வர்க்கமெலாம் பணிவர்க்கம் சித்தர் வர்க்கம்
வானவரும் தாளில்விழ வளரும் வர்க்கம்
சர்க்கரையும் தேன்பால்முக் கனியும் காணாத்
தனிச்சுவையாம் மதியமிர்தம் தழைக்கும் வர்க்கம்
அர்க்யமுற வாதவனை யகத்திற் கண்டே
அந்தணனாய் வேதாந்தத் தணைந்த வர்க்கம்
சர்ப்பத்தைச் சுழுனைக்கோ லதற்கு ளாட்டிச்
சாவாமல் செத்தவரே சித்தர் கண்டீர்
varkkamelām paṇivarkkam cittar varkkam
vānavarum tāḷilviḻa vaḷarum varkkam
carkkaraiyum tēnpālmuk kaniyum kāṇāt
taniccuvaiyām matiyamirtam taḻaikkum varkkam
arkkyamuṟa vātavanai yakattiṟ kaṇḍē
antaṇanāy vēdāntat taṇainta varkkam
carppattaic cuḻunaikkō latarkku ḷāṭṭic
cāvāmal cettavarē cittar kaṇṭīr.
“All groups (vaṟkkam) are a ‘servant-like/humble’ group—the Siddhar group;
A group that grows (flourishes) while even the celestial beings fall at their feet;
A group for whom sugar, honey, milk, and triple-fruits are not what they seek/‘do not see’;
A group in which the solitary taste—the moon-nectar (madiy-amirtam)—thrives;
Having seen, within (the inner space), the one to whom arghya (ritual water-offering) is due,
They became like a Brahmin (antaṇan) and joined/merged with Vedānta;
Making the serpent whirl, making it dance within the suṣumnā-staff/channel,
Know this: they are Siddhars—the ones who died without dying (or: who died and yet did not die).”
The Siddhars are portrayed as an order defined by humility and inner attainment rather than outer status. Even devas bow to them because their authority is experiential and yogic. They no longer chase ordinary sweetness (sensory pleasures and ritual rewards); instead they live on the subtle “moon-nectar” (amṛta) that arises in inner yoga. By turning worship inward—offering arghya not to an external deity but to the indwelling Reality—they become “true brahmins” in the sense of realization and are established in Vedāntic non-duality. Their key technique is kuṇḍalinī-yoga: the serpent-force is made to coil and ascend in the suṣumnā. Through this, they attain the paradox of “dying without dying”—the death of ego and karmic bondage while the body continues, i.e., jīvanmukti / deathless awareness.
1) “Vaṟkkam” (group/caste/order) is intentionally redefined: the Siddhar ‘caste’ is not hereditary but constituted by paṇivu (service, humility, surrender). This is a critique of social varṇa as well as a claim that true spiritual rank is measured by inner transformation.
2) “Even devas fall at their feet” signals a reversal of the usual hierarchy (humans worship gods). In Siddhar idiom this can mean: (a) the siddha’s attained state surpasses deva-loka merit; (b) devas symbolize elevated but still conditioned states; (c) the siddha is established in a principle to which even subtle beings are subject.
3) “Sugar, honey, milk, triple-fruits” names paradigmatic sweetness and nourishment—also offerings used in ritual, medicine, and feast. Saying they “do not see” these indicates disidentification from sensory taste (rasa) and from external devotional economies. It can also imply an alchemical shift from gross rasa to subtle rasa.
4) “Madiy-amirtam” (moon-nectar) is a classic haṭha/kuṇḍalinī marker: the ‘moon’ at the cranial region (often associated with bindu/śiva-sthāna) drips amṛta which, when conserved and circulated, supports longevity, clarity, and samādhi. Siddhar texts often treat amṛta both (i) as yogic secretion/experience and (ii) as an alchemical principle (the perfected elixir). The verse keeps both possibilities open.
5) “Arghya due” normally belongs to external ritual (offering water to sun, deity, guru, or honored guest). Here it is redirected: the siddha finds that recipient “within.” This is an interiorization of pūjā and a Vedāntic move—recognizing the worship-worthy as the Self/Brahman within the heart-space.
6) “They became antaṇan (brahmin) and joined Vedānta” does not necessarily endorse social brahminism; rather, antaṇan is used in the older sense of the one rooted in brahman-knowledge and disciplined purity (inner). “Vedānta” here points to non-dual realization: the end of conceptual seeking, the settling of all ‘arguments’ into direct seeing.
7) “Serpent in the suṣumnā” is explicit kuṇḍalinī-yoga: the ‘serpent’ (coiled power) is made to ‘whirl/dance’ inside the central channel (suṣumnā nāḍī). The “staff/rod” image hints at a steady spinal axis (meru-daṇḍa) and the yogic requirement of stabilization (bandha, mudrā, prāṇāyāma).
8) “Died without dying” is the siddhar paradox: the death of the limited ‘I’ (ahaṅkāra) and the cessation of karmic momentum while still embodied. It can also gesture to mastery over prāṇa and decay (kāya-siddhi), yet the line is carefully cryptic—leaving open whether the ‘deathlessness’ is physical longevity, liberated embodiment, or both.