Mudhal Tiruvandadi 21 · verse 2102 of the four thousand
Meaning
He stood and received the land as water poured into His lovely palm, then went forth and measured the directions with three steps. O my deep heart, know this: always reach the feet of that red-eyed Mal, whose weapon is the discus, whose mount is the bird, whose bed is the serpent.
Word by word
- aṅkai nīr ēṟṟu
- receiving water in His lovely palm
- mūvaṭiyāl
- with three steps
- ticai aḷanta
- measured the directions
- paṭai āḻi
- the discus as His weapon
- pāmpu-aṇaiyāṉ pātam
- the feet of Him who rests on the serpent
- āḻi neñcē
- O my deep heart
Mudhal Tiruvandadi 22 · verse 2103 of the four thousand
Meaning
The whole world knows it; I am not the only one. O You who ride Garuda with his spotted wings! When You ate the churned butter, the cowherd woman with soft shoulders like bamboo, fragrant with flowers, bound You with a rope, and the scar is still there to see.
Word by word
- aṟiyum ulaku ellām
- the whole world knows
- poṟi koḷ ciṟai uvaṇam
- Garuda with spotted wings
- kāmpu ēy meṉtōḷi
- she of soft shoulders like bamboo, Yashoda
- kaṭai veṇṇey
- the churned butter
- tāmpē koṇṭu ārtta
- bound with a rope
- taḻumpu
- the scar
Mudhal Tiruvandadi 23 · verse 2104 of the four thousand
Meaning
His lovely palms bear the scars of the Sarnga bowstring they touched; His feet bear the scars of kicking the cart apart; and His fingers, the fingers of the One coloured like the swelling sea, bear the scars of tearing open the chest of Hiranya, the one named for gold, so fiercely that even Lakshmi, adorned with flower garlands, was afraid.
Word by word
- taḻumpu irunta
- bearing scars
- cārṅka nāṇ
- the string of the Sarnga bow
- tāḷ cakaṭam cāṭi
- feet that kicked the cart apart
- pūṅkōtaiyāḷ veruva
- so that the flower-garlanded Lady, Lakshmi, was afraid
- poṉ peyarōṉ
- the one named for gold, Hiranya
- vīṅku ōta vaṇṇar viral
- the fingers of Him coloured like the swelling sea
Mudhal Tiruvandadi 24 · verse 2105 of the four thousand
Meaning
The cowherd woman saw the butter on Your fingers and on Your mouth, and that day she tied You fast to the mortar. Did You not sit there sobbing without end, thinking it over, while the neighbours stood and watched? Tell me, O You whose colour is the high-surging sea.
Word by word
- viralōṭu vāy tōynta
- smeared on fingers and mouth
- āycci
- the cowherd woman, Yashoda
- uralōṭu uṟap piṇitta
- tied You fast to the mortar
- kural ōvātu ēṅki
- sobbing without end
- ayalār kāṇa
- as the neighbours watched
- ōṅku ōta vaṇṇā
- O You coloured like the high-surging sea
Mudhal Tiruvandadi 25 · verse 2106 of the four thousand
Meaning
My heart, making His praise its one task, never pausing, rises up at every moment praising Him: Him who lies upon the waves like an emerald resting on a mountain, Him who tore apart His foes, Him who became a boar and dug up the earth.
Word by word
- urai mēṟkoṇṭu
- taking up His praise as its task
- ōvātu eppōtum
- ceaselessly, at all times
- varaimēl marakatamē pōla
- like an emerald on a mountain
- tiraimēl kiṭantāṉai
- Him who lies on the waves
- kēḻalāyp pūmi iṭantāṉai
- Him who as a boar dug up the earth
- ētti eḻum
- rises up in praise
Mudhal Tiruvandadi 26 · verse 2107 of the four thousand
Meaning
Venkatam is the hill that, for those who rise and set out to it, who take leave of all else, and who think of the Lord of sweet tulasi without fail and worship Him every day, quenches the burning flame of their karma; and it is the hill that kindles bright the lamp in the minds of the gods.
Word by word
- eḻuvār viṭaikoḷvār
- those who rise and set out, who take leave of all else
- vaḻuvāvakai niṉaintu
- thinking of Him without fail
- vaikal toḻuvār
- who worship every day
- viṉaic cuṭarai nantuvikkum
- puts out the flame of their karma
- vēṅkaṭamē
- Venkatam, Tirumala
- vāṉōr maṉac cuṭarait tūṇṭum
- kindles the lamp in the minds of the gods
Mudhal Tiruvandadi 27 · verse 2108 of the four thousand
Meaning
These are the hands of Him who seized the dark horns of the bulls: hands that raised the mountain as an umbrella, that split open the mouth of the great horse, that with the bow pierced the seven sala trees, that snapped the battle-tusk of the murderous elephant, and that felled the flowering kurundam tree.
Word by word
- malaiyāl kuṭai kavittu
- holding up the mountain as an umbrella
- mā vāy piḷantu
- splitting the horse Kesi's mouth
- marāmaram ēḻ
- the seven sala trees
- kolai yāṉaip pōrk kōṭu
- the battle-tusk of the killer elephant
- pūṅ kuruntam cāyttaṉavum
- felling the flowering kurundam tree
- kārk kōṭu paṟṟiyāṉ
- He who seized the dark horns of the bulls
Mudhal Tiruvandadi 28 · verse 2109 of the four thousand
Meaning
In Your hands are the right-whorled conch and the discus. O dark-hued Lord, the lovely Lady of the lotus dwells on Your chest. Brahma of the sacred Vedas is in Your navel. And the lord who shot down the three great walled cities, Shiva, has a small place in Your body.
Word by word
- kaiya valampuriyum nēmiyum
- the right-whorled conch and the discus in Your hands
- malarmakaḷ niṉ ākattāḷ
- the Lady of the lotus is on Your chest
- maṟaiyāṉ niṉ untiyāṉ
- Brahma of the Vedas is in Your navel
- mā matiḷ mūṉṟu eyta
- who shot down the three great walled cities
- niṉ ākattu iṟai
- a small part of Your body
Mudhal Tiruvandadi 29 · verse 2110 of the four thousand
Meaning
He is the Lord of all; He is the earth, the vast sky, the wind, the roaring waters and the red fire. Know this clearly: He is the red-eyed Mal who saved the great elephant with crescent tusks and green-tinged eyes from its terrible suffering, and gave it His grace.
Word by word
- aṟai puṉalum centīyum
- the roaring waters and the red fire
- piṟai maruppiṉ
- with tusks like the crescent moon
- māl yāṉai
- the great elephant, Gajendra
- paṭu tuyaram kāttu
- saving it from its terrible distress
- ceṅkaṇ māl
- the red-eyed Lord
- teḷi
- know it clearly
Mudhal Tiruvandadi 30 · verse 2111 of the four thousand
Meaning
Those who make the mind clear and set it straight, and come to know Him well and with ease through true knowledge: their thoughts, like a calf searching for its mother, will go of their own accord to the feet of the Lord who wears cool tulasi, and seek them out with longing.
Word by word
- uḷḷattaic cenniṟīi
- setting the mind straight
- ñāṉattu eḷitu āka
- easily, through knowledge
- tāy nāṭu kaṉṟē pōl
- like a calf seeking its mother
- taṇ tuḻāyāṉ aṭikkē
- to the feet of Him who wears cool tulasi
- nāṭikkoḷḷum
- will seek out and hold
- purintu
- with longing
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.