மண்ணே மடக்கி விண்ணே யிளக்கி
உண்ணாவி லிட்ட விண்ணாணம்
கண்ணே மடித்துட் கண்ணே விழித்துக்
கண்ணான முத்திக் கிண்ணாரம்
கண்ணே யிசைத்து வண்ணானகத்துப்
புண்ணே வெளுக்கும் திண்ணாணம்
பெண்ணே எனக்கும் பெண்ணே எவைக்கும்
பெண்ணான வாலைப் பெண்ணாணே
maṇṇē maṭakki viṇṇē yiḷakki
uṇṇāvi liṭṭa viṇṇāṇam
kaṇṇē maṭitt-uṭ kaṇṇē viḻittuk
kaṇṇāna muttik kiṇṇāram
kaṇṇē yisaittu vaṇṇānakattup
puṇṇē veḷukkum tiṇṇāṇam
peṇṇē eṉakkum peṇṇē evaikkum
peṇṇāna vālaip peṇṇāṇē.
“Folding the earth, aiming at the sky;
(the) ‘sky-knowledge’ placed in the ‘eating-breath’.
Folding the eye, waking (it) within the eye;
the cup-nectar of liberation that is of the eye.
Making the eye sound/resonate; in the variegated inner-space,
(the) firm knowledge that whitens the wound.
O Woman—(for) me; O Woman—(for) all;
the womanly tail—O ‘Penṇāṇe’ (Woman-One / Feminine-One).”
Withdraw the mind from the heavy “earth” of sense-bound habit and direct it toward the subtle “sky” of inner space; install that higher knowing within the current of breath/fire that “consumes.” Turn the ordinary gaze back upon itself and awaken the inner eye; then the nectar of release is tasted as if from a cup. When the inner seeing is tuned to its own resonance in the multicolored interior expanse, the wound of embodied bondage is bleached clean. O feminine power—present for me and for all—raise/activate the “tail” (the serpent-like end of energy): you, the Feminine-One.
The verse compresses a Siddhar soteriology into elemental and bodily imagery.
1) “Folding the earth” vs “aiming at the sky”: “Earth” (maṇ) commonly signifies the gross body, sensory gravity, and the five-fold “earthly” fixations (habit, appetite, inertia). To “fold” it suggests pratyāhāra-like withdrawal—compressing outward dispersion into an inward coil. “Sky” (viṇ) can denote inner space (ākāśa), the void-like field of awareness, or the “upper” register of subtle perception. The pairing implies a reversal: from dense to subtle, from external to internal.
2) “Placing sky-knowledge in the eating-breath”: “Unnāvi” can be read as the breath/fire that “eats” (digestive/transformative vāyu, jaṭharāgni), or more generally the prāṇic current that assimilates experience. “Viṇṇāṇam” can mean knowledge/science (nāṇam) of the “sky” (viṇ), i.e., suprasensory knowing. The line therefore hints at a yogic/alchemical principle: genuine knowing is not merely conceptual; it is “installed” in prāṇa/inner heat so that the body-mind is transmuted (a Siddha hallmark).
3) The “eye” folded and awakened within the eye: This is a classic Siddhar move—turning perception back on itself until an “inner eye” (often aligned with ājñā / brow center) opens. “Closing the eye” is not mere eyelid closure; it is the sealing of outward sight and the awakening of subtle seeing.
4) “Cup-nectar of liberation”: “Kiṇṇāram” (cup/goblet) and “mukti” together evoke amṛta—nectar experienced in deep yogic absorption, sometimes described as dripping from a cranial locus. Siddha texts often connect this nectar with both liberation and bodily preservation (kāya-siddhi): the same “taste” that frees may also “feed” the transformed body.
5) “Variegated inner-space” and “whitening the wound”: The “multicolored” interior can refer to visionary phenomena (inner lights/colours) that arise as the nāḍīs purify. The “wound” (puṇ) can be physical disease, the scar of karmic embodiment, or the raw lesion of desire/ignorance. “Whitening” suggests purification—making what is inflamed/impure become clear/clean, possibly hinting at alchemical ‘whitening’ (a stage of transformation) as well as ethical-spiritual cleansing.
6) The repeated address “Woman… for all”: Siddhar diction frequently uses “peṇ” not merely as a human female but as the feminine principle—Śakti, kuṇḍalinī, the power that moves and transmutes. The “tail” (vāl) naturally evokes the coiled serpent at the base; awakening it is the engine that makes the earlier operations (inner gaze, nectar, purification) effective. The closing “Peṇṇāṇe” remains deliberately enigmatic: it can be an epithet (“O Feminine-One”), a coded name for an inner force, or an alchemical tag for a necessary counterpart substance/principle.
Overall, the verse reads as an instruction and a cryptogram: reverse the outward pull (earth), enter inner space (sky), embed knowing in breath-fire, awaken inner vision, taste liberation-nectar, and let the feminine power (Śakti/kuṇḍalinī or a coded ‘female’ alchemical principle) complete the purification of the embodied wound.