Golden Lay Verses

Verse 38 (பீட வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

மனமுருகி மெய்யிளகிக் கண்ணீர் மல்கி

மதியிளகி மதியமிர்தத் தருநீ ராகி

புனமுருகப் புன்முறுவல் பூத்தென் னம்மைப்

பூநீராய்ப் புவிமீதில் நவலோ கத்தும்

கனமுருகும் நன்னீராய்த் தண்ணீ ராகிக்

ககனமெலாம் கதிருருட்டும் ஒளிநீ ரானாள்

தனையுருகத் தனக்குள்ளாம் உண்ணீ ரென்றே

தானவளைப் புணர்ந்திட்டான் தானே யோகி

Transliteration

manamurugi meyyiLagik kaNNeer malki

madhiyiLagi madhiyamirthath tharu neer aagi

punamurugap punmuRuvaL pooththen nammaip

pooneeraayp puvimeethil navalO kaththum

kanamurugum nanneeraayth thaNNeer aagik

kakanamelaam kathiruruttum oLineer aanaaL

thanaiyurugath thanakkuLLaam uNNeer endrE

th

Literal Translation

With the mind melting and the true body/being softening, tears swelling and overflowing;

with the intellect (mati) dissolving, becoming the water that grants the nectar of the moon;

when the field/ground (punam) softened, a faint smile blossomed—our Mother;

becoming flower-water / fragrant water upon the earth, she resounds through the nine worlds.

Becoming thickly-melting good water, becoming cool water;

she became the water of light that makes the whole sky whirl/roll with rays.

Saying, “Let her melt; within oneself is the drinking-water,”

he embraced/merged with her—he himself (alone) is the yogi.

Interpretive Translation

When devotion and inner attention ripen, mind and ego “melt,” and the tears of purification arise. The discriminating mind itself dissolves into a lunar nectar—cool, life-giving, subtle “water.” That inner Mother (Śakti/Grace) appears with a gentle smile, pervading all the worlds of experience. As the practice deepens, the same cooling essence becomes radiant: the nectar turns into a luminous current that fills the inner sky with rays. Recognizing that the true “drink” is within—one’s own inner elixir—the yogi unites with that Śakti, merging as the yogi-state itself.

Philosophical Explanation

This verse stacks a sequence of transformations using a single image—“water”—to move from ordinary emotion to yogic realization.

1) Melting and tears: “Mind melting, body softening, tears overflowing” points to the Siddhar theme that rigid ego/mental hardness must liquefy. Tears can be read both as literal tears of bhakti and as a sign of inner loosening (the release of tightly held prāṇa and identification).

2) Moon-nectar (mati-amirta): “Mati” means both intellect and “moon.” The verse deliberately plays on this: the mind/moon becomes a giver of amṛta (soma). In yogic physiology this evokes the cooling nectar associated with the cranial region (bindu/soma), sometimes described as dripping, sweet, or “drinkable.”

3) The Mother and the nine worlds: “Our Mother” suggests the immanent power (Śakti) that both guides and constitutes experience. “Nine worlds” (navalōkam) can be taken cosmologically (the nine realms) or microcosmically (a body-map of multiple inner planes or centers). The Mother as “flower-water/fragrant water” implies grace as a pervasive, subtle medium—both purifying and enlivening.

4) From coolness to light: The progression from “cool water” to “water of light” suggests an alchemical/yogic refinement: the same essence that first cools and soothes later becomes radiance (tejas). The “inner sky” (kakanam) is a common Siddhar image for the subtle field of consciousness; rays whirling through it indicates awakened luminosity rather than mere emotional softness.

5) Union and the inner drink: “Within oneself is the drinking-water” indicates that the sought elixir is internal (not external ritual water). The final “embrace” can be read as the yogic union of Śiva–Śakti (consciousness and power), not necessarily physical. The yogi is described as the one who accomplishes this inner conjunction—where the seeker and the sought collapse into a single state.

Key Concepts

  • mind-melting (manam uruki)
  • tears as purification / bhakti-sign
  • mati (intellect/moon) wordplay
  • amṛta/soma (lunar nectar)
  • Śakti as “Mother” (nammāy)
  • navalōkam (nine worlds/planes)
  • cooling current (tannīr)
  • inner sky (kakanam) and radiance (oḷi)
  • inner drink / internal elixir
  • Śiva–Śakti union (pūṇarcci) as yogic realization

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “மதி” can mean intellect or moon; “மதியமிர்தம்” can be read as “nectar of the moon” or “nectar of (dissolved) intellect,” intentionally overlapping.
  • “புனம்” may mean field/ground (outer world/earth) but can also imply a cultivated interior “field” (the body or mind-field) softening under practice.
  • “பூநீர்” can be “flower-water/fragrant water,” “sacred water,” or a subtle inner fluid; the verse does not force a single referent.
  • “நவலோகம்” may refer to nine cosmic realms, nine experiential planes, or a symbolic body-cosmology; Siddhar usage often keeps both macrocosm and microcosm active.
  • “கதிருருட்டும்” (“rolling/whirling rays”) can signify literal radiance, visionary inner light, or the dynamic circulation of prāṇa/tejas in the subtle body.
  • The final “embrace/union” can be read as mystical union (nondual absorption), Śiva–Śakti conjunction, or—more literally—erotic imagery used as a veil for inner yogic processes.