Pasuram 4.5.9

Tamil text and transliteration:

வானத்தும் வானத்துள் உம்பரும் மண்ணுள்ளும் மண்ணின்கீழ்த்
தானத்தும், எண் திசையும் தவிராது நின்றான் தன்னை,
கூனல் சங்கத் தடக்கையவனை குடம் ஆடியை
வானக் கோனை, கவி சொல்ல வல்லேற்கு இனி மாறுஉண்டே?

vāṉattum vāṉattuḷ umparum maṇṇuḷḷum maṇṇiṉkīḻt
tāṉattum, eṇ ticaiyum tavirātu niṉṟāṉ taṉṉai,
kūṉal caṅkat taṭakkaiyavaṉai kuṭam āṭiyai
vāṉak kōṉai, kavi colla vallēṟku iṉi māṟuuṇṭē?

English translation of verse 4.5.9:

Is there a poet on a par with me,
Singing the glory of the Lord, pervading everywhere,
Top, middle and bottom, all things, all over,
Holding in His hand hefty the spiral conch lovely,
The pot-dancer entrancing, Chief of the Celestials?

Notes

(i) The Āḻvār is the peerless poet, singing the Lord’s glory embiacing all His five aspects of ‘Para’ (transcendent), Vyūha (Operative), Vibhava (Incarnate), ‘Antaryāmi’ (Internal Controller) and ‘Arca’ (Iconic) Forms. The ‘Nityas’ (Eternal Heroes) and ‘Muktas’ (Released Souls), in Heaven, confine themselves to the transcendent glory of the Lord; Sages like Parāśara and Vyāsa recount only Lord Kṛṣṇa’s glory even as Sage Vālmīki stands rivetted to Śri Rāma’s. Sages Sanaka, Sanandana and others of that group sing the praise of the Lord as the Internal Controller. Thus Nammāḻvār, stands out as the only poet covering all the aspects of the Lord. It is also noteworthy that the Āḻvār repeatedly refers to the Lord’s inmanence, full and complete, setting at naught the controversial view held by some that the Lord’s pervasion is only partial and not complete.

(ii) ‘Spiral conch’ stands for all the Lord’s effulgent weapons, like discus, mace etc, even as ‘Pot-dancing’ stands for all the other activities of Lord Kṛṣṇa.Translation