Golden Lay Verses

Verse 217 (ஞான வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

வித்தென்பான் முளையென்பான் மின்வீச் சென்பான்

வெய்பென்பான் காந்தத்தின் கப்பே யென்பான்

வித்தையடா விண்ணெல்லாம் சுழலும் மார்க்கம்

விந்தையடா ஆகர்ஷண வியப்பே யென்பான்

வெத்தறிவாம் கனியறியான் மேற்றோ லுண்பான்

விஞ்ஞானி யவனறிவைப் பழிக்க வில்லை

சித்தறிவான் சத்தறிவான் சித்தன் சித்தன்

சித்தத் திலேசிருட்டிச் சித்தங் காண்பான்

Transliteration

viththenbaan muḷaiyenbaan minvīch senbaan

veypenbaan kaanthaththin kappē yenbaan

viththaiyadaa viṇṇellaam suzhalum maarkkam

vinthaiyadaa aakarṣaṇa viyappē yenbaan

veththarivaam kaniyariyaan mēttṟō luṇbaan

viññaani yavanarivaip pazhikka villai

siththarivaan saththarivaan siththan siththan

siththath thilēsiruttis siththang kaaṇbaan

Literal Translation

“He will call it ‘seed’; he will call it ‘sprout’; he will call it a ‘flash of lightning’.

He will call it ‘heat’; he will call it ‘the inside/core of the magnet’.

It is a marvel—the path by which the entire sky (the heavens) keeps turning.

It is a marvel—he says—the wonder of attraction.

Not knowing the ripe fruit that is true knowledge, he eats only the upper peel/rind.

The man of science does not (thereby) revile that knowledge.

One who knows the mind; one who knows the ‘saththam/sattham’—a Siddha, a Siddha.

Creating within the mind itself, he beholds the mind (the citta).”

Interpretive Translation

What is one force is given many names: seed and sprout (potential and unfolding), lightning and heat (energy’s flash and warmth), even the magnet’s hidden core (the unseen pull).

That same “way” is what makes the heavens revolve—the principle of attraction.

Yet the unripe knower mistakes outer signs for the essence, chewing the peel instead of tasting the fruit.

A true investigator does not merely mock such knowing; the Siddha goes further—he understands mind and inner resonance/truth, and by generating within mind, directly sees mind’s own nature.

Philosophical Explanation

1) One reality, many labels: The opening sequence lists different “names” for what is treated as a single operative principle: seed→sprout (latent power becoming manifest), lightning→heat (subtle energy appearing as electrical flash and thermal force), and the “inside of the magnet” (the hidden source of a pull that acts at a distance). The verse critiques the tendency to reify names, while hinting that diverse phenomena share one underlying dynamic.

2) “The path by which the heavens revolve”: “விண்ணெல்லாம் சுழலும் மார்க்கம்” points to an ordering principle that governs cosmic rotation—readable as gravitation/attraction in a physical register, and as Śakti/Prāṇa in a yogic register. By pairing this with “ஆகர்ஷண” (attraction), the text deliberately blurs physics and siddhi-language: the same term can mean magnetism, desire/pull, gravitational draw, or yogic power to attract.

3) Ripened fruit vs. peel: The line about eating the “upper peel” is a compact epistemic critique. The “fruit” is mature, assimilable wisdom (experience-realization); the peel is external description, jargon, or partial demonstrations of power. The verse suggests that without ripening (inner maturation), one may handle concepts of force/attraction and yet miss their essence.

4) The stance toward ‘science/knowing’: “விஞ்ஞானி” (vijnāni/scientist/knower) introduces a second layer: genuine inquiry does not simply sneer at imperfect formulations. It may recognize partial truth in them, or refuse to condemn knowledge because of crude naming. The Siddhar voice often positions itself not as anti-empirical, but as pointing beyond mere classification to direct seeing.

5) Siddha knowing as reflexive cognition: “சித்தறிவான் … சித்தத் திலே … சித்தங் காண்பான்” frames the Siddha method: mind is both the field and the instrument. Through inner ‘creation’ (sankalpa, visualization, yogic experimentation) within citta, the Siddha “sees citta”—i.e., attains reflexive awareness, where mind’s movements and their source become directly known. “சத்தறிவான்” may indicate mastery of inner sound (nāda) or of ‘sat/tattva’ (truth/principle), linking yogic audition/vibration with ontological certainty.

6) Possible alchemical resonance: Siddhar literature often uses magnet/heat imagery in rasavāda: heat as the agent of transformation (calcination/saṃskāra), magnet as selective attraction (drawing essence, separating subtle from gross). In that reading, the verse hints that the same transformative principle operates in body, matter, and cosmos—and the immature practitioner stays at outer operations (peel) rather than the “ripened” realization (fruit).

Key Concepts

  • வித்து / seed (potential, cause)
  • முளை / sprout (manifestation, unfolding)
  • மின்வீச்சு / lightning-flash (sudden energy, pranic surge)
  • வெய்ப்பு / heat (inner fire, transformative energy)
  • காந்தம் / magnet (hidden pull, selective attraction)
  • ஆகர்ஷண / attraction (magnetism, gravitation, desire, siddhi)
  • விண்ணெல்லாம் சுழலும் மார்க்கம் / the principle by which the heavens revolve (cosmic order)
  • கனி vs. தோல் / fruit vs. peel (essence vs. surface knowledge)
  • சித்தம் / citta (mind-field)
  • சத்தம்/சத்த / inner sound or truth-principle (nāda or sat-tattva)
  • Reflexive knowing / mind seeing mind (direct yogic insight)

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “வித்தை” can mean “seed” (vittu) by resonance, but also “knowledge/art/technique” (viththai). The verse may deliberately fuse ‘seed-force’ with ‘knowledge-method’.
  • “காந்தத்தின் கப்பே” may mean the magnet’s ‘interior/core’, or its ‘cover/casing’; either way it points to an unseen source rather than the visible surface.
  • “விண்ணெல்லாம்” can mean the literal sky/heavens (astral bodies) or the subtle ‘space’ (ākāśa) within yogic anatomy; “revolving” may be astronomical motion or cyclic movement of prāṇa.
  • “ஆகர்ஷண” can be read as physical attraction (magnetism/gravity), psychological pull (desire/attachment), or a yogic siddhi (aakarshana-shakti). The verse keeps these registers overlapping.
  • “வெத்தறிவாம் கனியறியான்” may mean “he does not know the ripened fruit of true (heated/intense) knowledge,” or “without the ‘heat’ of discernment, he cannot know the fruit.”
  • “மேற்றோலுண்பான்” (eats the upper peel) could imply: (a) grasping external doctrines, (b) indulging in showy powers while missing essence, or (c) mistaking outer bodily processes for inner realization.
  • “விஞ்ஞானி யவன் அறிவைப் பழிக்க வில்லை” can be read as: (a) ‘the scientist does not blame that (kind of) knowledge,’ or (b) ‘the true knower does not disparage another’s understanding,’ implying methodological humility rather than endorsement.
  • “சத்தறிவான்” may be “one who knows sound (nāda/shabda)” or “one who knows sat (truth/being)”; the line can thus point either to nāda-yoga or to ontological discernment.
  • “சித்தத்தில் சிருட்டி” can mean ‘creates within mind’ (sankalpa/visualization) or ‘brings forth (manifests) within citta’—leaving open whether the emphasis is on yogic construction or on witnessing the arising of mind-states.