Tiruvaymozhi 1.5.1 · verse 2835 of the four thousand
Meaning
He is the First of the rich seven worlds, the Lord of the heavenly ones. And I, a great sinner, call Him, 'Thief, who reached out in secret and ate the butter!' And again I call Him, 'My Father, who, as leader of the cowherds with their strong cattle, embraced the seven young bulls for Pinnai, whose smile is like jasmine buds!' I say this, thinking of Him and melting.
Word by word
- vaḷa ēḻ ulakiṉ mutalāya
- the First of the rich seven worlds
- vāṉōr iṟaiyai
- the Lord of the heavenly ones
- aruviṉaiyēṉ
- I, a great sinner
- toṭu uṇṭa
- reached out and ate
- taḷavu ēḻ muṟuval piṉṉaikku
- for Pinnai, whose smile is like jasmine buds
- iḷa ēṟu ēḻum taḻuviya
- who embraced the seven young bulls
- niṉaintu naintē
- thinking, and melting
Tiruvaymozhi 1.5.2 · verse 2836 of the four thousand
Meaning
Many immortals and sages, thinking of You, melting, dissolving within, bring garlands they have woven, water, sandal paste and incense, and bow to You. You are the seed of everything they can think of, the first cause that never wastes away. Even so, does their worship not stain Your greatness, which their minds can only try to grasp? O wondrous One! (How then can I, a sinner, praise You?)
Word by word
- uḷ karaintu uruki
- dissolving and melting within
- imaiyōr palarum muṉivarum
- many immortals and sages
- puṉainta kaṇṇi
- garlands they have woven
- nīr cāntam
- water and sandal paste
- ellāp poruḷkaṭkum vittuāy
- the seed of all things
- mācūṇātō
- will it not be stained?
- māyōṉē
- O wondrous One
Tiruvaymozhi 1.5.3 · verse 2837 of the four thousand
Meaning
He created the full four-faced Brahma, telling him, 'Create the many kinds of bodies,' the great births in which the many heavenly ones and sages learned to walk. He is far beyond all knowledge. With His holy feet He strode over all the directions. He is the mother of every life there is. He is the One of a form unlike any other.
Word by word
- mā yōṉikaḷāy
- as great births, bodies
- naṭai kaṟṟa
- learned to walk, to live
- nī yōṉikaḷaip paṭai
- 'you create the kinds of bodies'
- niṟai nāṉmukaṉaip
- the full four-faced Brahma
- cēyōṉ ellā aṟivukkum
- far beyond all knowledge
- tiruvaṭiyāl tāyōṉ
- who strode over with His holy feet
- ev uyirkkum tāyōṉ
- the mother of every life
- tāṉ ōr uruvaṉē
- He of a unique form
Tiruvaymozhi 1.5.4 · verse 2838 of the four thousand
Meaning
He alone, of one form, the single seed, became out of Himself the three gods first, then the many heavenly ones and sages, and more and more, everything. He brought forth one great ocean within Himself and sleeps upon it. He is the Lord of the heavenly ones, the great wondrous One, the Lord of Vaikuntha, our Lord.
Word by word
- taṉi vittu
- the single seed
- taṉṉiṉ mūvar mutalāya
- out of Himself, the three gods first
- maṟṟum maṟṟum muṟṟum āy
- becoming more and more, everything
- ōr perunīr
- one great ocean
- kaṇvaḷarum
- sleeps
- mā māyaṉ
- the great wondrous One
- vaikuntaṉ
- Lord of Vaikuntha
Tiruvaymozhi 1.5.5 · verse 2839 of the four thousand
Meaning
O Madhava, You hold on Your chest the gentle Lady whose glance is like a deer's! O Govinda, You flicked a clay pellet from Your bow at the hunchback, to straighten her hump! O gem-hued One whose radiance fills the sky, O Madhusudana, grace me, sinner that I am, so that I may reach Your holy feet that blossom with honey.
Word by word
- māṉ ēy nōkki maṭavāḷai
- the gentle Lady whose glance is like a deer's
- mātavā
- Madhava, Lord of Lakshmi
- kūṉē citaiya
- so that the hump would be crushed
- uṇṭai vil
- a pellet from the bow
- vāṉ ār cōti maṇivaṇṇā
- gem-hued One whose radiance fills the sky
- matucūtā
- Madhusudana, slayer of Madhu
- tēṉē malarum tiruppātam
- holy feet that blossom with honey
Tiruvaymozhi 1.5.6 · verse 2840 of the four thousand
Meaning
You became the medicine that cures the deeds of me, a sinner! Leader of the heavenly ones, Kesava! First of the cowherd clan who live in their homes! Great wondrous One, Madhava! You pierced the seven sala trees, thick with branches and leaves, with one arrow, Sridhara! You are such a One, with such names: saying this, I, Your servant, melt.
Word by word
- viṉai tīr maruntu āṉāy
- You became the medicine that cures my deeds
- viṇṇōr talaivā kēcavā
- Leader of the heavenly ones, Kesava
- āyar kula mutalē
- First of the cowherd clan
- marāmaraṅkaḷ ēḻum eytāy
- You shot through the seven sala trees
- cirītarā
- Sridhara, who bears Sri
- iṉaiyāy iṉaiya peyariṉāy
- You are such, with such names
- naivaṉ aṭiyēṉē
- I, Your servant, melt
Tiruvaymozhi 1.5.7 · verse 2841 of the four thousand
Meaning
I, Your servant, have only a little knowledge. Yet I cry out to see Him who is hard for anyone to know: Kannan, Krishna, who wears a garland of fragrant, cool, beautiful tulasi; Thirumal, who frees His devotees from being tied to this body, thick with sins like a thorny thicket. Can there be any folly greater than this?
Word by word
- ciṟiya ñāṉattaṉ
- of little knowledge
- aṟital ārkkum ariyāṉai
- Him who is hard for anyone to know
- taṇ am tuḻāyk kaṇṇi
- a garland of cool, beautiful tulasi
- ceṭi ār ākkai
- a body thick with sin, like a thicket
- alaṟṟuvaṉ
- I cry out
- mikku ōr ayarvu uṇṭē
- is there any folly greater?
Tiruvaymozhi 1.5.8 · verse 2842 of the four thousand
Meaning
Long ago You swallowed the seven worlds and brought them out again. Then, by Your wondrous power, You slipped in and ate the butter, having taken on the lowly body of small humans. Even if some of that earth had stayed within You, was the butter a medicine to dissolve it, so that not the least pallor that comes to humans from eating earth would touch You? O wondrous One!
Word by word
- uṇṭāy ulaku ēḻ
- You swallowed the seven worlds
- umiḻntu
- spat them out again
- māyaiyāl pukku
- entering by Your wondrous power
- uvalai ākkai
- the lowly body
- pīr ciṟitum
- even the least pallor
- maṇ karaiya
- to dissolve the earth
- ney ūṇ maruntō
- was eating butter a medicine?
Tiruvaymozhi 1.5.9 · verse 2843 of the four thousand
Meaning
We will never perish, for we have reached that great Lord. He is the wondrous One who, as a pure infant, drank the poisoned milk like nectar, so that the evil, babbling, hugely deceitful demoness Putana died. He is the sole Leader of the heavenly ones, the beloved of the Lady of the lotus, the mother of every life, our own Lord, my Lord.
Word by word
- māyōm
- we will not perish
- vañcap pēy vīyat
- so that the deceitful demoness died
- tūya kuḻaviyāy
- as a pure infant
- viṭap pāl amutā
- the poisoned milk, as nectar
- malarāḷ maintaṉ
- beloved of Lakshmi, the Lady of the lotus
- ev uyirkkum tāyōṉ
- the mother of every life
- ammā mūrttiyaic cārntē
- having reached that great Lord
Tiruvaymozhi 1.5.10 · verse 2844 of the four thousand
Meaning
Nedumal, the great Lord, scatters the two strong kinds of deeds that cling to us, cuts away the attachment born of illusion, and shapes us until our minds rest on Him alone; then He makes our liberation ready. He is the full radiance of knowledge, beyond all measure in breadth, below and above. He is the forms and the formless, and the life within them all.
Word by word
- iru val viṉaikaḷum
- the two strong kinds of deeds, good and bad
- māyap paṟṟu aṟuttu
- cutting the attachment born of illusion
- vīṭu tiruttuvāṉ
- He makes liberation ready
- ārnta ñāṉac cuṭar
- the full radiance of knowledge
- akalam kīḻ mēl aḷavu iṟantu
- beyond measure in breadth, below and above
- ivaṟṟiṉ uyirām neṭumālē
- Nedumal, the life of them all
Tiruvaymozhi 1.5.11 · verse 2845 of the four thousand
Meaning
Crying 'O Mal! O wondrous Lord! O great wondrous One!' again and again, his love rising ever higher, by the grace of the Lord, Satakopan (Nammalwar) of enduring Kurukur sang a thousand verses, praised by poets of milk-sweet Tamil, by musicians and by devotees. Those who can sing these ten among them will know no sorrow.
Word by word
- māyap perumāṉē
- O wondrous Lord
- mālē ēṟi
- his love rising ever higher
- māl aruḷāl
- by the Lord's grace
- maṉṉu kurukūrc caṭakōpaṉ
- Satakopan of enduring Kurukur
- pāl ēy tamiḻar
- poets of milk-sweet Tamil
- icaikārar pattar
- musicians and devotees
- illai parivatē
- there will be no sorrow
Verse text: the word-separated e-text of the Nalayira Divya Prabandham by Project Madurai, checked verse by verse against its second edition. Meanings are simple renderings in the light of the acharyas' commentaries, written for this site, and are awaiting a scholar's review.