Golden Lay Verses

Verse 225 (ஞான வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

சத்தசத்தும் சித்தத்தின் சாரங் கண்டீர்

தத்துவமெல் லாம்சித்தத் தழைவேகண்டீர்

வித்தெல்லாம் விளைவெல்லாம் சித்தச் செய்யுள்

வேதாந்தம் போதாந்தம் சித்தாந் தந்தான்

சித்தசித்துச் செறிவெல்லாம் சித்தச் சேப்பு

திகழ்காந்த மின்கவர்ச்சி சித்தக் கோப்பு

தத்துகனற் சுடர்யாவும் சித்தத் துள்ளே

தரணியெலா மரணியெலாம் சித்தத் துள்ளே

Transliteration

saththasaththum siththaththin saarang kandeer

thaththuvamel laamsiththath thazhaivaekandeer

viththellaam vilaivellaam siththach cheyyul

vaethaantham bothaantham siththaan thanthaan

siththasiththuch serivellaam siththach saeppu

thigazhkaantha minkavarchchi siththak koppu

thaththukanar chudaryaavum siththath thullae

tharaniyelaa maraniyelaam siththath thullae

Literal Translation

You have seen the essence of the mind (citta) as both “being” and “non‑being.”

You have seen that all tattvas/principles are but the mind’s own sprouting.

All seeds and all yield/fruit are the mind’s making (or the mind’s composed utterance).

Vedānta, Bodhānta—(all of it) is Siddhānta indeed.

All “mind‑powers” (citta‑siddhi) and all firmness/concentration are the mind’s vessel (citta‑ceppu).

The shining magnet and electric attraction are the mind’s bundle/store (citta‑koppu).

All the flames/lusters of the tattva‑fire are within the mind.

All the earth/world, and all death/mortality, are within the mind.

Interpretive Translation

The Siddhar points to the mind as the subtle ground in which opposites—existence and non‑existence—appear and dissolve. What people call “principles of reality,” “causes and effects,” “seed and harvest,” even the competing final doctrines of Vedānta and Bodhānta, are presented as formations within citta. Yogic attainments and concentrative stability are not outside acquisitions but refinements inside the same inner “vessel.” The verse also hints that the forces experienced as attraction, polarity, and inner fire—whether read as prāṇic currents, kundalini dynamics, or alchemical heat—operate within the field of mind. Ultimately, the whole cosmos of solidity (earth) and the boundary of dissolution (death) are said to be contained in, and interpreted through, citta.

Philosophical Explanation

1) Citta as the matrix of sath/asath: “சத்/அசத்” (being/non‑being) is a classic nondual pivot. The verse does not merely say the mind thinks about being and non‑being; it implies that their discernment and experience occur within citta, suggesting a nondual psychology where apparent ontological opposites are modes of inner knowing.

2) Tattvas as “sprouts” of mind: “தத்துவமெல்லாம் … தழைவு” frames tattvas (categories such as the elements, senses, mind, etc., in Siddha/Saiva and broader Indian schemes) as derivative growths. This can be read as (a) an epistemic claim: they are known only as mind-forms; and/or (b) a yogic-metaphysical claim: the manifest universe unfolds from subtle consciousness/mind.

3) Seed and fruit: “வித்து/விளைவு” evokes karma and causality—latent tendencies (seeds) and their experiential outcomes (fruits). By locating both within citta, the Siddhar emphasizes that bondage and liberation hinge on transforming the mind’s latent impressions (vāsanā/saṃskāra) and the way results are cognized.

4) Vedānta, Bodhānta, Siddhānta: The line collapses doctrinal boundaries. Rather than ranking schools by argument, it implies that the ‘end’ (anta) of teaching—whether Vedānta (often Advaitic), Bodhānta (awakening/Buddhist or “doctrine of bodha”), or Siddhānta (here possibly Saiva Siddhānta or “the proven conclusion”)—is realized inwardly when citta is understood. In Siddhar idiom this often serves a practical polemic: texts are secondary to direct yogic knowing.

5) “Vessel” imagery (செப்பு) and alchemical undertone: “செப்பு” can denote copper and by extension a vessel/crucible. Siddha traditions frequently use metallurgical language for inner transformation (purification, calcination/heat, transmutation). Calling concentration and siddhi the mind’s ‘vessel’ suggests that the mind is the laboratory: powers and stability are products of an internal refining process, not external gifts.

6) Magnetism/electric attraction as inner force: “காந்தம் / மின்கவர்ச்சி” can be read physiologically and yogically: attraction/repulsion, polarity, and current resemble prāṇa dynamics (iḍā–piṅgalā balance, the ‘pull’ of objects, the compelling force of desire). The verse implies these forces, too, are functions within citta—either as energetic phenomena experienced inwardly or as the mind’s capacity to be “drawn” toward objects.

7) Inner fire: “கனல்/சுடர்” resonates with digestive fire (jaṭharāgni), yogic heat (tapas), and alchemical fire used to ‘cook’ medicines/rasāyana. By stating that all such flames are within citta, the Siddhar hints that transformative heat—whether physiological metabolism, kundalini intensity, or disciplined tapas—must be understood as an inner operation.

8) Earth and death within mind: Bringing “earth/world” and “death/mortality” inside citta makes a radical claim: even the most concrete (earth) and the most final (death) are mediated by mind. Practically, this points to fear, grasping, and embodiment as mind-constructed experiences; contemplatively, it echoes microcosm–macrocosm doctrine (the universe mirrored in the inner field) common in Siddha yoga and medicine.

Key Concepts

  • citta (mind-field) as locus of experience
  • sat/asat (being and non-being)
  • tattva (principles/categories of manifestation)
  • seed and fruit (karma; vāsanā/saṃskāra and its results)
  • Vedānta / Bodhānta / Siddhānta (doctrinal endpoints reframed as inner realization)
  • citta-siddhi (powers/attainments; yogic accomplishment)
  • concentration/firmness (seRivu: stability, density, consolidation of mind)
  • alchemical vessel metaphor (ceppu: copper/vessel/crucible)
  • magnetism and electric attraction (polarity; prāṇic dynamics; desire/gravitation of mind)
  • inner fire (agni/tapas; metabolic and yogic heat)
  • microcosm–macrocosm (world within the inner field)
  • mortality/death as mind-mediated experience

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “சத்தசத்தும்” can mean (a) ontological being/non-being or (b) ‘truth/untruth’ in an ethical-epistemic sense; the verse can be read either as metaphysics or as a statement about cognition.
  • “சித்தம்” may refer to ordinary mind, the purified yogic mind, or the siddha-aware consciousness; the verse’s scope shifts depending on this.
  • “தழைவு” (sprouting/foliation) could imply ontological emanation (world unfolds from mind) or epistemic dependence (tattvas appear only as mind-contents).
  • “செய்யுள்” can mean ‘poetic composition/utterance’ or more broadly ‘that which is done/made’; thus “seed and fruit are mind’s poem” vs “mind’s action/agency.”
  • “வேதாந்தம் போதாந்தம் … சித்தாந்தம்” could mean (a) all doctrines culminate in Siddhānta, (b) the true ‘conclusion’ (siddhānta) is simply citta-known, or (c) a deliberate levelling: doctrinal labels are secondary to realization.
  • “செப்பு” can be ‘copper’ (alchemical crucible) or ‘speech/utterance’ (in some contexts); here it may suggest either an inner laboratory-vessel or the mind’s ‘formulation/statement.’
  • “கோப்பு” can mean bundle, storehouse, enclosure, or ‘collection’; hence magnet/electric attraction may be described as the mind’s stored capacity, its assemblage of tendencies, or its enclosing field.
  • “தத்துகனல்” may be read as ‘tattva-fire’ (elemental/metabolic/yogic fire) or as a cryptic compound pointing to a specific internal heat used in Siddha alchemy/medicine.
  • “தரணி … மரணி” is textually and semantically slippery: it can read as ‘earth/world and death/mortality,’ but some manuscript traditions might imply different paired terms (e.g., world/woods or world/fire-stick imagery). The verse may intentionally keep both cosmic (earth) and existential (death) registers in play.