THIRUMANTHIRAM - Payiram Proem Verses 1-20 of 112 by Saint Thirumular

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Thirumanthiram

ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE TAMIL SPIRITUAL CLASSIC BY SAINT THIRUMULAR

 

INVOCATION TO VINAYAKA

 

He who has the five hands and the elephant's face,

Whose tusk is even as the crescent moon,

The son of Nandi, the Flower of Wisdom,

Him I cherish in thought, His feet adore.

 

PAYIRAM: PROEM

(Verses 1 to 112)

1 IN PRAISE OF GOD

1: One Is Many

 

The One is He, the Two His sweet Grace,

In Three He stood, in all the Four witnessed,

The Five He conquered, the Six He filled,

The Seven Worlds pervades, manifests the Eight

And so remains.

 

2: Defies Death

 

The Holy One who all life sustains,

Lord of Her, beloved of all the world,

He who spurned Yama, the Southern Qrarter's King

Of Him I sing, His glory and praise.

 

3: Immortals Adore

 

He who stands the same to all,

The Pure One, whom immortal Gods adore,

Whom, even they, that daily stand beside, know not,

Him I seek, praise, and meditate.

 

4: Dispells Gloom

 

The Truth of Spaces Vast, Seek of the Universe orb,

Our Haven of Refuge, He bade me seek and find,

Him I praised by night and day,

And praising thus, gloom{-}dispelled,

I held firm in this world of strifes.

 

5: Siva Is Nonpareil

 

Search where ye will, there's no God like Siva,

None here below to equal Him in glory;

Lotus like, He, of gleaming matted locks,

Golden in splendour, beyond the worlds, apart.

 

6: Omni-Competent

 

Without Him, there be Celestials none,

Without Him, penance is not,

Without Him, naught the Three accomplish,

Without Him, I know not the City's Gate.

 

7: Divine Father

 

Primal First is He, older than the Co-eval Three

But the Lord is He peerless, unequalled;

Call Him "Father," and Father He to thee,

Inside you He flames in the Lotus of golden hue.

 

8: Kinder Than Mother

 

Hotter is He than fire, cooler than water;

And yet none knows of His Grace abounding;

Purer than the child, kinder by far than the mother,

Nearest to Love is He, of the flowing matted locks.

 

9: All Worship Him

 

Gold-bewrought, His matted locks fall back and gleam;

Nandi, His name,

My Lord is He, ever by me worshipt;

But none there be whom He worships.

 

10: Omnium Gatherum

 

Holding the worlds apart, as the Heavens high He spreads;

Himself the scorching Fire, Sun and Moon,

Himself the Mother that sends down the rains

Himself the mountains strong and oceans cold.

 

11: Effort And Fruit

 

Near and far I look; but around the Being First,

No other God, I see, mightier than He;

Himself the effort, and Himself, too, effort's end;

Himself the rains, Himself the clouds rain-laden,

The Nandi named.

 

12: Beyond Comprehension

 

The One of the fore-head eye, in Love Supreme, unmoved,

Dead were the countless Devas,

Born were the myriads on earth;

Upward they climbed to lives beyond count,

Yet none did know the Lord was He.

 

13: Immeasurable

 

Mal who spanned the earth and Brahma the Lotus seated one,

And others of the Gods fathomed Him not;

There be none to measure Him that measured the Heav'ns

And thus He stood, all visions transcending.

 

14: Transcends All

 

Transcended He Brahma on the lotus-seat,

Transcended Mayan, the ocean-hued,

Transcended He, Isan, who transcends all,

Transcended He space infinite, witnessing all.

 

15: Blossoms As All

 

Into Brahma did He expand, into Hara did He,

And into the soul of the body He pervades

As the Effulgence Divine, the Dharmic law limitless,

The Eternal and the Everlasting.

 

16: Confers Wisdom On Gods

 

He, of the matted locks, the odorous Konrai clustering,

He, of the Divine Consort with forehead divinely gleaming,

He, whom the Immortals and Devas sought,

Wisdom to learn, Ignorance to dispel.

 

17: Love Profound

 

Howe'er well the two garlics and musk boil and mix,

Yet will musk's fragrance stand o'ertopping all,

So may all space mix and hold the God as One,

Yet, upwelling, pours forth Isan's love profound.

 

18: Munificent

 

The Supreme Lord saw Alagai King's penance devout,

Much pleased, He made the King Lord of all Riches;

Even so, approach the Lord, noble deeds performing;

For thus says the Lord, "Hold this lordship!"

 

19: Created Universe

 

He, the Wisdom Primeval, He made the City Ancient

Of the seven meadows, fragrant-spiced;

He fixed the Moon, and to penance inclining,

He abides there, making that His seat.

 

20: In Mount Kailas

 

Seek the Abode of the Holy,

Who, of yore, created Birth and Death

A high hill it is, where thunders roar and lightnings flash,

Where fragrant flowers bud and bloom,

His mighty likeness it bears.