17. Thresholds are millions

Verse 17

அண்டவாசல் ஆயிரம் பிரசண்டவாசல் ஆயிரம்

ஆறிரண்டு நூறுகோடி யானவாசல் ஆயிரம்

இந்தவாசல் ஏழைவாசல் ஏகபோக மானதாய்   

எம்பிரான் இருக்கும்வாசல் யாவர்காண வல்லரே?

Translation:

Thresholds of the universe are thousands; thresholds of power are thousands,

The thresholds that became six and two hundred crore are hundreds

This thresholds, the poor threshold, the exclusive threshold

The threshold where the Lord resides, who is capable of seeing it?

Commentary:

            In Siddha poetry the term threshold is a boundary between two worlds, the ordinary profane world and the sacred world beyond.  It is a point, where we pass from one mode of being to another, from one level of consciousness to another,  the term stands for the moment when we ourselves open up to new depths of our being.  It is considered an entry point, a sacred opening to the Ultimate Reality, just as sacred rivers, temples, mountains etc.  In this verse Civavākkiyar describes various thresholds.

The millions of life forms in this world are thresholds through which limited souls enter this world.  They acquire various powers that are also thresholds from one state to another.  Thus, there are millions of entrances or thresholds in this universe.  However, there is only one entrance, the sahasrara, the boundary between limited consciousness and supreme consciousness.  It is a simple yet exclusive entrance, the entrance where the Ultimate Reality, the Lord, the supreme consciousness resides.  It is the entrance to supreme bliss.  Civavākkiyar wonders who is capable of seeing it.

            This verse is an excellent example of the twilight language of the Siddhas.  The term vācal or threshold has different meanings.  In the first line, it means ‘access or ‘approach’.  The thresholds of the universe, the approaches to the universe are many like the sun, moon, stars, planets etc.  In the second half of the same line, it means ‘ways or means’- the means to acquire power. In the third line it means the body and in the fourth line it means sahasrara.

A guru is also considered a vācal or a threshold as he takes the disciple beyond the profane and into the sacred.