புழுக்குன்றம் தோல்போர்த்த புன்மை யாக்கைப்
பொய்யினுக்குள் மெய்யாகும் பொற்பே யான்மா
அழுக்குன்றும் பேய்மனத்தி னாபா சத்தே
அழுக்கில்லா தழிவில்லா தணைந்த தான்மா
பழிக்குன்றப் பாவியுள்ளும் சாட்சி யாகப்
பார்த்திருக்கும் காத்துநிற்கும் பதியே யான்மா
கழுக்குன்றச் சுடர்விளக்காம் கதியாம் ஏதும்
கலவாமற் தனிநிற்கும் கதிரே யான்மா
puzhukkundram tholpoorttha punmai yaakkaip
poyyinukkul meyyaagum porpe yaanmaa
azhukkundrum peymanaththi naapaa satthe
azhukkillaa thazhivillaa thanaintha thaanmaa
pazhikkundrap paaviyullum saatchi yaagap
paarththirukkum kaaththunirkkum pathiye yaanmaa
kazhukkundrach sudarvilakkaam kathiyaam eethum
kalavaamar thaninirkkum kathire yaanmaa.
This wretched body— a mound of “puzhukku/puzhu” (boil/steam/worms) covered over with skin—
within falsehood, the truth becomes (present): the soul, a “pon-pēy” (golden phantom/precious spirit).
In the defilement-heap of the demon-mind’s “āpāsam” (impurity/obscuration),
the soul has come to rest as that which is stainless, imperishable.
Even inside the sinner where blame heaps up, as a witness,
it looks on, stands guard, and remains as the Lord/abode (pati): that soul.
As a radiant lamp on the “kazhukku” heap (vulture-hill/cremation-heap), as the way/goal itself,
without mixing (with anything), it stands alone— that ray (kadir) is the soul.
The body is portrayed as a disgustful heap, merely skin-wrapped; yet within this domain of deception, the true Self shines.
Though the mind is possessed by impurity and dark intoxications, the Self remains untouched—without stain, without decay.
In the very heart of the blameworthy and the sinful, it abides as the silent Witness and as the inner Lord who guards.
Even amid death-signs and the cremation-field imagery, it is the steady lamp and the final refuge: the solitary, unmixed radiance of consciousness.
The verse builds a sequence of “heaps/hills” (கு/குன்றம்) to devalue the body-mind complex and intensify dispassion: the body is a skin-covered mass associated with worms/boils/rot; the mind is a haunt of “pey” (demonic, errant, addicted) tendencies and “āpāsam” (polluting obscuration). Against these changing, decaying strata, the poet asserts an Atman that is (1) mெய் (true), (2) அசங்கி/அழுக்கில்லா (unstained), (3) அழிவில்லா (deathless), and (4) சாட்சி (witness).
The “witness” doctrine is central: the Self is present even in the “pāvi” (sinner) as the uncondemning seer that observes and ‘stands guard’—suggesting that moral taint belongs to mind-actions, not to the knowing principle itself. The phrase “kalavāmar tani nirkum” (standing alone without mixing) points to a non-dual/Advaitic discrimination: the Self does not truly combine with bodily matter, mental impurity, or karmic blame, though it appears entangled. The lamp/ray imagery (sudar-vilakku, kadir) expresses consciousness as self-luminous guidance and as the very “gati” (way/goal/destiny). The repeated use of “pey” (ghost/demon) alongside “pon” (gold) keeps the Siddhar’s characteristic ambiguity: the Self in embodiment can seem like a phantom in a false house, yet it is also the most precious reality.