நானென்னு மோரகந்தை பிறப்ப தெங்கே?
நாளுடனே கோள்பலவும் நடப்ப தெங்கே?
வானென்ன வேயகண்டம் வனைவ தெங்கே?
மாகாரும் மின்காந்தம் புனைவதெங்கே?
மீனென்னக் கவர்ச்சியெலாம் விளைவதெங்கே?
மேவுரஸா யங்கள்தரும் வித்தை யேனோ?
கோனென்ன யிவை மூலம் கண்டான் சித்தன்
கோப்புச்செய லறிவான்விஞ் ஞான வெத்தன்
naanennu moorakanthai pirappa thengae?
naaludanae koalpalavum nadappa thengae?
vaanenna veyakandam vanaiva thengae?
maakaarum minkaandham punaivadhengae?
meenennak kavarciyelaam vilaivadhengae?
maevurasaa yangaltharum viththai yaeno?
koanenna yivai moolam kandaan siddhan
koappucchey alarivaanvinj gnaana veththan
“Where is the musk-like fragrance called ‘I’ (nāṉ) born?
Where do the days, and the many planets, carry on their courses?
Where is the sky-like ‘veyakāṇḍam’ fashioned?
Where is the ‘magnetic lightning’ (min-kāntam) that draws/attracts, constructed?
Where are all the fish-like attractions produced?
What indeed is the skill/technique that yields the praised rasāyanas?
The Siddha has seen the root-source of these—
he is the scientific knower who understands the operation/work of the ‘kōppu’ (vessel/apparatus).”
“From what hidden ground does the feeling ‘I’ arise, as though it were a subtle scent?
Where do time and planetary forces truly ‘move’—in what field do they operate?
Where is the vast ‘sky’ compounded, and where is the inner magnetism that pulls living beings toward objects?
Where does the whole economy of fascination—compulsion, desire, lure—come into being?
What is the method that can yield rasāyana: renewal, transmutation, and long life?
The Siddha claims to have traced these effects back to their source, and to know the right ‘vessel’—whether the laboratory crucible or the body itself—through which the work is done.”
The verse is framed as a chain of riddling questions (“Where is it made? where does it run?”) typical of Siddhar instruction: it pushes the reader away from taking cosmic phenomena as merely external and toward locating their ‘manufacture-site’ (the causal workshop) in a subtler domain.
1) Ego as “fragrance”: “nāṉ” (I) is treated as something that “arises” and can be traced to a source, rather than as an ultimate identity. Calling it a kind of scent suggests it is pervasive yet intangible—detectable by its effects, not graspable as a thing.
2) Time and planets: “days” and “planets” can be read both cosmologically and microcosmically. Siddhar traditions frequently map the macrocosm onto the body (nāḍi, cakra, internal ‘worlds’), implying that astrological/time-forces are experienced and enacted through the psycho-physical complex.
3) “Sky” being fashioned: if ‘sky’ is something “made,” then the apparent expanse of the world is not simply given; it is an appearance constructed in/through consciousness (or through the elemental body). The cryptic term “veyakāṇḍam” preserves the Siddhar habit of using coded technical vocabulary that can point to an inner region, an element-process, or an alchemical stage.
4) Magnetism and attraction: “min-kāntam” (magnetic/pulling power, with the shimmer of lightning) naturally resonates with kuṇḍalinī/śakti language (a force that both illuminates and compels), and also with alchemical magnetism (the ‘pull’ that joins, fixes, or transforms substances). The following line on “attractions” underscores that desire/compulsion is a force with a discoverable origin.
5) Rasāyana: in Siddha usage, rasāyana can mean medicines of rejuvenation and longevity, but also an inner yogic-alchemical accomplishment—stabilizing the body-mind, refining the ‘essences,’ and reversing decay. The verse asks for the underlying “vittai” (art/secret method) that makes such transmutation possible.
6) “Kōppu” as vessel/apparatus (and possibly the body): the closing identifies the Siddha as one who knows the correct ‘operation’ of the kōppu. This can refer to an actual alchemical vessel/crucible and its procedures, while simultaneously hinting that the human body (or a particular internal ‘container’ such as the head/heart/navel field) is the true laboratory. The ‘root’ (mūlam) is thus both metaphysical (the source of ego, time, attraction) and practical (the point from which yogic/alchemical transformation proceeds).