Pasuram 8.4.1

Tamil text and transliteration:

வார்கடா அருவி யானை மாமலையின் மருப்புஇணைக் குவடுஇறுத்துஉருட்டி
ஊர்கொள் திண்பாகன் உயிர் செகுத்து அரங்கின் மல்லரைக்கொன்று சூழ்பரண்மேல்
போர்கடா அரசர் புறக்கிட மாடம்மீமிசைக் கஞ்சனைத் தகர்த்த
சீர்கொள்சிற்றாயன் திருச்செங்குன்றூரில் திருச்சிற்றாறு எங்கள் செல்சார்வே (2)

vārkaṭā aruvi yāṉai māmalaiyiṉ maruppuiṇaik kuvaṭuiṟuttuuruṭṭi
ūrkoḷ tiṇpākaṉ uyir cekuttu araṅkiṉ mallaraikkoṉṟu cūḻparaṇmēl
pōrkaṭā aracar puṟakkiṭa māṭammīmicaik kañcaṉait takartta
cīrkoḷciṟṟāyaṉ tirucceṅkuṉṟūril tirucciṟṟāṟu eṅkaḷ celcārvē (2)

English translation of verse 8.4.1:

Tirucceṅkuṉṟūr Tirucciṟṟāṟu is unto us the fearless haven,
Where resides the victorious cowherd young (Kṛṣṇa) who pulled down
Kañcaṉ from the floor above and slew, having already slain
The wrestlers at the palace gate and the elephant terrific.
Like unto a mountain in must, pulling out its tusks,
The twin peaks and the mahout as well, making the armed kings around run back.

Notes:

The valour, exhibited by the Lord unto the Āḻvār, permeates this very song, as seen from its martial tempo. Kuvalayāpīṭa, the huge elephant, in must, stationed right at the entrance to Kaṃsa’s palace, is compared to a mountain with its cascades and the tusks of the elephant, the mountain peaks. The Divine cowherd boy slew the elephant effortlessly and killed the mahout also.

The rest is self-explanatory and yet, it is interesting to note down here what Ācārya Ammaṅki Ammāl said about the Lord’s decapitation of Kaṃsa.

“The Lord makes, at His pleasure, a king of a man and invests him with a crown and other insignia of royalty; but when it pleases Him to unmake the King, he is deprived, first, o all his royal emblems, and, thus stripped, the erstwhile King becomes a mere pigmy of a man and he is then punished as he might deserve.”

It was a frustrated and terribly frightened Kaṃsa, who had taken shelter in the first floor of his palace, who was pounced upon by young Kṛṣṇa who shot up to where the felon of an uncle was hiding. The Divine lad pulled Kaṃsa down, by the locks and broke him up like an earthen pot, still wet.