Golden Lay Verses

Verse 238 (ஞான வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

அணுவுக்கு எணுவாகக் குறுகி நிற்பான்

அணுவுக்கு எணுவுயிரா யமைவான் சித்தன்

அணுநேராய்ப் பிரகாச விந்து வானான்

அணுநிரையாய் விமர்ஸமுறும் விந்து வானான்

அணுவுள்நிர் நிலையணுவாம் மிஸ்ர விந்து

அவைகள்வட் டாடுங்கற் பனையு மானான்

அணுவுக்குள் நாற்பத்து மூன்று கண்ணாம்

அவைகாட்டும் ஸ்ரீசக்ரம் தானே யானான்

Transliteration

aṇuvukku eṇuvākak kuṟuki niṟpān

aṇuvukku eṇuvu-yirā yamaivān cittan

aṇunērāyp prakāca vindu vāṉāṉ

aṇuniraiyāy vimarśamuṟum vindu vāṉāṉ

aṇuvuḷnir nilai-aṇuvām misra vindu

avaikaḷvaṭ ṭāḍuṅkaṟ paṉaiyu māṉāṉ

aṇuvukkuḷ nāṟpattu mūṉṟu kaṇṇām

avaikāṭṭum śrīcakram tāṉē yāṉāṉ.

Literal Translation

He stands, contracted to an ‘eṇu’ (a still smaller unit) within the atom.

The Siddhan becomes the life(-principle) of that ‘eṇu’ within the atom.

He becomes the Bindu that shines forth in an atom-instant.

He becomes the Bindu that undergoes ‘vimarśa’ (reflective awareness/inquiry) in an array/series of atoms.

He becomes the mixed (miśra) Bindu—an atom that is a stable atom within the atom’s waters (nīr).

He becomes also the ‘kalpanā’ (imagination/forming power) that makes those (bindus/atoms) whirl in circles.

Within the atom are forty-three ‘eyes’;

He himself becomes the Śrīcakra that shows (reveals) them.

Interpretive Translation

The Siddhar speaks of a yogin who attains the power of subtle contraction (aṇimā), entering the atom and even the sub-atomic ‘eṇu,’ and identifying not merely as an observer but as the inner ‘life’ of that minuteness. In that infinitesimal field he is the luminous bindu (the point/seed of manifestation), and also the bindu endowed with vimarśa—self-reflective consciousness that knows itself. He is the ‘mixed bindu,’ suggesting the inseparable union of polar principles (Śiva–Śakti, prakāśa–vimarśa; or essence and its power), which stabilizes the inner atom even in its fluid, elemental state. He is likewise the power of configuration (kalpanā) that makes the subtle points revolve and form worlds. Finally, he declares that inside the atom is the Śrīcakra itself—figured as ‘forty-three eyes’—and that he is that revelatory yantra-consciousness which displays those inner structures.

Philosophical Explanation

1) Microcosm within microcosm (aṇu → eṇu): The opening lines describe contraction to extreme subtlety. In Siddhar idiom this can denote (a) the yogic siddhi of aṇimā (becoming minute), and (b) a contemplative method: turning awareness inward until even the “smallest” unit is experienced as a field of consciousness.

2) “Life of the eṇu”: By saying the Siddhan becomes the “uyir” (life) of that tiniest unit, the verse asserts a non-dual intimacy: consciousness is not outside matter; it is the animating principle within it. This can be read as metaphysical (cit pervading all) and as yogic (prāṇa/kuṇḍalinī recognized as the inner mover).

3) Bindu, prakāśa, and vimarśa: “Bindu” is intentionally multivalent: (a) a point/seed of manifestation in tantra, (b) the subtle essence in yogic physiology (often linked with vital essence), and (c) the focal point of awareness in meditation. “Prakāśa” suggests pure luminosity (often associated with Śiva-consciousness), while “vimarśa” is the self-apprehending power of awareness (often associated with Śakti). A “vimarśa-bindu” thus implies not a dead point, but a knowing point—self-reflexive consciousness present even in the atom.

4) “Miśra bindu” and stability amid ‘water’ (nīr): “Mixed bindu” typically signals the inseparability of paired principles—consciousness and power, seed and field, male and female, mercury and sulfur in alchemical registers, etc. The mention of nīr (“water”) and a “stable atom” can gesture to elemental transformation: even within the fluid/mercurial condition, the inner principle attains steadiness (sthiti). In Siddha alchemical-yogic discourse, “water” can also hint at bodily fluids/vital essences and their refinement.

5) Circular motion and kalpanā: The “whirling in circles” evokes cakra/maṇḍala logic: subtle points revolve, interlock, and generate patterned worlds. “Kalpanā” is not mere fantasy; it can mean the formative power that arranges subtle realities (akin to śakti’s capacity to manifest name-and-form), as well as the meditative visualization by which a practitioner ‘sees’ these inner structures.

6) Forty-three ‘eyes’ and the Śrīcakra in the atom: The Śrīyantra/Śrīcakra is classically described as having 43 small triangles. Calling them “eyes” frames them as apertures of perception or powers of revelation. The claim that the Śrīcakra is “within the atom” collapses macrocosm and microcosm: the cosmic diagram is present in the infinitesimal, and the realized one identifies as that very revelatory structure (yantra as consciousness, not merely geometry).

Overall, the verse uses atom-language to assert a siddha-tantric vision: the smallest unit is not inert; it is a luminous, self-knowing bindu in which the full cosmic pattern (Śrīcakra) is already present, and the Siddhan’s realization is identity with that inner, patterning awareness.

Key Concepts

  • aṇu (atom; minuteness; individual soul in some contexts)
  • eṇu (sub-atomic/minuter unit; ambiguous term)
  • aṇimā-siddhi (power of becoming minute)
  • bindu (seed-point; vital essence; focal point of consciousness)
  • prakāśa (luminosity; pure shining awareness)
  • vimarśa (self-reflective awareness; Śakti aspect)
  • miśra (mixed/combined principle; union of polarities)
  • nīr (water/element; bodily fluid/vital essence; mercurial state)
  • kalpanā (formative imagination/visualization; manifesting power)
  • Śrīcakra / Śrīyantra (cosmic diagram; non-dual Śiva–Śakti mandala)
  • 43 triangles (often mapped to 43 ‘eyes’/powers within Śrīcakra)
  • microcosm–macrocosm identity

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “eṇu” can mean an ultra-fine particle (a unit smaller than aṇu) in some Siddha usages, but it may also be heard as “number/measure,” shifting the line toward ‘contracted to the measure of an atom.’
  • “aṇuvukku eṇu-uyir” may mean ‘life of the sub-atom within the atom’ (ontological reading) or ‘the life-force that animates minuteness’ (yogic/prāṇic reading).
  • “aṇu-nērāy” can mean ‘in the time-span of an atom’ (instantaneously) or ‘in exact atomic measure/precision,’ retaining intentional crypticness about time vs size.
  • “vimaṟsam uṟum bindu” can be read through Kashmir Śaiva/Tantric philosophy (vimarśa as self-awareness) or more generically as ‘a bindu that engages in inquiry/discernment.’
  • “aṇuv-uḷ nīr nilai-aṇu” is syntactically dense: it could mean ‘within the atom, a stable atom of water(-element),’ or ‘within the atom’s fluid condition, the stabilizing atom,’ or even hint at inner bodily ‘waters’ (fluids/essences).
  • The segment written as “கற் பனையு” likely intends “கற்பனையும்” (kalpanā-yum, ‘also imagination/formative power’); if taken literally as written, it could mislead toward unrelated word-splits, so the verse preserves deliberate opacity.
  • “Forty-three eyes” can refer to the 43 small triangles of the Śrīcakra (most common), but ‘eyes’ may alternatively indicate 43 perceiving-powers/deities/petals—keeping the mapping symbolic rather than strictly anatomical or geometric.
  • Declaring ‘I am the Śrīcakra’ can be read devotionally (identity with the Goddess’s yantra), non-dual metaphysically (self = cosmic patterning consciousness), or as an instruction for inner visualization (becoming the yantra in meditation).