எண்குணங்கள் வேண்டுமடா யிறைவன் தன்னை
என்றென்று மான்மாவோ டிணைப்ப தற்கே
விண்குணங்கள் வேண்டுமடா விளக்க மாக
வெளியிருட்டி லான்மவொளிக் களியுண் டாகப்
பெண்குணமா மனுஜையிடம் பிரியம் வேண்டும்
பெருஞ்சாந்தி யுடன்சௌசப் பெருமை வேண்டும்
உண்குணங்கள் உருவாகி ஒளியாய் நின்றே
உயர்வாகி வெளியானா லான்மா சித்தி
eṇguṇangaḷ vēṇḍumaḍā yiṟaivan tannai
eṉṟeṉṟu māṉmāvo ṭiṇaippa taṟkē
viṇguṇangaḷ vēṇḍumaḍā viḷakka māka
veḷiyiruṭṭi lāṉmavoḷik kaḷiyuṇ ṭākap
peṇguṇamā manujaiyiṭam piriyam vēṇḍum
peruñcānti yuṭaṉcaucap perumai vēṇḍum
uṇguṇangaḷ uruvāki oḷiyāy niṉṟē
uyarvāki veḷiyānā lāṉmā citti.
O friend, the eight qualities are needed, to unite the soul with the Lord,
forever and ever.
The heavenly/sky-like qualities are needed, clearly,
so that in the darkness of the outer expanse the bliss of the soul-light may arise.
A “womanly” quality—affection—should be present toward human beings;
great peace, together with purity (śauca), and greatness should be present.
When the (good) qualities take form and stand as light,
rising up—when one becomes the “Veli/outer-space” (or when it becomes outwardly manifest)—there is the soul’s siddhi (attainment).
To yoke the individual soul to the Divine without break, one must cultivate an “eightfold” set of virtues.
One must also acquire the qualities of the sky/space—clarity, vastness, and subtle illumination—so that even in the void-like darkness (ignorance, inner night, or the occult ‘outer’ expanse) the joy of the soul’s own light is tasted.
Let compassion and tenderness (called here “feminine” disposition) arise toward people; let great peace and yogic purity (śauca) become stable.
When these disciplines ripen into lived qualities and the person stands as light itself, ascending into the state of Veli (the open expanse/inner space/void), the soul’s siddhi is realized.
The verse is framed as practical instruction for siddha-yoga: the soul’s union with Īśvara is not achieved merely by doctrine but by the maturation of “qualities” (guṇa) into an embodied state.
1) “Eight qualities” (எண்குணங்கள்): Siddhar language often compresses whole systems into a number. The point is not arithmetic but completeness—an integral set of virtues that makes the soul fit for uninterrupted union with the Divine. These can be read as an aṣṭa-guṇa discipline: ethical steadiness, inner control, discrimination, patience, compassion, truthfulness, purity, and equanimity (the exact list is left unstated, likely intentionally).
2) “Sky/heaven qualities” (விண்குணங்கள்) and “darkness of the expanse” (வெளியிருட்டு): ‘Sky/space’ in Siddha and yogic symbolism indicates subtlety, non-clinging, and all-pervasiveness (ākāśa-like consciousness). Darkness can be ignorance, the pre-dawn inner state encountered in meditation, or the occult ‘void’ that precedes illumination. The verse insists that genuine light is verified not in comfort but where darkness prevails—there the “soul-light” is experienced as bliss (களி).
3) “Feminine quality” (பெண்குணம்): Not a gender claim but a psycho-spiritual instruction: softness, receptivity, cooling kindness, and affectionate regard toward “manuja” (human beings). In Siddhar ethics, spiritual attainment that lacks love or compassion is considered incomplete or suspect.
4) Peace and purity (பெருஞ்சாந்தி, சௌச): Śānti is the stabilized mind; śauca is both bodily and mental purity (diet, conduct, thought). In Siddha contexts, śauca can also imply purification of nāḍi and vital energies—preconditions for inner luminosity.
5) “Qualities become form and stand as light”: Virtue is not merely moral; it becomes ontological—one’s very mode of being changes. When the guṇa-s are ‘formed’ (உருவாகி) they crystallize into radiance: clarity of awareness, subtle perception, and steadiness.
6) “Rising and becoming Veli” (உயர்வாகி வெளியானால்): ‘Veli’ can mean outward space/expanse, the open void, or the manifest state beyond enclosure. The siddha claim is that when consciousness expands into that boundless ‘space’ and remains luminous, one attains ātmā-siddhi—self-perfected realization (and, by extension, siddhic capability), grounded in purity and compassion rather than mere power.