ஊமைஎழுத் தொன்றுளதாம் உள்ளுக்குள்ளே
உண்மையெழுத் தேயதுவாங் குருவைக்கேளு
ஆமையெழுத் தாயடங்கி மடங்கியப்பால்
ஆணவமா மலஞ்சுட்டே யாறாதாரத்
தூமையெழுத் தைம்பானொன் றானமாத்ரைத்
துரிசறுத்துக் கோடிமணிக் கோயிலுள்ளே
வாமையெழுத் தானமனோன் மணியென்னாத்தாள்
வைரவியைப் பணிந்திட்டால் சித்தம் சித்தி
Ūmaieḻut toṉṟuḷatām uḷḷukkuḷḷē
Uṇmaieḻut tēyatuvāṅ kuruvaikkēḷu
Āmaieḻut tāyaḍaṅki maḍaṅkiyappāl
Āṇavamā malañcuṭṭē yāṟātārat
Tūmaieḻut taimpāṉoṉ ṟāṉamātrai
Turicaṟuttuk kōṭimaṇik kōyiluḷḷē
Vāmaieḻut tāṉamanoṉ maṇiyennāttāḷ
Vairaviyai paṇintiṭṭāl cittam citti
There is a mute/silent “letter” within, inside (one’s interior).
That true “letter”—listen to the Guru and receive it.
Having restrained and folded in the “tortoise-letter,”
Burn up the impurity called āṇava (ego-darkness) in the six ādhāras (supports/chakras).
With the pure “letter,” in the measure/mātrā of the five… (or: in the five mātrās),
Cutting off defilement/affliction (turisu), within the jeweled temple of countless gems,
If one bows to Bhairavī, whose “letter” is the Manōnmaṇi-jewel (state/queen),
Then the mind becomes siddha; attainment (siddhi) arises.
Within the body there is an unspoken, inner “letter”—a subtle sonic principle not made by the tongue. The Guru alone points to that “true letter” (the real mantra/seed of awareness).
When the practitioner draws the senses inward like a tortoise withdrawing its limbs, the force of ego-impurity (āṇava mala) can be scorched as attention ascends and works through the six yogic centers (ādhāras). With a “pure letter” (a purified mantra or inner sound), measured/channeled through the fivefold framework (often read as the five elements, five breaths, or five mātrās), one cuts away afflictive residue and enters the “temple of a crore jewels”—the sanctum of the subtle body where inner radiance is revealed.
There, by revering Bhairavī—read as the awakened power/Śakti (including kuṇḍalinī) and also as the fierce grace that destroys impurity—one reaches the Manōnmaṇi condition (a jewel-like state beyond mind), and siddhi is said to arise.
1) “Letter” (எழுத்து) as sonic-metaphysical principle: In Siddhar and Tantric idioms, “letters” are not merely alphabetic units; they can signify seed syllables (bīja), mantra-essences, or nāda (inner sound). The “mute letter” suggests the unvoiced substratum—sound as awareness prior to articulation (often linked with anāhata nāda, the unstruck sound).
2) Guru as the necessary interpreter: “Listen to the Guru” signals that the inner mantra is not acquired by scholarship alone. The “true letter” is experiential and traditionally transmitted through upadēśa (instruction/initiation), because the verse itself is deliberately coded.
3) “Tortoise-letter” and yogic restraint: The tortoise image is a standard yogic metaphor for pratyāhāra—withdrawal of the senses. Calling it a “letter” may imply a specific bīja/mantra or a technique whose ‘signature’ is inward folding: curbing outward-going impulses so the subtle channels can be stabilized.
4) Burning āṇava mala in the six ādhāras: “Āṇava mala” is a key Saiva Siddhānta term for the primal constricting impurity that makes the self feel small, separate, and ego-bound. Placing its ‘burning’ in the “six ādhāras” ties Siddhānta’s doctrine of mala to the yogic map of chakras: transformation occurs through embodied ascent, not by abstract belief.
5) “Five” and “mātrā” as measure/medicine: “Mātrā” can mean a metrical unit, a time/measure in breath-control, a phonetic measure in mantra, or dosage in a medical sense. Siddhar literature often fuses mantra-yoga with siddha-medicine/alchemy. Thus the “pure letter” is not only recited; it is ‘dosed’—regulated through breath, timing, and purity of conduct. The “five” can refer to pañcabhūta (elements), pañcaprāṇa (five vital airs), five senses to be mastered, or five phonetic measures.
6) “Temple of countless gems”: This frequently denotes the subtle body as a sanctum, or the cranial vault/sahasrāra as a jewel-temple where consciousness-luminosity appears. The phrase preserves ambiguity: it can be read as the body itself, the suṣumṇā pathway, or the innermost awareness-space experienced in deep absorption.
7) Bhairavī and Manōnmaṇi: Bhairavī is a fierce Śakti-form—destroyer of impurities and guardian of thresholds. “Manōnmaṇi” can be read as (a) a goddess/title within Śākta-Tantric frameworks, and/or (b) a state beyond mind (mano-nāśa/cessation of mind’s tyranny) where awareness is jewel-like, self-luminous. The verse links devotion (bowing) with yogic transformation: surrender is not merely emotional; it is a method of dissolving ego (āṇava) so the ‘true letter’ can reveal itself.
Overall, the verse encodes a path: inner sound → guru-guidance → sensory withdrawal → purification through the six centers → regulated mantra/breath measure → entry into the inner sanctum → surrender to transformative Śakti → realization/siddhi.