Tiruvaymozhi 9.6.1 · verse 3728 of the four thousand
Meaning
My heart melts, and my longing swells beyond what my life can bear. What shall I do, I, His servant, each time I think of the wonders of the wondrous Lord who dwells at Thirukkatkarai, where every street is fragrant with blue lilies?
Word by word
- urukumāl neñcam
- my heart melts
- uyiriṉ paramaṉṟi
- beyond what my life can bear
- perukumāl vēṭkaiyum
- my longing swells
- kāvi kamaḻ
- fragrant with blue lilies
- tirukkāṭkarai
- Thirukkatkarai, a divya desam in Kerala
- māyaṉ taṉ māyam
- the wonders of the wondrous Lord
Tiruvaymozhi 9.6.2 · verse 3729 of the four thousand
Meaning
Each time I think of Him, each time I speak of Him, my heart crumbles and melts away; even when I sing the glories of His deeds, my dear life burns. O my Father of southern Katkarai, with its flowering groves and springs, I cannot bear to think of the gracious way You have taken my service.
Word by word
- neñcu iṭintu ukum
- my heart crumbles and melts away
- viṉaikoḷ cīr
- the glories of His deeds
- vēm eṉatu ār uyir
- my dear life burns
- cuṉaikoḷ pūñcōlait
- flowering groves with springs
- eṉ appā
- O my Father
- āṭceyyum nīrmaiyē
- the grace by which I serve You
Tiruvaymozhi 9.6.3 · verse 3730 of the four thousand
Meaning
With His gentle grace He tricked my heart and slipped inside; He drenched me with love, became my very life, and then consumed my life. He is my Father of southern Katkarai, rich in glorious groves, the colour of the dark rain cloud. I cannot fathom His thieving ways.
Word by word
- nīrmaiyāl
- by His gentle grace
- neñcam vañcittup pukuntu
- tricking my heart and slipping in
- īrmaiceytu
- drenching me (with love)
- eṉ uyir āy eṉ uyir uṇṭāṉ
- became my life and consumed my life
- kār mukil vaṇṇaṉ
- of the colour of the dark rain cloud
- kaḷvam aṟikilēṉ
- I cannot fathom His thieving
Tiruvaymozhi 9.6.4 · verse 3731 of the four thousand
Meaning
All the worlds stand within Him, and by His own design He stands within them all: He is my Father of southern Katkarai, with its fragrant groves. I cannot fathom His holy grace in consuming my small, dear life.
Word by word
- taṉṉuḷ aṉaittu ulakum niṟka
- all the worlds standing within Him
- neṟimaiyāl
- by His own design
- avaṟṟuḷ niṟkum pirāṉ
- the Lord who stands within them
- veṟi kamaḻ cōlait
- groves heavy with fragrance
- ciṟiya eṉ ār uyir
- my small, dear life
- tiru aruḷē
- His holy grace
Tiruvaymozhi 9.6.5 · verse 3732 of the four thousand
Meaning
As if He were coming to bestow His grace, He entered into me and consumed my form and my dear life together, all at once. Such are the thieving ways of my Krishna, my Father of southern Katkarai with its flourishing groves, whose body is dark and deep.
Word by word
- tiru aruḷ ceypavaṉ pōla
- as if to bestow His grace
- uruvamum ār uyirum
- my form and my dear life
- uṭaṉē uṇṭāṉ
- consumed together, at once
- tiru vaḷar cōlait
- groves where beauty and wealth grow
- karu vaḷar mēṉi
- dark, deepening body
- kaḷvaṅkaḷē
- His thieving ways
Tiruvaymozhi 9.6.6 · verse 3733 of the four thousand
Meaning
My Krishna's thieving stands plain before me. What is left is only the husk of my dear life, which the beautiful-eyed One has drunk dry. Sunk in sorrow, lamenting night and day, it cries "My Krishna!" and praises His Katkarai.
Word by word
- cemmāy niṟkum
- stands plain, in full view
- am kaṇṇaṉ
- the beautiful-eyed One
- ār uyirk kōtu
- the husk of my dear life
- puṉkaṇmai eyti
- sunk in sorrow
- pulampi irāppakal
- lamenting night and day
- kāṭkarai ēttumē
- praises His Katkarai
Tiruvaymozhi 9.6.7 · verse 3734 of the four thousand
Meaning
As it praises Katkarai, it cries "Krishna!", and as the sickness of longing grows, it thinks of Him, dissolves and melts away. Seized by the wondrous Lord who seemed to take me as His servant and then consumed my life, my dear life has lost all its strength.
Word by word
- kaṇṇā eṉṉum
- crying "Krishna!"
- vēṭkai nōy kūra
- as the sickness of longing grows
- karaintu ukum
- dissolves and melts away
- āṭkoḷvāṉ ottu
- seeming to take me as His servant
- kōḷ kuṟaipaṭṭatu
- has lost its strength
- kōḷ uṇṭē
- being seized
Tiruvaymozhi 9.6.8 · verse 3735 of the four thousand
Meaning
Not content with seizing me, He came and consumed my very life; coming day after day, He consumed me entirely. Did I only become a servant to my Father of southern Katkarai, dark as the rain-laden cloud? No: my dear life itself is lost to Him.
Word by word
- kōḷ uṇṭāṉ aṉṟi
- not content with seizing me
- nāḷum nāḷ vantu
- coming day after day
- muṟṟavum tāṉ uṇṭāṉ
- consumed me entirely
- kāḷa nīr mēkat
- dark as the rain-laden cloud
- āḷ aṉṟē paṭṭatu
- did I only become a servant?
- ār uyir paṭṭatē
- my dear life itself is lost
Tiruvaymozhi 9.6.9 · verse 3736 of the four thousand
Meaning
My dear life is lost, my very life is lost: to whom but that divine flood of beauty, with lotus eyes of great petals and ripe red lips, lovely as a dark cloud, who has made His temple at southern Katkarai, with four broad shoulders of glorious grace?
Word by word
- pēr itaḻt tāmaraik kaṇ
- lotus eyes of great petals
- kaṉi vāyatu
- with ripe red lips
- kār eḻil mēkat
- lovely as a dark cloud
- kōyil koḷ
- who has made His temple
- nāl taṭam tōḷ
- four broad shoulders
- teyvavārikkē
- to that divine flood, ocean of the divine
Tiruvaymozhi 9.6.10 · verse 3737 of the four thousand
Meaning
"If I see You, I will scoop You up and swallow You whole!" So I longed, and so I waited. But before I could, He made ready and drank me up completely, leaving nothing of me. Ruthless indeed is the Father of Katkarai, who is like the dark cloud!
Word by word
- vārikkoṇṭu uṉṉai viḻuṅkuvaṉ
- I will scoop You up and swallow You
- ārvu uṟṟa eṉṉai
- me, full of longing
- eṉṉil muṉṉam
- before I could
- pārittut
- making ready
- muṟṟap parukiṉāṉ
- drank me up completely
- kaṭiyaṉē
- ruthless, fierce
Tiruvaymozhi 9.6.11 · verse 3738 of the four thousand
Meaning
Sadagopan, Nammalwar, of southern Kurugur with its flag-topped walls, sang of the Lord who in His fierceness killed Kamsa. Through these ten of his finely shaped thousand, birth reaches its end; see, it vanishes like a mirage.
Word by word
- kañcaṉaik koṉṟa pirāṉ
- the Lord who killed Kamsa
- koṭi matiḷ
- flag-topped walls
- vaṭivu amai āyirattu
- of the finely shaped thousand
- caṉmam muṭivu eyti
- birth reaching its end
- nācam kaṇṭīrkaḷ
- see, it is destroyed
- em kāṉalē
- our mirage (of worldly life)
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.