வாழ்பவன் வாழ்விப்பானே வாழ்விலார் வாழவாழ்வான்
வாழ்விலே வலிமைகாண்பீர் வாசியே வாழ்வின்வீறு
வாழ்வதே யிறையின்வாழ்வாய் வாழ்மனைத் தரையேமண்ணாய்
வாழ்மனைக் கூரைவானாய் வாழவே வழிசொல்வேனே
vaazh-pavan vaazh-vippaanE vaazh-vilaar vaazha-vaazh-vaan
vaazh-vilE vali-mai-kaaNpeer vaasi-yE vaazh-vin-veeRu
vaazh-vadhE yiRai-yin-vaazh-vaay vaazh-maNaith tharai-yE maNNaay
vaazh-maNaik koorai-vaanaaay vaazhavE vazhi-sol-vEnE
“The one who lives will make (others) live; he will live so that those without life may live.
See the strength within life, O Vāsi; (this is) the ‘end/culmination’ of life.
To live—this indeed is to live as the Lord’s life; let the floor of the living-house be earth.
Let the roof of the living-house be the sky; I will tell the way to live.”
The Siddhar says: the one who has attained true ‘life’ becomes a giver of life—able to awaken life in those who are inwardly lifeless. Recognize that the power of life is accessed through “vāsi” (breath / inner vital current), for that is what leads to the life’s final purpose. Live as God’s own life: keep your “house” (body and mode of living) simple and elemental—earth as the base, sky as the roof—and I will point out the way to live rightly.
This verse plays on the Tamil root “vāḻ” (to live, thrive, enable life) to distinguish ordinary survival from Siddhar “true living.”
1) “He who lives makes others live”: In Siddhar idiom, the realized one is not merely biologically alive; he lives from the perfected life-force (uyir-śakti / prāṇa-śakti). Such a person can “revive” others—by teaching, transmission, medicine, or yogic influence—bringing vitality to the “lifeless” (those depleted, diseased, or spiritually inert).
2) “See the strength in life, O Vāsi”: “Valimai” (strength/power) is located not in external force but in “vāsi.” In Siddha literature, “vāsi” often indicates breath, prāṇa, or a specific breath-discipline (vāsi-yōgam) whose mastery yields steadiness, longevity, and the capacity to conserve/redirect life-energy. The address may also be read as “O reader/aspirant,” but the yogic sense fits the context: breath is the operational handle of life.
3) “The end/culmination of life”: “Vīru” can suggest the end, conclusion, or intended outcome of life—i.e., not merely death, but life’s completion: liberation (vīdu), deathlessness in the Siddha sense, or a perfected state where life is no longer wasted.
4) “Live as the Lord’s life”: This reframes ethics and yoga as ontology: to live correctly is to live as an expression of Īrai (the Divine). It implies non-separateness—life in the individual is not “mine” but God’s life moving through.
5) “Earth as floor, sky as roof”: The “house of living” can be read as (a) one’s physical dwelling, recommending radical simplicity (sleep on earth, take the sky as canopy), and/or (b) the body itself, composed of the elements. Earth (stability/ground) and sky (space/vastness) point to an elemental, non-possessive life aligned with nature; they also hint at the five-element framework used in Siddha medicine and alchemy, where balancing the elements supports longevity and clarity.
Overall, the verse links a yogic-physiological key (vāsi/breath) with a theological claim (living as God’s life) and an ascetic-elemental ethic (earth and sky), presenting “the way to live” as mastery of life-force combined with detachment and divine-identification.