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		“I am a servitor of the servitors of Kalayan of Kadavur”

						- The Tiru-th-Tonda-th-Tokai.

1. 	In the Chola land that thrives with foison enriched 
	By the waters of the Cauvery, there’s fortressed town
	Where could abide Brahmins, great in Vedic glory;
	It is prosperous Kadavur where is enshrined the Lord
	Whose matted hair sports the billowy Ganga
	And who, of yore, smote Yama with His roseate foot,
	That came to take away the life of a devotee.			(831)

2. 	In fecund Thiru-k-Kadavur the fields are rich in paddy;
	Their ridges are full of chanks and their pearls;
	On all sides flourish halls of sacrifice;
	Its waters are rich in clusters of red lilies;
	On the tops of areca groves, clouds rest;
	People tend them with loving care; there the Brahmins
	Perform nought but their sextuple duty.				(832)

3. 	Songs in maruda tune are sung in the places
	Where dance the farmwives whose eyes, broad as
	The palm of hand, are touched with collyrium;
	In all places where Brahmins -- the wearers
	Of threefold sacred thread --, perform rituals
	Hymns of the Sama Veda are chanted.				(833)

4. 	As milk that drips from the udders of huge, long-horned buffaloes
	That lie immersed in the tanks, is splashed
	By the ruddy carps that leap and dart thither,
	Lotuses smell of milk sweet; the clouds
	That move on, come near the towered halls
	Of sacrifice; the showers that fall from them
	Are tinct with the odour of sacrificial smoke.			(834)

5. 	In that wealthy town where abides Lakshmi,
	A Brahmin versed in the Gospels -- the wearer
	Of the threefold sacred thread --, by name Kalayar lived.
	He would daily hail the ankleted feet of the Lord
	Who sports on His matted hair the great river; 
	His heart ever melted in devotion, and he was virtuous.		(835)



6. 	When the Brahmin lad held fast to Him, He who is not
	To be beheld by Vishnu and Brahma,
	To annihilate the dread of the lad and grace him,
	Took a form, and kicked Death to death;
	To this Lord, Kalayar rendered the service
	Of holy fumigation of kungkuliyam in abundant measure;
	He was firm stablished in this service.				(836)

7. 	To the Lord in whose matted hair the Ganga courses gurgling
	-- The Lord who sports an eye in His forehead --,
	He rendered unfailingly the service of fumigation
	And from his censer rose spiraling clouds of holy smoke.
	Even when the Lord in His grace made him indigent
	He failed not in this service to his Lord.			(837)

8. 	As he was thus poised in his service, acute became
	His chill penury; he sold all his lands and also
	All his serfs and slaves who willingly served him;
	His manifold wealth was total lost; his kith and kin
	And his children too were sunk in domestic misery.		(838)

9. 	There was nothing left in his house; two days
	Passed without their having any food;
	Grieving for the plight of the sorrowing children
	And the great kin, his beloved wife removed
	Her flawless tali from the auspicious cord and gave it
	To her husband saying: “Get paddy for this.”			(839)

10. 	He received it and moved out to buy paddy;
	On his way a vendor of Kungkuliyam came in front of him;
	He asked him: “What do you carry in the bundle?”
	The vendor truly told him what it contained;
	Then the wearer of the threefold sacred thread
	Spake thus with a beaming face:					(840)

11. 	“If this be fragrant Kungkuliyam fit to be used
	In the pooja of the Lord whose ruddy hair sports the river,
	Can I bargain for a better boon? Having come by
	The well-nigh impossible boon, what else is there
	For me to secure?” Thus he mused in love.			(841)

12. 	“Give it to me; I’ll give you gold.” When he spake thus,
	The hawker asked him: “What would you consent to give?”
	Kalayanar gave him the tali; he received it
	And passed on the bundle to him; he tarried not 
	But walked away swift with a heart full of delight.		(842)

13. 	To Veerattanam where abides the Rider of the Bull,
	He fared forth in speed, and deposited the package
	In the promptuary of the temple; in soaring love 
	Which was oblivious of all other things, he stood
	Hailing the flower-feet of the One of matted hair.		(843)

14. 	While the devotee was at the temple, by the grace
	Of the Lord, the Ruler of Alakapuri brought down
	His wealth to the earth and filled his house
	With heaps of gold, paddy and other grains also;
	Interminable was the foison and ever-abiding.			(844)

15. 	His wife and children grieved in excessive hunger
	And slumbered fast that night; unto the sleeping wife,
	Verily a liana-like tapaswini, the Lord
	Through her dream conveyed the happening;
	She woke up and beheld the wealth, and her mind
	Gratefully dwelt on the gift of the Lord.			(845)

16. 	As she who was in form a tender twig
	Witnessed the endless heaps of beauteous gold,
	Paddy, rice and the like, she lifted her hands
	Above her head and folded them thinking of the Lord’s grace.
	Then she went into the kitchen to cook food
	For her husband great.						(846)

17. 	The Lord who with His roseate foot kicked to death Yama,
	Instructed Kalayanar, absorbed in devotion deep,
	Thus: “You are very hungry; repair
	To your great mansion and thither partake of
	Toothsome rice mixed with milk, and be rid of your misery.”	(847)

18. 	As Kalayanar heard this, his hands folded folded in adoration;
	He durst not disobey the gracious fiat of the Lord
	Who sports on His matted hair the Ganga;
	He wore it, as it were, on his head, and came out
	Of the temple, passed through the street dight with
	Hill-like mansions, and reached his house.			(848)

19. 	He entered his house and beheld the huge heaps
	Of wealth; addressing his wife, he spoke thus:
	“Dear one whose brow is a bow, how came these to be?”
	She said: “By the grace of the Lord whose throat is
	Dark as night, these are here.”					(849)

20. 	When the lady of the house whose gait was a flash of lightning,
	Spake thus, glorious Kalayanar looking at the splendour
	Of the great riches – the wealth immense and ever-during --,
	Said: “Even me He rules, my Father, my Lord, my God!
	Behold the grace of Grace!” This said, he lifted his hands
	Above his head and folded them in adoration.			(850)

21. 	She who is even greater than Sri enthroned on lotus
	Made ready the plantain leaves to serve food;
	Anon she invited her husband and the devotees of the Lord
	Who sports an eye in His forehead; she duly
	Hailed them all with dipa-worship, and fed them
	Sumptuously; Kalayanar well-versed in the Gospels
	Ate well, and was filled with joy.				(851)

22. 	By the grace of the Lord who goes from place to place
	With a begging-bow, he was stablished on earth
	In wealth immense; he feasted the devotees
	Of the Lord with sumptuous food and healthy dishes
	Of vegetables, curds, ghee and milk. Thus he throve.		(852)

23. 	The king of the realm impelled by love excessive
	Desired to set right the slanting image of the Lord
	-- The beauteous-eyed Rider of the angry-eyed,
	White-hued Bull --, he fastened to the image
	A team of tuskers to pull it into position;
	Yet the image stood slanting as ever.
	So was he sunk in sad despair at all times.			(853)

24. 	Kalayanar who is poised in the righteous path of piety,
	Heard of the king’s misery who was burning with a penchant
	To adore the Lord in his erect form; moved by his love
	He set out to adore the Lord-Enchanter
	Whose matted hair dazzles like clustered lightnings.		(854)

25. 	On his way he visited all the beauteous temples
	Where abides the Lord whose roseate hand holds the mazhu,
	And haild Him; thus he reached Tiruppanantal
	-- Cinctured with fecund and flowery gardens --, 
	Where abide the hoary Brahmin clan versed in the Vedas,
	Who swerve not from their path of piety
	And who tend the triple fire for the world to thrive.		(855)

26. 	He beheld the love-bred sorrow of the monarch;
	Maugre the great effort of the tuskers
	And the flawless army, their labour divine
	Bore no fruit; fatigued, the monarch
	Fell on earth and languished sore;
	Kalayar, the great tapaswi, was pained at heart.		(856)

27. 	Witnessing the fallen tuskers and the army
	That could not rise up, he thought thus:
	“I too must share their service and languishment.”
	He fastened to his neck the strong and flowery rope
	Tethered to the frame divine of the Lord
	Who wears on His crest melliferous konrai,
	And began to tug with effort great.				(857)

28. 	Can the image stand slanting, defying his wish
	Even after the firm-fibred servitor tugged it
	With the rope wrought of the threads of integral love?
	The very moment the Lord beheld the integer
	Of Kalayanar’s resolute love, He stood straight.
	The celestials clamoured in the heaven, for joy.		(858)

29. 	The earth was thick with the showered Karpaka flowers;
	The king’s army, heroes that plied the cars and the tuskers
	Were happy like thirsty gardens at the advent of rain;
	The king that wore the heroic anklet folded his hands
	And adored the servitor; he fell at his feet
	And his crown rested on his flower-feet.			(859)

30. 	“You made it possible for me to hail the erect form
	Of the Lord who riding His car of the Vedas and holding
	The hill of Meru bent into a bow fierce
	Gutted with fire the triple cities that winged in the sky.
	Who but devotees poised in piety and love, can ever
	Behold the flower-feet twain of the Lord, invisible
	Even to him who burrowed deep the earth?			(860)

31. 	Thus hailed the king the true servitor;
	He rendered many a fitting service to the Lord
	And then, he of the abiding white parasol
	To his city fared forth; the peerless devotee
	Hailed the ankleted flower-feet of the Lord
	That dance in the Ambalam, and thither sojourned.		(861)

32. 	A few day passed and he left for Tiruk-k-Kadavur
	And there was he poised in his abiding service hallowed;
	Thither came the peerless Lord of Seerkazhi non-pareil
	-- The Godly Son --, together with the wondrous Bard
	Of Thandaka hymns – Tirunavukkarasar
	Of universal renown.						(862)

33. 	In joy unique welling up in him, them he welcomed
	And into his mansion divine, received.
	He feasted them with food of sextuple taste
	And received not only their grace divine, but that of
	The Lord who wears fragrant and beauteous Konrai, also.		(863)

34. 	In Tiru-k-Kadavur where is enshrined the Lord, who
	Smote the wielder of the sugarcane-bow and Yama,
	In devotion fed by love -- ever-swelling and willing --,
	And with his soul that had gained at-one-ment,
	He rendered manifold service divine
	And reached the shade of Lord Siva’s feet.			(864)

35. 	He gave away the auspicious tali of her,
	-- The wearer of honey-laden wreath --,
	And secured kungkuliya that his service
	To the Lord who wears a curved crescent
	Might suffer no break; he is Kalayanar
	Of well-established character; I hail him;
	And with his grace, I begin to hail
	Manakkancharar of renowned munificence.				(865)

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Stanza 	Line

   1		Yama		:	God of death.

   1	 7	A devotee	: 	Markandeya.

   2	 2	Kazhuneer	: 	Red-lilies, Nymphaea rubra.

   2	 7	Sextuble duty	: 	Learning, instructing, performing sacrifice or 
					cause the performance of such sacrifice, receiving 
					and gifting.

   6		The Brahmin lad	: 	Markandeya.

   6		Fumigation	: 	Pukaikaattal, Narumpukai oottuthal, Thupavarkkam 
					kaattuthal

						- Winslow’s English-Tamil Dictionary.

		Kungkuliyam	:	Resinous gum used as 
					holy incense.

  13		Veerattanam	:	The place where the Lord enacted a heroic deed. They 
					are eight in number and Kadavur is one of them.

  14		The Ruler of 
		Alakapuri	: 	Kubera, the God of wealth. He is also hailed as the 
					Companion of the Lord.

  17		The instruction was by “asariri”, the unbodied voice.

  21	 1	Sri-Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth and Beauty.

	 5	Dipa-worship	: 	Part of Maheswara Pooja. Maheswaras are devotees 
					who had received initiation (diksha).  Feasting them 
					is the chief part of Maheswara-Pooja. Before feeding 
					them, the host adores them almost in the same way in 
					which Lord Siva is hailed. Unto them are done the 
					rites of twirling the platter which holds the lighted 
					lamp, holy fumigation etc., in utmost devotion.

					Sivakkavi says that the uninitiated are not to be 
					called Maheswaras. Such devotees also should be fed. 
					The feeding here is known as ‘Anna-dhana’. This will 
					earn for the performer ‘pasu-punya’. Maheswara-Pooja 
					rewards the doer with ‘pati-punya’.

 22    1 & 2	The Lord is a great mendicant. He holds in His hand a skull as a begging-bowl. 
		We are expected to fill His bowl with our love and devotion.

 24	 4	He set out	: 	Sivakkavi says that with a view to adore the Lord of 
					Tiruppanantal, Kalayanar came to the shrine of Kadavur 
					to take leave of the presiding deity of Kadavur.

 27	 4	The strong and
		flowery rope	: 	So as not to cause harm in the least, the strong rope 
					was dressed with flowers and soft silken cloth.

 34	 6	P. Jothimuthu rightly says: “The expression: ‘The shade of the feet’ means the 
		grace of God”.  Ainkurunuru, C.L.S. (1984) page 1. cf.”  Avan arulale Avan 
		thaall vanangki”.
					- The Tiruvachakam.

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