Pasuram 7.8.3

Tamil text and transliteration:

சித்திரத் தேர் வலவா! திருச் சக்கரத்தாய்! அருளாய்,
எத்தனை ஓர் உகமும் அவை ஆய் அவற்றுள் இயலும்,
ஒத்த ஓண் பல் பொருள்கள் உலப்பு இல்லன ஆய் வியவு ஆய்,
வித்தகத்தாய் நிற்றி நீ இவை என்ன விடமங்களே!

cittirat tēr valavā! tiruc cakkarattāy! aruḷāy,
ettaṉai ōr ukamum avai āy avaṟṟuḷ iyalum,
otta ōṇ pal poruḷkaḷ ulappu illaṉa āy viyavu āy,
vittakattāy niṟṟi nī ivai eṉṉa viṭamaṅkaḷē!

English translation of verse 7.8.3:

Do unto me reveal, oh, marvellous Charioteer,
Wielding the discus lovely, the great wonder You are,
Holding the cycle of Yugas and their occurrences internal,
The lovely things, vast and varied, all under Your control.

Notes:

The thing mentioned last in the preceding song was ‘dissolution’. Speaking about dissolution, the Āḻvār would seem to have been reminded about the riddance by Lord Kṛṣṇa, of the entire mass of unwholesome burden on Mother Earth, through the annihilation of the armies in the great battle at Kurukṣetra. It is well known to every Student of Mahā-Bhārata that Lord Kṛṣṇā was the pivotal Figure around whom the whole thing revolved. The great Bhīṣma was heard to say that he would have routed the Pāṇḍavas and their soldiers, with just one arrow, but for Lord Kṛṣṇa functioning as Arjuna’s Charioteer, plying it in an amazing manner. When Arjuna’s horses were paralysed with thirst, the divine Charioteer could perform the miracle of getting water from the depth of the barren soil, by sending a shaft deep inside. Seeing this miracle, the monarchs, ranged opposite, sank down to the bottom-most depth of despair. And then, the Lord’s discus could shut out the evening Sun and induct artificial sun-set, which lulled Jayadratha, the brother-in-law of Duryodhana into a sense of false security and made him fall an easy prey to Arjuna’s revengeful arrow. Arjuna had sworn that he would avenge the death of his son, Abhimanyu, by killing his slayer, Jayadratha before sun-set that day. Mistaking the artificial sun-set induced by Kṛṣṇa by holding His discus aloft and shutting the Sun out for the real one, Jayadratha came out of his hiding place, feeling quite safe, when the Lord suddenly withdrew the discus and the sun shone again, making it easy for Arjuna to kill the enemy instantly. As regards this episode, there could arise a legitimate doubt, how the discus which is itself million times more radiant than the Sun. could, by merely shutting out the Sun, introduce darkness—‘Śudharśanaṃ Bhāskara Koṭi tulyaṃ’. Well, this is yet another miracle of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

The cycle of Yugas has been going on and each yuga is characterised by a special feature, which is its key or dominant note. And then, the created world of staggering diversity and strange incompatibility is held together by the wondrous Lord betokening His Omnipotence. The Āḻvār cannot but marvel at this.