Nācciyār Tirumoḷi | Āṇḍāḷ | 1-4

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Nācciyār Tirumoḷi | Āṇḍāḷ

Worshipping Kāma, the god of love

1.1

We clean the floor in the month of Thai
and decorate it with beautiful kolams.
In the month of Masi we use soft white powder
and make lovely decorations in our front yard.
O Kāmadeva, I worship you and your brother Saman.
I wonder, can I survive this love sickness?
Give me the boon of belonging to the lord of Tiruvēṅkaṭam
who holds a discus in his hand that throws out fire.

1.2

We decorate our front yard with soft white sand.
We bathe at dawn when the sun comes out.
We make fire with sticks that have no thorns.
I try to worship you, O Kāmadeva.
You carry flower arrows dripping with honey.
I write the name of the god
who has the colour of the ocean in my mind.
Give me your grace so I may enter the place of the lord
who split open the mouth of the Asura
when he came in the form of a bird.

1.3

I worship your feet all three times of the day
with fragrant umatham flowers and blossoms of murukkam.
O Manmathā, I don’t want to be angry with you
and scold you, saying that you are heartless.
Get ready with your flower arrows made of fresh flowers
and give me your grace
so I may enter into the brightness
of the clever lord of Vēṅkaṭam hills.

1.4

O Kāmadeva!
You are without a body.
I wrote your name on the wall, made your fish flag,
and gave it to you with horses, fans and a sugarcane-bow.
I worshipped you and asked you to give me your grace
so that my round breasts
would belong at once to the god of Dwara puri.

1.5

If people wish to give me away in marriage
so that my round breasts belong to someone human
instead of to the pure lord who carries a conch and discus,
it would be as if foxes that wander in the forest
came and ate the food that the sages make in a sacrifice
for the gods in the sky. O Manmathā,
I will not live if I have to marry someone other than my lord.

1.6

I am doing nombu
with beautiful young girls who know the śāstras well.
I do this nombu on the street where you will be going.
O Kāmadeva!
He has the dark form of the clouds and the Kaya flower
and shines like a karuvilai blossom.
Give me your grace
so that he, the god who has a lotus face,
will see me with his divine eyes and give me his grace.

1.7

I offer paddy, sugarcane,
and cooked rice with brown sugar and aval
and worship you reciting the mantras from the śāstras.
O Manmathā, I bow to you.
Give me your grace so that Trivikrama
who measured the world
will touch me with his divine hands.
Give me your grace so that the god will approach me
and touch my breasts.

1.8

I don’t bathe when it is time for my nombu.
I don’t comb my hair.
I eat once a day
and my mouth grows pale because I haven’t eaten enough.
You can see how I suffer in this nombu.
I want to say something to you.
Keśava Nambi fought with the Asura Keśi to protect a woman.
Give me your grace so that he will show me the same
compassion
and I have the fortune of sitting with him and pressing his feet.

1.9

I sprinkle flowers and worship you
and bow to your feet three times a day.
If I am unable to live for the one
who has the colour of the dark ocean
and to serve him faultlessly,
I will cry and suffer
and, O Kāmadeva, you will feel bad.
It will be as if you didn’t feed an ox that ploughs
and hit it with a stick instead.

1.10

Viṣṇu-Citta Kodai, the chief of Puduvai
where the mountain-like palaces shine
composed poems about the women
who worshipped Kāma
who carries a sugarcane bow and flower arrows
so that he would give his grace to them
and they could be with the god who broke the tusks
of the elephant and split open the bird’s beak.
Do not break our sand houses

2.1

O Nārāyaṇa, you are praised by a thousand names.
You came to the earth in the form of Rāma.
If Yaśodā had given birth to you,
it would be easy for us to love you
because you would be human just like we are.
We do the nombu in the month of Punguni
because that is the month when Kāma comes.
O Śrīdhara, don’t bother us,
don’t come and destroy our little sand houses.

2.2

We worked all day to build these sand houses
and our backs hurt.
Look at our sand houses.
They make us happy .
You are the ancient one
who slept on a banyan leaf as a baby.
It is a pity that you are not kind to us.
Do not come and destroy our little sand houses.

2.3

You sleep on the deep ocean.
You took the form of a lion to destroy Hiraṇya.
You saved Gajendra from the mouth of the crocodile.
We saw you and fell in love with you.
You saw us out of the corner of your eye,
and didn’t worry about what we might think.
We worked hard to make our houses with soft sand
and our hands decorated with bracelets hurt.
You sleep on the ocean where clear waves roll.
Do not come and destroy our little sand houses.

2.4

You have the colour of the clouds that give rain.
Your speech and deeds fascinate us.
What spell does your beautiful face cast to bewitch us?
We won’t complain to others
that you trouble us innocent, weak girls.
We don’t want them to blame you.
You have beautiful lotus eyes.
Don’t come and destroy our little sand houses.

2.5

We made our sand houses with soft white sand.
Everyone on the streets was amazed
when they saw our lovely sand houses
but you came and destroyed them.
Even so we are not angry at you.
Our hearts melt for your love.
You are a thief, Mādhava, Keśava!
Don't you have eyes on your face?
Don’t come and destroy our little sand houses.

2.6

We are children who have not grown up yet.
Our breasts have not grown out.
You come here to knock over our little sand houses
but really you want to do something else.
We don’t understand what you want.
You built a bridge on the ocean, went to Lanka,
and fought and destroyed the Rākṣasa clan.
You are the servant of all of your devotees.
Don’t give us trouble,
don’t come and destroy our little sand houses.

2.7

If you talk to people who understand what you say,
that will be all right,
but if you talk to us who are young and don’t know anything,
it just hurts us. What do you gain from that?
You have the colour of the wide sounding ocean.
You built the bridge Sethu.
You will get in trouble with your wives.
Don’t come and destroy our little sand houses.

2.8

We brought a pot, a winnowing fan and sand,
built sand houses and play as we like.
What is the use of destroying our sand houses?
What do you get if you come
and kick them down and give us trouble?
You carry a shining discus in your hand.
Don’t you know that even jaggery will not be sweet
if your mind is bitter?
You have the colour of the ocean.
Do not come and destroy our little sand houses.

2.9

You enter our yard and smile.
Not only do you destroy our little sand houses,
you destroy our hearts as well.
You measured the earth
and grew tall and measured the sky.
What will those who stand near us say
if you come and embrace us?
Do not come and destroy our little sand houses.

2.10

Viṣṇu-Citta Kodai, the chief of Villiputtur
where Brahmins who recite the Vedas live,
composed poems about what the cowherd girls
who play making little sand houses said to Kaṇṇaṉ.
They said, “You drank the nectar of the mouth of Sita.
Do not destroy our little sand houses.”
Those who learn these poems well
will go to Vaikuṇṭha.
The cowherd girls ask Kaṇṇaṉ to give back their clothes that he stole.

3.1

We get up in the morning before the rooster crows
and come to bathe, plunging into the water.
Our beloved sun god who comes on his chariot rises.
O god, you sleep on the snake bed.
You give us trouble.
We won’t come to the pond from now on.
I and my friends worship you. Give us our clothes.

3.2

Why did you come here?
O dear one! How did you come to this pond?
You are decorated with a Tulasī garland dripping with honey.
You are Māyaṉ and you are as sweet as nectar.
O, clever one! We will not leave you even it is our fate.
Don’t go away here and there.
Don’t take our clothes like this.
You danced on the snake Kālinga.
Give us back the clothes you put on the kurundam tree.

3.3

It is early morning.
What is this childishness?
If my relatives see this, they won’t like it,
but you don’t think what you do is naughty.
You are sitting on the kurundam tree and we can’t reach you.
You destroyed Lanka with your bow.
We will give you whatever you want.
Give us back our clothes.
We will go away and no one will see your mischief.

3.4

We plunge into the pond and bathe.
We look everywhere
and make sure no one is looking at us.
Our eyes do not want to stop shedding tears
because we don’t have our clothes.
You don’t have any pity on us.
O lord, you destroyed Lanka.
We know that you were the king of the monkeys.
Give us back the clothes
that you put on the kurundam tree.

3.5

My brothers who carry spears will come running
if they hear that valai and kayal fish
are biting our feet in the pond.
It won’t be a joke for you.
O lord, you have a beautiful dark-coloured body.
Don’t stay on the kurundam tree with our beautiful clothes.
Give us back our silk clothes.

3.6

The stalks of the lotus plants
that bloom in the pond hurt our feet
and it feels as if scorpions were biting us.
We can’t bear the pain.
We can’t stay in the water for a long time.
You, the king, can throw pots in the sky
and dance the kuthu dance.
Don’t be mischievous.
Give us back our silk clothes.

3.7

You are the god who knows
what will happen when the world ends.
We are sitting in the water, tired
while you are doing things you shouldn’t.
Our houses are far away.
We really love you.
If our mothers see us, they won’t like it.
Drop our silk clothes down to us.
Don’t sit in the top of the kurundam tree
blooming with flowers.

3.8

All the women, the mothers-in-law
and others are here bathing.
We couldn’t close our beautiful flower-like eyes in the night
thinking of your naughty acts.
This isn’t good for us.
We are telling you about all the trouble you cause.
You are the beautiful jewel-like son of the cowherd village.
Give us our clothes back
that you put on the kurundam tree.

3.9

You escaped from the trap of Kaṁsa
and survived in the dark night when you were born.
Is it because you want to bother us like this?
Yaśodā loves you so much
that she doesn’t scold you even if you are naughty.
She just leaves you to do whatever you want.
You weren’t ashamed to drink the milk
of the wicked Rākṣasī Pūthanā.
Give us back our clothes.

3.10

Viṣṇu-Citta Kodai the chief of Puduvai
surrounded by golden palaces
composed with beautiful music
a garland of ten Tamil songs
describing the play of the dark god
with the young girls.
Those who learn and recite these poems
will go to Vaikuṇṭha
and be with the eternal god Mādhava.
Kuḍal izhaithal. Drawing a Kuḍal.
A kuḍal is a circle made by young girls with their fingers. If its lines connect their
love will be successful.

4.1

He is the highest god worshipped by all good people.
He is generous and he is the god Aḻakiya Maṇavāḷa
of Tirumāliruñcōlai.
If you want us to press his feet when he sleeps,
O kuuḍal, you should come together.
Come and join the place you started.
Kuuḍiḍu kuuḍalee.

4.2

He who took the form of Vāmaṉaṉ
stays happily in the forest in Tiruvēṅkaṭam
and in Thirukaṇṇapuram.
O kuḍal, if you want him to come here,
hold my hands and embrace me,
you should come together.
Come and join the place you started.
Kuuḍiḍu kuuḍalee.

4.3

He is praised by Brahma who stays on a lotus
and by other gods.
He is the dear son of Devakī who has a shining forehead
and the wonderful son of famous Vasudeva.
O kuḍal, if you want that king to come to see us,
you should come together.
Come and join the place you started.
Kuuḍiḍu kuuḍalee.

4.4

He climbed and danced
on the tall blooming Kadamba tree
and jumped into the pond
and danced on the heads of strong Kālinga.
O kuḍal, if you want that dancer to come to me,
you should come together.
Come and join the place you started.
Kuuḍiḍu kuuḍalee.

4.5

He killed the elephant Kuvalayabīḍam
whose forehead was decorated with an ornament.
If you want him to come to the middle of our streets
in Madurai surrounded by big palaces and embrace us,
O kuḍal, you should come together.
Come and join the place you started.
Kuuḍiḍu kuuḍalee.

4.6

The god does not have any desire.
When he learned to walk, he killed the Rākṣasas
who came in the form of marudam trees.
He killed Kaṁsa by his tricks.
He is the victorious king of shining Madurai.
O kuḍal, if you want him to come here to us,
you should come together.
Come and join the place you started.
Kuuḍiḍu kuuḍalee.

4.7

He conquered Śisupāla who did evil deeds,
the Rākṣasas who came in the form of tall marudu trees,
the seven bulls, the bird, and heroic Kaṁsa
who carried a victorious spear.
O kuḍal, if you want that victorious hero to come to us,
you should come together.
Come and join the place you started.
Kuuḍiḍu kuuḍalee.

4.8

He does not enter the minds of people
who do not have desire and love for him.
He is the protector of flourishing Dvāra puri.
He is a cowherd who grazes the cows and plays with them.
O kuḍal, if you want him to come to us,
you should come together.
Come and join the place you started.
Kuuḍiḍu kuuḍalee.

4.9

In ancient times
he went to the great sacrifice of king Mahābali as a dwarf
and measured the earth with one foot
and the sky with the other.
O kuḍal, if you want him to come here to us,
you should come together.
Come and join the place you started.
Kuuḍiḍu kuuḍalee..

4.10

He is the inner meaning of the four Vedas.
He saved Gajendra, the elephant dripping with rut,
from the mouth of the crocodile.
He is a handsome god
and the cowherd women love him dearly in their hearts.
O kuḍal, if you want him to come here to us,
you should come together.
Come and join the place you started.
Kuuḍiḍu kuuḍalee.

4.11

The poet Viṣṇu-Citta Kodai composed ten songs
about how the cowherd women who have curly hair
and who are praised always by the world
made a kuḍal so that their love would be successful
and they could love, fight with, feel and embrace the god.
Those who learn these poems well
will not have the results of bad karma in their lives.
The thalaivi asks the cuckoo to call the god.