Golden Lay Verses

Verse 216 (ஞான வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

கட்டாத கட்டதுவாம் கட்டற் றோர்க்கே

காணாத காட்சியடா கண்ணுள் ளோர்க்கே

எட்டாதே எட்டுமடா ஏகாந் தத்தே

இசையாதே இசைக்குமடா பரநா தத்தே

வெட்டாத சக்கரங்காண் வேதாந் தத்தே

விளையாதே விளைமுனையாம் போதாந் தத்தே

கிட்டாதே கிட்டுமடா சித்தாந் தத்தே

கிட்டிநிற்பா ரொட்டிநிற்பார் சித்தா சித்தர்

Transliteration

kattAtha kattathuvAm kattar rOrkkE

kANaatha kAtsiyadA kaNNuL LOrkkE

ettAthE ettumadA EkAn thaththE

isaiyAthE isaikkumadA paranA thaththE

vettAtha sakkarangkAN vEthAn thaththE

viLaiyAthE viLaimunaiyAm pOthAn thaththE

kittAthE kittumadA siththAn thaththE

kittinirpA rottinirpAr siththA siththar

Literal Translation

For those who have cut the bond, what is “not tied” becomes tied (i.e., held/secured).

For those who have the eye within the eye, the vision that was not seen is seen.

Without “reaching,” it is reached—in ekānta (the One/solitude).

Without sounding, it makes music—in the Supreme Nāda (sound).

See the uncut/unsevered wheel (cakra)—in Vedānta.

Without “playing,” it is the very tip/edge of fruition—(in) Bodhānta.

Without drawing near, it comes near—(in) Siddhānta.

Those who stand having come near will stand; those who stand clinging will stick fast—Siddhā, Siddhars.

Interpretive Translation

When attachment has truly been cut, the ungraspable becomes grasped without grasping.

When awareness turns inward, the “unseen” reveals itself as direct inner seeing.

What cannot be reached by effort is attained in the non-dual solitude of ekānta.

What cannot be produced by instruments is heard as the supreme inner resonance (paranāda/anāhata).

In the vision of Vedānta one discerns the subtle wheel—unbroken, not subject to ordinary cutting.

In the consummation of awakening (bodhānta), ripeness arrives without the mind’s sport.

In siddhānta (the way of siddhas/established doctrine), nearness happens without approaching.

The true Siddhar abides by being established; the one who “clings” remains stuck—even if standing near.

Philosophical Explanation

The verse is built from paradoxes of the form “without doing X, X happens,” a common Siddhar strategy to undermine the seeker’s outward striving and redirect attention to the conditions of realization.

1) “Not tied becomes tied” (கட்டாத கட்டதுவாம்): “Kattal” (to tie/bind) can mean ordinary bondage (attachment), but also yogic “bandha” (energetic locks) and even the act of securing/holding the mind. The paradox suggests: when the egoic knot is cut (கட்டற் றோர்), the Absolute—normally ‘untieable’—is ‘secured’ as one’s own nature. Attainment is not acquisition but the cessation of the binding that prevented recognition.

2) “Unseen sight for the eye-within” (கண்ணுள் ளோர்): Siddhar diction often points to “inner eye” (jñāna-dṛṣṭi). It implies sensory reversal (pratyāhāra-like inward turning) where what is beyond ordinary perception becomes evident. This can also refer to subtle physiology: inner channels, lights, or breath-current being “seen” directly.

3) “Without reaching, reached in ekānta” (ஏகாந்தம்): Ekānta can mean solitude, the One, or non-dual singleness. The line suggests that the goal is not reached by spatial or conceptual approach; it is realized by the collapse of distance (subject-object split). The ‘without reaching’ also critiques spiritual ambition.

4) “Without sounding, it resounds in paranāda” (பரநாதம்): This points to the ‘unstruck sound’ (anāhata nāda)—a yogic sign in deep meditation—heard not through external vibration but through refined awareness. “Paranāda” can also be read theologically as the primordial sound-principle (śabda-brahman) prior to articulated speech.

5) “Uncut wheel/cakra in Vedānta” (வெட்டாத சக்கரம்… வேதாந்தம்): “Cakra” may indicate subtle centers (cakras), the wheel of breath/time, or the wheel of saṃsāra. “Vettātha” (uncut/unsevered) can imply an ‘akhaṇḍa’ (unbroken) continuity seen by the Vedāntic witness—or the wheel that cannot be cut by ordinary means. Siddhar ambiguity allows both: (a) Vedānta sees the ceaseless wheel as a superimposition, and (b) Vedānta also speaks of the unbroken whole.

6) “Without play, the tip of fruition—Bodhānta” (போதாந்தம்): “Vilaiyāde” (without play/sport) can mean without mental restlessness, without līlā-like distraction, or without indulging the senses. “Vilai muṉai” (the tip/edge of ripening) evokes a ripe end-point of maturation—awakening that arrives when the mind stops ‘playing.’ “Bodhānta” can be read as the end/culmination (anta) of bodha (awakening/knowledge).

7) “Without nearing, it comes near—Siddhānta” (சித்தாந்தம்): The truth is not approached as an object; rather, when the appropriate condition (establishedness, siddhi-as-maturity) is present, the ‘goal’ is discovered to be already intimate. If “Siddhānta” is read specifically as Śaiva Siddhānta, the line can also hint at grace (aruḷ): nearness is granted, not seized.

8) “Those who stand having attained stand; those who stand clinging stick” (கிட்டிநிற்பார் / ஒட்டிநிற்பார்): The verse contrasts being established (niṣṭhā) with mere adherence. One may “stand near” the teaching or experiences, yet if one “sticks” (otti) through attachment—especially attachment to siddhis, visions, or doctrines—one remains bound. The closing “Siddhā, Siddhar” both salutes the realized and warns the aspirant: siddhahood is abiding freedom, not proximity or display.

Overall, the text threads Vedānta, Bodhānta, and Siddhānta as vantage points or stages, but refuses to make realization depend on any external method. The repeated structure points to a central Siddhar claim: the supreme is realized by undoing—untying, unseeking, unplaying—until the inner eye and inner sound reveal what was never absent.

Key Concepts

  • கட்டு / கட்டறுத்தல் (bondage and cutting bonds; also bandha)
  • Inner eye (கண்ணுள் கண்) and inward seeing
  • Ekānta (solitude / the One / non-dual singleness)
  • Paranāda / anāhata nāda (unstruck inner sound)
  • Cakra (wheel; subtle centers; saṃsāra/breath-time wheel)
  • Vedānta (witnessing/non-dual framing)
  • Bodhānta (culmination of awakening/knowledge)
  • Siddhānta (established conclusion; possibly Śaiva Siddhānta / grace)
  • Effortless attainment via cessation of grasping
  • Abiding (standing established) vs clinging (sticking to experiences/powers)

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “கட்டாத கட்டதுவாம்” can mean (a) the unbindable becomes bound/secured for the liberated, (b) breath/energy is ‘tied’ without physical tying through yogic bandha, or (c) the world’s bondage is seen as already ‘untied’ once the knot of ego is cut.
  • “கண்ணுள் ளோர்” may denote the ‘inner eye’ (jñāna vision) or a literal subtle-physiological locus (between brows/within the eye), keeping yogic anatomy and epistemology intentionally merged.
  • “ஏகாந்தம்” can be solitude (retreat), the One (eka), or non-dual absorption; the verse does not force a single sense.
  • “பரநாதம்” may be the yogic anāhata sound heard in meditation, or the metaphysical primordial sound-principle; both readings fit the ‘unsounded yet sounding’ paradox.
  • “வெட்டாத சக்கரம்” can mean an unbroken whole perceived by Vedānta, the subtle cakra-system (not physically ‘cuttable’), or the wheel of saṃsāra seen (and thereby transcended) without violent severing.
  • “போதாந்தம்” is not a fixed standard term; it can be read as ‘end of bodha (awakening),’ or as a named doctrinal vantage comparable to Vedānta/Siddhānta.
  • “கிட்டிநிற்பார் / ஒட்டிநிற்பார்” may contrast (a) established realization vs attachment, or (b) true nearness (identity) vs mere proximity to teachings/sects/experiences.
  • The triad “Vedānta–Bodhānta–Siddhānta” can be interpreted as (a) successive stages, (b) three complementary lenses, or (c) a deliberate leveling of sectarian hierarchies by showing the same paradoxical truth in all.