Golden Lay Verses

Verse 6 (குருபரம்பரை வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

பாஸ்கரனே சுரன்மணி கோஷன் சம்பு

பண்புறுஸாத் விகன்லங்கன் நரவா ஹன்தான்

மீஸ்கரனிந் திரன்கபிலன் வ்யாடி நாகன்

வீறுசுரா னந்தனுடன் நாக போதி

வாஸ்கரயா சோதர்கண்டர் காபா லீகர்

வரபிரமர் கோவிந்தர் ஹரிலம் பன்னும்

ஸ்ரீஸ்வரமே கண்டரஸ வாத சித்தர்

சேவடிக ளேகாப்பாய்ச் செப்பு வேனே

Transliteration

pāskaranē suraṇmaṇi kōṣaṉ campu

paṇpuṟusāt vikaṉlaṅkaṉ naravā hantāṉ

mīskaraṉiṉ tiraṉkabilaṉ vyāṭi nākaṉ

vīṟucurā ṉantaṉuṭaṉ nāka pōti

vāskarayā cōtarkaṇṭar kāpā līkar

varapiramar kōvintar harilam paṉṉum

srīsvaramē kaṇṭarasa vāta cittar

cēvaṭika ḷēkāppāyc ceppu vēnē.

Literal Translation

Bhāskara; Suranmaṇi; Kōśan; Śambhu;

The well-conducted Sāttvika(n); Laṅkan; Naravāhan;

Mīskaran; Indran; Kapilan; Vyādi; Nāgan;

Along with the mighty Sūrānandan, and Nāga-bōdhi;

Vāskaraiyā; Sōdar-Kaṇḍar; the Kapālīkar;

Varabrahmar; Govindar; those who enact/sing Hari’s (praise/play);

O Śrīśvara—Kandar, the rasa-vāda (alchemy) siddhar—

I shall speak, taking the sacred red Feet as the single protection.

Interpretive Translation

Invoking a gathering—solar and Śaiva powers (Bhāskara, Śambhu), Vedic and yogic figures (Indra, Kapila, Vyādi), nāga/serpent adepts (Nāgan, Nāga-bōdhi), cremation-ground Kapālika practitioners, and also Vaiṣṇava devotion (Govinda; Hari’s līlā/praise)—the speaker frames what follows as siddha-teaching under a non-sectarian canopy. In the end he announces his stance of surrender: whatever the diversity of names and paths, the true refuge is the “red Feet” (the Feet of the Lord/Guru) as the sole protection.

Philosophical Explanation

1) Catalogue as invocation / lineage-marker: Siddhar verses often begin by naming a circle of powers, gurus, or realized beings. The list functions like a protective “witnessing” (sākṣi) and also hints that the teaching belongs to an interwoven network of Śaiva tantra, yogic siddhi traditions, and rasavāda (alchemy).

2) Non-sectarian synthesis: Names associated with Śiva (Śambhu, Śrīśvara, Kapālīkar), the Sun (Bhāskara), nāga symbolism (Nāgan, Nāga-bōdhi), and Vaiṣṇava devotion (Govinda, Hari) sit side-by-side. Siddhar literature frequently collapses sectarian boundaries, implying that realization is not owned by one deity-form or one institutional creed.

3) Kapālika and rasavāda signals: “Kapālīkar” points to skull-bearing ascetics and cremation-ground disciplines—often code for radical renunciation, transgressive purity-concepts, and inner alchemy (working with death, fear, and impurity as yogic fuel). “Rasa-vāda siddhar” points to the siddha-alchemical horizon: mercury/mineral work can be literal, but also a metaphor for transforming the body-mind into an imperishable state (deha-siddhi), stabilizing prāṇa, and refining consciousness.

4) ‘Red Feet’ as ultimate refuge: “Sevadi” (red/auspicious Feet) is a classic Tamil bhakti-tantra marker for the Lord’s or Guru’s Feet—symbolizing grace, grounding, and the final resting-place of the wandering mind. The closing line resolves the many names into one principle: surrender/anchoring in the Feet is the protection that makes siddhi and knowledge safe (i.e., not ego-serving).

Key Concepts

  • Invocation through naming (protective witness; lineage hint)
  • Syncretism of Śaiva, Vaiṣṇava, solar, and nāga strands
  • Kapālika (cremation-ground) symbolism
  • Rasa-vāda (siddha alchemy) as literal and inner transformation
  • Guru/Lord’s Feet (sevadi) as the single refuge (śaraṇāgati)
  • Siddhar cryptic onomastics (names as codes for methods or states)

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • Whether the named items are historical siddhars, mythic figures, deity-epithets, or coded yogic states: the verse does not disambiguate.
  • “Suranmaṇi Kōśan” may be multiple names or a single compound epithet; the sandhi allows both readings.
  • “Sāttvika(n) Laṅkan Naravāhan” is unclear: it may list three persons, or describe one figure with qualifiers (sattvic, ‘of Lanka’/‘Laṅkan’, ‘Nara-vāhana’).
  • “Mīskaran” is not transparently identifiable; it could be a regional siddha name, a corrupted Sanskrit form, or a code-word in the manuscript tradition.
  • “Sūrānandan” may be a proper name or an epithet meaning ‘delight of the gods/warriors’; both remain possible.
  • “Sōdar-Kaṇḍar” could mean ‘brother Kaṇḍar’, ‘paired/twin Kaṇḍar’, or a specific siddhar title; Tamil compounds permit these shades.
  • “Harilam pannum” can mean ‘those who sing/play/perform Hari’s praise’ or ‘those who enact Hari’s līlā’; the verb “pannum” supports both ‘do/perform’ and musical ‘rendering’.
  • “Kandar rasa-vāda siddhar” may refer to a siddhar named Kandar who practiced alchemy, or to Skanda/Murugan (‘Kandan’) as the presiding principle of alchemical transformation; the verse keeps it open.
  • “Sevadi” (red Feet) can indicate Śiva’s Feet, the Guru’s Feet, or the inner ‘Feet’ (the stable ground of awareness); Siddhar usage often intends layered simultaneity.