அரனைப் பாடி யுயர்ந்திட்டா ரறுபத்து மூவர்
அருளைப் பாடி மிகுந்திட்டா ரருட்பெருஞ் ஜோதி
அரியைப் பாடிச் சிறந்திட்டார் ஆறிரண் டாழ்வார்
அதனைப் பாடி நிறைந்திட்டார் அறுமூன்று சித்தர்
கருவைப் பாடி வினைபாடிக் கத்தட்டு மென்றே
கவியப் பாடிக் கலைபாடிக் கவிபாட வில்லை
கருவைப் பாடிக் குருகாட்டிக் காப்பதற் காகக்
கருணைப் பாடிக் களிபாடிக் கனிந்திட்ட வாறே
araṉaip pāṭi yuyarndiṭṭā raṟupattu mūvar
aruḷaip pāṭi mikundiṭṭā ra ruṭperuñ jōti
ariyaip pāṭic ciṟandiṭṭār āri raṇ ṭāḻvār
ataṉaip pāṭi niṟaindiṭṭār aṟumūṉṟu cittar
karuvaip pāṭi viṉaipāṭik kattattu meṉṟē
kaviyap pāṭik kalaipāṭik kavipāṭa villai
karuvaip pāṭik kurukāṭṭik kāppataṟ kākak
karuṇaip pāṭik kaḷipāṭik kaṉindiṭṭa vāṟē.
1) By singing of Aran (Śiva), the sixty-three were uplifted.
2) By singing of grace (arul), “Arutperuñjōti” became abundant/exalted.
3) By singing of Ari (Hari/Vishnu), the twelve Āḻvārs became eminent.
4) By singing of that, the eighteen Siddhars became filled/fulfilled.
5) Singing of the womb/seed (karu) and singing of karma (vinai)—“let it cry out,” they say.
6) Singing in ornate verse, singing of arts—(I) did not sing as a poet.
7) Singing of the womb/seed, pointing out the Guru, for the sake of protection,
8) singing compassion, singing bliss—thus it ripened/matured.
Those who praised Śiva rose to fame (the 63 Nāyaṉmārs). Those who praised Grace itself attained fullness—named here as “Arutperuñjōti,” the Great Light of Grace. Those who praised Hari shone (the 12 Āḻvārs). And by praising that same ultimate reality, the 18 Siddhars reached completion.
But the speaker refuses mere literary display: not singing simply “as poetry” or “as art.” Instead, he sings of “karu”—the hidden seed/embryo (the embodied soul, or a subtle yogic ‘embryo’ of realization)—and of karma, and he does so to indicate the Guru and to protect that inner seed; his song aims at compassion and inward joy, until it ‘ripens’ into mature realization.
The verse sets up a comparative map of Tamil devotional and yogic lineages: Śaiva saints (63), Vaiṣṇava saints (12), and Siddhars (18). Each is said to have “risen” or “become fulfilled” through “pāṭal” (singing/praising), implying that utterance, remembrance, and devotion are not merely aesthetic but transformative disciplines.
Yet the Siddhar voice adds a corrective: true song is not performance (“poetry/arts”) but a functional teaching aimed at liberation. The pivot-word “karu” is deliberately cryptic. In ordinary Tamil it can mean womb/embryo/seed; in Siddhar usage it can suggest (a) the embodied jīva growing within the ‘womb’ of the body, (b) the subtle ‘embryo’ of wisdom cultivated by prāṇa and kuṇḍalinī discipline, and/or (c) a primary substance/seed-principle relevant to inner alchemy. “Vina i” (karma) is paired with it: the ‘seed’ is enmeshed in karmic causality, and must be protected and matured.
Protection happens through “kuru kāṭṭi” (“showing the Guru”): not merely honoring a teacher, but pointing to the necessary initiatory guidance that safeguards the practitioner’s inner process (ethical, yogic, and possibly medicinal/alchemical). The culmination is ethical-spiritual: “karuṇai” (compassion) and “kaḷi” (bliss/rapture). The ripening (“kanintu”) suggests the fruit-stage of practice—when grace, compassion, and inner joy become stable realization rather than transient emotion.
Thus the verse subtly harmonizes sectarian bhakti (Śiva/Hari) with a Siddhar emphasis on inner maturation: grace/light is the common summit, but the Siddhar insists on efficacy—song as a vehicle for instruction, protection, and transformation.