Golden Lay Verses

Verse 382 (சித்த வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

ஆமப்பா வறு கோண மதற்கப்பாலே

யாரப்பா சொல்லிடுவார் ப்ரம்மதண்டி

வரமப்பா மையத்தி லூமத்தன்காய்

வளமப்பா விந்துஜய நீரின் பூசை

காமப்பா சதிர்க்கூடச் சதுரக்கள்ளி

காணப்பா முக்கோணப் புளியங்காயே

தாமப்பா தழலேற்றிப் புடமே போடத்

தன்மயமா மின்மயமாமத் தழலாஞ் சோதி

Transliteration

Āmappā vaṟu kōṇa matarkappālē

Yārappā solliṭuvār prammataṇṭi

Varamappā maiyatti lūmattaṉkāy

Vaḷamappā vintujaya nīrin pūsai

Kāmappā catirk kūṭac caturakkaḷḷi

Kāṇappā mukkōṇap puḷiyaṅkāyē

Tāmappā taḻalēṟṟip puṭamē pōṭat

Tanmayamā minmayamāmat taḻalāñ cōti

Literal Translation

“Yes, father—beyond that (place/state) of the empty/arriving ‘angle’ (kōṇam),

who, father, will speak (openly) of the Brahma-staff (Brahma-daṇḍa)?

As a boon, father—at the center (maiyam) is the ūmattan-kāy (datura fruit).

As prosperity, father—the ‘pūcai’ (worship/anointing) with the ‘vintu-jaya’ water/urine.

As desire, father—in the square enclosure (catir-kūḍam), the four-angled kalli (caturak-kalli).

See, father—the triangular tamarind-fruit (mukkōṇa puḷiyaṅkāy).

Steadily, father—raise the flame and put it into pudam (sealed calcination/roasting).

(Then) it becomes tanmaya (made of That); it becomes minmaya (made of lightning)—that flame-like radiance (cōti).”

Interpretive Translation

“Once you pass beyond the ‘corner/angle’ (the outer geometric gate of the work), the secret of the Brahma-daṇḍa is not something everyone can declare.

Place the ‘ūmattan-kāy’ at the center; perform the consecration with the ‘vintu-jaya’ liquid; arrange the four-angled kalli in the square chamber and the triangular tamarind in its proper station.

Then ignite the fire and complete the pudam (the closed heating).

What was gross is transmuted: it turns into tanmaya—identity with the Real—and into minmaya—an experience/body of flashing light, a flame-like inner radiance.”

Philosophical Explanation

This verse speaks in the mixed idiom of Siddhar yoga and Siddha alchemy, deliberately using geometry, plant-names, and furnace-language as both practical and coded instruction.

1) Geometry as yantra/body-map: “square” (caturam) and “triangle” (mukkōṇam) commonly indicate yantra-structures (bhūpura/earth-square; śakti-triangle) and, by extension, stations in the subtle body. The movement “beyond the angle” suggests passing an outer boundary (ritual gate or bodily limitation) rather than merely relocating in space.

2) Brahma-daṇḍa as the secret axis: “Brahma-daṇḍa” is a classic yogic cipher for the central channel (suṣumṇā) or spinal axis through which the inner fire and awareness rise. “Who will tell?” signals initiatic secrecy: it is not a topic for public explanation but for direct verification.

3) Herb-names as double-language: “ūmattan-kāy” (datura) and “caturak-kalli” (a ‘four-angled’ euphorbia/cactus-like plant) can be literal materia medica, but Siddhar texts also use such names as veiled terms for minerals, salts, or processed substances. The text does not force a single reading.

4) “Vintu-jaya” and the liquid used: “vintu” (bindu/seed) plus “jaya” (victory) points to mastery over seminal loss—either as a yogic accomplishment (transmuted vitality/ojas) or as a required purity for the operation. “Nīr” can mean water and also urine in Siddha medical usage; thus the “pūcai” may be ritual anointing, medicinal application, or an inner consecration with a refined bodily essence.

5) Pudam and the fire: “pudam” is explicit alchemical technology—sealed heating/calcination in a closed container—yet it also mirrors yogic tapas (the deliberate raising of inner heat). In either register, fire converts form: it ‘cooks’ the substance or the practitioner.

6) Result—tanmaya/minmaya jyoti: The closing line describes an ontological shift: tanmaya (“made of That,” absorbed in the Absolute) and minmaya (“made of lightning,” a sudden subtle brilliance) culminating in “flame-like light” (cōti). In alchemy, this can indicate a refined luminous essence; in yoga, it describes the inner vision/sign (jyoti) associated with ascent in the central channel and the dissolution of ordinary identity.

The verse therefore holds two coordinated claims: a technical transformation (outer work) and a consciousness-transformation (inner work), presented as one operation.

Key Concepts

  • Brahma-daṇḍa (central axis/suṣumṇā)
  • Yantra geometry (square, triangle, center)
  • ūmattan-kāy (datura) as herb/cipher
  • caturak-kalli (four-angled kalli) as herb/cipher
  • puḷiyaṅkāy (tamarind) as ingredient/cipher
  • vintu (bindu/seed) and vintu-jaya (mastery over bindu)
  • nīr (water/urine) and pūcai (worship/anointing/application)
  • pudam (sealed calcination/roasting; tapas by analogy)
  • taḻal (fire; inner heat)
  • cōti/jyoti (inner radiance; luminous attainment)
  • tanmaya (absorption in the Real)
  • minmaya (lightning-like subtle state)

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “வறு கோணம் / வரு கோணம்” can be read as an “empty/barren angle,” an “arriving angle,” or a coded ‘outer corner/gate’ of a yantra/body-map; the text does not disambiguate.
  • “Brahma-daṇḍa” may be the physical spine, the suṣumṇā nāḍi, or an alchemical ‘rod/staff’ metaphor for the main channel of transformation.
  • “ūmattan-kāy” (datura fruit) could be a literal drug/herb, a poisonous ‘test’ ingredient requiring purification, or a code-name for a mineral/chemical used in rasavāda.
  • “vintu-jaya nīr” hinges on “nīr”: it can mean water or urine; it may also refer to an internal essence produced by semen-retention rather than an external liquid.
  • “pūcai” can mean temple-style worship/abhisheka, medicinal smearing/application, or a symbolic consecration within the subtle body.
  • “caturak-kalli” and “mukkōṇa puḷiyaṅkāy” may be actual botanicals selected by shape/quality, or a cryptic way to indicate geometric placements of substances in a yantra or crucible arrangement.
  • “taḻal” and “pudam” can be purely laboratory fire and calcination, or simultaneously (and intentionally) inner yogic heat and sealed concentration practice.
  • “tanmayamā minmayamā” can be read as metaphysical realization (identity with That; lightning-like illumination) or as a description of the product’s qualities (a refined, radiant substance).