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		"I am a servitor of Eri-Patthar,
		the wielder of mazhu, shaped like a leaf."

					- The Tiru-th-Tonda-th-Tokai

1. 	In orbis terrarum, if any trouble were to beset
	The devotees of the Lord who rides a young Bull,
	He would hasten quick to their relief;
	Endless is the fame of Eri-Patthar;
	Though it is beyond me to narrate his glory,
	I attempt it yet, impelled by sheer love.			(551)

2. 	From the time of (karikala) Chola who inscribed
	His triumphant signum of tiger on the crest
	Of Himavant, and who total blocked all the old passes,
	Opening a new one which alone since serves 
	As a guarded pass, to the days of glorious Anapayan,
	Thrives hoary Karur with beauteous streets bright
	As a city where the Chola Kings were coronated.			(552)

3. 	With its fortressed walls cloud-capped,
	Rows of mansions piercing the sky,
	Pure-rayed gems paved on thresholds,
	Gardens galore where fragrance wafts
	And streets bright with moon-bright damsels
	Sought by bees for their flowered coiffures
	Karur is rich and doth excel the city of Indra.			(553)

4. 	In the fords gambol ichorous tuskers; in gardens
	That lie beyond the city, dance in joy the peacocks;
	In theatres with gems inlaid, danseuses dance,
	And bees and beetles sport in their locks;
	In the streets of spreading light,
	Creepers play with the rays of lustre.
	Thus is Karur unique, endowed with foison
	Hailed on earth vast and great.					(554)

5. 	In that great city of abiding wealth
	The fortressed walls are wrought of gold
	At which the celestials do marvel;
	The Lord is enshrined firm in the minds
	Of devotees true, poised in loving and ever-crescent service;
	Even so, here too in “Anilai” the Lord’s temple,
	Siva abides for ever.						(555)



6. 	The Holy One who is even beyond the Vedas
	-- Full of rich meaning though --,
	Was by him at this temple adored that he might
	End the deluding cycle of birth and death.
	Great was his servitude, poised in God’s own grace,
	To the servitors of the Lord whose throat 
	Holds the dark venom; he was called Eri-Patthar.		(556)

7. 	For the thriving of the abiding Saivism in this world
	Which thrives on rainwater, when devotees
	Of the Lord whose hair blazes like fire,
	Were beset with troubles, he would dart like a lion
	From its den, and quell the hostile force;
	For this he wielded a battle-axe hailed by the Vedas.		(557)

8. 	While he thus flourished, a holy saint named
	Sivakami Andar served the Lord of Anilai
	With intense love; he would gather flowers,
	Weave them into garlands, and adore the Lord
	With a mind brimming with devotion.				(558)

9. 	One day, when day broke, he woke up as usual
	And bathed in cool water; he tied his mouth
	With a piece of cloth, went into the fragrant garden
	Rich with bunches of flowers and gathered
	With his experienced hand such good flowers
	As were about to bloom, for the adoration of the Lord.		(559)

10. 	With these he filled his flower-basket
	And with love his mind; he held a staff;
	Thus he hastened to the temple
	To weave garlands for the Lord and be of help
	During the morning service.					(560)

11. 	As he was thus proceeding on that great Navami-Day
	The royal elephant -- the puissant smasher of hostile hordes --,
	Of Pukazh-ch-Chola who ruled
	From the fecund city and who was
	The illustrious ancestor of King Anapayan
	(Was getting prepared for the festival).			(561)

12. 	Decorated for the festival, after its bath
	In the river, the tusker moved fast in delight great,
	Ichor streamed from its body; at the sight of the tusker
	People scattered away in fright; its controllers
	Ran racing with it; thus came the tusker
	Dreadful like a mountain huge.					(562)

13. 	The triumphant tusker with its mahouts
	On its back, barged into a (different) street,
	Eyed Sivakamiyar who was ahead it, 
	Chased him, plucked the flower-basket
	That dangled from his staff and scattered the flowers.		(563)

14. 	This witnessing the mahouts drove the speeding tusker,
	As though they conveyed a storm, and were gone.
	The devotee -- the wearer of the triple sacred threads --,
	Beheld this in agitated wrath; he chased
	The musty elephant, to beat it with his staff.			(564)

15. 	The mammoth ran beyond his reach;
	The true devotee great could not chase it;
	He was too old to continue the chase; he fell down;
	He struck the earth with his hand and rose up;
	Indescribable was his grief; in anger he cried: ‘Sivata.’	(565)

16. 	“O the wearer of the hide of the musty mammoth, Sivata!
	O, the puissance of humble ones, Sivata!
	O, the guiding light of merciful devotees, Sivata!
	O, the nectar of the clarified, Sivata, Sivata!			(566)

17. 	“Should an elephant spill away the blooms fit to
	Deck the matted hair where abide the crescent and the Ganga?
	O wielder of angry bow who burnt the cities
	Of Asuras that harboured hostility, Sivata, Sivata!		(567)

18. 	“He took refuge in Your feet;
	You resolved to rid him of his grief;
	So when dark Yama came chasing him
	You smote him with Your roseate foot, Sivata!			(568)

19. 	“ Stablished in the way unknown even to Vishnu,
	The devotees as servitors serve the Lord;
	What is my worth in this holy company
	Meriting Your advent for my rescue? O Endless Ens!”
	Thus he cried, and even thus he lamented.			(569)

20. 	Eri-Patthar who came thither, heard these words;
	He blazed aloft like spiraling flame;
	In overflowing wrath he thundered thus:
	“In not the elephant the traditional enemy
	Of the devotees of the Lord of the Ambalam?
	I’ll smite it to death.” Thus he spake
	And held aloft his battle-axe.					(570)

21. 	He approached the summoning devotee and bowed;
	He questioned him thus: “Where did it go,
	The tusker that involved you in distress deep?”
	Unto him he replied thus: “This is the street
	Through which it passed, the sinfull one --,
	After plucking from my hand the flowers
	-- Meet for my Father --, and scattering them on earth.”	(571)

22. 	“It cannot survive hereafter!” said he and held
	In his palm the fire-breathing battle-axe.
	He with the axe looked life fire attended by wind;
	He leaped on with terrible speed, resembling
	A fiery-eyed lion of cruel claws;
	In spiraling wrath he encountered the tusker.			(572)

23. 	When he eyed it he said: “This is sure like
	The one whose hide was peeled by the Lord, of yore;
	Even if men and gods too try to prevent me
	I’ll ignore it; I’ll sure cut it and kill it.”
	Then with a flourish of the dazzling axe
	Held in his right hand, he pressed the earth
	With his feet and sprang on.					(573)

24. 	As he thus leaped, unmindful of the mahouts on its back,
	The tusker whose eyes spat fire in sheer anger,
	Readied itself to charge him; he dodged it
	And leaped again and with the axe felled away
	Its peerless trunk, so long and touching the earth.
	Can ever dread intimate the supreme motherly love?		(574)

25. 	When he thus cut away the trunk, the tusker,
	In size a black hill, roared like the sea,
	Fell down on earth and rolled.
	Then he smote the three puissant controllers
	Who attended the elephant from either side
	And also the two riders; thus he of hill-like shoulders
	Killed all the five, and thither stood.				(575)

26. 	Barring the felled ones, others rushed to the guards
	Of the palace whose king wears a fragrant garland,
	And addressed them thus: “Dead is the royal tusker
	To apprise the king of this.”					(576)

27. 	When the ostiaries of the gemmy threshold heard them
	They hied to the monarch and bowed
	At his ankleted feet, and said: “O foeless king,
	Your royal elephant has been killed by some;
	Thus averred mahouts.”						(577)

28. 	When the king who rules the realm
	With none to oppose him, heard this,
	His shoulders decked with bright gems, shook;
	The bees that lay cradled in his garland
	Winged out buzzing; his wrath knew no bounds;
	He didn’t even tarry to ask: “Who did this?”
	Like a lion young he darted through the palace-gate.		(578)

29.	Privy-councillors who came to know of the king’s state
	Gathered quick the army by beat of drums;
	Anon martial banners filled the heavens;
	Chariots fitted with cunning contraptions,
	Horses and elephants mingled and marched.			(579)

30. 	The innumerable warriors girding their loins tight
	Twilrled and jumped and rose up everywhere
	With countless bows, spears, swords, rods, pindipalams,
	Pestles strong, discs, axes, tridents and the like.		(580)

31. 	Conches, tarais, ekkalams, huge drums
	High sounding, pampais of terrific sound,
	Kandai, tudi big, jallari and tattai
	Blared martially; with these sounds merged
	The loud strains of cinnams too;
	Thus resounded the martial orchestra
	Drowning the noise of rumbling clouds.				(581)

32.	The noise of organs, the sound of clashing weapons,
	The tintinnabulation of bells tied round
	The necks of steeds, the trumpeting of tuskers,
	The din of chariots and the uproar of warriors:
	These into one immense noise blended; it looked
	As though, the sea at the end of the Yuga roared
	With the mighty clouds of destruction.				(582)

33. 	The army fourfold, vast and great, moved
	On and on like the whirlwind that would blow
	At the time of the dissolution of the cosmos;
	Ahead of them on a glorious steed rode he,
	The king of the white parasol, cool and merciful,
	Through the royal highway.					(583)

34. 	In great speed he reached the place
	Where lay the tusker and mahouts, all dead.
	He didn’t eye there any one hostile,
	But only a devotee with a dazzling battle-axe
	With a pair of long arms, trunk-like,
	Standing thither like a destructive tusker.			(584)

35. 	The one standing before the tusker, very like a hill
	Whence cascades water with particles of gold,
	Is sure a servitor of the Lord of the Ambalam,
	Who is the God of the silver hill;
	He can’t be the killer; so he thought
	And thundered thus! “Who indeed is the conqueror?”		(585)

36. 	When the king spake thus, mahouts neared him
	And said: “O wearer of fragrant garlands
	And chain with brilliant gems inlaid!
	Which king in this sea-girt earth can dare
	Face your tusker of great puissance?
	The one that did the evil deed is none but him
	Who stands with the axe.” Thus they spake bowing.		(586)

37. 	“He is the devotee of the Lord, the wearer of an ear-ring;
	He is a paragon of virtues; he wouldn’t kill
	Unless wronged; something wrong has happened.”
	Thus he mused; he stopped the march
	Of ichorous elephants and the army;
	Down he descended, the Lord of the world,
	From his royal horse.						(587)

38. 	“I am indeed blessed with the fruit of tapas
	Inasmuch as nothing untoward had happened
	To this true tapaswi when he came before
	The musty mammoth, verily a dark hill.
	But then the servitor of the Lord of the Ambalam
	Had been incensed this much; alas, I'm undone;
	What mote the wrong be?" Thus he thought
	And felt overpowered by fear.					(588)

39. 	The king bade them that neared him move away;
	He walked toward the devotee bowing, and said:
	“I did not know of this; I hear there
	A different version; be that as it may.
	For the fault of the tusker, the tusker
	And its mahouts have been killed.
	Will this suffice? Be pleased to grace me.”
	Thus he spake and remained standing.				(589)

40. 	The servitor of the God of gods addressed the king thus:
	“Chenni, this huge tusker plucked the basket of flowers
	From Sivakami Andar who gathered them
	To deck the Lord whose jewels are serpents,
	And spilled them; so I smote it down.”				(590)

41. 	“When the tusker committed the evil
	Its controllers, and mahouts riding on its back,
	Would not prevent it; so with their dear lives
	They paid for their fault; this is all that
	Happened here.” When thus he spake, the king
	Whose shoulders are mighty as a mountain,
	Stricken with fear, fell at his feet and duly hailed him.	(591)

42. 	“This would not suffice for the blasphemy committed;
	The Lord and His devotees had been wronged;
	I too must be killed; neither should you
	Kill me with your auspicious battle-axe;
	This is fit for the deed.” Thus spake he 
	Who solicited expiation, and drew out
	His sword and handed it over to him.				(592)

43. 	When he eyed the king who drew out
	His bright sword dazzling like wild fire,
	He cried thus: “Woe’s me! I have now witnessed
	The boundlessness of the king’s love,
	The sovereign of infinite glory.”
	He would not receive the sword; but he knew
	That the king would kill himself, if he did not;
	So to avert that mishap, he received it in fear.		(593)

44. 	The king stood bowing before the devotee
	Who received the sword from him, and said:
	“He’ll kill me with the sword and rid me
	Of my sin; with this beatitude I am to be
	By him blessed!” He felt exceedingly happy.
	Yeri-Patthar stood fear-stricken.				(594)

45. 	The devotee thought thus: “I’ve caused the death
	Of his mighty mammoth and its mahouts;
	Yet would he give me his sword to kill him
	In expiation of his sin; oh, I’ve thought of causing evil
	To him -- a devotee great; it is but meet 
	That I put an end to my life;
	That indeed is the fitting solution.”				(595)

46. 	Thus thinking he set the sword on his neck
	And was about to saw it away; the king then
	Burst out thus! “Behold the deed of the great one!
	Alas I am lost!” He rushed to him quick
	And with his long arms held the devotee’s hand and sword.	(596)

47. 	Tight was the grip of the Chola king, and great
	Was the grief of the tapaswi great;
	To avert the catastrophe that sprang
	From boundless love, there arose from
	The bright skyey expanse, by the grace of
	The blue-throated Lord, an unbodied voice
	Which could be heard by many:					(597)

48. 	“O ye servitors of exceeding devotion
	(Fit to be adored by all),
	To demonstrate the greatness of loving service
	To God, unto men on earth,
	The grace of the Lord,
	The wearer of the crescent on His crest,
	Hath this day caused the spilling of goodly flowers
	By the incensed elephant.” (Behold the wonder).
	The elephant and the mahouts stood resurrected.			(598)

49. 	The devotee unhanded the sword with which
	He was to saw away his neck, and fell at the feet
	Of the Chola king – the Lord of Neri.
	The king too threw away the sword -- a fit weapon of war --,
	And hailed the feet of the devotee and fell on earth
	Prostrating before him; the celestials showered cool flowers.	(599)

50. 	The king and the devotee then rose up and hailed
	The celestial voice; the Lord who indeed
	Is the import of the rare Vedas
	Caused the basket to be filled with the self-same flowers
	By His grace at which Sivakamiyar marveled,
	And felt happily blessed.					(600)

51. 	The mahouts rose up as if from slumber;
	The royal tusker ichorous trumpeted uproariously
	Like rumbling clouds; this they drove rejoicing
	Before the triumphant king of fragrant garland.			(601)

52. 	The devotee paid obeisance to the king and said:
	“I beseech you to ride the great and mighty tusker
	That I may feel delighted.” The king who came
	Thither riding a steed rode the elephant
	Under the shade of his white parasol
	To honour the command of the servitor.				(602)

53. 	It looked as though the seven oceans merged
	And roared as a single main
	When the King’s armies raised a jubilant uproar;
	All the worlds rejoiced and blessed the monarch;
	The king wearing as it were the golden feet
	Of the Ambalam’s Dancer, entered his palace.			(603)

54. 	Sivakamiyar proceeded to the temple
	To perform his service; Yeri-Patthar, our Lord’s servitor,
	Thought thus: “Ha, it is impossible to comprehend
	The servitors of the Lord of the Ambalam!”
	Contemplating the glory of the Chola king
	He too set out to perform his service.				(604)

55. 	He continued his service of helping servitors
	At their hour of need and spent his days thus;
	He pursued his ideal of goodly askesis
	And came to be blessed with the stewardship
	Of the Lord’s hosts in hallowed Mt. Kailas.			(605)

56. 	Only the Lord who for ever blesses them
	Can gauge the manliness of the servitor of servitors
	And the glory of the Chola who offered to be
	Beheaded with his own sword; who else
	Can dare measure their glory and grace
	Extending and expanding for ever and ever.			(606)

57. 	I wear on my crown the divine feet
	Of Yeri-Patthar devoted in boundless love
	To the golden feet of Lord Siva who wears
	On his ruddy matted hair honied konrai,
	And proceed to chronicle the service
	Of Yenati Nathar, the adorer of the Holy Ash
	Of the Lord of the Ambalam, hailed by
	The rulers of the celestial regions.				(607)

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Stanza 	Line

  2	 5	Anapayan	: 	This patron of St. Sekkizhar is referred 
					to in the Periyapuranam, eleven times. 

	 7	Coronated	:	The Chola king was crowned in one of 
					the five cities (viz) Pukar, Tiruvaroor, 
					Uraiyoor, Seignaloor and Karur.

   7	 6	cf. “Parasu hastaya namaha!”

		(The Hand wield a battle-axe, praise be!) is one of the 108 
		mantras with which Lord Siva is hailed.

  15	 5	Sivata		:	A word (uttered in lamentation) invoking 
					the aid of Siva.

  22	 2	cf.  .... “his brandished steel,
		     Which smoked with bloody execution”
						- Macbeth, 1,2,17-18.

  30		Pindipalam	: 	A javelin-like instrument decked decked 
					with peacock feathers

		Neri		:	The mountain of the Cholas. 

		Yeri-Patthar is the same as Eri-Patthar.

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