Golden Lay Verses

Verse 226 (ஞான வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

ஆயிரமாக் கதிர்கோடி யணைந்தூ டாடும்

அண்டாண்டக் கோடியெலாமுளைந்தூ டாடும்

பாயிரமா மணுக்களெலாம் பிறக்கும் சாகும்

பார்நீர்தீக் கால்வெளியாப் பரந்து நீடும்

மாயிரமா வின்வேகம் மின்வே கந்தான்

மதிவேகம் மனவேகம் கனவே கந்தான்

சேயிரமாப் பலவேகம் சீறிப் பொங்கும்

சித்தமெனும் சாகரத்தின் செறிவே கண்டீர்

Transliteration

Aayiramaak kathirkoadi yanaindhoo daadum

Andaandak koadiyelaamulainthoo daadum

Paayiramaa manukkalelaam pirakkum saakum

Paarneertheek kaalveliyaap paranthu needum

Maayiramaa vinveegam minvee kanthaan

Mathiveegam manaveegam kanavee kanthaan

Seyiramaap palaveegam seerip pongum

Siththamenum saagaraththin serivee kandeer

Literal Translation

A thousand-fold, crores of rays gather together and dance within.

Crores upon crores of cosmic-egg worlds all enter within and dance.

Countless atoms/particles are born and die.

They spread and extend as earth, water, fire, air, and space.

In ten-thousandfold ways: the speed of action (karma), the speed of lightning.

The speed of the moon, the speed of the mind, the speed of dreams.

Many more speeds, raging and surging—

Behold the compacted density (or concentrated essence) of the ocean called citta (mind/consciousness).

Interpretive Translation

Within the citta—an oceanic field of consciousness—innumerable lights, worlds, and elemental formations arise as movements. There, even atomic births and deaths occur; the five elements fan out; and velocities ranging from karmic momentum to lightning-like flashes, from lunar/intellective motion to mind and dream, churn and surge. This verse points to the immense, concentrated fullness of citta, in which the cosmos appears as an inner play.

Philosophical Explanation

The verse compresses a Siddhar microcosm–macrocosm vision: what is usually taken as an “outer” universe (rays, worlds, elements, creation and dissolution) is said to be seen “within” (உள்), i.e., within citta. “Citta as ocean” evokes the classical idea of consciousness as a vast reservoir of impressions (vāsanā/saṁskāra) whose waves are thoughts, perceptions, and worlds. The repeated emphasis on வேகம் (velocity) shifts the focus from static substance to dynamic vibration—phenomena are recognized as rates of movement (pranic, mental, karmic, and subtle energetic).

Pancha-bhuta language (earth–water–fire–air–space) indicates that all tangible and subtle experience is a spread or unfolding of elemental modes, not separate realities. “Atoms are born and die” can be read both cosmologically (ceaseless arising/ceasing at the smallest scale) and yogically (minute thought-particles forming and dissolving in awareness). The lightning-speed image suggests sudden inner flashes—either pranic surges, kundalini-like intensifications, or instantaneous cognition—while “moon-speed” can signify both the lunar orb’s motion and the mind/intellect’s reflective, waxing–waning nature. The closing command “Behold” frames the teaching as experiential: by entering and stabilizing awareness, one discerns the ‘density/condensation’ (செறிவு) of citta—its packed potency from which innumerable forms and tempos emerge.

Key Concepts

  • citta (சித்தம்) as ocean/reservoir of consciousness
  • microcosm–macrocosm correspondence (universe within)
  • pancha-bhuta (earth, water, fire, air, space)
  • anu/particles and impermanence (birth and death of atoms/thoughts)
  • vega (வேகம்): velocities of prana, mind, dream, karma, and subtle energies
  • light/rays (kathir) as inner luminosity or energetic radiance
  • cosmic dance as metaphor for vibratory manifestation
  • samadhi-like witnessing of inner totality

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “ஆயிரமாக் / மாயிரமா / சேயிரமா” may be literal numerical magnitudes (thousand-, ten-thousandfold, etc.) or idioms for ‘countless’/‘innumerable’; they can also function as intensifiers rather than arithmetic counts.
  • “கதிர்கோடி” can mean crores of sun-rays/light-rays, but in yogic reading may imply pranic radiance, inner ‘tejas’, or subtle channels/nadi-like emanations.
  • “அண்டாண்டக் கோடி” may be read as many ‘universes’ or as many ‘brahmāṇḍa’ (cosmic eggs); it can also imply multiple layers/planes of experience contained in consciousness.
  • “உள்ளைந்தூ/அணைந்தூ டாடும்” (‘entering within and dancing’) can point to phenomena appearing inside the yogi’s body, inside mind, or inside a formless awareness; the text leaves the ‘within’ deliberately unspecific.
  • “வின்வேகம்” can be read as the speed/momentum of action (viṉai/karma) or as a more general ‘force of activity’; its pairing with “மின்வேகம்” suggests intentional wordplay (karma-speed vs lightning/electric speed).
  • “மதிவேகம்” can mean the literal motion of the moon, or ‘mati’ as intellect/mental faculty; both readings fit the Siddhar habit of fusing cosmology with psychology.
  • “கனவேகம்” (‘dream-speed’) may refer to the rapidity of dream imagery, or more broadly to subtle-plane movements experienced in trance/vision.
  • “செறிவு” at the close can mean ‘density/packed thickness’ (the mind as densely full of impressions) or ‘concentrated essence/condensation’ (a distilled, alchemical-like concentration of consciousness); the verse keeps both senses available.