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Translation of Tiruvarunaik Kalampakam (Tiruvaruṇaik Kalampakam)

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English
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112 passages, 8,188 words
Text
complete digital text
Source
pramana-mt · Machine translation by Gemini 3.8 Flash (2026-10-10) of in.vernacular.tamil.late.tiruvarunaik_kalampakam · Machine output without human authorship: no copyright is claimed (CC0 1.0). The original text keeps its own…

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Text

p1

"Tiruvaruṇaik Kalampakam"
graced and composed
by Caiva Ellappa Nāvalar

1.1

Both Mādhavan, whose eyes slumber upon the gem-bearing wide ocean, / and Caturmukha, who never departs from the adorned lotus, / failing to realize how to seek with the eye of wisdom, / took the form of a boar and took the form of a swan; / saying, "I will search for the feet and know them," [one] burrowed and dug up all the earth; / saying, "I will search for the crown and return," [one] flew above the ancient universe; / and yet as an indivisible reality hard to behold, shining free of blemish as great / Cōṇagiri, standing as pervasive radiant light, O You who bestow grace! / These are two-line tāḻicai—7: / Is it to abide upon a mountain? Is it to lift a mountain as a bow? / Is it to delight Malayaraicaṉ? Did you assume the form of a mountain? / The pañcakṛtya in this realm, and the six duties of the twice-born, / and the tattvas, if You do not assume a sacred form, could not come to be. / That which the four Vedas beginning with the Ṛg declare are Your many distinctions; / at no time does what has been said in one place agree with what is said in another. / Though all the kalpas of time that bring the end to birth pass away, / the crescent moon upon Your sacred crown never wanes even slightly, nor does it wax. / Chastising the Dānavas, removing Caturmukha of the lotus, / and destroying the other denizens of heaven, the edge of the battle-axe weapon in Your hand is never blunted. / Though You consumed up to Your throat the cruel poison that was fire / to the gods and sages, it does not pass beyond Your throat. / Your being ageless, Your having neither beginning, middle, nor end, / and Your being deathless and birthless—are these not the proofs for them? / These are ampōtaraṅkam of two four-foot lines—2: / Taking the form of an elephant in rut that strode like a vast mountain walking, / You wrapped its spread-out skin around Yourself as a garment. / Along with the hooded serpent, the moon that is its enemy / dwells together without obstruction in the long braided hair of Your crown. / These are ampōtaraṅkam of one three-foot line—4: / You bent the mountain as a bow.

1.2

You laughed so that Tripura burned.

1.3

You made horses of the Āgamas and Vedas.

1.4

You knocked out the teeth of the sun.

1.5

These are ampōtaraṅkam of one two-foot line—8: / [You severed] the head of Vidhi; (1) You bore the river;

1.6

[You held] the digging hand; (2) You bore the moon;

1.7

You rode the bull; (3) You became the lunar mansions;

1.8

You performed [the dance in the] sabhā; (4) You became the planets.

2.1

These once more are two-line tāḻicai—3: / You are the melody, and You are the taste; You are the sun, and You are the cool-rayed moon; / You are female, and You are male; You are difference, and You are non-difference.

2.2

With Your red foot You kicked black Kāla so that his head rolled; / You gave the conch and discus to Mukunda of the conch and discus.

2.3

To You who are difficult to measure by anyone, / with water and flowers in one hand, while the heart melts, can worship be made?

3.1

This is an isolated word: / Thus it is said. / This is a ten-line nēricai āciriyaccuritakam: / O medicine that removes cruel rebirth which departs not by any other medicine! / O medicine upon the mountain! / O Holy One accompanied by Aḻakiya Nāyaki, / the gracious mistress Puḻukaṇi Nāyaki! / Longing for the grace that grants at once to those who contemplate [it] / all the rare attainments gained / by dying in Kāśī, by being born in Kamalai, / and by beholding the sacred dance in splendid Tillai, / this servant has entered into refuge; / lift me up in grace so that I do not enter the sea of distress.

3.2

Who can be separate from the Wise One of Cōṇagiri extolled by the Vedas? / He is the light, He is the yajamāna, He is Sōma, / and the sun, earth, wind, water, sky, and fire are none other than He; / when one considers, all is He.

3.3

Aruṇēcar is the life of all living beings; / we know that not an atom moves without His stirring: / on that day when Māra, skilled with the bow, was present yet [He] engaged in yoga, / all living beings remained without embracing their pleasures.

3.4

kalittuṟai / O you who wander about, renouncing pleasure, taking up thirst, / cultivating yoga on this earth, and emaciating the body! / Soften your hearts in contemplation, making the lotus feet / of Aruṇēcar, the seed of the Āgamas who quenched passion, your refuge.

3.5

Upon the cool mountain of the Lord of Aruṇai, who holds the battle-axe on the right / and has on the left [Her whose] eyes are near earrings: / the evening that makes the mind melt and languish at the flute's melody / played by cowherds clad in leaves, while the red cow suffers, / shrinking its udder and bristling with hair as raindrops falling with the clouds drench it, / does not awaken great compassion in the Lord who spoke words fraught with fault.

3.6

Did not tall Mādhavan of the Yādava clan take the form
of a tusked boar-beast,
and Ayaṉ, master of the Vedic word, assume
the guise of a bird, a swan?
O you of petty mind who declare the skilled lord of Aruṇai
to be merely one among the Three!
Remember the tree that stood by, while they sought a little
the flower-foot and the crown crowned with the cool moon!

3.7

Though you bathe in the ocean, though you bathe in rivers,
though you walk over all the earth until your feet wear away,
though you become spiritual teachers, though you stand in fire
and endure its scalding heat—can liberation be attained?
If, meditating on the feet of the nectar-like Lord of the fair eye with his red, serpent-dancing matted hair,
mingling with his devotees and wearing sacred ash, they reach Aruṇai,
even if they are utterly destitute, they will become liberated.

3.8

O gentle stork, resting fearlessly embraced by your mate on the soft sands
of the sacred river with its surging, leaping waves in Aruṇai of the Father,
the ancient Lord praised at all three times by Appar, Kavuṇiyar, and Cuntarar
of sweet words, according to the order of Muttamiḻ with love!
Saying, 'Those joined with a harmonious mind will never part even slightly,'
they remained as our true support; but then, with an altered heart,
thinking of so much deceit, they departed, coveting the wealth in our hand—
how can we trust the Lord anymore?

3.9

A verse of six-foot long-meter teacher-verse [aṟucīrkkaḻineṭil āciriyaviruttam].
They spoke to make the fire set upon their monastery by the unyielding Jains
enter the body of the king of Madurai;
they thought to dispel the rut of the fierce elephant in must,
its temples broad, eating mouthfuls, its forehead adorned with gold plate;
they were foremost, uttering sweet, honeyed poems,
to make the dreadful crocodile dwelling in the forest yield back a boy;
sinless, skilled in gestures, matchless, immaculate—
such are the servants of our Lord of Aruṇagiri.

3.10

The hero's inquiry.
A verse of seven-foot long-meter teacher-verse [eḻucīrkkaḻineṭil āciriyaviruttam].
O lady resembling the fertile town of Aruṇai of Śaṅkara,
who dwells delightfully in the minds of his devotees!
O lightning-like woman walking restlessly,
bearing the arrogance of a tall elephant on earth!
Unaware that your slender waist is about to snap, could you not pause
and speak just one word to me now,
O maiden whose eyes wage diverse conflicts
with the swift arrows of the god of desire?

3.11

Ammāṉai—interlocking couplet [maṭakkuttāḻicai].
"For Aruṇēcar, the Lord whom Nārāyaṇa knows not,
what are the chest-band, bow, garment, and form, ammāṉai?"
"If chest-band, bow, garment, and form are snake, mountain, skin, and great elephant, ammāṉai,
then when we examine, is lifting the foot not alms [or impossible], ammāṉai?"
"For him whom even the swan could not know, is it an alms [or doubt], ammāṉai?"

3.12

The female companion speaks to the heroine.
A verse of six-foot long-meter teacher-verse [aṟucīrkkaḻineṭil āciriyaviruttam].
"They say, 'A deer'; they say, 'A garment'; they say, 'An elephant';
they ask, 'Which is the way?';
they ask, 'Why?'; they say, 'There is none'; they say, 'The mango foliage
I hold in my hand is fine';
they say, 'Body'; they do not grant even modesty;
O deer of southern Aruṇai where they abide!
They say, 'Forest' about your tresses—
what can be the intention of the King, when one considers it?"

3.13

Description of the Shoulders—rythmic teacher-verse [āciriyavaṇṇaviruttam].
They were suitably joined with the beauty of dazzling ear-ornaments
in the shape of makaras shining beside his gracious face;
they were smeared with thick musk dwelling in the mire of sandal paste, eaglewood, and kumkum,
and bathed in genuine rosewater;
they were adorned with sacred ash, white as lime, making the crescent moon's luster fade,
the conch-clusters darken, and pearls lose their shine;
they cut off the hand of Agni, raged against the Sun of bright eyes,
severed the head of Dakṣa, and bestowed upon him a ram's head instead. (12-1)
They tore open the broad chest of the towering man-lion
who ripped open the chest of Hiraṇya and churned boundless ocean-milk;
they melted in joy as marks were imprinted on them
by the golden, thrill-swollen breasts of the slender maiden of the Himālayas;
they grew like a firm coral mountain rising and sprouting with wonder
as it scatters the rays of the sun;
they are filled with garlands of konṟai, lotus, kuvalai, magiḻa, cerunti, kuravam, oleander, and campaka. (12-2)
They bent the bowstring on the tall golden mountain-bow,
that the cities of his foes might perish and the fear of gods and mortals be dispelled;
they engaged in a wrestling combat, coming in truth
to grant the battle-winning arrow to Arjuna skilled in archery;
they rejoiced in the gleaming three-pronged spear along with the sacred head
of four-faced Ayaṉ seated in the lotus-flower pavilion;
they took as a covering the flayed hide of the fearless elephant in rut,
with its broad, monstrous forehead, temples, and white tusks. (12-3)
They abound in the adornment of bracelets of venomous serpents,
studded with many gems shining with red rays;
they were filled with beauty, assuming the modes of gestures
for the task of dancing ceaselessly in the Sabhā;
they were extolled by the king of classical Tamil, the lord of Pugali who understood the rare Vedas,
together with Cuntara Perumāḷ—
they are the shoulders of the Lord of Aruṇai, with resonating anklets,
whose lotus feet are hard to attain even for Hari and Brahmā.

3.14

Pleading with the hero.
Wordplay (maṭakku) — āciriyaviruttam of eight metrical feet.
The garland embracing your chest is indeed red konṟai;
the carp-eyed maid who clings to desire has red lips too!
When spoken of with wonder, that [flower] is of a golden hue;
the flash of our [maid's] complexion is golden-hued too!
Without gaining your chest, is it fitting that she should wither in exhaustion?
Behold with an eye of grace, O Great One of Aruṇagiri, O Spotless One!
O handsome Lord celebrated in the fine spring festival!
O Giver of liberation upon being remembered! O Medicine upon the Mountain!

3.15

O net which stood cast that day by Aruṇēcar, the Medicine upon the Mountain!
O heron perched nearby, feeding on the fish that come teeming upon the waves!
Is it the fault of the lover forgetting his solemn pledge spoken on that first day while embracing [my] breasts,
or is it according to what was inscribed upon [my] head, that I, a solitary woman, remain and suffer so?

3.16

Praising the heroine.
āciriyaviruttam of seven metrical feet.
If the radiant breast-cloth should slip from the peerless, large nectar-filled jars
of this maiden of the fertile city of Aruṇai, home of the Lord
who in a smile destroyed Kāma, who wears many skulls upon his matted locks,
and who abides with devotees whose hearts are ablaze with love,
the gods and mortals on this earth would violently quarrel and clash with one another!

3.17

Wordplay (maṭakku) — āciriyaviruttam of eight metrical feet.
She chases away parrots in the cool field around the lovely hill of Aruṇai belonging to Śaṅkara,
who severed the body of the world-afflicting Jalandhara and swallowed the ocean poison!
Her blossoming face is the moon (śaśin); her slender form is [fair as] Śacī!
Her tender ear-ornament is a makara; her complexion is like the sky!
Her breasts are heavenly orbs (mandara/antara); her waist is elusive space (antara)!
Her speech is effortless poetry (āśukavi); her eyes are sharp arrows (āśuga)!

3.18

Lamentation.
āciriyaviruttam of eight metrical feet.
Remain comfortably and gladly, O parrots! Forgive today our fault
of constantly driving you away without allowing you to enter and feed on this millet,
as you flock about the field!
Upon the great mountain of Aruṇāpuri, belonging to the Lord of Aṇṇāmalai who wields great Mount Meru as his bow,
if our lover should come, tell him of the sorrow of [our] leaving the elevated platform,
having resolved to go to our home!

3.19

The same [lamentation continues] — āciriyaviruttam of six metrical feet.
Have you seen how we refrained from pointing out the way to the enemy
who threw stones at the parrots on Cōṇācalam,
belonging to the One who is difficult to see even in the Vedas full of words?
O base fellow who stands holding a non-slaying arrow
and an unbent bow on the battlefield!
Where has he departed who spoke comforting assurances to us?

3.20

Dissuading from separation.
āciriyaviruttam of six metrical feet.
If you have a desire for the learning esteemed by all,
like the poets who sang verses on the rich goddess of earth for the sake of wealth,
you too may go from here, having mastered the nature of speaking rare Tamil,
O Lord of the mountains of triumphant Aruṇāpuri, belonging to the Father whose long bow is Meru!

3.21

The season — Wordplay (maṭakku).
āciriyaviruttam of eight metrical feet.
This is the season when the battle-wounds inflicted by victorious Kāma swell;
this is the season when [separation] burns the body like fierce fire!
Why do both hands wear no conch bangles at all?
Why does the hero forget his place and pay no heed to an assembly of relatives?
In the domain of Aruṇai, where He of the dense, long matted locks
casts his glance of compassion entirely upon his devotees,
this is the season when the gentle south wind, having wandered through streets, wavers;
this is the season when the mind of this innocent maid, wandering through streets, wavers!

3.22

With the claw that shone upon your foot and with the sharp claw glowing on your hand,
you took the chest of the virtuous demon [Hiraṇyakaśipu] and you took the head of the four-faced one [Brahmā] of the directions!
You burnt the upper citadel [Tripura] with a laugh; you burnt the body of Kāma of the bow with hostility!
Why do you bear a triśūla weapon? Why do you bear a battle-axe weapon,
O Lord who settled in Aruṇai?

3.23

Begging for a garland — Wordplay (maṭakku).
āciriyaviruttam of six metrical feet.
O You who dwell in the city of Aruṇai!
O You who plunge into the love of your devotees!
O You who lift the blazing triśūla that You bear!
If You would grant the garland that adorns Your shoulder,
the cold white moon would not scorch me;
long streams of water would not pour from both eyes;
this creeper-like maid with fragrant tresses would not wither;
and the night would not drag on like this!

3.24

On the day when all—the vast sea, the earth, the sky, the fire, the roving wind—turn to ash,
so that hundreds of millions of severed heads of Mukunda of the curved discus and of the Grandfather [Brahmā]
rest heavy upon the mass of his crown of matted locks,
He wears the garland never worn before; He swings shoulder against shoulder;
Cōṇācalēcar performs the dance never danced before in auspiciousness;
He sings the song never sung before; He overflows with boundless joy!

3.25

Grieving on seeing the punnāka tree — kalittuṟai.
Did the lover from the mountain of Aruṇēcar, who dances, abandon you too, having set his affection on wealth,
so that you stand for a long time, with no one to rest in your shade, without leaves?
Even when gazed upon, you have branched out around, you have trembled, from the cool southern breeze
you have blossomed into a golden hue, O punnāka tree that is like my very body!

3.26

Grieving — maṭakku.
āciriyaviruttam of six-foot long lines.
He who lifted the mountain became the arrow;
he became the boundary of the four Vedas;
he has the peahen on his left side, so far away;
he dwells in the city of Cōṇagiri.
O young grove reaching up to the sky,
the intentions of my lord are not clear.
I remained, like the sweet honey within the red lotus;
I remained, having parted from my husband.

3.27

The swing — maṭakku.
āciriyaviruttam of eight-foot long lines.
Swing on the swing, so that the anklets on both feet jingle!
Swing on the swing, so that the golden slopes of the young breasts tremble!
Swing on the swing, so that the garment worn on the waist sways!
Swing on the swing, so that the row of bangles upon the arm clinks at the side!
Singing in order the glory of the Lord, the Supreme One of Aruṇagiri,
who is difficult for the rare Vedas to measure,
swing on the swing, so that the two battling carp-like eyes dart about!
Swing on the swing, so that the carp of Madana on his shoulder leaps!

3.28

The female companion speaks.
āciriyaviruttam of eight-foot long lines.
They swing on the swing; they call out opposite the hill;
they take lustrous pearls; they pluck groves of flowers;
they bathe in the flawless water; they play ammāṉai, ball, and pebbles,
and rejoice — crores of maidens!
In the millet field where slings are swung upon the Mēru-like mountain
encircling the beautiful city of Aruṇai of the Lord with the bull banner, who is easy to worship,
we do not clearly know who she is
who produced confusion in the heart of the lord of the spear!

3.29

maṭakku — kaliviruttam.
He who has a garland upon his chest, and he who has an assembly where the Vedas smell sweet,
and he who has fair swan-like ships, and he who has dining vessels of unending abundance,
and he who possesses the wrath of the archer Kāma with his garland,
and he who rides a fierce rutting mountain-like elephant, and he who has an expanse of water on the upper mountain,
is the Lord of luminous Aruṇācalam.

3.30

Praising the heroine.
āciriyaviruttam of six-foot long lines.
He is the rare mountain that shines brighter than the light of the sun, the rare mother,
the Spotless One with resounding ankle-rings.
Upon the one creeper of the waist of the maiden who dwells in the beautiful city of Aruṇai,
where fragrant flowers bloom and the river swells,
there is one areca palm, one coral, one kumizh flower,
one full moon, one crescent moon,
two bows, two arrows, two bamboo canes, two ear-ornaments,
and the two breasts are two mountains.

3.31

Saying that it is difficult to paint.
āciriyaviruttam of seven-foot long lines.
He who has the mountain as his seat, who has the mountain peacock as his seat, who comes in the southern breeze arising on the mountain,
Lord of Aruṇācalam, worshipped by him whose seat is the waves and by those whose seat is ambrosia — upon your mountain:
Tethering the elephants of her breasts, placing the chariot of the open space of her waist,
arranging her face as the moon, spreading the leaf-shaped spears [of her eyes] closely packed,
if I must beautifully paint her shoulders, O my heart, stay! I will paint no further.

3.32

Grieving — double entendre — kaṭṭaḷaikkalittuṟai.
Though he has seen her state, losing her upper garment, letting go of the beautifying conch and discus from her hands,
suffering on feet with soft anklets, scratching the ground,
he who drank the hālāhala, the Lord of Aṇṇāmalai,
will not pity those who are lovesick, except his devotees;
such a hard-hearted one is he!

3.33

Though difficult to see for the eye-reaping Viṣṇu and for the lotus-seated Brahmā,
he became clearly known to Tiṇṇaṉ, who plucked out his eye!
He will burn the cities [of those who do not worship], for the sake of the celestials who praise him;
he who puts an end to my rebirth is the Lord of Aṇṇāmalai.

3.34

Grieving — kaliviruttam.
Upon the victorious mountain of the Lord of Aṇṇāmalai,
he did not come, without even thinking [of me] on that mountain.
O eyes, like an ocean the water overflows!
O white moon of the sky, you bring distress!

3.35

The male companion's discernment.
āciriyaviruttam of seven-foot long lines.
Upon the mountain of Aruṇai, where maidens with tresses filled with honey gather closely,
upon that mountain of the panacea:
Just as my lord first described the signs of her who came by the ancient stream,
this is not an elephant, but her breasts; this is not an areca palm, but her neck; this is not a dark cloud, but her hair;
that is not a blue water-lily, but her eyes; that is not a bow, but her brow; that is not a cochineal insect, but her lower lip.

3.36

Sending the crane as a messenger.
āciriyaviruttam of seven-foot long lines.
Lord of the mountain of Aruṇai, who, so that Ayaṉ might remain and Hari might survive,
placed the poison as a black mark upon his throat!
O cranes, who feign sleep, with your long bodies remaining motionless,
seeking the carp in the sacred river,
go to the presence of the Lord, and tell him
that in my two eyes there is no sleep!

3.37

The female companion speaking to the heroine — kaṭṭaḷaikkalittuṟai.
“They say an elephant was trapped by foliage in an unentered forest;
they seek the path to a town where no one ever goes;
O young peahen! O goddess-like maid in the realm of Aruṇācala,
worshipped by the sage with tiger-feet and by the lord of serpents,
what is there worthy to say to them?”

3.38

While there is a status called Svarga,
while there is the status of Hari who wears the evening tuḷasī garland,
and while there is the good mountain of high Kailāsa,
you bestow only the single city of desirable liberation on all who think [of you]!
To all those who worship you with golden hands, offer loving worship,
practice penance, and praise you daily—
O Lord of Aruṇai of sun-like fame,
what will you do for the status you sweetly bestow?

3.39

The Siddha — eṇcīrkkaliyeṭil āciriyaviruttam.
“O one who holds the wondrous battle-axe! O one who shares [his] body with Umā!
We are the Siddhas of radiant Aruṇai; listen as we speak:
Show us the caustic substance and its power—
we shall show it turned to gold!
O brother, we fashioned the consort of the dark one into gold;
we prepared his pitāmbara garment as gold as well;
who knows this burden?
We have granted the very body of Ayaṉ to shine in the color of pure gold!

3.40

We are the Siddhas who turned the sweet herb into gold for the Lord of Aruṇai
who granted us his feet, and dispensed the final medicine spoken of
to end the disease of hunger of the celestials!
O sir, is there a fistful of cooked rice, or at least porridge?
By the sacred oath of Mādhavan, without any medicine
we can turn all elephants into golden mountains!
Flawlessly, we can hide a serpent and turn it into a woman;
we can rub iron and convincingly make it into gold!”

3.41

Praising the heroine — eḻucīrkkaliyeṭil āciriyaviruttam.
“O charioteer driving the chariot
upon the fair mount of Aruṇai of the Lord with the laburnum garland!
Reaching the town, I shall speak of the army of the lord of spring
that has risen in the street:
fresh bows and two curving bows, discharging cruel arrows beside,
from which battle never ceases;
a musth elephant with newly risen tusks,
along with a pair of plantain stalks, is coming!”

3.42

“O one who made the golden mountain his bow, holy one of Cōṇagiri, Death to Kāla!
Like the great Māyaṉ who respects [you],
who else on earth is your equal? When you were not angry with them,
was it just that you became a tall peak of blazing flame?
Who is the pond of fragrant lotuses? Who is the horse for the sage who raged against the cities?
Who is the broad banner? Therefore,
who is the bull that climbs and carries [you] to every door as you beg?
Who is the goddess dwelling on your left side?”

3.43

Saying, ‘He of Cōṇācalam has the bull banner,’
saying, ‘He is the great Lord who grants liberation when devotees offer flowers,’
and saying, ‘He is Śambhu’—
though seeing him eat meat once offered by the forest hunter,
why do the gods perform worship to a human?

3.44

We are intoxicated ones who praise the flower-feet of the Lord of Aruṇai,
who dwells within himself and whom the Vedas extol!
Is the cakra-pūjā easy for those who are bound by karma? Alas, it is rare!
Due to fate, I shall tell how he is devoid of understanding:
While the palmyra was there, and the tall hemp was there, in vain
he slept on a green leaf; while the palm toddy, clear as a scorpion,
was there, he slept upon a serpent; leaving the divine ocean
that is wine, he sank upon the milk ocean!

3.45

Intoxication — nēricaiveṇpā.
We are the drunken ones of Aruṇāpuri, where flies the banner of the bull!
Why are the dwellers of heaven devoid of sense?
In the past, even if they had casually pounded
and eaten the hemp leaf to powder,
their bodies would not have died at all!

3.46

Picciyār — eṇcīrkkaliyeṭil āciriyaviruttam.
They wear the triśūla; they hurl the discus
upon those they see before them; they belong to the Śaiva fold;
they do not accept the lustful; they listen to Śaiva treatises;
they reveal in the mind an opposite vision;
in the fertile land of Aruṇagiri where dwells the Lord who wears
a garland of a tortoise and serpent and rides the bull,
the Picciyārs wander to every house like a hidden treasure,
making known their holy name as they wander.

3.47

The same subject — maṭakkuk kaṭṭaḷaikkalippā.
Within sacred Aruṇai of Tēvarāyar,
whose feet dance in the sabhā of Tillai,
wearing jasmine, Arabian jasmine, and campaka—the Picciyār,
with dense, long locks, the enchantress Picciyār!
Her fair body is indeed the golden sacred form;
that which she sought and assumed is indeed the golden sacred form;
even if there is none, this waist is indeed slender/doubtful;
that which she came to receive right here is indeed alms/doubtful.

3.48

Speaking to the charioteer upon seeing the rainy season.
kalittuṟai
O charioteer of the gemmed chariot which showed its shoulders on the mountain of Aruṇai,
where dwells the bull-rider wrapped in the Vedas who revealed Ayaṉ!
If the cloud that went ahead demonstrates victory, reveals its rage and bow,
and flashes lightning, roars thunder and shows dread,
will not the slender green vine, standing alone, be terrified?

3.49

Having shown humiliation to the green-eyed tiger,
and enraged, having assailed the man-lion,
and flayed the tusker of the cruel trunk to wear it:
on Aruṇai alone flourishes one Śarabha!

3.50

Kuṟam — fourteen-foot āciriyaviruttam.
O women, come and hear as we pronounce the one and the three!
Because the paddy grains in the winnowing fan have turned out to be an odd number,
a certain one appeared with a fawn, a deer, and a battle-axe;
he has a black neck and carries a kapāla in his hand.
If you go and seek him, he can be seen atop Aruṇai; his name is Tēvarāyar;
other than him, we have seen no other god.
He will dispel the distress of the longing of this woman who stands and languishes;
therefore, take sacred ash and draw three lines upon her forehead!

3.51

Lamentation — the same [metre].
Will Māra shoot arrows at you who possess an eye upon your forehead?
While the snake you wear is present, will the long southern breeze rush forth?
While your victorious foot remains, will the moon torment you?
Will the mingled night stand before the sunlight of your eyes?
With what aid shall the maiden with thick tresses conquer these foes,
O True One of the Kaliyuga residing in southern Aruṇai abundant in grace,
O renowned one wearing civet who burnt the cities of the enemies,
O Tēvarāyar, O fragrant King of daily springtime?

3.52

The rainy season.
six-foot āciriyaviruttam.
Even if one contemplates them for merely the time it takes an oilseed [to fall],
the lofty ones bestow glorious boons!
O peahens, O streams that do not cease within Cōṇācalam where they dance in the grove!
Through the water streaming from the eyes of me, a wretched sinner,
the rainy season swells and rises!
For those whose solitary life languishes, it is a poison; the long autumn season is Kāla himself!

3.53

Early spring — nēricai akavaṟpā.
Rare to be worshipped by Mālu and Ayaṉ
who join their blossom-like hands morning and evening;
he who created all worlds in the wink of an eye;
he who has no mother or father of his own;
he who performs the sacred dance so that puppets of many lives
may dance beautifully on the cords of old karma;
the hunter of true penance who severs the net of karma;
the lord of musk who binds the net of the mind;
the lord of spring's delight with unfailing generosity
who gives sixty-six thousand gold [pieces] as boons;
he of Aṇṇāmalai, with clanging anklets;
the nectar sweet to the eyes; from Mount Kailāsa,
as if it were Mount Malaya in the southern direction of the God of Death,
the blacksmith Spring, having set up the bellows and spread a gentle breeze,
stirring the tongue of the fire of tender shoots on the forge of the grove,
clamping it within the pincers of the tireless cuckoo's beak,
pouring therein the charcoal of glowing sparks of bees,
and moving the tongs of blossoming clusters that sound within,
has fashioned and offered cold blossom-arrows to the warrior of lust;
yet my husband has still not arrived,
O swan-like soft-gaited maiden with dark tresses like the laurel grove!

3.54

maṭakku — eight-foot āciriyaviruttam.
He has a dreadlock-knot of immense size, and he has a braided black matted tress;
he danced shifting his feet, and he struck down the king whose crown was changed;
he spoke the Vedas that are meditated upon, and he uttered the destructive decree of death;
he rode the great bull that charges, and he bore the bounding young deer;
he stripped the skin of the elephant in my heart, and he tore the skin of the ferocious elephant;
he has the fragrance of the erukku and the cassia, and he has the sweet scent of the fragrant red-cassia;
he has the form of a forest of fire, and his head possesses the beauty of form;
he of the town of overflowing grace is the Lord of flourishing Aruṇai!

3.55

Magic display.
eight-foot āciriyaviruttam.
Causing the ocean to turn into a crust of earth, and marking the sky with a scar,
making the sun rise in the north, and causing Nirṛti's realm to move to the east,
turning the night into day, and making the day equal to the night:
we can accomplish these with ease; are these anything of wondrous arts?
We shall also reveal a city that grants liberation upon merely meditating for a moment
and contemplating in the mind,
equal to Aruṇagiri, the place of the Lord of the mountain of fire,
who wears snakes as ornaments upon this earth!

3.56

Excellence of grace. — nēricai veṇpā
Wisdom does not spread into the dark hollow of the heart
unless it is in an elevated place;
the grace of the generous Lord of Aruṇācalam,
who has the Goddess as half of his body, is an ocean [like] a mountain of grace.

3.57

Pāṇ — a verse in āciriyaviruttam of six metrical feet.
As you sing at every doorstep in southern Aruṇai of the Supreme Lord with long matted hair bearing the Gaṅgā,
we cover both ears with our palms and praise the sacred names of Arjuna!
Whose ears among our sisters can bear your music's thunderous sound? Who would take pleasure in it?
O bard, understand the nature of women, and praise them as peacocks!

3.58

Praising the heroine.
A verse in āciriyaviruttam of six metrical feet.
Upon beautiful Mount Aruṇai, where young carp leap past sluices,
she dwells like a flower goddess, [attracted] to the wearer of konṟai garlands on his chest where bees crowd and sing,
who seeks the dance of the tiger and Patañjali:
her gait is an Indra-elephant; her two hands, trees of Indra's paradise;
her eyes, Indra-blue sapphires; her waist, Indra's sorcery;
her brow, Indra's bow; her lips, an Indra-beetle.

3.59

Phantom appearance — kaliviruttam.
In southern Tamil Aruṇai of the Lord united with [Umā],
who wears the Indra-red konṟai blossom, our chariot also journeys;
the crescent digit of the moon, the battle arrow,
and Mount Mandara-Meru have bent together!

3.60

Wondering at the heroine.
A verse in āciriyaviruttam of seven metrical feet.
O dwellers in Aruṇai of the Lord with echoing anklets, who stood as a column of fire
reaching beyond the universe, whose throat wears the cloud's dark hue, whose red matted locks wear the full Gaṅgā,
and on whose one side dwells the slender branch [Umā]!
It has been seen that a moon rises above a cloud;
never has it been seen in this way, where a cloud of dense locks has made its dwelling
upon the orb of your face, a new moon!

3.61

Upon the head that nears the crescent moon lies an arrow (the Gaṅgā); in the other place (his left half) abides a woman (the bowstring);
in his broad hand the raised bow (Mount Meru) was discharged,
when our Lord of Aruṇai came forth and burned the [three] cities.

3.62

The rainy season — kalittuṟai.
O sinful heart suffering anguish, our Lord of Aruṇācalam, difficult to reach, who became the golden Meru—
has he departed without a thought of this?
Like a raincloud drinking ocean waters along with fire and spewing them forth again,
this is the rainy season, darting lightning, smearing the gold of pallor on the bodies of loving young women!

3.63

Soliciting the heroine — koccakakkalippā.
In the fine land of southern Aruṇai, surrounded by groves that block even the chariot of the hot-rayed sun,
belonging to the dark-throated Lord who is like a raincloud,
though one is swan-like, the fire of passion will not cool no matter who arrives;
yet see, if you (water) arrive, the fire of desire will be quenched!

3.64

The cold season — kalittuṟai.
Through the city where dwells the Lord of Aruṇai, whose shoulders resemble bamboo groves,
who wears the hide of an elephant fallen on Kailāsa—ah, does it not pour down?
This is the cold season, dropping dew like the scattering arrows of the God of Love,
like smoke ascending in the hearts of maidens whose flower-like bracelets slip away!

3.65

Even if many tens of millions among the heavenly dwellers beyond music perish,
even if uncounted Brahmās die,
even if all appointed for Viṣṇu pass away,
for the Lord of Aṇṇāmalai, not an eye-blink's span of time elapses.

3.66

Pleading with the hero.
A verse in āciriyaviruttam of nine metrical feet.
As if a fruit slipped down to fall into milk,
you do not come to join the shining, rare breasts of this maiden
whose two long eyes gaze out, dispelling the arrows loosed by radiant Māra!
O Lord sharing your half with the maiden in field-girt Aruṇai, where bees hum Malahari, Kuṟiñci, Tēci, and Bhairavī rāgas!
O fragrant Spring King, wafting the sweet scents of musk and pollen of diverse flowers!

3.67

The Mataṅgi dancer.
A verse in āciriyaviruttam of nine metrical feet.
His shoulders are adorned with bewitching, lustrous sacred ash and armlets of snake kings held in graceful gesture;
he shares his body with the maiden of the mountain clan; he is the fragrant Spring King;
singing the splendours of his Aruṇai, the Mataṅgi performs circles with melodious dance upon the stage;
her shining, swelling elephant-like breasts are countless mighty tuskers engaged in furious battle,
causing the directional elephants to turn back!

3.68

The same theme — maṭakkukkaṭṭaḷaikkalippā.
Upon the streets of Aruṇāpuri belonging to the trustworthy Lord, whose anklets resound and who wears the river,
who can bear the longing caused by the Mataṅgi who dances and sings to rhythm?
By her face the lunar orb is cooled, and the gathered circle of spectators is changed;
the pace taken in her movement is graceful, yet those who look upon her lose their inner faculties!

3.69

Because you placed your fair hand upon the mountain of your radiant, jewel-like breasts,
you have looked with full eyes upon the breasts of the Goddess in the ancient town of Aruṇagiri's Beloved!
Listen: your husband, sweet nectar to the eyes, will come to you;
you will unite with him on this earth and bear sons like Murugan;
if these words prove false, O lady whose locks are filled with thriving bees,
I shall neither sing the Kuṟam nor touch my noble Kuṟa basket!

3.70

O messenger, gathering dried fronds of the palmyra hard to touch, / fastening them around tightly with a small iron [rod], / drawing both long and curled [letters] all around, / and giving it as a missive, standing opposite!
In the realm of Aruṇai belonging to the Supreme Lord who dances His tāṇḍava, / those crooked conches climbed by those who died having marched to battle, / desiring the heroic Marava maiden, / are the very trees standing in the middle of our stone-strewn path of approach.

3.71

Maṭakku-kaliviruttam.
He who possesses the Veda, the horse of speed! / He who rides the horse, swift as a mountain [wind]! / He who wears the crescent moon that radiates! / The Lord whom all desire! / He who possesses the wrathful bull that endured [all]! / He who fits [well] the wrathful Bull! / The Lord of the pure white abode of supreme virtue! / He is the Lord of the fertile town of Aruṇai!

3.72

Kalittuṟai
The holy one adorned with a garland, the sharer of Āraṇi, Aruṇēcan— / if He had not borne the primordial poison dreaded by the earth-dwellers, / where would the celestials be? Where the cāraṇas? Where the perfect one / who abides on the flower? Where would Nārāyaṇa go?

3.73

Leaf garment - Kaṭṭaḷaikkalippā.
O master, when our maiden joyfully received / the fragrant mango sprig given inside praised Aruṇai, / [the city] of Him clothed in the fine skin garment of the charging elephant, / wrapped in [His] cloak, / when she smelled it, it withered; / when it pressed upon her body, it dried up; / when tears from her eyes flowed, it was soaked; / and when she looked at it again, it grew sallow and blossomed.

3.74

Lamenting maṭakku.
Eṇcīrkkaḻineṭil āciriyaviruttam.
The wise one adorned with the garland of flowering koṉṟai and the milk-white crescent moon! / The wondrous one of the daughter of the mountain! Surrounding the town of Aruṇai set amid fields— / [my lover], praised like a bolt, left me behind; / though many [birds] are here, the bolt [confines me]; / like a kuṟavai fish to the shoal of carp, / a relationship is now foreign to me; / the blue water-lily full of water / is the primary fruit of my distress; / the trouble in my heart contends; / the trouble in my heart embraces me; / [yet] the coiled serpent with leaves is [not real]; / the words they utter are mere fabrication; / pleasant is the cool dew-drenched sleep; / but now, sleep exists no more.

3.75

Lamenting on seeing the footprints.
Eḻucīrkkaḻineṭil āciriyaviruttam.
O my heart that wanders in search, standing before the sacred grace of Aruṇācala, the eternal Trustworthy One! / Is it only to cross this wide wasteland? There is no other tree between here [and there]! / That is the spot where the elephant stood; yonder is the spot where the bow-bearing king stood; / this is the spot where the young vañci creeper [of a maiden], weary and terrified, stood; / her footprints reach here!

3.76

Dissuasion from riding the palmyra hobby-horse - Kaliviruttam.
The Supreme Lord who has a bull! He who has a slender woman as half His body! / He whose crest is adorned with the river, the Lord of Mount Aruṇai! / Desiring to unite with only one woman, [making her] a half, / will He ever cut down another woman?

3.77

Austerity - Eṇcīrkkaḻineṭil āciriyaviruttam.
Even if one ingests efficacious, fine medicines, practices rare kinds of yoga, / and restrains the breath within; / even if one performs austerities on a red-hot iron needle, / is there any other refuge besides afflicting the body? / Having adorned oneself with scrutinized sacred ash, recited the five letters, / rejoiced in heart, and comprehended the path of the Śivāgamas, / is it not true that those who circumambulate well-suited Aruṇācala / have occupied Mount Kailāsa in the twinkling of an eye?

3.78

Pleading for the garland.
Aṟucīrkkaḻineṭil āciriyaviruttam.
If the gleaming moon rises, our lightning-slender maid says, “It is the fierce sun!” / Even though she is distressed, will the lotus of that maiden's eyes not close? / It is indeed the blazing hot sun itself, O Lord of Cōṇagiri! / When will You grant [her] the flower garland? On that day, it will become the white moon.

3.79

When one consoles [oneself], He of the lotus has lotus-eyes; / when one explains, He who has eyes is their father. / How can one seek and reach here the great Lord / who wears the sliver of the moon, the wise one of Cōṇagiri?

3.80

Are there any on this earth who, seeing a wealthy person endowed with vast fortune, / do not honor and cherish him? / They call Kaṇṇaṉ, who could not see the radiant light / that rose vast and stood open in the form of Cōṇācala, / the “Red-Lotus-Eyed One”!

3.81

Austerity - Nēricaiveṇpā.
O my heart, perform austerities standing forever in Aruṇāpuri / belonging to the Lord with moonlit eyes! / Surrounded by women adorned with fine jewels made of heaps of gold, / with great desire for women, you wander— / tell me, what will you gain by not becoming [His]?

3.82

The cowherd maiden.
Eṇcīrkkaḻineṭil āciriyaviruttam.
If we speak, you possess only two cows, / and the pots of milk you carry are of the same measure. / Moreover, you have grown exceedingly emaciated at the waist; / even being cowherdesses, is it dullness of mind, or is it sheer pride? / O maidens of the cowherd caste in the realm of Aruṇai, / [the city] of Him who wears an unrejected garland of bone ornaments, we have seen upon earth: / even if all [of you] separately take up a scroll, / you will depart without uttering even two [words]!

3.83

The same theme: kaṭṭaḷaikkalittuṟai.
For the cowherd-girl who takes her pot and hawks buttermilk / in Aruṇācalam of the Lord with the bull banner, who bestowed the Hero and ruined the sacrifice, / whose throat bears dark cloud-like poison: / like lotuses, her two feet are soft; hard are her two breasts.

3.84

Realising the heroine's tender age.
aṟucīrkkaḻineṭil āciriyaviruttam.
In the country of Aruṇai of the Lord with matted locks / facing the gemstone radiance of the great serpent and the moonbeams shed by the crescent, / the Master who burnt the cities of the Asuras with the high mountain as his tall bow:
O firm mistress of the house! Asking for a loan from these little girls / who have seen no wealth at all, seeking a surety, / why did you seize the deed?

3.85

Along with the battle-axe in his hand, the sleek deer, the leaping deer, the kayal fish, / and the deer whose eyes are rimmed with kohl, / will they come near, O Aruṇēcar, / on that very day when the body’s hue darkens, the eyes gather film like cotton, / phlegm rises and spreads within the throat, / and Yama presses close in pursuit?

3.86

The hero speaks: nēricaiveṇpā.
O lady resembling Aruṇai of the Lord of Aṇṇāmalai, / the lotus-born [Brahmā] made your eyes! / O woman adorned with jewels, whose well-matched breasts were fashioned beyond measure, / Kāma has adorned me for wedding!

3.87

The dancer (Koṟṟiyār).
aṟucīrkkaḻineṭil āciriyaviruttam.
Bewildered by the music of your lisping speech and by that cruel gaze, / as the deceitful lustful men raise their hoods like serpents and dance before you, you have appeared! / In the fertile country of Aruṇagiri of the Lord whose beautiful hand holds blazing fire, / if only you had a little coil of hair where bees hum, / how you would make them dance, O Koṟṟiyār!

3.88

The same theme: koccakakkalippā.
O Koṟṟi bearing breasts like mountains bound by a bodice, / in the fine country of Aruṇēcar who wears the yellow kondrai garland! / Seeing that great darkness has fled and hidden upon beholding the moonlight of the dread crescent, / those without sharp eyes say your tresses are sparse!

3.89

vañcittuṟai.
The one who does not cherish / the feet of the Lord of Cōṇācala, / abundant in melody-filled words, / enters terrible hell.

3.90

Those who do not cease their love for the Lord of Aruṇai / will not suffer distress in hell's torment, / will not lack sovereignty on earth, / and will rejoice in the world of the celestials.

3.91

vēṟṟoli veṇṭuṟai.
If one seeks the destination of those who worship the feet of the Great Lord, the vast ocean of grace, / the Lord of Aruṇai with resounding anklets, who wears the river in his red matted locks, who shares the Woman’s half:
it is not the celestial world of the deathless gods, / but that flower of feet extolled by the Brahmins of the four Vedas filled with meaning.

3.92

Lament: kalittuṟai.
In the season when the Lord of Aruṇācalam, the Bull-rider, whose fame fills the wide world like golden Meru, / said, “I will not part from you”: / there are groves, there are koels, there are peacocks, there are parrots, there are mango trees showering sweet fruit, / there are herons, there are crooked paths, and there is my heart, never forgetting.

3.93

Deterring the possessed shaman's rite (veṟivilakku): kaliviruttam.
O radiant women with foreheads like drawn bows! / If she has received the palm-leaf deed from someone's hand, / here in the country of Aruṇai of the Lord adorned with poison, / to ruin her modesty is not justice!

3.94

Praising the heroine: kaṭṭaḷaikkalittuṟai.
On the mountain of Aruṇai of the Lord whose throat is never free from the deep sea's poison, / against the eyes that battle with the generous earrings of the innocent maiden whose forehead rivals the young crescent and the bow, / the arrow, the ocean, the deceitful kayal fish, and the fish of the zodiac have all lost and been ranked lowest.

3.95

The fisherwoman (Valaicciyār).
aṟucīrkkaḻineṭil āciriyaviruttam.
In the fertile country of Aruṇagiri where the Goddess never leaves his left side, / O Valaicciyār who hawked your kayal fish through every street while sages of the great vows grew infatuated! / We have seen those who catch fish in lily-bright ponds and bring them, / but never have we seen or known anyone like you, who captures and drags away the very life of all who look upon you!

3.96

The fisherwoman: nēricaiveṇpā.
O Valaicciyār who came in love / through the streets of victorious Aruṇai of the Lord whose upper matted hair bears the river! / Will the passion I have caught, which you reveal / through your feet and both of your eyes, ever be quenched by anyone?

3.97

Foster-mother comforting the birth mother.
eṇcīrkkaḻineṭil āciriyaviruttam.
Even if she has joined, out of desire, a husband who is her very life / in days when no one could approach, / tomorrow itself she will be mine, and we shall seek and bring her back along the pathways! / Together with the Lady who preserves the house of grace and justice, / across the seven seas, seven mountains, seven worlds, and seven heavens that encircle them, / O Lord of Aruṇai, who assumed the incarnation of Śarabha!

3.98

O swarms of bees delighting in women in the country / of Lord Aruṇēcar who graciously dances upon the crown of the radiant garland of Vedas, listen as I speak a word! / When in all the beautiful screw-pine flowers there is pollen like rice, and in every place where there is water / there is fragrant honey from blossoms, why do you come eagerly falling into their hair?

3.99

Speaking of the impossibility of depicting the heroine’s waist
Six-foot extended āciriyaviruttam
O Hero! If one says one can depict the waist of the young woman who dwells in the lotus pavilion / in the land of the Lord of Aruṇagiri, the Master who bent the tall golden bow [of Mēru], / it would be rarer still than the marvel of the formless [Kāma] formerly climbing the horn of a great hare, / plucking the sky-flower, and stringing it with a rope of tortoise hair to wear it!

3.100

Telling of the heroine accepting the gift
Kaṭṭaḷaikkallippā
O mountain lord of Aruṇāpuri, of the Father / who grants unending boons with unbounded love! / Can one describe the sweet trials undergone by the precious gem / that you gave, to the wonder of the whole earth? / Becoming the crest-jewel for her dark cloud-like tresses, and the pupil resting upon both her eyes, / when it came to join her breasts, it became the sun roaming across the two twin hills!