Periyalwar Tirumozhi 1.1.1 · verse 13 of the four thousand
Meaning
In Thirukkottiyur, ringed by mansions bright with colour, Kannan was born: Kesava, the perfect one. On the day of His birth the people threw scented oil and fragrant powder at one another in their joy, so much of it, face to face, that the courtyard of Kannan's house mixed into a muddy mire.
Word by word
- vaṇṇa māṭaṅkaḷ
- mansions bright with colour
- tirukkōṭṭiyūrk
- Thirukkottiyur, the divya desam the Alwar sees as the place of the birth
- kaṇṇaṉ kēcavaṉ nampi
- Krishna, Kesava, the one perfect in every quality
- eṇṇey cuṇṇam
- oil and fragrant powder
- etiretir tūviṭak
- as they strewed it on one another, face to face
- aḷaṟu āyiṟṟē
- turned into mud
Periyalwar Tirumozhi 1.1.2 · verse 14 of the four thousand
Meaning
They run, they slip and fall, they shout aloud in delight. They search about, asking, "Where is our Lord?" Some stand and sing, and others dance while many drums are beaten. That is what Ayarpadi, the cowherds' village, became when He was born.
Word by word
- ukantu ālippār
- shout aloud for joy
- nāṭuvār
- they search about
- nampirāṉ eṅkuttāṉ
- where is our Lord?
- palpaṟai koṭṭa
- as many drums are beaten
- āyppāṭiyē
- Ayarpadi, the cowherds' village (Gokulam)
Periyalwar Tirumozhi 1.1.3 · verse 15 of the four thousand
Meaning
When the child was born, so tenderly cherished and so full of excellence, people crowded in to see Him, and as they came in and went out they said to each other: "Look, there is no boy who can be compared with Him! This child of the holy Onam star will rule the world."
Word by word
- pēṇic cīr uṭaip piḷḷai
- the child, tenderly cherished and full of excellence
- pukuvār pukkup pōtuvār
- they come in, and having come in, go out
- āṇ oppār ivaṉ nēr illai
- no male child is His equal
- tiru-vōṇattāṉ
- He of the holy Onam (Sravana) star, the Lord's own star
- ulaku āḷum
- will rule the world
Periyalwar Tirumozhi 1.1.4 · verse 16 of the four thousand
Meaning
They roll the hanging pots out into the courtyard and dance around them; they strew fragrant ghee, milk and curd all about with open hands. Revelling everywhere until their thick, soft hair came loose, the cowherds of Ayarpadi lost all sense of themselves in their joy.
Word by word
- uṟiyai
- the rope slings in which pots of milk and curd hang
- muṟṟattu uruṭṭi
- rolling them in the courtyard
- naṟuney pāl tayir
- fragrant ghee, milk and curd
- ceṟi meṉ kūntal aviḻat
- their thick, soft hair coming loose
- aṟivu aḻintaṉar
- lost their senses (with joy)
Periyalwar Tirumozhi 1.1.5 · verse 17 of the four thousand
Meaning
Carrying their rope slings, their handsome sharp axes and their staves, with mats of plaited palm leaf for their beds, and with teeth white like jasmine buds just opening, the cowherds pushed and crowded their way in and bathed themselves in ghee for joy at His birth.
Word by word
- koṇṭa tāḷ uṟi
- the rope slings they carry
- koṭumaḻut taṇṭiṉar
- bearing sharp axes and staves
- paṟiyōlaic cayaṉattar
- whose bed is a mat of plaited palm leaf
- viṇṭa mullaiyarumpu aṉṉa
- like jasmine buds just opening
- aṇṭar
- the cowherds
- miṇṭip pukuntu
- pushed and crowded in
- neyyāṭiṉār
- bathed in ghee
Periyalwar Tirumozhi 1.1.6 · verse 18 of the four thousand
Meaning
She stretched out His little hands and feet and gently bathed Him with water from the big vessel. Then, with fresh young turmeric, she cleaned His tender tongue, and when He opened His mouth wide for her, she saw all the seven worlds inside the child's mouth.
Word by word
- kaiyum kālum nimirttuk
- stretching out His hands and feet
- kaṭāra nīr
- water from the large vessel
- pacuñ ciṟu mañcaḷāl
- with fresh young turmeric
- aiya nā vaḻittāḷukku
- for her who cleaned His tender tongue
- aṅkāntiṭa
- when He opened His mouth wide
- vaiyam ēḻum kaṇṭāḷ
- she saw all seven worlds
Periyalwar Tirumozhi 1.1.7 · verse 19 of the four thousand
Meaning
The good and simple women who saw the whole world inside His mouth said to one another, "He is no cowherd's son. He is a God beyond reach. This little boy, whose glory and goodness spread everywhere, is the Mayan, the wondrous Lord!" And those women rejoiced.
Word by word
- maṭanallār
- good, innocent women
- āyar puttiraṉ allaṉ
- He is not a cowherd's son
- arunteyvam
- a God hard to attain
- pāya cīr
- glory that spreads everywhere
- māyaṉ
- the wondrous one, Lord of marvels
- makiḻntaṉar
- rejoiced
Periyalwar Tirumozhi 1.1.8 · verse 20 of the four thousand
Meaning
When the ten days had passed, on the second day after, the cowherds decked every quarter with festive posts and banners. Then they lifted up in the naming rite the young one who would one day hold up the great mountain where the rutting elephants roam, and they were glad.
Word by word
- pattu nāḷum kaṭanta iraṇṭām nāḷ
- the second day after the ten days, the twelfth day
- cayamaram kōṭittu
- decorating with festive posts
- matta mā malai
- the great mountain of rutting elephants, Govardhana
- maintaṉai
- the young one
- uttāṉam ceytu
- lifting up the child in the twelfth-day rite
- ukantaṉar
- rejoiced
Periyalwar Tirumozhi 1.1.9 · verse 21 of the four thousand
Meaning
(Yashoda speaks.) If I lay Him down, He kicks till the cradle tears. If I pick Him up, He nearly breaks my hip. If I hold Him close in a hug, He leaps against my belly. I have no strength left to match His, and I have grown thin, my lady!
Word by word
- toṭṭil kiḻiya utaittiṭum
- kicks until the cradle tears
- maruṅkai iṟuttiṭum
- breaks my hip
- oṭukkip pulkil
- if I hold Him tight in a hug
- utarattē pāyntiṭum
- leaps against my belly
- miṭukku ilāmaiyāl
- for want of strength
- melintēṉ
- I have grown thin
Periyalwar Tirumozhi 1.1.10 · verse 22 of the four thousand
Meaning
Vishnuchitta, who wears the shining sacred thread, unfolded in these well-wrought songs the birth of Narayana, the perfect one, who abides in Thirukkottiyur amid fields full of red paddy. Those who can sing these songs will have no sin.
Word by word
- cennel ār vayal
- fields full of red paddy
- maṉṉu nāraṇaṉ nampi
- Narayana, the perfect one, who abides there
- miṉṉu nūl
- the shining sacred thread
- viṭṭucittaṉ
- Vishnuchitta, Periyalwar
- paṉṉu pāṭal
- well-wrought songs
- illai pāvamē
- there will be no sin
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.