English (machine translation)

Language: English
Extent: 360 passages, 7,637 words
Text: complete digital text
Source: pramana-mt · Machine translation by Gemini 3.8 Flash (2026-10-10) of in.vernacular.tamil.late.tevai_ula · Machine output without human authorship: no copyright is claimed (CC0 1.0). The original text keeps its own…

Text

p1

"Tēvai Ulā"
composed by Palapaṭṭaṭai Cokkanātak Kavirāyar.
This was critically edited from several manuscripts
and published with newly written glosses on rare words
by Uttamatānapuram V. Swaminatha Iyer.
Madurai Tamil Sangam / The Madura Tamil Sangam
"Centamil" Publication—19
Madurai: Tamil Sangam Printing Press Edition.
1911
Price: 4 Annas

1

Tēvai Ulā.
Invocation.
To utter the radiant Tēvai Ulā on Rāmēśa, the pure Amalan
who received the primal ulā—
the loving foot of the tusked, pot-bellied elephant-faced child of Śiva
who dances, demanding sweet treats, will grant it.
The Text.
Māl, possessing the color of a water-laden cloud, worshipped with His lotus-battle fighting eye-flower; and gaining

2

initiation from the illustrious Upamanyu,
and performing worship steadfast in japa;
and naming a child born like an elephant

3

as Sāmba, one name from the lunar lineage,
and calling upon him;
and worshipping with his own personal rites the Vilvodakēśvara Liṅga,

4

which removes blazing distress above;
and worshipping Vīti Viṭaṅkar, the root of the four Vedas,
carrying Him on the chest of the Milky Ocean;

5

and seeing every day all the servitors
performing rightful service,
out of His grace to perform it;—and in order

6

to remove the guilt of slaying Rāvaṇa,
which made even the celestial world tremble,
and as an equivalent offering of a head;
and pleasantly to dispel all the darkness

7

such as impurities produced by many thousands of people, [my Lord!]—
in ancient times,

8

the twenty-four tīrthas:
Cakra Tīrtha, of noble nature,
which, though reaching the mountain of time, is never bound by the bounds of death;

9

the soft water called Vētāla Tīrtha,
where ghosts dance together like Him who shares half His body with the maiden of the beautiful mountain;

10

the fresh pool of Pāpavināśa,
which wiped away the blemish that came to the unwavering, bright moon roaming the earth;

11

Sītā Kuṇḍa, whose flaw was removed
when the rank of Dēvēndra was obtained by the sash/title that Sītā lovingly gave;

12

Maṅgala Tīrtha, which caused all the chariots and horses lost by the one
who transgressed justice and lost his realm to sprout from the mouth of Kabandha;

13

Amṛta Tīrtha, which through love
unites good people who bear [faith] with solitary Rāma;

14

Brahma Kuṇḍa, which graciously joins
the Creator dwelling in the blossomed flower mansion into a great sacrificer;

15

Hanuma Kuṇḍa Tīrtha, which makes
the sorrow-stricken, weak-minded companion of Dharma into a performer of a hundred sacrifices;

16

Agastya Tīrtha, which, taking the form
of the Mānasa lake, without doubt bore the celestial elephant;

17

the sacred Rāma Tīrtha, which washed away the lies
of the elder brother of Vijaya who came in the past to wash his body;

18

the cool waters of Lakṣmaṇa Tīrtha, where many gods
come and bow down, in the singular Tēvai where deities dwell;

19

Jaṭā Tīrtha, which dispels dirt and gives ease
to cleanse the physical frame that burns in the surrounding world;

20

Lakṣmī Tīrtha, which consoled the son
of the God of Death, who wields peaceful flowers, to become the son of Kubēra;

21

Agni Tīrtha, in whose waters fire sprouted
to remove the slander of Sītā that had spread to the four directions;

22

Cakra Tīrtha, which granted the feet of the Vedic Lord who dwells on the earth
and the red hand of the Vedic Lord of the sky;

23

Śiva Gaṅgā, which cut off the foot of the brahmahatyā
that came when the garlanded head of the lotus-born [Brahmā] was severed;

24

Śaṅkha Tīrtha, the water of a conch
which cured the burning heat of the one who sweltered inside boiling waters like an ocean;

25

Tri Tīrtha, where an unequalled person in this world
came running and swam across the threefold sea properly;

26

Koṭi Tīrtha, which did not retain
the guilt of an uncle who went and killed an uncle for the sake of an uncle's wife on this earth;

27

Sādhyāmṛta Tīrtha, which liberates
from the agonies of hunger that befell the one who bathed in the sounding water out of lust;

28

Sarva Tīrtha, which possesses the power
to turn into dense black hair when a renowned person washes white food;

29

Dhanuṣkoṭi, which out of its generosity
itself made Hari and Śambhu into the kings of the denizens of heaven;

30

the milk-stream that is Pālāvi,
to cool the afflicted water-defect of Kaśyapa, superior on this great earth;

31

Kavi Kuṇḍa, which removed the crookedness
in the bow-like form of the woman whose eyebrows are like bows strung with bowstrings;

32

the Sarasvatī and Gāyatrī tīrthas,
which, for all to see, join Hari's head to the body of Brahmā;—

33

as these [tīrthas] become carpels exuding honey,
the whole of famed Tēvai becomes a single fruit, which ancestors

34

worship and revere—

35

with Sētu as a jackfruit tree, and upon this jackfruit tree of Sētu,
of the vast ripe fruit, faultless—

36

the shoot of Śiva, filled like honey that tastes sweet to the point of turning the mouth bitter
if one calls it the supreme nectar of heaven; the red coral mountain where the green peacock dwells,

37

namely Kātalī, who grew upon the mountain, whose eyes are like deer, battling swords, and fish;
who truly

38

adorned the grove, the city of Indra, the wilderness,
and Tēvai; who, having mounted

39

the holy Gandhamādana from the day he set foot on it,
never mounts another elephant; who established

40

Kāla who destroys at the time of the praṇava, as the fierce Bhairava of frightful time;
he of the fortified town protected by the grace

41

of Mother Mahākālī of Sētu, guarded by his famous name;
he who drove away and removed the fetters that pained the feet of Indra, king of gods,

42

yet never removed the anklet of gold from the foot of Sētu's great ascetic; he who placed opposite

43

the monkey Hanumān, who rose to cross the surging, dashing sea,
saying he was a mountain checking the ocean; who, save for the garments woven from the skin of the fierce tiger,

44

wears not even a trace of silk cloth;
he who has the form of the Vālukā Liṅga; the Supreme One,

45

without whose motion not an atom stirs, as witnessed by Pavana and Māruti;
so that Umā might rule him, and he might come to rule us, and all of us might rule the celestials,

46

and the gods who came might rule the others on the surface of the earth—
he who through grace causes all this, and whose hood-like body is adorned with serpents from the netherworld;

47

the gracious Lord who grants the supreme release of the holy flower-like hand
and food to the severed head of Brahma;

48

who abolished rising and setting
for the moon upon his crest, and for Mārkaṇḍeya who bows at his feet; who brought together in friendship

49

the Sun and the darkness that battles him,
before the sacrificial pit prepared by Dakṣa;

50

who showed to the sightless Andhaka
his golden feet, unseen even by the lotus-eyed Viṣṇu;

51

the King who gave his reply to the Bull,
saying it was not an object for the corner of the eye, but a dark cloud;

52

he of the noble banner who departs to grant his presence to the celestials,
without going to bow at the feet of the maidens of the cowherd clan;

53

the Supreme Master who looked with his eye and bestowed sārūpya [liberation]
when the god of love, possessing the form of Kāma, showered flowers from his bow; the unswerving Sthāṇu

54

who performed his dance even for the serpent that swallows a goat like a fierce tiger;
he who possesses two battle-axes striking the strong,

55

three times, four eyes, the son of the Vedas,
and six faces; who possesses the beloved seven sects, the eight worlds, the nine directions,

56

and, when faults are dispelled, the ten treasures—
granting them to those who worship him;

57

Rāmēśa, who wears soft ornaments of serpents
upon his mountain-like shoulders and upon his lotus feet;

58

boon-giving Rāmanātha, whose nails severed
the bewildering karma of his devotees and the head of Brahma;

59

he who instructed: “Worship the Lord of the world and our festival day!”
When the days of the festival in the month of Māsi arrived, seeing the goodness

60

of the fine flag of the bull, whose chest is adorned with gold dust, being raised on high with cords,
along with Parvatavardhinī, who flourishes like a creeper of speech,

61

he set forth so that the seven worlds might praise him;
and having arrived and seated himself in the pavilion built by King Ragunātha

62

for the Kapālin who bestows ocean-like grace—
so that the venomous rumor that none but the heavy, matted red locks

63

could reach his holy shoulders might be put to great shame,
as if Gaṅgā of cloud-crowned locks joined our Father’s shoulders,

64

he received the prescribed ablution;
and casting off eight wound garments, one rag, and one elephant hide,

65

he adorned himself with the golden vestment bestowed by the southern ruler, Vijaya Ragunātha Sētupati,
who is like Karṇa; thereafter,

66

he placed a golden crown upon his head, as if to conceal Gaṅgā
even for a moment, so that Īśvarī would not see her; and the blue-throated Lord

67

wore faultless serpent earrings, as though waiting and listening
to the two lines [of recitation] at his ears; so that mortality would cease,

68

as if rare nectar were welling up in the poison consumed for the sake of the celestials,

69

he had a string of pearls tied closely around his neck; like the arms of him
who held tightly the shoot of Śiva before the fierce Yama could reach out and touch him, 70

70

he placed armlets of assorted gems upon his lordly shoulders
that lend radiance even to the round day-jewel [the sun]; and like the sun who came to worship the finger

71

that gouged out his fiery eye,
he put on a splendid ruby bracelet; and so that the Lady of the matted locks would not see the breast-scars

72

of her whose body grew through longing,
he adorned his chest with a hand-shaped pendant, in this illusory world,

73

so that

74

it appeared beautiful.

75

having fitted a waist-band onto the solitary Primal One / who casts away the bond of a mother’s womb; and having fastened

76

anklets on his holy feet, upon which Bāṇa, who protected and ruled the realm, / had placed many small bells; and

77

as if holy Tirumāl on one side and the Goddess on the other / had taken hold of both sides, so that on his holy body,

78

just like the sky, or revealing the color of the heartwood / of the tree that is the universe; or like the tender sprout

79

of sweet Jānakī's red hand, unable to endure [the embrace], / made the color of his holy body darken; or as if in the forest

80

when Vijaya rushed and fought, seizing the King in his grasp, / the poison in his throat had spread; or like cloud-colored [Viṣṇu],

81

when performing clear meditation on Śiva, shining with both forms / within and without; or like a coral wrapped

82

within a sapphire bag, which is the love of her who holds a sweet sugarcane / in her parrot-rearing hand; or like pure Śivajñāna,

83

so that no doubt could arise, hidden by the shadow of māyā / from being perceived by anyone; or as though

85

he yearned for the hue of the woman with fragrant hair of love, / having applied anointment of holy paste—with fragrant sandal-paste

86

like the form of the wide-lotus-eyed one who dwells in the moon / appearing and standing before him; in accordance with the prior Vedāntic rule / of reflection and counter-reflection, having looked into a mirror of pure gold leaf; / as though the golden Meru bow that stood firm

87

to destroy in fierce battle the three fortresses flying in the sky; / or seeing the color of Umā and the color of our Father

88

in the rainbow that appeared earlier in the sky, and hiding those two, / as though another blameless golden bow had been bent

89

and mounted there, as the holy golden arch shone aloft; / having sat upon the lion-throne of faultless,

90

glorious state and received worship, and thereafter— / while all [others], with Nandin, who is like a lion,

91

and with Māyōn, stood restrained like the long ocean / brought under control; after he who possesses the two renowned learning

92

of the four Vedas with their six aṅgas and the threefold Tamil / had spoken the ancient traditions before him; after that, in due order,

93

having graciously listened to the Sētu Purāṇa, / which bolts and locks fast the pathway where wearying births come; and

94

the five hundred and twelve Āryas who worship / according to the rules of the path of true scriptures; and

95

he called Ulaganātha Muni, who settled as many / comforting ascetics as there were in this land upon the Sētu dam; and

96

Irāvāṭu Dēśika, who filled the roaring ocean / that made the God of Death tremble, and joined it to the imperishable holy city; and

97

the noble sage Mārāmanātha, who wonderfully fashioned / gardens, temples, and tanks in the watery sea; and

98

Ampalavāṇa Dēśika, who performs fitting service / to those who dwell in the true hall where glorious Rāma [resides]; and

99

the ascetic Rāmanātha Muni himself, who equates Tēvai / with the royal city of Śiva; and the great sage Vēdāvana,

100

the great ascetic who performed the aṣṭabandhana and other rites / for the gopuras where the Sun dwells for the Lord of the worlds; and

101

the great sage Cidambaranātha, the crest-jewel of Śaivism, / who daily causes worship and abhiseka to be poured forth

102

even more abundantly than the cloud that united with Sītā showered down, / in accordance with the divine Āgamas, upon the holy body

103

of those who possess kohl-lined eyes and lovely breasts—these seven having come; / and the services rendered just as Kṛṣṇa and others caused

104

mountains and other things to reach the great Sētu; and after / the noble sage Cokkanātha, who had attained the skill to administer properly

105

the commands of the Sētupati who protects the earthly realm, / had reported with renown into the holy ear of Sambhu

106

the holy services performed daily for the Lord; / mounting the holy chariot donated by the Sētupati,

107

which was glorious because of the golden holy wheels it bore, / because of the ropes that joined it, and because of the affectionate yellow silken cloth,

108

resembling the husband of the Lady called Lakṣmī and his great crown; / while the chariot of Kātalī rolled behind, the chariot of Caṇḍa rolled behind,

109

and the chariot of his sons rolled ahead, in the ancient town where waters flow— / as if the chariot of the Sun himself, defeated by its beauty,

110

carried this very chariot of radiant light; as my Lord / came forth into the street, the flood of immortals,

111

the crowd that came spreading like a tender sprout— / as if the monkeys who had come before with the worshipful,

112

bounteous lord [Rāma] had returned roaring in vast floods of legions; / as if the God of Love, who had once gone alone and suffered defeat

113

at the eye of the Lord, had today assembled an army—running forth,

114

as if all the people of the earth trod upon the ground / that Vāli’s father trod upon out of folly; / as if loving Umā,

115

wearing a garland of unfurling petals, had the curse given to Ila / fall upon all men; / as if, hearing that the enduring Jaṭā

116

Tīrtha wiped away the birth of a parrot, / all the parrots had arrived rejoicing; as if, looking upon [it],

117

all other places brought forth lovely women to conquer / the holy site that gave birth to Jānakī; as if all the deer

118

spread out to wash away the sin of having deceived / Kākutstha with his fierce arrows; as if, when the clouds

119

went to drink the waters of the south sea of fierce wrath, / they left behind all their lightnings on the shore; as if, like their own flock,

120

ordinary peahens gathered together in flocks / to come and gaze upon the green peahen borne by the mountain; as if, knowing it to be

121

the foremost shrine worshipped by the three, beginning with Acyuta, / all their women had come to worship—in Tēvai,

122

as cāmaras waved as if swan hens, unceasingly surrounding him, / had come and danced in the lotuses of their hands; as dundubhis,

123

callaris, takkais, taṭāris, murasus, bherīs, / kallavaṭams, and kākaḷams thundered ‘kal-kal’; / as the sky's hue turned white beneath the ineffable white parasol,

124

and the blue hue spoken of by gifted poets danced away; / as young women whose eyes were like pools blooming

125

with swelling blossoms held the eight auspicious objects / and offered joy; as the Lotus-born [Brahmā]

126

and Māl came mounted on their birds; / as those who protect the eight directions mounted their men and beasts;

127

as the distant planets swiftly mounted their chariots / harnessed with seventy-one horses; as, causing close-clinging sins

128

to disperse, the eight Vasus and the eleven Rudras / mounted their aerial cars with delight; as the seven damsels whose two eyes

129

scorned the sharp spear mounted resplendent / on the twelve birds and beasts; as, with parrot-like speech,

130

the deer of beloved Lakṣmī, the deer of the Earth, the young female elephant-deer, / the Gāyatrī-deer, and the doe of the arts; as the seven

131

holy river women, the seven wives of the sages, / the flawless seven celestial courtesans, the blameless

132

eight Vasu women, the eight wives of the sacrificer / beginning with the Earth; the four maidens

133

of the renowned Sun, the thrice-nine women [who are] wives / of the divine moon rich in digits; and with the sixty women borne

134

by the foremost sacrificer, Dakṣa— / as others too crowded together on every side; as the three lords who,

135

in ancient times, restored to life the three noble boys / swallowed by crocodiles in wrath; as the two who bring

136

blows of the cane upon the gods and the people / of this great world also walked alongside; as, letting water flow

137

without demanding tribute, celebrated by the entire earth, / the renowned one who earns merit—Vijaya Raghunātha,

138

whose chariot is like the wishing tree of the celestials— / performed the auspicious rope-pulling ceremony for the golden chariot; / as the broad

139

streets became an ocean, and the flood of humanity / surged, broke over its shores, and crashed; / [upon] the stone floor of the clusters of full diamonds,

140

the floor of gleaming moonstones, / the floor of gold, the golden floor adorned with banners, / the floor where swans stroll,

141

the upper floors, the moonlight floor unlike any other, / and the silver floors—as if the moon and the flawless lightnings

142

yielded by the clouds gathered rejoicing / in thousands of crores—the women of fine jewels,

143

mounting with desire, would look at the bracelets on their hands / and put them on as anklets; / with longing they would wear neck-chains

144

over their melodious foot-ornaments, / [and wear] melodious foot-ornaments [on their necks]; desiring [him],

145

they would put ankle-bells visibly on their sweet flower-like hands / on both sides; they would swiftly put on

146

toe-rings as hand-rings; / they tossed about, swimming in an ocean of longing; they thronged

147

the four quarters, grew faint bearing their swelling breasts / pressed hard against their chests, and shed streams of sweat; they searched

148

for their waists, and examining the folds and garments / of everyone, grew bewildered; because they could not bring together

149

the Bull-rider's red berry-mouth and their own lips / with their fingers, they suffered; they said, "Will not the ocean,

150

with its hands of waves, cover its eyes / from speaking of these women and men? / O Īśa, will your dispute

151

over the pair of our esteemed breasts / never cease? / You destroyed the modest shame that is our wealth,

152

yet kept your own bow hidden in secret boundary! / You took away the bangles from the hands

153

of women of aligned bangles, O Three-eyed Lord! / Can you ever part with your own bracelet, O Lord?"

154

"You took the plunder of poison as nectar; / have you turned clear nectar into poison for us? / Having overcome

155

that Madana who leaped and fell, could you not conquer / that ripe white fruit of the sky? / O Supreme Primal Lord!"

156

While she thus lamented, a certain pētai / to whom tender coconut and breast were one and the same—

157

The pētai: / A creeper born of the younger daughter-in-law / so that the mind of Tirumakaḷ might be consoled; / a sugar cane

158

that yields no bitterness like Madana's cane / to all those who fall under the power of longing; / a young parrot who has known no sorrow

159

pulling the chariot of Cupid, shining like that lover / who produces the pallor of love-sickness; a female cuckoo bird

160

who does not know how to call so that those seized by love / become possessed by spirits, dwelling alone on a single mango tree; / a tender shoot of love creeping along

161

just a little, to spring and spread over all the seven worlds; / an offering of sprouted seeds (aṅkurārpaṇa) to begin the festival

162

of the renowned Kāmadeva who wages war with swift arrows; / a seed of the quality of darkness (tamoguṇa) in which gather

163

and grow deceit, murder, pride, and gambling; / the sweet melody that could not be matched by any strike

164

of Tirunīlakaṇṭa Yāḻppāṇar, in whom the bright sacred ash shone forth; / having a crown of flowers that could never be bound,

165

like the endless golden crown, though one might wonder / where its crest ended; having eyes like the poison / mixed in milk and offered by the Jainas

166

to Appar, whom the ancient world praises; / possessing lovely breasts concealed on her exquisite jewel-decked chest,

167

like a golden peak hidden away by hooded serpents, / like Mount Maināka hidden in the waters,

168

like the sight of the thousand-streamed Gaṅgā formerly / hidden upon the matted locks of the One who holds a hooded serpent, / like an agate gem concealed beside a red fruit;

169

having small teeth that returned after departing, / like the pure gold that was snatched at Tirumurukanpūṇṭi

170

and returned to Ūraṉ; / this girl resembling a tender branch

171

would beckon and call repeatedly to her hand / the fine parrot painted in an exquisite picture, and grow vexed; / she would feed nectar to the reflection in a real mirror,

172

and would bend down to eat as it too fed nectar; / to scoop up the sand-rice that the long waves had gathered and carried off,

173

she would reach out and bail the sea; / in the grove, when her lovers celebrated the marriage

174

of her doll, a golden doll, / with the nearby māthavī bower serving as the wedding pavilion, / the cool red lotus of the pond as the sacrificial fire,

175

the unfailing kiñcuka leaves as the sruk ladle at hand, / the parrots as the brahmins chanting mantras,

176

the buds of the punnai as parched grains pleasing to the heart, / the fine honey flowing from flowers as the fragrant ghee,

177

the sand-rice previously gathered by young play / as the wedding feast, and the roaring ocean as the beating drum—

178

at that moment, / upon a vast chariot, as if Mount Gandhamādana, which had come

179

for the southern earth to prosper, arrived causing golden Meru to sink down: / "He who possesses ten million bows, clearing Dhanuṣkoṭi, has come!

180

He who possesses seven crores of mantras has come! / The Primal One of the Three who protect me has come!

181

Śiva, whom thirty-three crores of chief gods praise, has come! / The Supreme Lord who took the ocean of milk as His quiver has come!

182

The treasure dwelling by the dark sea has come! / Rāmanātha of unfading boons, praised by the great, has come in front!"—

183

as the right-whorled conch blew that he had come, / and the dundubhi drum,

184

the vast sound of the kettle-drum with broken cadence / and the note of the horn filled her ears, / seeing her mother rise, she arose;

185

seeing [the women] going behind and worshipping, she worshipped; / the doll-like girl beheld Him entirely

186

from foot to head / and surpassed Keśava and the Lord of the Veda; / wanting nothing else,

187

the pētai wept aloud, begging for the deer calf / in the hand of the King of the celestials. / [Her companion said:] "Listen! Behold, standing and pining,

188

our Lord bore that deer with affection / saying, 'This deer is Umā's eyes!' / Further, behold, He desires

189

to place that comforting young deer-calf / upon the crescent moon on His crown! / Craving the root of the aṟuku grass, which is Death's root-nail,

190

it will graze on the aṟuku grass upon His matted hair! / O girl adorned with gems!

191

Would our Lord, the great pride of the immortals, / the King of deer, give our deer to you? / Before [she] could ask, 'Why do you weep aloud in vain

192

with tears flowing like a torrent?', / as the chariot moved away like a heavenly torrent, / and moved afar saying that this speed was not fit for a feast

193

for the mouth of victorious Madana's arrow / coming before the maiden—

194

The woman wearing heavy ear-rings that overflowed [on her shoulders] departed. / A petumpai girl, perceiving the tender nature of a young parrot,

195

the fragrant jasmine that does not serve as an arrow for the shoulder or an arrow for the hand / when petty Madana aims it, that casts away fear

196

and appears with its face raised above the long-growing stalk / like a lotus bud about to bloom on the morrow, while

197

the young cygnet, leaving its mother upon the budding flower, / walks trembling along the ground and scurries,

198

while the young sweet cuckoo chick calls in the grove / even as its mother calls before the leaping chariot of Madana—she whose sharp eyes

199

do not take life but turn back, unlike the deadly poison / that spared no one in holy Maṟukal and Tiṅkaḷūr on this earth;

200

whose breasts are like the pair of golden cymbals / given by the Lord to Pillaiyār who needed no heavy rhythm;

First 200 of 360 passages. Read on

English (machine translation)

Contents

Text