Pasuram 5.7.4

Tamil text and transliteration:

மாறு சேர் படை நூற்றுவர் மங்க ஓர் ஐவர்க்கு ஆய் அன்று மாயப்போர் பண்ணி
நீறு செய்த எந்தாய்! நிலம் கீண்ட அம்மானே
தேறு ஞானத்தர் வேத வேள்வி அறாச் சிரீவரமங்கலநகர்
ஏறி வீற்றிருந்தாய்! உன்னை எங்கு எய்தக் கூவுவனே?

māṟu cēr paṭai nūṟṟuvar maṅka ōr aivarkku āy aṉṟu māyappōr paṇṇi
nīṟu ceyta entāy! nilam kīṇṭa ammāṉē
tēṟu ñāṉattar vēta vēḷvi aṟāc cirīvaramaṅkalanakar
ēṟi vīṟṟiruntāy! uṉṉai eṅku eytak kūvuvaṉē?

English translation of verse 5.7.4:

The five (brothers) You befriended and had their hundred (cousins) routed,
It was a battle of wonderful strategy, by you directed;
My Lord, the Earth You once salvaged and now have You resorted
To Cirīvaramaṅkalam, inhabited by men of wisdom sound,
Where Vedic rituals go on, all the year round;
You, where and how indeed can I attain?

Notes

(i) In accordance with the Lord’s avowed creed, He looks upon all impartially, no one is His foe or His favourite on grounds of caste, culture, beauty and temperament.

And yet, the Lord completely identifies Himself with His lovers, who stand rivetted to Him in thought, word, and deed and He looks upon their enemies as His. That is how, the Kauravas (hundred brothers) who were hostile to the Pāṇḍavas (their five cousins), became His enemies.

(ii) It was a wonderful battle indeed where devious methods were justifiably adopted to quell the wicked opponents. The Lord is known for upholding truth and justice and yet, if He adopted devious methods for outwitting the wicked opponents, it was perfectly justified.

(iii) Even as the Lord condescendingly came down and took His abode in Vāṉamāmalai like the pious ones of sound knowledge, who had already settled there and mingled with them delightfully, the Āḻvār wants the Lord to take the initiative in his case also, that is, He should either come down to him or take him up to His feet, adding to the list of many favours already heaped on him.