Golden Lay Verses

Verse 224 (ஞான வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

வண்ணமெலாம் வளமெல்லாம் வான மெல்லாம்

வருவதெலாம் போவதெல்லாம் மணப்ப தெல்லாம்

விண்ணகத்துக் காந்தமெலாம் கவர்ச்சி யெல்லாம்

மின்னலெலாம் வின்னலெல்லாம் விளைவ தெல்லாம்

துண்ணெனவே பாய்கதிர்கள் சுடர்க ளெல்லாம்

தோன்றிமறைந் தூடுரஸா யனங்க ளெல்லாம்

விண்ணகத்து விண்ணகமாம் வேத வைப்பாம்

வித்தையெனும் சித்தமதன் விளைவே கண்டீர்

Transliteration

vaṇṇamelām vaḷamellām vāna mellām

varuvatelām pōvatellām maṇappa tellām

viṇṇakattuk kāntamelām kavarcci yellām

minnalelām vinnalellām viḷaiva tellām

tuṇṇenavē pāykatirkaḷ cuṭarka ḷellām

tōṇrimaraint tūṭurasā yanangka ḷellām

viṇṇakattu viṇṇakamām vēta vaippām

vittaiyenum cittamatan viḷaivê kaṇṭīr

Literal Translation

All colours, all plenitude/abundance, all the sky;

all that comes, all that goes, all that gives fragrance;

all magnetism in the heavenly realm, all attraction;

all lightning, all thunder/roaring, all that is produced;

suddenly darting rays—every beam and every radiance;

appearing and disappearing—every “penetrating” rasāyana (elixir/alchemical medicine);

in the heavenly realm, the heaven itself is the stored treasure of the Veda—

see: it is the outcome (fruit) of that mind (cittam) called “vittai” (art/knowledge/technique).

Interpretive Translation

The Siddhar stacks up the whole field of experience—sensory qualities (colour, fragrance), movements (coming and going), subtle forces (magnetism/attraction), celestial phenomena (lightning, thunder, rays), and even rasāyana (rejuvenating/alchemical powers)—and then points to a single source: the cultivated mind/awareness called vittai. What is spoken of as “heaven” and even “the Veda-treasure” is not elsewhere; it is realized as an inner domain, disclosed as the mind’s own resultant power and knowing.

Philosophical Explanation

This verse works by cataloguing “everything” (ellām) across multiple registers—sense-perception (varṇam/colour, maṇappu/fragrance), temporal flux (coming/going), natural forces (kāntam/magnetism, kavarcci/attraction), luminous events (minnal/lightning, kātir/sun-ray), and Siddha-technical language (rasāyana). The rhetorical move is then to collapse the plurality into a single causal/intelligible ground: cittam shaped by vittai.

In Siddhar idiom, vittai can indicate more than ordinary learning: it can mean a disciplined ‘science’ of transformation—yogic method, mantra-vidyā, inner alchemy, and the operative knowledge that yields siddhis. Thus the verse can be read as asserting that the cosmos of qualities and powers is “produced” (viḷaivu) through consciousness trained by method.

“Viṇṇagam” (heaven/sky-world) is also a common double sign: it may denote the external celestial realm, but it can equally point to the inner ‘sky’ (ākāśa) of consciousness—often mapped in yogic physiology to the cranial space, the subtle interior where revelations occur. Calling it the “Veda-treasure” suggests that scriptural authority is re-sited as direct interior realization: the true ‘Veda’ is stored and accessed within that inner space when cittam is perfected.

Rasāyana here can be taken both medically (rejuvenative medicine, longevity discipline) and alchemically (transmutation through mercurial/mineral processes), but the phrase about “penetrating” rasāyanas also hints at subtle internalization: elixirs that permeate/infuse (ūḍuru) the body or channels, paralleling how yogic energy pervades and transforms. The verse therefore fuses natural imagery with Siddha psycho-physiology: the same mind-knowledge that reads the cosmos also operates within the body to generate radiance, attraction, and transformative potency.

Key Concepts

  • ellām (the totality of phenomena)
  • cittam (mind/awareness as causal ground)
  • vittai (method/knowledge/vidyā; yogic or operative science)
  • viṇṇagam (heaven/sky; also inner ākāśa)
  • kāntam (magnetism; attraction)
  • kavarcci (attraction; pull of desire or force)
  • minnal / vinnal (lightning; thunder/roaring)
  • kadhir / suḍar (ray; radiance/inner light)
  • rasāyana (rejuvenation, alchemy, transformative elixir)
  • Veda as ‘storehouse’ (scripture reinterpreted as inner realization)

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “viṇṇagam” can mean an external celestial realm or the inner ‘sky’ of consciousness (ākāśa) accessed in yogic realization.
  • “vittai” may be ordinary learning/skill, mantra-vidyā, yogic technique, or Siddha ‘science’ that produces siddhis; the verse deliberately keeps the scope open.
  • “kāntam” can be literal magnetism/force, or metaphorical attraction (including erotic/affective pull) depending on whether the emphasis is cosmological or psychological.
  • “vinnal” is commonly read as thunder/roaring paired with lightning, but it can also be taken as a broader sign for celestial sound/energy phenomena (nāda-like resonances).
  • “ūḍuru rasāyanangaḷ” can be read as rasāyanas that ‘permeate/penetrate’ the body (medical-yogic), or as subtle alchemical processes that ‘pierce through’ layers of matter and mind; the compound is intentionally compressed and cryptic.
  • The long enumeration of “all” may be a literal cosmological claim (mind as creator) or a non-dual epistemic claim (all appearances are mind-dependent); the verse does not force one reading.