Golden Lay Verses

Verse 86 (மணி வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

ஏகாந்த வெளியிலே ஏக மாகி

ஏமனுக்கும் மனிதருக்கும் எட்ட நின்று

வாகாந்தக் காலநெறி வகைமா றாமல்

வசைகூறிக் கோவித்தால் குணத்தைக் கூறு

சோகாந்த மதைநீக்க ஏரைப் பூட்டி

தூக்கமிலாத் தூக்கத்தைத் தூக்கி நின்று

ஆகாந்த காரத்தி னப்பா லப்பால்

ஆனந்த மாயாவின் பாலைக் கொள்ளே

Transliteration

Ēkānta veḷiyilē ēka māki

Ēmanukkum maṉitarukkum eṭṭa niṉṟu

Vākāntak kālaneṟi vakaimā ṟāmal

Vasaikūṟik kōvittāl kuṇattaik kūṟu

Sōkānta matai nīkka ēraip pūṭṭi

Tūkkamilāt tūkkattait tūkk i niṉṟu

Ākānta kāratti ṉappā lappāl

Ānanta māyāviṉ pālaik koḷḷē.

Literal Translation

In the solitary/open expanse, becoming one;

standing where even Yama (Death) and men cannot reach;

without changing the course/track of Time’s way at the “end of speech”;

if you insult (others) and become angry, then speak of (your) quality/nature.

To remove the “ending of sorrow,” yoke the plough;

lift up the sleepless sleep and stand (steadfast);

far, far beyond the dense darkness,

seize/receive the milk of blissful Māyā.

Interpretive Translation

Enter the inner solitude and merge into the One.

Stand in a state beyond the reach of death and worldly grasp.

Abide in the discipline where speech ceases and time’s compulsion does not divert you.

If you are given to slander and anger, your “guna” (inner constitution) is thereby revealed—so abandon it.

To uproot sorrow, harness the plough: turn inward and work the field of mind-body with yogic discipline.

Raise the paradoxical ‘sleep that has no sleep’—the wakeful stillness of samādhi—and remain established.

Cross beyond the thick darkness of ignorance,

and partake of the subtle nourishment—“milk”—of bliss (the ananda-essence) that appears even within/through Māyā.

Philosophical Explanation

This verse layers ethical diagnosis, yogic instruction, and Siddhar-style paradox.

1) Solitude → Nonduality: “ஏகாந்த வெளியிலே ஏக மாகி” points to an inner ‘space’ (not merely physical isolation) where the practitioner becomes “one” (eka)—an Advaitic/Śaiva-siddhar aim: identity with the undivided.

2) Beyond Yama: Standing where Yama cannot reach signals a state beyond ordinary mortality—not necessarily physical immortality in a crude sense, but transcendence of death’s jurisdiction through realization (and, in some Siddhar readings, through perfected prāṇa/kuṇḍalinī control and rasāyana-like transformation).

3) “End of speech” and time’s track: “வாகாந்த” can be read as “vāg-anta” (the end/cessation of speech). Siddhars often treat silence as a technical yogic marker: when speech and inner chatter cease, time (kāla) no longer ‘moves’ the mind along habitual grooves. The line thus suggests stability in the silent axis where time does not ‘change the method/path’ of practice.

4) Ethical barometer (guna): “If you slander and get angry, tell your quality.” The verse treats reactivity—insult, anger—as a diagnostic revelation of one’s guna/temperament. In Siddhar instruction, moral purification is not separate from yoga; it is evidence of whether inner alchemy is truly occurring.

5) Ploughing as inner work: “ஏரைப் பூட்டி” (yoking the plough) is a classic agrarian metaphor for disciplined practice: ploughing the field of the body-mind, cutting furrows in habitual patterns, preparing for the ‘crop’ of realization. It can imply breath-regulation, nāḍi-work, and persistent tapas—an inward agriculture.

6) “Sleepless sleep”: “தூக்கமிலாத் தூக்கம்” is a well-known yogic paradox: a state like sleep in its cessation of mental noise, yet without unconsciousness—wakeful sleep/samādhi (akin to turīya framing). “Lifting” it suggests actively raising/establishing that state and remaining steady in it.

7) Beyond darkness: “dense darkness” is both ignorance (avidyā) and the frightening blankness encountered in deep interiorization. The verse insists one must go “beyond beyond” it—implying that mere absorption into void-like darkness is not the final attainment.

8) Milk of blissful Māyā: The final image is deliberately provocative. “Milk” can indicate nourishing essence (ojas/amṛta-like subtle sustenance). Joining it to Māyā creates a paradox: Māyā is often the veiling power, yet here it yields ‘milk’—suggesting (a) the bliss-sheath/anandamaya as an experiential layer, (b) the transformed perception where Māyā is not merely bondage but a power whose essence can be ‘taken’ without being trapped, or (c) a deity-like “Ānanda Māyā” (Bliss-Mother) reading. The instruction is not simply to reject Māyā, but to extract its essence after crossing ignorance.

Key Concepts

  • ஏகாந்தம் (inner solitude)
  • ஏகம் / nonduality
  • யமன் (Death) and transcendence of death
  • வாகாந்தம் (cessation/end of speech) — possible yogic silence
  • காலநெறி (the course/track of time; time-discipline)
  • குணம் (guna/temperament; ethical constitution)
  • வசை, கோபம் (slander, anger as spiritual impurity)
  • ஏர்/உழவு (ploughing as inner yogic labor)
  • தூக்கமிலாத தூக்கம் (wakeful sleep; samādhi-like absorption)
  • காரம்/காரை (darkness as ignorance/void-stage)
  • ஆனந்தம் (bliss)
  • பால் (milk as subtle essence/nectar; ojas/amṛta resonance)
  • மாயை (Māyā as veiling power and/or divine potency)

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “வாகாந்தக் காலநெறி” can mean (i) the ‘time-path’ associated with the end of speech (silence), or (ii) a technical Siddhar term for a specific yogic timing/discipline; the compound is cryptic and may compress several instructions.
  • “ஏமனுக்கும் மனிதருக்கும் எட்ட நின்று” may indicate (i) metaphysical liberation beyond death and social grasp, or (ii) Siddhar claims of bodily longevity/‘deathlessness’ via prāṇa-rasāyana practice.
  • “வசைகூறிக் கோவித்தால் குணத்தைக் கூறு” can be read as (i) admonition—anger and slander reveal one’s guna; or (ii) a challenge—‘if you react so, then what can you say of your virtues?’
  • “சோகாந்த மதைநீக்க” literally ‘remove the end/limit of sorrow’ is odd; it may mean (i) remove sorrow completely, or (ii) remove the ‘sorrow-boundary’ (the knot where sorrow culminates), implying a specific inner knot/granthi.
  • “ஏரைப் பூட்டி” may be purely metaphorical (inner cultivation), or may hint at (i) binding/harnessing prāṇa (as ‘yoking’), or (ii) physical/somatic disciplines used by Siddhars.
  • “தூக்கமிலாத் தூக்கத்தைத் தூக்கி” can mean (i) enter and ‘raise’ the wakeful-sleep state, or (ii) ‘lift away’ ordinary sleep by establishing inner wakefulness; both readings fit Siddhar paradox.
  • “ஆகாந்த காரம்” may be (i) ‘dense/profound darkness,’ or (ii) a scribal/phonetic variant of ‘அகாந்த’ (inner) darkness—darkness within; the phrase supports either ‘cosmic’ or ‘inward’ darkness.
  • “ஆனந்த மாயாவின் பாலைக் கொள்ளே” may mean (i) take the milk of ‘blissful Māyā’ (a paradox: essence within illusion), or (ii) take the milk of ‘Ānanda-Māyā’ as a goddess/mother principle; the grammar allows a devotional-alchemical double sense.