Pasuram 3.5.1

Tamil text and transliteration:

மொய்ம்மாம் பூம்பொழில் பொய்கை முதலைச் சிறைப்பட்டு நின்ற,
கைம்மாவுக்கு அருள் செய்த கார்முகில் போல்வண்ணன் கண்ணன்,
எம்மானைச் சொல்லிப் பாடி எழுந்தும் பறந்தும் துள்ளாதார்,
தம்மாம் கருமம் என் சொல்லீர் தண்கடல் வட்டத்து உள்ளீரே! (2)

moymmām pūmpoḻil poykai mutalaic ciṟaippaṭṭu niṉṟa,
kaimmāvukku aruḷ ceyta kārmukil pōlvaṇṇaṉ kaṇṇaṉ,
emmāṉaic collip pāṭi eḻuntum paṟantum tuḷḷātār,
tammām karumam eṉ collīr taṇkaṭal vaṭṭattu uḷḷīrē! (2)

English translation of verse 3.5.1:

Ye, men of Earth, bound by the cool oceanic waters!
Tell me what use there can be of those creatures
Who sing not the glory of Kaṇṇaṉ, our cloud-hued Lord,
Who rescued (Gajendra) the elephant that stood ensnared
By a crocodile in the pond amid orchards dense
And leap about and dance in gay abandon, with devotion intense.

Notes

(i) Unto him, who remains unmoved by the good turn done by the Lord to Gajendra, the pious elephant in dire distress, his very birth is a terrible waste.

(ii) The pond amid dense orchards: In the forest inhabited by Gajendra, the pious elephant, who made history in the world of devotion, all the lotus tanks had gone dry, due to scarcity of rains. This put a grievous stop to the daily offering of lotus flowers by the elephant to the Deity and as such, empty days rolled on, the elephant grew restless and went hither and thither, in search of lotus flowers. Scenting his way through, at long last, he came up to a hill-top where he sighted a lovely pond, studded with lotus flowers, surrounded by a nice cluster of gardens. In his eagerness to pluck the flowers and resume the diurnal worship, long discontinued, the elephant just lost sight of a crocodile lying across and got trapped by the fell adversary. On hearing the alarum raised by the elephant after a titanic struggle with its grim opponent, the Lord rushed to the pond, post-haste, rescued the elephant from the spacious jaws of the crocodile and caressed the wounds on its leg.

(iii) While discoursing on this Song, Śrī Parāśara Bhaṭṭar is said to have painfully observed, as follows:

We are here, at this end, to remain unmoved by the multifarious good done to us by the Lord and He is there, at the other end, to get concerned about every little mishap that befalls us. This sets out in sharp contrast, our callous indifference to Him and His tender solicitude for us.