Tiruvaymoli (Thiruvaimozhi): English translation
by S. Satyamurthi Ayyangar | 388,514 words
This is the English translation of the Tiruvaymoli (or, Thiruvaimozhi): An ancient Tamil text consisting of 1102 verses which were sung by the poet-saint Nammalvar as an expression of his devotion to Vishnu. Hence, it is an important devotional book in Vaishnavism. Nammalvar is one of the twelve traditional saints of Tamil Nadu (Southern India), kn...
Pasuram 8.7.2
Tamil text and transliteration:
இருந்தான் கண்டுகொண்டு எனதுஏழை நெஞ்சுஆளும்
திருந்தாத ஓர்ஐவரைத் தேய்ந்துஅறமன்னி
பெரும்தாள் களிற்றுக்கு அருள்செய்த பெருமான்
தரும்தான் அருள்தான் இனியான் அறியேனே. (2)
iruntāṉ kaṇṭukoṇṭu eṉatuēḻai neñcuāḷum
tiruntāta ōraivarait tēyntuaṟamaṉṉi
perumtāḷ kaḷiṟṟukku aruḷceyta perumāṉ
tarumtāṉ aruḷtāṉ iṉiyāṉ aṟiyēṉē. (2)
English translation of verse 8.7.2:
The Lord’s grace unto the elephant, with feet large,
Does in my eyes no longer loom large,
For standing within me, firmly lodged,
He has worn down to naught the cruel senses five,
Which had kept my fickle mind in their grip tight
And He now keeps gazing at me, all the time.
Notes:
What the Lord did unto the Āḻvār was to destroy his formidable opponents, the five senses and wean him away from their mischief by exhibiting His charming beauty.
In the case of Gajendra, the elephant, it was, no doubt, a long and grim struggle but it was just an encounter with a single crocodile, as against the five crocodiles, the five formidable senses, the Āḻvār was pitted against. And then, the venue was a mere pond in the case of Gajendra, whereas it was the vast ocean of Saṃsāra in which the Āḻvār was caught up. Again, Gajendra’s struggle with the crocodile lasted a bare thousand years, while the Āḻvār’s grim battle with life went right through a staggering past. Further, the Lord has got right inside the Āḻvār and keeps on looking at him with the same avidity with which a pauper from generations, keeps gazing at his new-found treasure. It has been said in Rāmāyaṇa that, after Śrī Rāma befriended Sugrīva, the monkey king, the two of them used to sit gazing at each other with insatiable joy, days on end. There at least, it was a sort of mutual pact, what could be termed as complimentary roles. In the case of the Lord’s help to the Āḻvār, however, it was all one-sided with no obligation on the Āḻvār. All these go to enhance the Lord’s grace unto the Āḻvār mani-fold and make the Lord’s succour of Gajendra, the elephant, pale into insignificance.