Golden Lay Verses

Verse 240 (ஞான வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

வெளியழுத்தம் தனையழுத்தி மேலே சென்று

வின்னாகிக் காற்றாகி வெளியாய் நின்று

வளியழுத்தத்தால்லேசாய் வானத் தேறும்

வண்மையுளான் லகிமாத்தான் வாய்ந்த சித்தன்

துளியழுத்தக் கடுகையொரு மலையைப் போலத்

துக்குநிறை யிற்கனமாய்க் காட்ட வல்லான்

அளியழுத்தத் தாலெவைக்கு மழுத்த மில்லா

தகமழுத்தாம் கரிமாவை யணைந்த சித்தன்

Transliteration

veḷiyazhuttham thanaiyazhuththi mēlē senRu

vinnāgik kāṟṟāgi veḷiyāy ninRu

vaḷiyazhutthaththāllēsāy vānat thēṟum

vaṇmaiyuḷān lakimāththān vāynda siththan

thuḷiyazhuththak kaḍugaiyoru malaiyaip pōlath

thukkun niṟai yiṟkanamāyk kāṭṭa vallān

aḷiyazhutthath thāl evaikkum azhuththa millā

thagamazhutthām karimāvai yaṇaintha siththan.

Literal Translation

Pressing down (or restraining) the “pressure/weight” of the outer expanse, he goes upward;

becoming the sky, becoming wind, standing as the open expanse itself.

By the pressure/force of wind, he becomes light and ascends to the sky;

that capable Siddhan, the one who has attained laghimā (lightness).

By the pressure/force of a “drop,” he can make a mustard-seed appear like a mountain,

and is able to show it as heavy—dense with weight.

By the pressure/force of “aḷi,” for anything there is no oppressive weight;

he is the Siddhan who has reached garimā (heaviness), the ‘weight-pressing’ state.

Interpretive Translation

Having mastered the art of “pressure” (azhuttam)—the yogic control of density, weight, and burden—he rises beyond ordinary embodiment. He can become like space (ākāśa) and like wind (vāyu): diffuse, unobstructed, and externally ungraspable. Through vāyu-mastery he acquires laghimā, the siddhi of lightness, moving upward as though gravity no longer binds.

Yet the same mastery can reverse: by condensing the subtle into the dense—symbolized as applying a minute “drop-like” force—he can make even a mustard seed carry the gravitas of a mountain. This is garimā, the siddhi of heaviness. The verse frames these opposites (becoming weightless / becoming massively heavy) as two faces of the same occult science: regulating inner “pressures” of space and wind until matter itself obeys.

Philosophical Explanation

1) “Azhuttam” (pressure/weight/burden) functions on two registers: (a) a quasi-physical sense—density, mass, heaviness; (b) an existential sense—oppression, sorrow, karmic load. Siddhar diction often lets both operate simultaneously.

2) The progression “space → wind → lightness” reflects a classical yogic and siddha-alchemical intuition: when the body’s grossness is thinned (rarefied) through vāyu regulation (prāṇa control), it approaches the qualities of ākāśa/vāyu—subtlety, pervasiveness, mobility. This is the physiological-metaphysical basis given for laghimā.

3) The counter-movement—“drop-pressure” making a mustard seed like a mountain—points to the opposite operation: condensation (thickening) of the subtle, producing garimā. In siddhar logic, the adept can both rarefy and condense the embodied state by governing internal winds, channels, and elemental balance.

4) The verse implies that ‘heaven/sky’ is not merely a location but also a yogic axis (upper ascent): rising of prāṇa, or the ‘going upward’ of awareness. The siddhi is therefore both locomotion-like and consciousness-like.

5) The final couplet suggests a paradox typical of Siddhar teaching: the one who can make anything unbearably heavy can also render anything unburdensome—because both heaviness and lightness are manipulable appearances once the practitioner is no longer ruled by elemental inertia (tamas) and karmic “weight.”

Key Concepts

  • Azhuttam (pressure/weight/burden) as yogic control of density
  • Veli (space/outer expanse) and Vāyu (wind) as elemental states
  • Laghimā siddhi (lightness)
  • Garimā siddhi (heaviness)
  • Rarefaction and condensation (subtle ↔ dense) in siddha-yoga/alchemical physiology
  • Mustard seed (kadugu) vs mountain as a size–mass paradox
  • Ascent to “sky/heaven” as both spatial and inner (prāṇic/awareness) ascent

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “வெளியழுத்தம்” can mean the pressure of ‘outer space/expanse’ (ākāśa-quality) or the pressure exerted by ‘externality’ (worldly forces); both fit Siddhar double-meaning.
  • “வளியழுத்தம்” (air-pressure) may be read literally as mastery of vāyu (prāṇa) or metaphorically as mastery of ‘vital airs/temperaments’ in siddha medicine.
  • “துளியழுத்தம்” (drop-pressure) could indicate an infinitesimal unit of force (minute yogic adjustment), a single ‘drop’ of essence (bindu/oil/rasāyana), or a minimal dose in medical-alchemical practice.
  • “அளியழுத்தம்” is cryptic: it may mean (a) ‘aḷi’ as mercy/grace (compassion removes burdens), (b) ‘aḷavu’ (measure) implying measured pressure/control, or (c) a pun near ‘aṇu’/minuteness (anima-like subtlety), though the verse explicitly names garimā and laghimā.
  • “வானத் தேறும்” can be read as ‘ascends to the sky’ (physical levitation) or ‘reaches the higher state’ (upper cakra/ascent of consciousness).
  • “வண்மை” may mean generosity/nobility or firmness/strength; either describes the siddhan’s ‘fitness’ to hold such siddhis.
  • The claim of making a mustard seed ‘like a mountain’ can mean increasing perceived size, increasing weight, or increasing the felt burden—Siddhar language allows all three without choosing one.