மூலத்தின் கனலதனை மூட்டி மூட்டி
மூதண்ட முப்பூவின் பாத்திரத்தில்
கீலத்தின் கீழ்நெல்லிச் சாற்றைக் காய்ச்சிக்
கிறிகொண்ட சூதத்தில் நாதம் வாங்கிச்
சாலத்தான் நீர்மேலே நெருப்பைப் போட்டே
சாரத்தான் மலைதாங்கிக் குள்ளே யோட்டி
ஆலத்தா னமுதைத் தான் விழுதை நாட்டி
ஆறத்தா னமரத்தர் னனைத்து மாமே
mūlattin kanalatanai mūṭṭi mūṭṭi
mūtāṇṭa muppūvin pāttirattil
kīlattin kīḻnellis sāṟṟaik kāyccik
kiṟikoṇṭa sūtattil nātam vāṅkic
cālattān nīrmēlē neruppaip pōṭṭē
cārattān malaitāṅkik kuḷḷē yōṭṭi
ālattā namutaith tāṉ viḻutai nāṭṭi
āṟattā namarattar ṉṉaittu māmē
Stoking again and again the fire at the Root,
In the vessel of the ancient staff and the “three-flowers”,
Boiling the low (under-) gooseberry (nelli) juice beneath the peg,
Receiving/obtaining Nādam from the mercury that has taken on its gyration,
By skill, placing fire upon water,
With essence, bearing the mountain and driving it inward,
Planting/establishing the banyan’s nectar—its sap/seedling,
So that, settling/cooling, one may embrace/join the immortals indeed.
By repeatedly kindling the inner heat at the mūla (root-centre), the Siddhar prepares an inner “crucible” (the bodily vessel—often read as the spine/central channel with its triadic currents). In that prepared vessel, a rejuvenating essence—named cryptically as nelli-juice—is “cooked” (refined) below the controlling “peg” (a restraint/lock at the lower centre). From the “mercury” that whirls (symbol of volatile life-force/mind/breath/seed), he draws Nādam (the subtle inner sound/essence).
With the art that makes opposites co-exist—“fire placed on water” (heat stabilized within the watery body without burning it)—he bears and drives the “mountain” inward/upward (the Meru-like axis of the body, or the ascent of force toward the crown). There the nectar (amutu/amṛta) associated with the banyan (a symbol of the inverted tree of life, or the cranial reservoir) is established. When this process is made to settle (āṟu: to cool/quiet/resolve), one becomes fit to unite with the amarar—those who do not die (the deathless siddhas/devas).
This verse deliberately blends (1) haṭha/yogic physiology and (2) Siddha rasavāda (alchemy/iatro-chemistry), using shared metaphors of heat, cooking, vessels, essences, and volatile substances.
• “Fire at the Root” points to kuṇḍalinī/inner tapas: the awakening of transformative heat at the basal centre. In Siddha discourse this heat is not mere temperature but a power that digests impurity, refines vāyu (breath), and changes the very “taste” (rasa) of the body.
• “Vessel / staff / three-flowers” suggests an inner apparatus. A common yogic reading is: the spinal axis (Meru/daṇḍa) as the staff, with a triad (iḍā–piṅgalā–suṣumṇā) as the “three flowers.” Yet the same phrase also suits a literal alchemical crucible prepared with three botanical/mineral components—Siddhars intentionally leave both tracks open.
• “Nelli-juice boiled” evokes rasāyana medicine: nelli (Indian gooseberry) is a classic rejuvenative and “cooling” tonic, but here it is heated—implying not ordinary dietetics but a controlled transformation, where the cooling substance is made compatible with inner fire. This mirrors the yogic requirement: heat must be generated without exhausting bodily fluids.
• “Mercury” (sūtam) is central to Siddha alchemy: volatile, mobile, difficult to ‘hold’. In yogic symbolism, it parallels the restless mind, breath, or sexual essence. “Taking Nādam from it” suggests extracting a subtler principle from volatility: the inner resonance/sound-current (nāda), or a refined essence that can lead consciousness inward.
• “Fire on water” is a signature paradox: the perfected operator can sustain fire within the watery body (or sustain transformative heat within coolness) without conflict. Philosophically it signals non-duality of opposites once the practitioner learns the ‘art’ (cālam)—method, cunning, or siddhi.
• “Bearing the mountain and driving it inward” evokes the Meru-mountain within: the spinal axis and the ascent of force toward the cranial vault; it can also indicate stabilizing a heavy, immovable state (steadfastness) inside the fluctuating body-mind.
• “Banyan nectar” and “amutu” point to amṛta (nectar) associated with the head region in many yogic systems—sometimes said to drip downward and be “saved” by inner fire/locks. The banyan can symbolize the inverted tree (roots above), the lineage-tree, or the cranial ‘tree of life’ whose sap is nectar. Establishing that nectar is the sealing of the work: nourishment that supports longevity and “deathlessness.”
Overall, the verse outlines a Siddha program: ignite inner tapas, refine bodily essences through an alchemical-yogic ‘cooking’, extract subtle sound/essence (nāda) from volatility (mercury/mind), harmonize fire and water (agni–apas), raise and stabilize the inner axis (mountain/Meru), and thereby secure amṛta—culminating in an embodied immortality idealized as joining the amarar.