Golden Lay Verses

Verse 299 (மந்திர வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

வாசியதை நிலைநிறுத்தி ஹம்ஸ மாக்கி

வாகான பரமஹம்ஸ மிதுனத் தோச்சி

மாசறுமெய்ஞ் ஞானத்தி லேக மாகி

மாதாவின் சித்தமணி வைப்பில் நின்று

ஈசனென வேயட்ட சித்தும் மாடி

ஈசனுட னொன்றாகி ஈச னாகி

பாசமறுத் தெக்காலும் நிட்ட னாகிப்

பாருலகி லேசரிப்பா னவனே யோகி

Transliteration

vaasiyathai nilainiruththi hamsa maakki

vaakaana paramahamsa mithunath thochchi

maasarumeynj nyaanaththi leka maaki

maathaavin siththamani vaippil ninru

eesanena veyatta siththum maadi

eesanuda nonraaki eesa naaki

paasamaruth thekkaalum nitta naakip

paarulaki lesarippaa navane yogi

Literal Translation

Fixing (making steady) the vāsi,

he makes it into the Haṁsa;

he brings forth (reveals) the pair (mithuna) of the “vehicle” (vāhana) Paramahaṁsa.

Becoming one in the stainless, true wisdom,

standing in the Mother’s treasury of the Cintāmaṇi (wish-fulfilling gem),

performing/achieving siddhi by calling (it) “Īśan,”

becoming one with Īśan, becoming Īśan himself,

cutting off bondage, becoming at all times the Nittan (the Eternal),

he who moves about in the world—he alone is the yogi.

Interpretive Translation

When the yogin stabilizes the subtle breath-current (vāsi) and turns it into the ajapa “Haṁsa/So’ham” realization, the higher state called Paramahaṁsa is said to arise—often described cryptically as the manifestation of a “pair” (mithuna), the conjoined solar–lunar or right–left currents.

Established in spotless jñāna, he abides in the Mother’s inner “Cintāmaṇi treasury” (the Śakti-source within: heart/cranial center/kuṇḍalinī storehouse). Through that inner worship he attains siddhi; then, dissolving difference, he becomes one with Īśa (Śiva) and is Śiva.

Having cut the fetters of pāśa (bondage), he stands as the Ever-Established (Nittan). Yet he can still move and function in the world; such a one is the true yogi.

Philosophical Explanation

1) Vāsi → Haṁsa: In Siddhar usage, “vāsi” commonly points to the regulated subtle breath or prāṇic movement (sometimes specifically the inner “vāsi-kalā”). “Making it steady” implies pranayama/kuṇḍalinī discipline where breath becomes subtle, restrained, and finally interiorized. “Haṁsa” is the natural ajapa-mantra linked with respiration (haṁ-sa / so’ham). The text suggests a shift from mere breath-control to identity-recognition: breath itself becomes mantra and then knowledge.

2) Paramahaṁsa and “mithuna”: “Paramahaṁsa” is both a spiritual epithet (supreme renunciate) and a yogic attainment where the haṁsa principle is perfected. “Mithuna” (pair/couple) is a Siddhar-coded term: it may indicate (a) the union of iḍā and piṅgalā into suṣumṇā; (b) Śiva–Śakti conjunction; (c) sun–moon/heat–cool currents; or (d) an inner alchemical coupling (rasāyana symbolism) rather than literal sexuality. The verse keeps it deliberately oblique: “bringing forth the pair” reads as an emergence/appearance of a united polarity.

3) Stainless true-knowledge (mey-jñāna): “Mey” (true/real) and “mās-aṟu” (without impurity) point to non-dual knowing not mixed with egoic stain. The yogin becomes “eka” (one), implying advaitic absorption: knower, knowing, and known collapse.

4) Mother’s Cintāmaṇi treasury: “Māthā” (Mother) in Siddhar poetry typically signifies Śakti/Kuṇḍalinī or the primal ground of embodiment. “Cintāmaṇi” (wish-fulfilling gem) can mean (a) inner luminous consciousness, (b) the heart’s secret “gem,” (c) the cranial jewel (bindu/ojas) guarded in yogic practice, or (d) an alchemical “stone” standing for perfected essence. “Treasury” (vaippu) emphasizes stored potency—where siddhi and liberation are said to be ‘kept.’

5) Becoming Īśan: The movement is from devotion/recognition (“calling it Īśan”) to identity (“becoming one with Īśan” and “becoming Īśan”). This is a classical Siddhar non-dual claim: worship culminates in the disappearance of the worshipper. Siddhi is mentioned but subordinated to ontological transformation.

6) Cutting pāśa and living in the world: “Pāśa” is bondage—karmic ties, ignorance, attachments. “Nittan” means the Eternal/ever-established. The final line asserts a hallmark Siddhar ideal: not world-fleeing but world-moving (a sahaja-like stance). The true yogi is free internally while functioning externally.

Key Concepts

  • vāsi (subtle breath-current; breath-discipline)
  • Haṁsa / So’ham (ajapa-mantra; identity formula)
  • Paramahaṁsa (supreme state; perfected haṁsa)
  • mithuna (paired union; polarity-conjunction code)
  • mās-aṟu mey-jñāna (stainless true knowledge)
  • Māthā / Mother (Śakti; Kuṇḍalinī; primal ground)
  • Cintāmaṇi (wish-fulfilling gem; inner jewel/alchemical symbol)
  • siddhi (accomplishment/power; secondary to liberation)
  • Īśan / Īśa (Śiva; Lord; non-dual identity)
  • pāśa (bondage/fetters)
  • Nittan (the Eternal; ever-established being)
  • sahaja/worldly functioning of the liberated yogi

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “vāsi” can mean ordinary breath, a specific prāṇic current (vāsi-kalā), or an internal “breathless” stillness; the verse does not pin it down.
  • “Haṁsa” may be read as the ajapa mantra (haṁ-sa/so’ham), the jīva principle riding the breath, or the ‘swan’ symbol of discrimination; all fit Siddhar usage.
  • “vāhana Paramahaṁsa mithuna” is cryptic: “vāhana” could be a ‘vehicle’ (prāṇa as vehicle), a ‘mount’ metaphor, or a technical term for the moving current; “mithuna” could indicate iḍā–piṅgalā union, Śiva–Śakti union, sun–moon fusion, or an inner rasāyana (alchemical) coupling.
  • “Mother’s Cintāmaṇi treasury” may point to the heart-center, the cranial bindu-store, or Śakti’s hidden repository (kuṇḍalinī); Siddhar texts often intentionally overlay these loci.
  • “Īśan-enavē aṭṭa siddhum māḍi” can be taken as ‘attaining siddhi by naming/recognizing (everything as) Īśan’ or as ‘performing worship/rite to Īśan and thereby gaining siddhi’; the line permits both devotional and non-dual readings.
  • “moving in the world” can imply literal social activity, the liberated one’s effortless (sahaja) conduct, or the siddhar’s capacity to appear/disappear and roam—an esoteric siddhi reading.