Golden Lay Verses

Verse 58 (ஆன்ம வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

ஆதிநடு முடியில்லா வனாதி யாகி

வேதமொழி யதுகாணா வேத மாகி

பேதமபே தங்கடந்த போத மாகி

நாதமுடி நாதமதாம் மோன மான்மா

Transliteration

Āthinadu muḍiyillā vanādhi yāgi

Vēthamozhi yathukāṇā vētha māgi

Pēthamabē thaṅkaḍandha pōtha māgi

Nāthamuḍi nāthamathām mōna mānmā.

Literal Translation

Becoming the One who has no beginning, middle, or end—(thus) the Beginningless One;

Becoming the Veda that the language of the Vedas cannot (truly) perceive;

Becoming the Awareness (bodha) that has crossed beyond difference and non-difference;

The Self that is Silence (mōnam)—the summit (muḍi) of nāda, indeed the very nāda’s culminating point.

Interpretive Translation

That Reality which cannot be located in time (no origin, center, or termination) is pointed to as the truly beginningless Source.

It is the “Veda” not as text, but as direct knowing—beyond what Vedic speech can capture.

It transcends both duality and non-duality as mere concepts, becoming pure awakened consciousness.

In yogic experience, inner sound (nāda) rises and ends in mauna (silence): that silent summit is the Ātman.

Philosophical Explanation

The verse compresses a Siddhar-style apophatic theology (defining the Real by what it is not) with a yogic phenomenology of inner absorption.

1) "No beginning, middle, end" rejects any attempt to treat the Absolute as an object within time, space, or narrative sequence. In Tamil Shaiva-Siddha and broader Indian metaphysics, such phrasing signals the unconditioned (anādi) that cannot be partitioned.

2) "Veda that Vedic language cannot see" distinguishes scripture as words (moli) from the direct gnosis that words only indicate. The Siddhar critique is not anti-Veda; rather, it claims the highest “Veda” is experiential knowledge that eludes linguistic capture.

3) "Crossing difference and non-difference" is a deliberate paradox. Dvaita (difference) and advaita (non-difference) are framed as conceptual poles; the Siddhar points to bodham—awakened knowing—that is prior to such categories. This preserves a stance common in Siddhar texts: liberation is not adherence to a school but realization beyond doctrinal binaries.

4) "Nāda" refers to inner vibration/sound perceived in deep meditation (anāhata-nāda in later terminology). "Muḍi" (crown/top/summit) can indicate both the climax of an inner process and the cranial “crown” locus (often mapped to sahasrāra). The line implies a yogic progression: as nāda becomes increasingly subtle, it resolves into mōnam (silence). Silence here is not mere absence of sound but the non-conceptual fullness in which even subtle vibration is transcended. Thus the Ātman is identified with mauna—the final, wordless clarity.

Key Concepts

  • anādi (beginningless)
  • timeless Absolute (no beginning/middle/end)
  • Veda beyond words (veda vs vedamoli)
  • apophatic expression (via negativa)
  • bodham/bodha (awakening, direct knowledge)
  • dvaita–advaita transcendence (bheda/abheda crossed)
  • nāda (inner sound, vibration)
  • muḍi (summit/crown; culmination)
  • mōnam/mauna (silence as realization)
  • Ātman (Self)

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • "ஆதி நடு முடி இல்லா" can mean (a) the Real has no temporal segmentation (beginning/middle/end), or (b) it cannot be grasped through any threefold measure or stage (a common Siddhar hint that practice-stages are finally surpassed).
  • "வேதமொழி யதுகாணா வேதம்" may mean (a) Vedic speech cannot describe it, or (b) even the Veda as authoritative knowledge is ‘seen’ only when one goes beyond mere recitation—i.e., scripture is fulfilled in realization.
  • "பேதம் அபேதம் கடந்த" can be read as (a) transcending philosophical schools (dualism/non-dualism), or (b) transcending experiential alternations of separation and unity in meditation—both treated as passing states compared to stable bodham.
  • "நாதமுடி" may mean (a) the culmination/crest of inner sound, or (b) the ‘crown’ center where nāda is experienced; the verse leaves open whether the emphasis is phenomenological (process) or yogic-anatomical (locus).
  • "மோன மான்மா" can be read as (a) the soul is silence, or (b) the Self is that which makes silence possible—the ground in which both sound and silence appear; Siddhar language often keeps this ontological ambiguity.