Golden Lay Verses

Verse 293 (மந்திர வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

பொன்னான வீட்டினிலே போத யோனி

புகலரிதாம் மணிலிங்க மான்ம ஜோதி

என்னானா ளவளேதா னெவையு மானாள்

என்னுள்ளே யானானாள் எனையு முண்டே

தன்னானாள் தானானாள் தனிமை யானாள்

தழைவானாள் சித்தத்தே சத்தோ டுற்றாள்

மின்னானா ளெனையுந்தான் சிவமாச் செய்தாள்

மேவுமக ண்டக்களியாய் மினுக்க லானாள்

Transliteration

ponnāna vīṭṭinilē pōtha yōni

pukalarithām maṇiliṅga mānma jōthi

ennānā ḷavaḷēthā ṉevaiyu mānāḷ

ennuḷḷē yānānāḷ enaiyu muṇṭē

thannānāḷ thānānāḷ thanimai yānāḷ

thaḻaivānāḷ siththatthē satthō ṭuṟṟāḷ

minnānā ḷenaiyunthān sivamāch seythāḷ

mēvumaka ṇṭakkaḷiyāy minukka lānāḷ

Literal Translation

In the golden house, the womb of awakening (bodha-yoni).

Hard to reach: the jewel-linga, the light of the soul/Self (āṉma-jōti).

Whatever she became—she indeed became everything.

Within me she became “I”; and there is also “me.”

She became herself; she became the Self; she became aloneness.

She blossomed; in the siddha-mind she united with Sat/Being.

She flashed; and she made even me into Śiva.

As the abiding ‘akhaṇḍa-kaḷi’/‘akhaṇḍa-kali,’ she became shining/glittering.

Interpretive Translation

Within the “golden house” of the perfected body, the power called the womb of awakening is present. The rare jewel-linga—an inner emblem of the Real—and the Self’s radiance are disclosed. That feminine presence becomes “everything”; entering my interior, she becomes the very sense of “I,” while the ordinary “me” is also somehow retained or witnessed. She stands as herself alone—Self as solitude—then flowers in the siddha’s consciousness by merging with Sat (pure Being). In a sudden flash she converts this limited person into Śiva; she remains as unbroken bliss (or as the undivided Kali), resplendent.

Philosophical Explanation

The verse speaks in Siddhar-coded language about an inner realization brought by a feminine principle (“she”), typically read as Śakti (often specifically kuṇḍalinī/aruḷ/grace). The “golden house” (ponnāṉa vīṭu) can indicate (a) the physical body refined by yogic discipline and rasāyana/alkchemical transformation into a ‘golden’ or deathless state, and/or (b) the subtle body (sūkṣma-śarīra) experienced as a luminous inner dwelling.

“Bodha-yoni” (womb/source of awakening) points to the generative locus of realization—commonly mapped onto the pelvic root (mūlādhāra/śakti-sthāna) or, more broadly, the inner matrix from which gnosis is born. “Maṇi-liṅga” (jewel-linga) and “āṉma-jōti” (light of the Self) evoke the internal liṅga/bindu and the experience of an indwelling radiance: the ‘sign’ of Śiva is not an external stone but a subtle, luminous certainty.

The core philosophical movement is non-dual: “she became everything.” Yet the poem retains paradox—“within me she became I; and there is also me”—hinting at layered identity: the dissolution of ego into a larger ‘I’ (ātman/awareness) while a residual functional self may continue (witnessed embodiment). “She became herself… the Self… aloneness” aligns with advaitic solitude (kaivalya) where the Real is self-sufficient.

“Siddhatthē sathōṭu uṟṟāḷ” can be read as: in siddha-consciousness she unites with Sat (pure Being/Brahman) or she stabilizes in sattva (clarity). The climactic alchemy is “she made me Śiva”: union of Śakti and Śiva, where the practitioner’s limited identity is transmuted into Śiva-nature (śivamaya). The last phrase “akhaṇḍa-kaḷi/kali” is deliberately double-edged: it can mean unbroken bliss-intoxication (akhaṇḍa-kaḷi) or the undivided Goddess Kali (akhaṇḍa-kālī). Either way, the end-state is continuous, shining presence—radiance as both bliss and power.

Key Concepts

  • ponnāṉa vīṭu (golden house: purified/perfected body or subtle body)
  • bodha-yoni (womb/source of awakening)
  • maṇi-liṅga (jewel-linga: inner sign of Śiva, bindu/inner emblem)
  • āṉma-jōti (light of the Self/ātman)
  • Śakti as inner feminine principle (kuṇḍalinī / grace)
  • non-duality (she becomes everything; identity-shift of ‘I’)
  • kaivalya / solitude of the Self
  • union with Sat (Being) / possible play on sattva
  • śivamaya transformation (made into Śiva)
  • akhaṇḍa-kaḷi / akhaṇḍa-kālī (unbroken bliss or undivided Kali)

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • Who is “she”: kuṇḍalinī-śakti, divine grace (aruḷ), inner guru, or awareness itself personified.
  • “Golden house”: literal body made ‘golden’ via rasāyana/alkchemical-somatic refinement vs. the subtle luminous body as an inner abode.
  • “Bodha-yoni”: specific chakra locus (often mūlādhāra) vs. a general womb-like source of gnosis within consciousness.
  • “Maṇi-liṅga”: bindu/nāda center (crown/heart/ājñā depending on lineage) vs. an ineffable inner ‘sign’ of Śiva-realization.
  • “Within me she became I; and there is also me”: ego dissolving into witness-consciousness while a functional self remains; or the coexistence of jīva and Śiva perspectives.
  • “Sathōṭu uṟṟāḷ”: union with Sat (pure Being/Brahman) vs. stabilizing in sattva-guṇa (clarity).
  • “Akhaṇḍa-kaḷi”: ‘unbroken bliss/intoxication’ (kaḷi as bliss) vs. ‘undivided Kali’ (kālī as goddess), with “minukkal” supporting either ‘radiant bliss’ or ‘ornamented goddess’ imagery.