Tiruvaymozhi 2.1.1 · verse 2901 of the four thousand
Meaning
(The Alwar speaks as a girl pining for the Lord, and sees her own grief in everything around her.) O gentle crane of the seashore grove, where the waves leap and toss! Even when the mothers sleep, even when the world of the immortals sleeps, you alone do not sleep. Sickness and pallor have risen over you as they have over me. Have you too, like me, had your heart stolen by Tirumal, the Lord of Sri?
Word by word
- vāyum tirai ukaḷum
- where the waves come rolling and leaping
- kāṉal maṭa nārāy
- O gentle crane of the seashore grove
- āyum amar ulakum
- the mothers, and even the world of the immortals
- nī tuñcāyāl
- you do not sleep
- nōyum payalaimaiyum
- the sickness of love and its pallor
- tirumālāl
- by Tirumal, the Lord with Sri
- neñcam kōḷ paṭṭāyē
- has your heart been seized?
Tiruvaymozhi 2.1.2 · verse 2902 of the four thousand
Meaning
O sharp-beaked anril bird, your heart seized, you lie awake through the long watches of the night and cry out piteously. Have you too, like me who have become His servant, fallen in love with the cool tulasi garland that lies at the feet of the Lord who rests on the serpent?
Word by word
- kōḷ paṭṭa cintaiyaiyāy
- with your mind seized and held
- kūrvāya aṉṟilē
- O sharp-beaked anril, a bird that calls all night for its mate
- cēṇ paṭṭa yāmaṅkaḷ
- the long-drawn watches of the night
- iraṅkutiyāl
- you cry out in grief
- āḷ paṭṭa emmēpōl
- like me, who have become His own
- aravu aṇaiyāṉ
- He who rests on the serpent
- taṇ tuḻāyt tāmam
- the cool tulasi garland
Tiruvaymozhi 2.1.3 · verse 2903 of the four thousand
Meaning
O roaring sea, long may you live! Helpless with desire, night and day you never once close your eyes; your heart melts and you moan and sigh. I long for the feet of Him who fed all of southern Lanka to the fire. Has the same thing that befell me befallen you too?
Word by word
- kāmuṟṟa kaiyaṟavōṭu
- with the helplessness of desire
- ellē
- alas
- kaṇtuyilāy
- you do not close your eyes in sleep
- neñcu uruki ēṅkutiyāl
- your heart melts and you moan
- tī muṟṟat teṉ ilaṅkai ūṭṭiṉāṉ
- He who fed all southern Lanka to the fire
- yām uṟṟatu uṟṟāyō
- has what befell me befallen you?
- kaṉai kaṭalē
- O roaring sea
Tiruvaymozhi 2.1.4 · verse 2904 of the four thousand
Meaning
O cool north wind, like me you go searching through the sea, the mountains and the sky, never sleeping through the bright nights and days. Is it longing to see the Lord who holds the mighty discus, His weapon, that has made your body sick, age after age?
Word by word
- kaṭalum malaiyum vicumpum
- the sea, the mountains and the sky
- tuḻāy
- searching through
- cuṭar koḷ irāppakal
- nights and days lit by moon and sun
- taṇ vāṭāy
- O cool north wind
- aṭal koḷ paṭai āḻi
- the mighty discus, His weapon
- uṭalam nōy uṟṟāyō
- has your body fallen sick?
- ūḻitōṟu ūḻiyē
- age after age
Tiruvaymozhi 2.1.5 · verse 2905 of the four thousand
Meaning
O cloud in the sky, long may you live! Age after age you gather water for the world, and then melt away into water, just as my friends and I melt in tears. Have you too been caught by the greatness of Madhusudana, and do you waste away with love for Him?
Word by word
- ulakukku nīrkoṇṭu
- gathering water for the world
- tōḻiyarum yāmum pōl
- like my friends and me
- nīrāy nekiḻkiṉṟa
- melting away into water
- vāḻiya vāṉamē
- long may you live, O cloud in the sky
- matucūtaṉ
- Madhusudana, slayer of the demon Madhu
- pāḻimaiyil paṭṭu
- caught by His greatness
- pācattāl naivāyē
- do you waste away with love?
Tiruvaymozhi 2.1.6 · verse 2906 of the four thousand
Meaning
O moon, waning like me! These days you cannot drive away the darkness of the black sky; you grow faint and pine. Did you hear the 'true' words of the Lord who holds the discus and rests on the five-hooded serpent, believe them, and so lose your own true brightness?
Word by word
- naivāya emmēpōl
- wasting away like me
- nāḷ matiyē
- O moon
- mai vāṉ iruḷ akaṟṟāy
- you do not drive away the dark sky's gloom
- māḻāntu tēmputiyāl
- you grow faint and pine
- ai vāy aravu aṇaimēl
- on the five-hooded serpent bed
- mey vācakam kēṭṭu
- hearing His 'true' words, His promises
- meynnīrmai tōṟṟāyē
- have you lost your true nature, your radiance?
Tiruvaymozhi 2.1.7 · verse 2907 of the four thousand
Meaning
I have lost my simple heart to Narayana, my Lord. And while I weep, telling of the grief I cannot bear, you stand in the middle, crueler than any stranger. For how many ages will you stand against me like an enemy? Long may you live, O thick darkness!
Word by word
- tōṟṟōm maṭa neñcam
- I have lost my simple heart
- em perumāṉ nāraṇaṟku
- to my Lord Narayana
- āṟṟāmai colli aḻuvōmai
- me, weeping as I tell my unbearable grief
- vēṟṟōr vakaiyil koṭitāy
- crueler than strangers
- māṟṟāṇmai niṟṟiyō
- will you stand as my enemy?
- kaṉai iruḷē
- O dense darkness
Tiruvaymozhi 2.1.8 · verse 2908 of the four thousand
Meaning
O great backwater, dark as the densest darkness, you wander to and fro, bewildered; even when all sleep, night and day, you do not sleep. Is it from a great longing for the grace of the Lord who kicked apart the rolling cart that you are sunk in such distress?
Word by word
- iruḷiṉ tiṇi vaṇṇam
- the colour of dense darkness
- mā nīrk kaḻiyē
- O great backwater
- maruḷuṟṟu
- bewildered
- uruḷum cakaṭam utaitta
- who kicked the rolling cart
- aruḷiṉ peru nacaiyāl
- from great longing for His grace
- āḻāntu nontāyē
- are you sunk in grief?
Tiruvaymozhi 2.1.9 · verse 2909 of the four thousand
Meaning
O lamp that never goes out, you too are to be pitied: a love-sickness that is never satisfied wears you down and dries up your tender life within. Is it from desire for the beautiful, cool tulasi garland of my Lord, whose eyes are like wide red lotuses and whose lips are like ripe red fruit, that you burn?
Word by word
- ārāk kātal nōy
- a love-sickness never satisfied
- mel āvi uḷ ulartta
- drying up the tender life within
- nantā viḷakkamē
- O lamp that never goes out
- aḷiyattāy
- you are to be pitied
- centāmarait taṭaṅkaṇ
- wide eyes like red lotuses
- ceṅkaṉi vāy
- lips like ripe red fruit
- vēvāyē
- do you burn?
Tiruvaymozhi 2.1.10 · verse 2910 of the four thousand
Meaning
(She now turns to the Lord Himself.) A longing that no burning can satisfy dries up my tender life within, and You have made me fall to You alone, without rest, night and day. O ageless First Cause, who split the horse's mouth, who went between the marutha trees, who measured the earth: from now on, do not let me slip away from You.
Word by word
- vēvu ārā vēṭkai nōy
- a longing that burning never satisfies
- ōvātu irāppakal
- without rest, night and day
- uṉpālē vīḻttu oḻintāy
- You have made me fall to You
- mā vāy piḷantu
- split the mouth of the horse-demon Kesi
- marutiṭai pōy
- went between the marutha trees
- mūvā mutalvā
- O ageless First One
- emmaic cōrēlē
- do not let me slip away
Tiruvaymozhi 2.1.11 · verse 2911 of the four thousand
Meaning
Sathakopan of Kurugur, Nammalwar, with a love that is never satisfied for the Light that is the unfailing source of all things, sang a thousand verses. Those who hold fast to these ten among them, never letting them slip, will never be let go by Vaikuntham. This is certain.
Word by word
- ep poruṭkum ātiyām cōtikkē
- to the Light who is the source of all things
- ārāta kātal
- love that is never satisfied
- kurukūrc caṭakōpaṉ
- Sathakopan of Kurugur, Nammalwar
- cōrār
- those who never let them slip
- viṭār kaṇṭīr vaikuntam
- Vaikuntham will not let them go
- tiṇṇaṉavē
- it is certain
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.