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		"I am a servitor to Amar-Niti whose garland
		Is wrought of soft-petal led jasmine"

						- The Tiru-th-Tonda-th-Tokai

1. 	It is in the Cauvery delta of the Cholas of great renown;
	It is dight with flowery gardens which reach the clouds,
	And are buzzed over by joyous bees; through its streets
	Pass chariots; it is a famous and great city on earth;
	It is Pazhayarai.						(502)

2. 	He hailed from the merchant-clan of that city;
	With gold, pearls and goodly gems, and varieties
	Of silk-products pouring in from all the realms,
	He was richly endowed and throve a merchant great;
	Amar-Niti was he called.					(503)

3. 	He would think on nought but the feet of Siva,
	He would feast the devotees of Siva whose hue
	Is that of the incarnadine sky crepuscular;
	Divining the wish of devotees he would
	Give them gratis Kantai, keel and kovanam.
	Thus did he the fruit of his foison, gain.			(504)

4. 	In Tirunalloor of the First One, the triple-eyed Digambara,
	He attended the divinely glorious festival of the Lord,
	And founded a beauteous matam for feeding devotees;
	Then (after a time) he, the pure one, arrived at
	Tirunalloor with his kith and kin.				(505)

5. 	Adoring in linked love the Lord and eyeing in devotion
	The divine and beauteous festival of the Blue-throated
	And hailing His grace which enabled him to feast
	In the beauteous matam His devotees in increasing joy
	With a melting heart, he spent his days thither.		(506)



6. 	One day the blue-throated Lord of Tirunalloor vast,
	Who is the great One that bears on His matted hair
	The crescent -- verily a tender shoot --, desiring to
	Demonstrate the glory of His Kovanam, and thereby	
	Bless His devotee with enduring grace, assumed
	The form of a Brahmin-Brahmachari.				(507)

7. 	Hi beauteous tuft concealed His red matted hair;
	Triple stripes of the Holy Ash -- the insignia of Saivism,
	Blazed from His forehead; the holy thread to which	
	Was tied a piece of deer-skin, his body bore;
	He wore on a finger a pavitra of emeraldine darbha.		(508)

8. 	On His waist was a string of munji from which
	Was suspended His Kovanam wrought of the Vedas
	Which for ever seek Him, their palladium.
	He walked on earth with His flowery feet
	Which are ever enshrined in the bosoms
	Of His devotees who have quelled the murk or deception.		(509)

9.	Beholders melted in love that welled up in them;
	His advent was to reveal the pure way which is
	Poised in the devotee’s love; on His staff were fastened
	A pair of kovanams, a pouch of the Holy Ash and darbha.
	Thus He came to the matam of Amar-Nitiyar.			(510)

10. 	When he beheld Him, his face bloomed brighter
	Than even his mind; he rushed to Him and bowed.
	“I had not been blessed with your visit so far;
	How great should have been my tapas of yore
	To receive you in this matam.” Thus spake Amar-Nitiyar.		(511)

11. 	Addressing the bowing devotee, He who had concealed
	His eye in the forehead, said: “I have heard of
	Your feeding the devotees who thrive in increasing love,
	And also of your gifts to them such as kantais,
	Keells, garments and kovanams white.
	Therefore did I come to call on you.”				(512)	

12. 	When he heard the Lord speak thus, he beseeched Him thus:
	“In this beauteous matam, for feeding Brahmins
	Well-versed in the Vedas four, holy Brahmins pure
	Do the cooking; may you be pleased to dine here.”		(513)

13. 	The Brahmin-lad consenting to what the devotee
	Entreated of Him bowing, said: “I’ll bathe
	In the divine river Cauvery and return;
	In case it rains, kept this (dried) kavanam with you
	And return it to me.” This sad, He untied	
	From His staff a white and bright kovanam.			(514)

14. 	“I need not expatiate to you on the lofty excellence
	Of this kovanam; receive it and keep it safe
	With you till I return here; be not negligent;
	Preserve it yonder and give it back to me.”
	Thus He spake and handed it over to him.			(515)

15. 	The flawless devotee received the kovanam
	And said: “Be pleased to return soon after the bath.”
	The Brahmin who had concealed His matted hair
	And the flood of Ganga too, left the place to bathe
	In the billowy water pure of the Cauvery, nearby.		(516)

16. 	The peerless servitor who received the kovanam
	Bearing in mind the Brahmin’s instructions,
	Did not keep it with his gift-articles
	-- Kantais, keels, garments and kovanam --,
	He thought of a safe place and thither kept it safe.		(517)

17.	The Brahmin who left the matam caused
	The disappearance of the entrusted kovanam.
	We know not if He bathed in a ford of the Cauvery
	Where nelumboes burgeon in abundance,
	Or bathed Himself with the water of the Ganga
	That is borne by His matted hair, pure and fragrant.
	He did return wet and dripping in the rain.			(518)

18. 	When He, the wearer of the lustrous crescent of a chaplet,
	Returned, the devotee rich in mellowed love
	Had already caused the preparation of a feast
	Sumptuous with sextuple taste; he came before Him
	And stood bowing.						(519)

19. 	The Lord desiring to bathe in the pure flood
	Of the devotees love, addressed him thus:
	“Our kovanam is wet from the bath in the cool flood;
	The one on the staff is also wet; I must have
	A change of dress; give to me the kovanam
	I gave thee.” Thus spake the Kovanam-Filcher.			(520)

20.	On account of his ignorance of the deception
	Played by the Great One, the devotee hastened inside;
	When he looked for it in the guarded place
	The flawless one could not find it there.
	“What did the kovanam do?” he thought;
	Utterly bewildered, he searched for it.				(521)

21. 	“The dazzling kovanam white has grown wings
	And has, sure, escaped from me.” He thought thus.
	He searched for it amidst all his merchandise
	But in vain; what could he do? He stood dazed.
	Lo, he was caught in the great gin of the gracious One.		(522)

22. 	With his wife and circling kin, he grieved,
	That it had happened even thus; he could think of
	Nothing else; he grieved sore; he could not stand
	There either; for His use he took with him
	Another kovanam and came out.					(523)

23. 	He came before Him, the Father, and said: “O great one!
	I canst not find the kovanam you gave me
	In the place where I kept it safe; none there is
	Who could have concealed it in a different place.
	I do not know how it disappeared; a marvel
	Like unto this I have never witnessed.				(524)

24. 	I have in love secured for you use
	A different but an exceedingly good kovanam;
	It is not a kovanam torn from a bigger cloth;
	It was woven as such.  O great one in whose
	Forehead dazzle stripes of the Holy Ash,
	Be pleased to wear it removing your wet one.
	Be pleased to forgive me.” Thus he spake, and bowed.		(525)

25. 	The Brahmin grew wroth and said:
	“Nobly-spoken, oh Amar-Niti! Not much time
	Had passed; the kovanam that I gave you this day
	You have appropriated; is it becoming of you
	To tell me to accept a substitute?”				(526)

26. 	Was it to filch my kovanam without any qualms
	Of conscience that you made the world believe
	In your gifts of kovanam all these days?
	Beauteous is your way of business and swift too!”	
	Thus raged the Infinite One from whose eyes
	Sparks of fire sputtered.					(527)

27. 	When the Brahmin who had concealed the fawn
	On His hand and held a staff in its place
	Raged thus. With his senses undone and face wilting
	He said: “Be pleased to forgive the great sin of this
	Little one; I have no knowledge of the happening.”
	Then he fell at His feet and grieved sore.			(528)
	
28.	“Bid me do that which you deem fit;
	Demand not the kovanam, but be pleased
	To accept in millions delectable silken garments
	And gems -- all of the first order.” Thus he,
	He was gripped by fear which shook him to the roots
	And which his body could not contain.
	He fell on earth and prostrated before Him
	Times without number.						(529)

29.	Addressing the devotee who thus paid obeisance,
	He who is the Supreme Ens, as if mollified, said:
	“Of what avail are your gems, gold, goodly garments
	And the like to me? It’ll suffice if you give
	A kovanam equivalent to Mine.”					(530)

30. 	Hearing this, the mind of him who is a lion
	Among merchants, burgeoned in joy; he said:
	“In lieu of your bright and white kovanam
	When I offered to you silken garments, you would not
	Them accept; so how am I to requite you
	With a kovanam matching the greatness of yours?”		(531)

31. 	Then the Lord spake thus: “Apart from the kovanam
	We now wear, the one we gave you and which
	You allege as lost can be matched by this only.”
	He untied the kovanam from his staff and said:
	“Give me a kovanam equivalent to its weight.”			(532)

32. 	“Very well,” said the devotee and brought forth a scale;
	On one of its pans, the Lord who bent the mountain
	Into a bow, placed His Kovanam; the devotee
	That stood there put his woven kovanam into the other;
	Lo, it didn’t equal the weight of His.				(533)

33. 	Kovanams, long and innumerable, which he had kept stored
	To be gifted with love for Nayanmar, he put,
	One by one, into the pan hoping to match the weight of His;
	But his pan rose up; the servitor of the Dancing Feet
	Stood wonder-struck.						(534)

34. 	“This is a gramarye not to be witnessed in this world!
	Innumerable kovanams do not equal this one in weight.”
	Thus wondering, he put into his pan soft garments, ciclatons
	And silken clothings; even then the pan stood aloft;
	Then he added thereunto bales of soft varieties.		(535)

35. 	Than the pan into which the devotee of boundless love
	Poured his love, the pan of the First One,
	In unison with the adage which says:
	‘Grace remains low in the presence of devotional love’,
	Stood lower; even when clothings of silk and cotton
	Were added endlessly the devotee’s pan stood
	Higher than the pan of the sole Kovanam.			(536)

36. 	Beholding this, fear-stricken, the devotee spake
	To the Brahmin thus: “Even when filled with
	Boundless clothing, pure and good, and also varieties
	Of innumerable threads, the pan stands thus;
	Suffer me to freight it with my other wealth.”
	Thus did he, Him beseech.					(537)

37. 	To this the Brahmin, the Lord that shares in His frame
	His Consort, consenting said: “What else have We to say?
	Put all your multifoliate wealth; the pans must
	Somehow stand even; it is that only We demand.”			(538)

38. 	He came with silver and gold, good and aplenty
	And also heaps of ninefold gems; with metals of many kinds
	And alloys to he came, and these he unloaded into his pan
	Which still stood high; beholders marveled at it.		(539)

39. 	Its threads are the import of the Vedas four
	Brimming with the puissance of askesis;
	It is dear to Siva, the kovanam. So the encomium
	-- That all the wealth of Amar-Nitiyar in this world
	And all the wealth of all the worlds cannot
	Match it --, mirrors not its true glory.			(540)

40. 	Having witnessed the happening, the peerless one 
	Standing before Him spake thus: I have loaded
	The pan with all my blemishes wealth; nothing now remains;
	O Lord, may I be graced with leave to ascend
	The pan with my wife and little child, if considered fit.	(541)

41. 	When thus, in fear, the devotee of flawless servitude
	Spake before Him, the Lord of gracious eyes sized up
	The situation even thus; the scale was but an excuse
	To free them from their bondage; He gave them
	Leave to ascend the pan and gain ascension.			(542)

42. 	He rejoiced in his mind; he adored His flower-feet
	With his crown; he held his child and his wife
	Whose locks were plaited with fragrant flowers;
	He circumambulated the scale unique
	To ascend the pan; thus resolved he spake:			(543)

43. 	“May the pans of the scale stand even, if it be true
	That we haven’t swerved from the truthful servitude
	-- Ever-poised in love and devotion --,
	To the Holy Ash of the Lord!”
	He adored the Lord of Tirunalloor, dight with
	Rain-filled tanks and gardens galore.
	He chaunted the Panchakshara and the pan ascended.		(544)

44. 	In spiraling love, when they ascended the pan,
	As the kovanam worn on the waist of the God of gods
	And the servitude of them -- the Lord’s devotees
	Whose love for Him knows no diminution, were equal,
	The pans weighed equal, and level stood the beam.		(545)

45. 	Men on earth hailed the devotee of clarified intellect;
	Struck with wonderment which swept everywhere
	They adored him; the celestials rained in joy
	Karpaka flowers which mantled the bright sky.			(546)

46. 	As the celestials rained flowers, the Brahmin
	That blazed with the triple stripes of the Holy Ash
	Vanished somehow into the heavens.
	Resuming His usual form which has beginning none,
	The Deity of Tirunalloor – first among cities --,
	Manifested Himself as Ammai-Appar.				(547)

47. 	Unto the devotee who stood in the pan
	Hymning and hailing Him, his son and wife,
	He granted grace, abiding and ever-sweet;
	He blessed them with ethereal beatitude eternal,
	To adore Him for ever; this done
	The great One His presence withdrew.				(548)

48. 	By the grace of Grace, the great scale itself
	Turned into a car and flew up.
	The flawless devotee and his family
	Were translated to Siva-Loka to be with the Primal God
	Who blessed them with bliss unending.				(549)

In praise of St. Sundarar
49. 	The munificent Lord who is unknown to
	Brahma throned on lotus, and Vishnu,
	Claimed him for the redemption of the world
	At Vennainallor hailed by many, by means
	Of an ancient document; I invoke His feet
	And wear them on my crown;
	My servitude to his feet is my suzerainty.			(550)

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Stanza 	Line

   3		Kantai	: 	Four or five pieces of cloth sewn together to 
				serve as sheet or blanket.

		Keell	: 	The girdle of an ascetic or a mendicant, being 
				generally a long Slip of cloth.

		Kovanam	:	The loin-cloth.

   4	 1	The Lord is the First Cause, uncaused by any other cause.
		He is also a Digambara.  His three eyes are symbolic of 
		His form of light.  His digambara-form is that of naked 
		majesty and is symbolic of the truth 	that HE ALONE IS.  
		“Digambara: The naked ascetic”.
					- Little Oxford Dictionary.

   6		Brahmmachari	:	An unmarried student of the Vedas.

   7		Pavitra		: 	A ring.

		Emeraldine	: 	Adjective of emerald; green.

   8		Munji		: 	One of seven types of darbha grass.

		Murk of deception:	Anava mala.

  35	 2	Poured his love	:	Poured his goods in love.

Sincere thanks to Sri. T N Ramachandran of thanjavur, for permitting his English rendering of the holy text periyapurANam be published here.