Golden Lay Verses

Verse 362 (சித்த வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

இப்படிக்கே யேழுமுறைக் கவசம் செய்தே

இலுப்பையிலைச் சாற்றாலே யாட்டி யாட்டி

அப்படிக்கே யேழுமுறைப் புடமும் போட்டே

அடடாடா தகத்தகமாங் கனக மாமே

கொப்படிக்காக் குருபூசை செய்து பாரு

கொழியான ரஸமதுவும் விரைத்துப் போகும்

சொப்படிக்கா வித்தையில்லை ஜால மில்லை

துய்யபெரும் வாதமிதன் பெருமை கோடி

Transliteration

Ippadikkē yēzhumuṟaik kavasam seydhē

Iluppaiyilaic sāṟṟālē yāṭṭi yāṭṭi

Appadikkē yēzhumuṟaip puḍamum pōṭṭē

Aḍaḍāḍā thagathagamāṅ kanaga māmē

Koppadikkāk kurupūsai seydhu pāru

Kozhiyāna rasamadhvum viraitthup pōgum

Soppadikkā vitthaiyillai jāla millai

Thuyyaperum vādamidhan perumai kōḍi

Literal Translation

Thus, make the ‘kavacam’ (protective coating/sheathing) seven times;

soak and agitate it again and again in the juice of iluppai leaves.

In the same way, put it through seven rounds of pudam (sealed heating/calcination).

Ah! it will become bright, glittering gold.

For that, perform guru-pūjā and see:

the ‘rasa’ that is “like a rooster” will also quickly fly off.

There is no sleight-of-hand here, no sorcery;

this is the million-fold greatness of pure, mighty vādam (alchemy).

Interpretive Translation

A technical alchemical instruction is being given: apply seven successive outer layers (kavacam—often cloth-and-clay or a sealing/encasement) to the prepared substance, repeatedly wet-triturating it with iluppai-leaf juice (a plant “bhāvanā” medium used to bind, detoxify, or modify), and then subject it to seven sealed heatings (pudam). The claim is that the product attains a gold-like state—either literal transmutation or a gold-grade, gold-lustered, stable alchemical form.

The verse then inserts a caution in Siddhar style: without the proper relation to lineage (guru-pūjā, right instruction, timing, and restraint), the volatile “rasa” (often mercury/essence) can ‘fly away’—i.e., vaporize, leak, or fail—during heating. The author insists this is not “magic,” but the disciplined power of vādam (Siddha iatro-alchemy).

Philosophical Explanation

The text ties laboratory success to ethical/lineage correctness. In Siddhar alchemy, “rasa” is not merely a substance but a principle of vitality and volatility: it must be “fixed” (stabilized) through repeated purification, binding media, and controlled heat. The sevenfold repetition functions on multiple registers: (1) a practical insistence on iterative processing to achieve stability and color/luster change; (2) a symbolic tapas—repeated heating as disciplined austerity; and (3) a yogic echo of sequential refinement (often mapped by practitioners onto inner processes, channels, or stages of maturation).

“Guru-pūjā” here is not presented as superstition but as shorthand for the indispensability of transmission: correct proportions, sealing methods, furnace intensity, and the moral/mental steadiness to avoid greed, haste, or disclosure. The warning that the “rasa” can ‘fly off’ underscores the central Siddha problem: the life-essence/metals are inherently evasive; only a properly sealed, properly guided practice yields ‘kanakam’—whether read as literal gold, a gold-like calx, or the “gold” of perfected medicine and inner transformation.

Key Concepts

  • kavacam (encasement/coating; protective sheath)
  • sevenfold repetition (ēḻu-murai)
  • iluppai leaf juice (plant bhāvanā medium)
  • āṭṭi āṭṭi (agitating/soaking repeatedly; wet-trituration)
  • pudam (sealed heating/calcination cycle)
  • kanakam (gold; gold-like perfected state)
  • rasa (mercury/essence; volatile life-principle)
  • volatilization/escape of rasa (viraittup pōkum)
  • guru-pūjā (lineage, right method, restraint)
  • vādam (Siddha alchemy/iatrochemistry)

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “kavacam” can mean a physical coating/sealing layer (cloth-and-clay around a crucible or pellet) or, less likely here, a mantra-‘armor’; the context favors a material encasement.
  • “iluppai leaf juice” may be purely a processing medium (detoxifying/binding agent) or may imply a specific pharmacological/alchemical property attributed to the tree in Siddha practice.
  • “pudam” varies by tradition (type of furnace, fuel, duration); the verse gives counts but not the exact pudam-class, leaving the operational details intentionally incomplete.
  • “kanakam” can be read as literal gold, a gold-colored/standardized calx, or metaphorical ‘gold’ (a perfected medicine or spiritual attainment).
  • “kozhi-āna rasam” literally suggests a ‘rooster-like rasa’; it may be a coded name for mercury (rasa) in a particular volatile state, a stage-name in an alchemical taxonomy, or (less likely) a rooster-derived substance. The verb “viraittup pōkum” supports the idea of volatility/evaporation, but it could also be read as ‘rapidly completes/advances’ in some lineages.
  • “vādam” can be understood as Siddha alchemy specifically, though in other contexts “vāta/vādam” can evoke the wind-humor; here, the denial of “jālam” (magic) and the gold-claim strongly indicate alchemical vādam.