16. ...will fly away like cotton

Verse 16

அஞ்சும்மூணும் எட்டதாய் அநாதியான மந்திரம்

நெஞ்சிலே நினைந்துகொண்டு நூறுருச் செபிப்பீரேல்

பஞ்சமான பாதகங்கள் நூறுகோடி செய்யினும்

பஞ்சுபோல் பறக்கும் என்று நான்மறைகள் பன்னுமே

Translation:

Five and three as eight, the eternal mantra

If you contemplate it and chant it hundred times,

Even if you commit millions of the five worst sins,

They will fly away like cotton; the four Vedas say so.

Commentary:

            The five letters are namacivaya.  The three letters are AUM.  Together they form the eight lettered mantra aum namacivaya.  The five and three letters may also be namacivaya and aim kleem saum respectively.  The five letters represent Śiva, the male aspect while the three letters represent Śakti, the female aspect. Civavākkiyar says that this mantra is capable of removing even the five worst sins mentioned in verse 11.  He says that this is not his personal opinion but the well-accepted words of the Veda.

             Tirumular speaks in detail of the pañcākṣara mantra in sections 5, 6 and 7 of Tantra 9 of his Tirumandiram.  Agasthiya in his Tirumandira vākkiyar Twenty Two (a manuscript work) says that there are twenty five variations of the five-lettered mantra for each of the five faces of Śiva thus making a total of one hundred and twenty five variation of the sacred mantra.

            This verse adds credence to the theory that Siddhas are not against Vedas but only against erroneous understanding and practice of Vedic principles.