Golden Lay Verses

Verse 84 (மணி வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

ஐந்து பத மான வேதம் அதனைக் காணப் பல காதம்

தந்துபத தான சூதம் தனிலே விந்தை மிகு மோதம்

எந்து வதஞ் ஞாத வாதம் எந்தை யறி வானப் போதம்

பந்து மிக கெந்தி நாதம் சொந்தமது காந்த வாதம்

Transliteration

Ainthu padha maana vedham adhanaik kaanap pala kaadham

thandhupadha thaana soodham thanilae vindhai migu modham

endhu vadhañ ñaadha vaadham endhai yaRi vaanap bodham

pandhu miga kendhi naadham sondhamadhu kaandha vaadham

Literal Translation

“The Veda that has five ‘padas’ (feet/steps/words)—to see it, [one must go] many kādams (long distances).

The sūtham (mercury) that has been ‘given a pada’ (made to stand / given a footing)—within it is a wonder, a great mōdam (delight/joy).

What ‘vādam/vātam’ is known, and of which manner—[that becomes] the bodham (awakening/understanding) that knows the Father (the Lord).

The nādam (inner sound) that is greatly ‘kendi’ (heaved/tossed/raised)—one’s own [state/possession] becomes kānta-vātam (magnetic vāta / the “kānta” doctrine).”

Interpretive Translation

The outer “Veda of five” is not easily reached by ordinary searching; it seems far away. But when sūtham (mercury)—also hinting at the subtle essence (bindu)—is properly “made to stand” (stabilized/fixed), an extraordinary joy appears within. Through a known discipline of vāta/prāṇa (or a “vāda” teaching), one gains the Lord-given bodha (clear knowing). As prāṇa is lifted and gathered, nāda (the inner sound-current) becomes prominent, and the practitioner’s own vāta turns “kānta”: drawn and held as if by a magnet (steadied in the central path), indicating yogic stabilization and alchemical completion.

Philosophical Explanation

This verse compresses a Siddhar-style equivalence between scriptural truth, alchemy, and yoga.

1) “Five-pada Veda”: This can point to an esoteric quintuple teaching—commonly read as the pañcākṣara (five-syllabled) mantra, or the five elements, or five inner “steps” of practice. Saying it is seen only after “many kādams” suggests that its realization is not textual but experiential and difficult.

2) “Mercury given a pada”: In rasavāda, giving mercury a “pada” can mean fixing/coagulating/anchoring what is naturally unstable. Siddhar poetry often lets mercury stand simultaneously for the metal (rasa), for Śiva-śakti potency, and for bindu/seminal essence. The “wonderful mōdam” then reads as the bliss that arises when volatile energies are stabilized rather than dissipated.

3) “Vātam/Vādam → bodham”: “Vātam” can mean bodily vāta (wind-humor) or prāṇa; “vādam” can also mean doctrine/argument. Either way, the verse links a correct (known) method with bodha—transformative insight described as ‘knowing the Father’, i.e., recognizing the source-consciousness.

4) “Nāda” and “kānta-vātam”: Nāda is a classic marker of internalization (sound perceived when prāṇa gathers). “Kānta” literally means magnet/lodestone and also “beloved”; in alchemical registers it can suggest magnetic attraction/retention, or a specific prepared mineral. “Kānta-vātam” thus implies prāṇa becoming attractable and steady—no longer scattering—mirroring the alchemical aim of rendering mercury non-volatile. The philosophical claim is that yogic fixation (of vāta/bindu) and alchemical fixation (of sūtham) are one process described in two codes.

Key Concepts

  • five-pada Veda (pañca / pañcākṣara / fivefold doctrine)
  • kādam (distance as spiritual remoteness / long effort)
  • sūtham (mercury) as metal and as subtle essence
  • fixing/anchoring the volatile (“giving a pada” to mercury)
  • mōdam (inner joy/bliss)
  • vātam (vāta/prāṇa) and/or vādam (doctrine)
  • bodham (awakening/gnosis)
  • nādam (inner sound-current)
  • kānta (magnet/lodestone; also “beloved”)
  • kānta-vātam (magnetized/retained prāṇa; or a specific alchemical stage)

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “ஐந்து பத மான வேதம்” can mean (a) the five-syllable mantra, (b) a fivefold esoteric Veda/teaching, (c) five elements or five inner stages; the text does not fix one.
  • “பல காதம்” is literally a distance-measure but can also mean long time/effort or the sense that realization lies ‘far’ from ordinary perception.
  • “தந்துபத தான சூதம்” is cryptic: it may mean mercury ‘given a footing’ (fixed), or mercury received/transmitted through lineage (“given”), or a technical rasavāda term now contracted in verse-form.
  • “விந்தை” straightforwardly means ‘wonder’, but may pun on “vindu/bindu” (drop, semen/essence), a common Siddhar double-entendre around rasa and yogic retention.
  • “வாதம்/வதஞ்” may be read as prāṇa/vāta physiology, as a ‘vāda’ philosophical teaching, or as a medical reference to vāta-related conditions; the grammar allows overlap.
  • “பந்து மிக கெந்தி நாதம்” can mean nāda that is ‘raised’ strongly, or nāda that is ‘tossed about’, or nāda that is ‘bound/knotted’ (pandu as bond), each implying a different nuance of yogic process.
  • “காந்த வாதம்” may indicate (a) magnet-like prāṇa that attracts/holds, (b) a rasavāda stage involving lodestone/magnetic substance, or (c) ‘kānta’ as ‘beloved’—the ‘chosen/own’ doctrine—preserving intentional Siddhar ambiguity.