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		"I am a servitor of Munaiatuvaan
		The wielder of a sharp spear."
				
						- The Tiru-th-Tonda-th-Tokai.

1. 	In the Cauvery realm of the Cholas who conquering
	Enmity fostered the world, is opulent Needoor;
	There the honey pouring from the budding blooms
	In the fragrant gardens courses its way
	To the flooding river, and irrigates miry
	And fragrant fields tilled by the farmers.			(4089)

2. 	He was the head of the Velaala clan of resplendent
	Munificence; with intense love for the ankleted feet
	Of the blue-throated and triple-eyed Lord,
	He established himself with all his heart
	In the Lord’s servitorship; he vanquished
	The unfriendly ones in war and the wealth
	He derived thus, he, the servitor true, gave
	Freely and dutifully to the Lord’s devotees.			(4090)

3. 	When princes and chiefs vanquished by foes
	Sought his help and promised to pay him lavishy,
	He would weigh their offer impartially
	And accept it, if proper; then he would accept
	The payment, and so fight the battle
	That even Death, fear-stricken, would sulk away;
	Thus he would win the battle; with the gold
	Received by him as payment for his glorious victory
	He flourished well.						(4091)

4. 	All the wealth that he thus came by, he gave away
	Lavishly to the servitors of the Lord in unison
	With their articulated needs; he treated them
	To flawless feasts of nectarean food, dishes
	Of curry with fragrant ghee, sugar, milk, fruits
	And the like; thus he flourished, poised
	Unswervingly in the loving way of servitorship.			(4092)



5. 	He continued in this servitorship for many many days
	Making the way of the traditional servitorship to glow
	In splendour; by his righteous way of living, he who 
	Was known as Munaiyatuvaar, by reason of his vocation
	As a warrior-hero, came to abide at Siva loka of Uma’s
	Consort, for ever linked with the beatitude of bliss.		(4093)

6. 	Whoever they be, he could vanquish them in battle;
	Adoring the fragrant lotus-feet of such Munaiyatuvaar
	Who gave away in joy his wealth to the Lord’s devotees,
	We proceed to narrate the servitorship of Kazhal Singkar
	Who wielded a righteous sceptre and fostered the world
	In such a way that the Saivite way of the Lord of gods
	Shone in splendour.						(4094)

7.	In mercy, full and perfect, he stood robbed
	By the bowmen on the way to Tirumurukanpoondi
	Girt with melliferous gardens; we are sure,
	He will pluck out, root and all, our hoary karma;
	We are blessed with a divine aim that will establish us
	Firmly in servitorship; so we thrive, lacking nothing.		(4095)

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NOTES

Verse No.

   3.	This Naayanaar was a mercenary.  However he was poised in impartiality.  He would 
	help the prince whose cause was just.

   5.	Munaiyatuvaar: Munai means front / war - front and Atuvaar means fighter.

   6.	he could. . . battle: This is proof positive of the dictum which says: “Aram vellum; 
	paavam thorkum” (Dharma will triumph and sin will be vanquished.


			Here ends the Puranam of Munaiyatuvaar Naayanaar

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