மண்மீது நிற்கையிலே மலைமிக் கோங்கும்
மலையுச்சி மேல்நிற்க மண்தான் வீங்கும்
எண்பதவி யேணியிலே யுச்சம் பெற்றேன்?
இரக்கமிலார்க் கீசனரு ளில்லை யில்லை
கண்மணியின் கண்மணியாம் கடவுள் பாதம்
கண்டுமறு பிறப்பொழிக்க வல்லா ரில்லை
விண்முழுதாள் வேதநெறிச் சித்தர் சொன்னார்
விஞ்ஞான மதற்குந்தான் விளக்கம் சொன்னார்
Maṇmītu niṟkaiyilē malaimik kōṅkum
Malaiyucci mēlniṟka maṇtāṉ vīṅkum
Eṇpatavi yēṇiyilē yuccam peṟṟēṉ?
Irakkamilārk kīcaṉaru ḷillai yillai.
Kaṇmaṇiyiṉ kaṇmaṇiyām kaṭavuḷ pādam
Kaṇṭumaṟu piṟappoḻikka vallā rillai
Viṇmuḻutāḷ vētaṉeṟic cittar coṉṉār
Viññāṉa mataṟkuntāṉ viḷakkam coṉṉār
When standing upon the earth, the mountain grows exceedingly;
when standing upon the mountain’s peak, the earth itself swells.
On the ladder of eighty steps, did I attain the summit?
For the merciless, there is no grace of the Lord—none, none.
The Lord’s feet, the jewel of jewels (the jewel within the jewel of the eye),
though seen—there is none capable of ending (one’s) further births.
The Siddhars spoke: the Vedic path spans the whole sky;
they spoke the explanation for that as “science/true knowledge” (viññānam).
From wherever one stands, the “greater” thing swells: at the ground, the mountain looms; at the summit, the world below looms. So too in sādhanā—fixation makes its object inflate. Even if one climbs a long ladder of graded disciplines and reaches a “top,” without compassion the Lord’s grace does not arrive. And even the sight of God’s feet—held to be the most precious of all—does not, by itself, cut off rebirth; inner transformation is demanded. The Siddhars therefore claim that what is called “Vedic path” is not merely outer rite or doctrine but a vast, sky-like way, and they provide its ‘viññāna’—a practical, experiential account.
1) Relativity of perception and inflation of the mind: The opening couplet reads like a doctrine of standpoint. What appears “great” depends on where awareness is stationed. In Siddhar idiom this often targets ego and obsession: when consciousness is rooted in the gross (maṇ, earth), the ‘mountain’ of karma/agency/striving becomes enormous; when one reaches a ‘peak’ (a high state, authority, attainment), the ‘earth’ (worldliness, the field of action, one’s base nature) can also inflate—spiritual pride, subtle attachment, or the sense that the world is now “large” because the self has expanded.
2) The “ladder of eighty steps”: The verse hints at a staged ascent (yoga-ladder / eṇi). ‘Eighty’ can mark an extensive, possibly traditional enumeration rather than an exact count. The rhetorical question (“did I attain the summit?”) can be read as self-scrutiny: even after many stages, has real culmination occurred, or only the appearance of height?
3) Ethics as the condition for grace: “For the merciless there is no grace.” In Siddhar ethics, aruḷ (grace) is not a reward for technique alone. Irakkam (compassion, softness toward beings) is treated as an alchemical solvent of hardness (cruelty, arrogance) that otherwise seals the heart. Without it, higher experience remains blocked or sterile.
4) ‘Seeing the feet’ is insufficient: The “feet of God” are a common Siddhar shorthand for the ultimate refuge—often the final principle, the guru’s transmission, or the stabilizing ‘lowest’ that is paradoxically the ‘highest.’ The verse’s shock line—“even having seen, none can end rebirth”—undercuts mere darśan, visions, or devotional sentiment if not matched by dissolution of doership, craving, and karmic momentum.
5) Veda as ‘sky-wide’ and Siddhar ‘science’: “Vedic path spans the whole sky” may imply universality (not confined to sect or ritual) or a measureless inner expanse. The Siddhars then claim to ‘explain’ it as viññānam—experiential knowledge, sometimes contrasting with book-learning. This positions Siddhar teaching as a practical hermeneutic: translating scripture into body–breath–mind realization (and, in some readings, into medical/alchemical praxis).