நாட்டுநவாச் சாரமென்னும் சடலந் தன்னை
நவநாத சித்தாக்கி நானென் றோதிப்
பூட்டிநிற்கும் போத முற்றால்
பூட்டுக்குள்ளே தோன்றும் கனகக் காட்சி
ஊட்டிநிற்கும் உப்பிலிடக் கட்டிப் போகும்
மூட்டுதழல் தனிற்சாம மெரித்து மூட்டி
உவர்களத்தில் மூன்றுவகை உப்பும் கூட்டி
முடைநீக்க முப்பூவின் குளிகை தானே
naattunavaach chaaramennum sadalan thannai
navanaatha siththaakki naan en roothip
poottinirkkum potha muttraal
poottukkullae thondrum kanakak kaatchi
oottinirkkum uppilidak kattip pogum
moottuthazhal thanirsaama meriththu mootti
uvarhalaththil moonruvakai uppum kootti
mudai neekka muppoovin kulikai thaanae.
That ‘corpse/substance’ (சடலம்) called the native navācaram (நாட்டு நவாச்சாரம்),
make it into a Navanātha-siddha (நவநாத சித்தாக்கி), chanting “I” (நான்) as you recite;
when the state of being sealed/locked (பூட்டிநிற்கும்) becomes complete,
within the lock appears a golden vision/appearance (கனகக் காட்சி).
If it is nourished/charged (ஊட்டிநிற்கும்) and bound in salt (உப்பிலிடக் கட்டி), it goes on/sets out;
within the bundled fire/packed flame (மூட்டுதழல்) burn it with ‘sāma’ heat (சாமம்) and stoke it,
in a briny vessel/field (உவர்களம்) gather together three kinds of salt,
removing foulness/slag/putrefaction (முடை), it is the pill (குளிகை) of the “three flowers” (முப்பூ).
An alchemical–yogic instruction is being spoken in code: take the substance known as “native navācaram” (often identified in Siddha chemistry with ammoniacal salt/sal ammoniac type materials) and treat it like a ‘dead body’ that must be re-ensouled. Through mantra-identity (“I”) and through strict sealing/containment (a closed vessel, or symbolically the ‘locked’ senses), continue the operation until a ‘golden sign’ appears—an indicator of correct ripening/purification.
Then, by repeated feeding/charging and by binding the material in salt, carry it through graded heating (“sāma” = regulated, moderate fire) in a packed fire/furnace. Combine three salts in a briny medium; this triple-salt catalyst—cryptically called ‘three flowers’—yields a kuligai (pellet/pill) that removes “mudai” (stench, decay, blockage, dross), i.e., it purifies and stabilizes the substance (and by extension the body).
The verse pivots on a classic Siddhar metaphor: what is base, inert, or ‘corpse-like’ (whether a chemical substrate, a diseased body, or an unawakened psyche) becomes “siddha” only through (1) identity-mantra/inner assertion (“nāṉ”), (2) containment and restraint (“pūṭṭu” = sealing; in yoga, locking the senses/breath), and (3) properly measured inner/outer heat (agni). The “golden appearance” functions as both a laboratory sign (a color-change suggesting successful calcination/sublimation/compound-formation) and a contemplative sign (a luminosity that arises when the mind is sealed and matured). The repeated salt-language is not merely culinary: salts in Siddha alchemy stand for fixatives, catalysts, and purifiers; philosophically they stand for the ‘taste’ that preserves and prevents putrefaction—discipline that halts decay. “Three kinds of salt / three flowers” points to a triadic catalytic principle (often called muppu in Siddha lore, with variant spellings and intentional punning), which ‘removes mudai’: it clears obstruction, foulness, and instability. Thus the kuligai is both a medicine (removing physical decay/toxicity) and a means of stabilization (fixing the volatile, making the perishable endure).