மத்தியிலே சுண்ணாம்புக் கவச மிட்டு
வைத்திட்டுத் துரிசு கட்டிக் குழியில் மூடிச்
சித்தியிலே யைந்தொன்பான் தினமே லப்பா
தூயதொரு நந்நாளில் தூபங் காட்ட
வத்தியதிற் காடியதும் வழிந்து நிற்கும்
வளக்கட்டி யாந்துரிசும் சுத்தி யாகும்
சுத்தியுறுந் துரிசதனை எடுத்துக் கொண்டு
துய்ய சிவ னார்வேம்புக் கவசம் செய்யே
maththiyilE suNNaaMpuk kavasam iTTu
vaiththiTTuth thurisu kaTTik kuzhiyil mUdis
siththiyilE yaindhonpaan thinamE lappaa
thUyathoru nannaaLil thUbaNg kaaTTa
vaththiyathir kaaDiyathum vazhinthu niRkum
vaLakkaTTi yaanthurisum suththi yaagum
suththiyuRun thurisathanai eduththuk koNDu
thuyya siva naarvEmpuk kavasam seyyE
Place, in the middle, a sheath (kavacam) of lime; having set it so, tie up the turicu and seal it in a pit. In the accomplished method, for fifty‑nine days, dear one, on a pure and auspicious day, show (offer) incense. When it is set to the wick/flame, what has become ‘kaadi’ will ooze and stand (flow out). With the binding/setting (vaḷakkatti), that turicu also becomes purified. Taking that turicu which has undergone purification, make the pure ‘Sivanār‑vembu’ sheath (kavacam).
Coat the substance called turicu with a lime-based protective layer and keep it sealed underground for a prescribed maturation period (given as “fifty‑nine days”). On an auspicious day, reopen and fumigate it with incense (a ritualized heating/purification). When subsequently exposed to heat/flame, an acrid/caustic or acidic fraction (“kaadi”) separates and drains out, leaving the remaining turicu ‘cleansed’ and fit for further processing. Using this purified turicu, prepare a refined protective compound or medicinal/alchemical ‘armor’ associated with “Sivanār” and “vembu” (neem)—a final coating/guarding preparation.
The verse reads like a laboratory instruction and simultaneously a yogic allegory. The repeated term kavacam (“armor/shell/sheath”) suggests both: (1) a literal coating used in mineral processing (calcination/roasting with lime, sealing, controlled maturation), and (2) the discipline of containment—guarding the inner substance from contamination while it transforms.
Burying the bound turicu in a pit for a fixed duration implies a slow ‘incubation’ (earth-element processing): the gross is left to time, pressure, and enclosure. Incense (tūpam) marks a threshold act—part ritual, part fumigation/heat treatment—where unseen impurities are driven away. The moment of heating produces a visible sign: “kaadi” oozes out, indicating separation of an unwanted fraction. In inner terms, when tapas (heat/discipline) is applied, what is sharp, sour, caustic, or reactive in the psyche drains away; what remains is “suddhi” (purity).
The final product—“Sivanār‑vembu kavacam”—keeps deliberate ambiguity: it can be an actual medicinal coating involving neem (vembu), a protective preparation named after a Siddhar/lineage (“Sivanār”), or a coded symbol for a sattvic protective state (a ‘sheath’ of purity) that follows successful separation and refinement. In Siddhar idiom, ‘armor’ can mean both pharmacological protection (a compound that guards the body) and metaphysical protection (a stabilized sheath around the awakened inner essence).