ஓமென்னு மோரெழுத்தோன் ப்ரம்ம ஞானி
ஓர்ந்துகொளு மறுவழிக ஞரைக்கக் கேளாய்
ஓமென்ன வோதுகின்றா னோது விப்பான்
மென்ன வேவேட்பான் வேட்பிப் பானே
ஓமென்ன வேயீவான் ஏற்பான் பின்னே
ஓமல்விடுத் துலகோம்பி யுண்மை கூறி
ஓமென்னப் பசுவளர்ப்பான் மனத்துக் குள்ளே
ஓமென்ன ஓங்கிநிற்பா னொன்றே யாவான்
Omennu morezhuththon Brahma Gnani
Ornthukolu maruvazhiga gnaraikkak kelai
Omennna vothugindra nathu vippan
Menna vevedpaan vedpip paane
Omennna veyeevaan erpaan pinne
Omalviduth thulakombi yunmai koori
Omennna pasuvalarppaan manaththuk kulle
Omennna onginiRpaa nondre yaavaan.
He who bears/knows the three-lettered “Om” is a knower of Brahman.
Consider carefully; listen so that (I) may speak/explain the other way (also).
He recites “Om”; he will make others recite it.
He will ask (for it/with it); he will make others ask.
Saying “Om” he will give; afterward he will receive.
Abandoning falsehood, guarding the world, speaking truth,
Saying “Om,” he will rear the ‘cow’ within the mind.
Saying “Om,” he will stand exalted; he himself becomes the One.
“Om,” the tri-syllabled sign, is treated as the mark of Brahman-knowledge. Yet the verse warns: the same “Om” can be turned outward—recited, taught, solicited, exchanged in giving and receiving—becoming a social or transactional badge. The ‘other way’ is inward: cast off deception, uphold truth, and tend the inner ‘cow’ (the bound soul/senses/breath-principle) within the mind through “Om.” When “Om” rises and stands firm within, the practitioner is no longer merely a reciter of the One but becomes (or abides as) the One.
This stanza moves between two uses of mantra.
1) Outer circulation of mantra (ritual/social economy): The repeated verbs—reciting, making others recite, asking, making others ask, giving, receiving—portray “Om” as something that can be traded: a sign of piety, a teaching credential, a tool for eliciting offerings, or a means of gaining prestige. The Siddhar tone is not purely celebratory; it sketches how sacred sound can be instrumentalized.
2) Inner assimilation of mantra (yogic realization): The pivot comes with “abandoning falsehood…speaking truth,” implying ethical purification as prerequisite. Then “rearing the cow within the mind” introduces a classic Śaiva-Siddha ambiguity: - ‘Pasu’ can mean the bound soul (jīva) tethered by bonds (pāśam), or the senses/instinct-nature that must be tended and disciplined. - It can also hint at prāṇa/breath (a ‘living herd’ to be managed), where mantra becomes internal (ajapa) rather than merely voiced.
Thus “Om” is not just a sound uttered by the mouth; it becomes an inner support for converting the pasu-condition (bound, scattered consciousness) into steadiness. When “Om” ‘stands high’ (oṅgi niṟpān)—i.e., becomes established in awareness beyond wavering—duality collapses: the practitioner ‘becomes the One’ (non-separate from the reality signified by the mantra). The stanza therefore holds both a critique of superficial mantra-display and an affirmation of mantra as a real yogic-alchemical instrument when internalized with truthfulness and restraint.