யோகத்தின் நேரமதைக் கோழி கூவும்
யோகத்தின் வேகமதைக் கூர்மம் செப்பும்
யோகத்தின் நாடியதை உரகம் கூறும்
யோகத்தின் பிடியதனை உடும்பு சொல்லும்
யோகத்தின் பிண்ணாக்கைத் தாரை தீட்டும்
யோகத்தின் உண்ணாக்கைத் தேரை காட்டும்
யோகத்தின் அடிமுடிதான் மூலஞ் சேர்ந்து
யோக தண்ட மேலுச்சிக் குடும்ப னாமே
yōkattiṉ nēramataik kōḻi kūvum
yōkattiṉ vēkamataik kūrmaṁ ceppum
yōkattiṉ nāṭiyatai urakam kūṟum
yōkattiṉ piṭiyataṉai uṭumpu collum
yōkattiṉ piṇṇākkait tārai tīṭṭum
yōkattiṉ uṇṇākkait tērai kāṭṭum
yōkattiṉ aṭimuṭitāṉ mūlañ cērntu
yōka taṇṭa mēluccik kuṭumba ṉāmē.
The time for yoga—the rooster will crow it.
The speed (or manner of movement) of yoga—the tortoise will declare it.
The nāḍīs of yoga—the serpent will tell of them.
The “grip/hold” (pidi) of yoga—the monitor-lizard will speak of it.
The “back-tongue” (piṇṇākku / piṉ-nākku) of yoga—the thārai will whet (sharpen) it.
The “eating-tongue” (uṇṇākku) of yoga—the frog will point it out.
Yoga’s bottom-and-top join at the root (mūlam).
Above, at the crown of the yogic staff (daṇḍa), one becomes ‘Kuḍumban’.
Practice is to be taken up at the right hour—signaled by the rooster: the auspicious dawn-time when breath is naturally steady.
Let the practice proceed in the turtle’s way: slow, contained, and inward-drawn rather than hurried.
Trace and awaken the inner channels as the serpent does: the coiled power and its pathway through the nāḍīs.
Hold firmly, like the clinging monitor-lizard: steadiness in posture, locks, and especially breath-retention.
Refine the inner tongue-work: the posterior tongue/palate is “sharpened” (trained) so it can seal, taste, or turn upward.
The front tongue (the tongue of eating/speech) is to be mastered as well—shown by the frog (a symbol of a tongue that darts and withdraws).
When the ‘bottom’ and the ‘top’ are made one—root and summit joined—breath rises along the spinal staff (suṣumṇā),
and at the crown one abides in the culminating state, named cryptically here as ‘Kuḍumban’ (the fulfilled one / the Lord-at-the-summit).
This is a Siddhar-style coded instruction set, mapping stages or requirements of yogic accomplishment onto familiar creatures.
1) Time (kōḻi / rooster): In Tamil yogic lore, dawn is privileged (brahma-muhūrta); the verse frames “right time” as an outer sign that corresponds to an inner readiness—when prāṇa is naturally calm and sattvic.
2) Pace and inwardness (kūrma / tortoise): The tortoise is a classic emblem for pratyāhāra (withdrawal of senses) and for slow, sealed movement. In breath-work it implies measured prāṇāyāma rather than aggressive force.
3) Nāḍī and kuṇḍalinī (uragam / serpent): “Serpent” points to both the network of subtle channels and the coiled ascent of kuṇḍalinī. The verse does not specify a single channel, but in Siddhar physiology it commonly implies directing prāṇa into the central path (suṣumṇā).
4) The hold (uḍumbu / monitor-lizard): ‘Pidi’ is the idea of gripping/holding—suggestive of kumbhaka (retention), bandhas (locks), and unwavering fixation (ekāgratā). The monitor-lizard’s tenacious clinging becomes a metaphor for not releasing the gathered prāṇa.
5) Tongue–palate alchemy (piṇṇākku, uṇṇākku): Siddhar yoga frequently treats the mouth/throat as an alchemical gate—where the upward current is sealed and where “nectar” (amṛta/bindu) is conserved. Training the tongue (often linked with khecarī-mudrā traditions: stretching, turning, sealing) is presented in two parts: a ‘back’ tongue and a ‘front/eating’ tongue—i.e., controlling both the physical organ and the impulses of speech/taste that dissipate energy.
6) Root-to-crown joining (aḍi–muḍi… mūlam; yoga-daṇḍa): ‘Bottom and top’ indicates the non-dual closure of the vertical axis—mūlādhāra (root) and the crown (sahasrāra) functioning as one circuit. ‘Yoga-daṇḍa’ is a common Siddhar term for the spinal axis/central channel. When prāṇa is stabilized and lifted, consciousness “stands” at the summit.
7) ‘Kuḍumban’: The final name is intentionally cryptic. It can point to (a) the realized state at the crown, (b) Śiva as the “one who has the household” (Uma–Śiva unity), or (c) a coded technical term for the culminating seal/retention. The poem preserves the Siddhar habit of naming attainment obliquely rather than explicitly stating ‘samādhi’.