Golden Lay Verses

Verse 91 (மணி வைப்பு)

தமிழ் பாடல்

காட்டுநவ பாஷாணச் சரக்குக் கூட்டி

கனசாரங் கட்டிநவா சாரம் தூக்கிப்

பாட்டியவ ளைச்சுட்ட கனியின் பைந்தாட்

பச்சிலையைத் தானரைத்துக் கவசஞ் செய்து

கூட்டியுடன் வெங்காரத் தைல மிட்டு

கொப்பான வேதைசெயக் கொழித்துப் பொங்கி

நீட்டியதோர் செம்பினிடைத் தோட்டி யுள்ளே

நிறையொளியாம் பாட்டிக்கே சொந்த மாகும்

Transliteration

kaattunava baashaanach charakkuk kootti

kanasaarang kattinavaa saaram thookki

paattiyav laichchutta kaniyin paindaad

pachilaiyai thaanaraiththuk kavasanj seythu

koottiyudan vengaarath thaila mittu

koppaana vethaiseiyak kozhiththup pongi

neettiyathor chembinidaith thotti yullae

niraiyoliyaam paattikkae sontha maagum.

Literal Translation

“Gather together the stock of the nine ‘pāṣāṇam’ (poison/mineral) materials.

Bind the ‘kanasāram’, and lift out (separate/retain) the nine essences.

Take the tender ‘green foot/stalk’ of a fruit that has been roasted,

Grind green leaves themselves and make a protective coating (kavacam).

Along with what has been combined, add ‘veṅkāram’ oil,

Carry out the foaming ‘vētai’ (heating/cooking) so that it boils up and rises.

In an elongated copper vessel, within the trough/container,

It becomes the radiant fullness—belonging to (or becoming) the ‘pāṭṭi’.”

Interpretive Translation

The verse reads like a Siddha-alchemical recipe: combine the “nine pāṣāṇam” (a notorious set of potent/poisonous mineral substances), “bind” and stabilize a key essence (kanasāram), then encapsulate the mass with a herbal “armor” made from ground green leaves. Process the sealed mass with a specific medicated oil (veṅkārat-taiylam) and apply controlled heating (“vētai”) until it froths and surges—signaling an active transformation. When this is done in/through a copper apparatus (a long copper vessel set within a holding container), the product becomes “full of light”: a perfected preparation identified cryptically as “pāṭṭi” (either a named formulation, a vessel-state, or a personified ‘owner’ of the result).

Philosophical Explanation

Siddhar language often fuses laboratory instruction with inner-yoga symbolism. On the material level, the verse points to a classic Siddha aim: converting “pāṣāṇam” (dangerous, sharp, toxic mineral powers) into a usable medicinal/alchemical essence through binding, coating, and graded heat. The “kavacam” (armor/coating) is both a practical technique (sealing/coating a bolus for calcination/processing) and a metaphor for containment: powerful forces become beneficial only when ethically and methodically “covered” and disciplined.

The repeated imagery of boiling, swelling, and foaming (“koḻittu-p-poṅgi”) suggests an intended moment of activation—when latent potency becomes mobile, but must be held inside the correct vessel and protocol. The copper setting can be read practically (a specific reactive/heat-conducting metal used in apparatus) and symbolically (the body as a conductive vessel; the channels/nāḍi system through which heat/energy is guided). “Nirai oḷi” (fullness of light) implies completion/purification: poison transmuted to radiance—an emblem of transforming tamas (inertia/toxicity) into tejas (luminous power).

Key Concepts

  • nava pāṣāṇam (nine poisonous/mineral substances)
  • kanasāram (stabilized ‘essence’; exact identity cryptic)
  • nava sāram (nine essences/extracts)
  • kavacam (protective coating/sealant; containment)
  • veṅkārat taiylam (a specific medicated oil; identity uncertain)
  • vētai (alchemical heating/cooking operation)
  • copper vessel/apparatus (ceṁbu; conductive/reactive container)
  • transmutation of poison into medicine (siddha rasavātam theme)
  • ‘nirai oḷi’ (fullness of light; perfected state)

Ambiguities or Multiple Readings

  • “nava pāṣāṇam” can mean a specific canonical set of nine mineral poisons in Siddha lore, but the verse does not name them; it could also be a coded reference to ‘nine’ classes of sharp substances rather than a fixed list.
  • “kanasāram” is not unambiguous: it may denote a particular mineral/metallic essence (sometimes linked in later usage to mercury-related or condensed ‘extract’ principles), or more generally the ‘dense essence’ that must be ‘bound’ before further processing.
  • “nava sāram” could mean ‘nine essences’ extracted from the nine pāṣāṇam, or ‘the ninth essence’ (if read as a sandhi/compound), or simply ‘new essence’ (navā = new) depending on tradition and pronunciation.
  • “pāṭṭi” is highly ambiguous: it can be (a) a named medicine/formulation, (b) the vessel/crucible-type involved in the process, (c) a personified ‘grandmother/mother’ figure (Shakti/guardian of the medicine), or (d) a cryptic code-name for the final stabilized mass.
  • “chutta kaniyin paindaḍ/pain-tāḍ” (the ‘tender green foot’ of a roasted fruit) is unclear: it may refer to a specific botanical part used as a binder/sealant, but the plant is not identified; it may also be a coded substitution for a known Siddha ingredient.
  • “veṅkārat taiylam” may be an oil infused with a substance called veṅkāram (possibly a mineral salt or a botanical with ‘fiery’ properties), or it may simply mean a ‘hot/fiery oil’ used to drive the reaction; the term varies across manuscripts.
  • “ceṁbin iḍai tōṭṭi uḷḷē” can be read as ‘inside a trough within a copper (setup)’, or as an instruction for a double-vessel arrangement (a copper inner vessel placed within an outer container for controlled heating/bathing).