, while leaving room for the Siddhar’s characteristic cryptic references to inner signs and alchemical parallels.