Golden Lay Verses

Verse 161 (யோக வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

லோகமெலாம் யோகமெனக் கண்டார் தங்கள்

போகமெலாம் யோகமெனப் பொங்கும் பொங்கும்

Transliteration

lokamellām yōkamenaik kaṇḍār taṅgaḷ

pōkamellām yōkamenap poṅgum poṅgum

Literal Translation

Those who perceived the entire world as Yoga—

for them, all their enjoyment (bhoga) too swells as Yoga, swelling and swelling.

Interpretive Translation

For the accomplished ones, the whole field of worldly life becomes yogic discipline; even what is ordinarily called “pleasure” is transmuted into Yoga—rising within them as an ever-increasing surge (of inner bliss/force).

Philosophical Explanation

The couplet compresses a distinct Siddhar stance: realization is not necessarily framed as world-rejection, but as a shift of vision (kāṭci / dṛṣṭi). When “lōkam” (the world, the social and sensory field) is seen as “yōkam,” every encounter becomes material for union—attention, breath, conduct, and awareness are integrated rather than split into sacred vs. profane.

The second line intensifies this by using “pōkam” (enjoyment, pleasure, consumption of experience). In ordinary life, bhoga binds; in Siddhar yoga, bhoga can be redirected—either by discrimination (seeing its impermanence) or by alchemical sublimation (transforming desire-energy into yogic power). Thus “their bhoga becomes yoga”: pleasures no longer reinforce craving but are absorbed into practice, becoming a kind of “yogic fruition” rather than mere indulgence.

“Pongum pongum” (“swells, swells”) is intentionally open: it can describe (1) the overflowing of inner bliss (ānanda) as the mind becomes one-pointed; (2) the rising/surging of subtle force associated with kuṇḍalinī or prāṇa; or (3) the abundance of yogic ‘fruit’ (siddhi, clarity, equanimity) that expands when the world itself is handled as yoga. The verse therefore hints at a non-dual, integrationist yoga: the world is not an obstacle by definition; the yogi’s mode of seeing converts even enjoyment into a vehicle of union.

Key Concepts

  • Lōkam (world as field of experience)
  • Yōkam (yoga/union/discipline)
  • Pōkam (bhoga: enjoyment, pleasure, consumption of experience)
  • Non-dual or integrative yogic vision
  • Sublimation/transmutation of desire-energy
  • Ānanda (inner bliss) as yogic fruition
  • Kuṇḍalinī / prāṇa imagery suggested by “pongum”

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “Pōkam” can mean sensory indulgence, legitimate worldly enjoyment, or the ‘fruit’/yield of practice; the verse does not fix a single shade.
  • “Pongum pongum” may indicate bliss overflowing, prāṇic/kuṇḍalinī rise, or simply intensification/abundance of yogic attainment; all fit Siddhar idiom.
  • The line can be read as descriptive (how realized ones experience life) or as an implicit instruction (train the vision so that world and enjoyment are taken up as yoga).
  • It may also contain a mild warning-by-implication: only those who truly ‘see’ the world as yoga can let bhoga become yoga—otherwise bhoga remains bondage.