Periya Thiruvandhadhi | Nammāḷvār | 2

(We) Have the beautiful knowledge (that the Lord is the means) for eliminating our terrible unrighteous actions.

(Thus we) Have become the shadow and the foot creases (the servants) to the lotus feet of our Lord - who in the ages gone by (as Śrī Krishna) danced circling around with the pots on his head and who later reclined and rested on the large ocean of milk.

The Lord Dāmodara (one with the imprints of the rope tied by the mother Yaśodā on His waist) always wanted to be the servant.

My great mind however, if instructed to serve, declaring that it will do only what is pleasing to itself, goes after its usual unrighteous actions descending to lowly state. What is to be done by us in this world?

Shouldn't we offer something (even though nothing is ours and everything is His) and seek that Lord, who destroys our adversaries like He splits the demons, who do not show even one little act of gratitude towards Him, into pieces by His discus?

Why can't we understand fully at least one thing that forms His body? Why can't we at least have love towards ourselves?

O' Lord with the resplendent hue of the dark sea! The ancient cause! Your nature is to destroy all our sins from the eternal past.

Seeking You and merely hearing about Your beauty, as you lie reclined on the ocean of milk, we become weak in our legs, begin to lose our hearts with eyes bedimmed (with tears).

Despite residing in many holy shrines, standing, sitting, reclining and moving about, the Lord feels as though He had not done anything! He never leaves my heart.

At the time of His divine incarnation, as Nṛsiṁha, with the blows of His beautiful hands, He crushed the mouth and tore the chest of the demon king Hiraṇyakaśipu.

My Lord has love for His devotees, indeed. Is that not so!

Is that Lord difficult to reach, or easily accessible or is He both? Is He transcendental and inaccessible for many?

Giving up such doubtful thinking, if you understand that He always favours His devotees and become the true devotee of Śrī Krishna, then He himself will become your shield in many ways.

O' Good mind! Is it not rare to come to possess intellect that has a right disposition? We fortunately seem to possess that right intellect.

Praise with love the Lord who wears the cool Tulasī garland with flowers swarming with bees. Remain fixed with determination in that.

O' Mind! If we analyse, being quiet and not talking about the Lord for even brief periods like blinking of the eyes is not right.

You do not spend time in contemplation of the wonderful Lord with the sweet Tulasī flower garlands, even if it is for teasing about the ways in which the cowherd lady Yaśodā awarded punishment to Him. That is wrong.

O' Mind! Please pray tell whether it is wrong accepting as good deed for the tongue to sing the glories of that Lord with the chest that blossoms afresh even fading Tulasī flowers, here and now, instead of calling Him and awaiting for one day to reaching His eternal realm and serving Him there.

O'Mind! Please come, there is no time like now. Withdrawing further and further, do not immerse me in the terrible hell of separation.

Praising the Lord who sucked the life along with the milk killing the deceitful demoness Pūthanā, who came in the form of a mother, alone will give us strength.

Using your strong arms adorned by the beautiful discus, instead of simply severing the strong heads of the wrestlers Chāṇūra and Muṣṭika, who came to fight against you thinking that they were the toughest, instead delivered painful blows to their heads and made them roll down. (Because of this alone), this earth will last for a long time.

The Lord swallowed this earth and brought it out. He lifted this earth from the deluging waters and measured the same with His divine feet.

The wise further declare that He created these worlds at the end of the great dissolution, Himself becoming all these. If so, who is the refuge for these worlds? They will not be dependent on anyone else.

Is there any way of eliminating the mental distress for those who do not place the Lord high in their mind without any doubt and glorify Him steadily - the Lord who blows away the sorrows of the devas who seek Him as their refuge?

Embodied beings despite having the good mind as the tool for the use of knowledge, and having the mouth with the tongue (meant for glorifying the Lord), do not show great interest in reaching the Lord:

Mounting great efforts, they live without singing the benediction on the sovereign Lord. Is it not the effect of their previous unrighteous actions?

Afraid of the terrible owes that arise from separation from the Lord (caused by the strength of the karmas) and not thinking of indulging in anything other than the Lord even for a short period of time, I glorified the resplendent golden feet of the suzerain Lord worshipped in mind, words and body by the Nityā Suris (the eternal attendants).

The Lord who has the hue of the waters of the ocean and who has the beautiful red eyes is the eternal beatitude. He is also the means of protection against descending into the terrible samsāra.

O' mind, you remember this. I, who have known this, also tell you these words only daily.

O' Lord! Please do not frown at the people of the world since they will worship you only to fulfil some small desires, for they do not have the wisdom of considering you alone as the refuge and the goal. In this world such wisdom does not arise that easily.

For us who has obtained your grace however, the conduct of the worldly will not arise even little.

Contemplating on Śrī Krishna who killed the seven bulls with the terrible horns all at once for the sake of Nappinnai Piratti with arms soft and tender like the bamboo, we were fixed on the eternal realm beyond all the heavens for ourselves. That is "the way", is it not?

My mind, looking at the clouds, the dark mountains, the wide ocean, the dense darkness of the night, the Pūvāy trees, which the bees don't seem to want to leave and everything else that is black in colour, at the time of their sighting, thinking that they are the beautiful form of the Lord Krishna, wandered away from me.

He does not show lovingly, even once His compassion and grace pitying the mind of mine, which feverishly follows Him around, thinking of nothing other.

O' how stone hearted is the Lord, who split the mouth of the demon in the form of the horse Keśī!

The mark of true devotees with broad minds and admirable qualities, consists in winning over the five sense organs that make the mind go astray

thereby eliminating the resulting anger, and directing them instead towards the Lord adorned with garlands of freshly blossomed Tulasī flowers and having the vision of His divine feet. Is it not?

Once taking the form of a dwarf celibate, He begged for three feet space of this earth. As Śrī Krishna, pretending to drink milk from the poisoned breasts of the demoness Pūthanā, He sucked her life away.

Our eyes desire only to see the peerless form of that Lord alone and nothing else. Will (my) tongue ever crave for anything else but sing the auspicious glories of that Lord?

O'Lord, with beautiful divine red eyes, partial to thine devotees! I must tell you one thing. You always are thinking of what more you can do for your desireless devotees.

However for them, the eternal abode of Vaikuṇṭha, which you want to bestow upon, will it be ever sweeter than the joy that their minds feel from revelling in your auspicious attributes?

Lo! What a wonder! We cannot see the terrible sins anywhere near us! Did they vanish into the skies? Did they become immersed in the wavy sea? Did they blow away with the wind? Did they burn up in the fire? Did they hide in the forest?

The Lord by His appearance removes all mental agony.

While it is hard for us to go near the Lord, who lies reclined on the bed of Ādi Śeṣa, the serpent studded with gems in the ocean (of milk) with the surging waves, we can always fully visualize Him in our minds.

The Lord by Himself seems to have taken abode in my mind even without any obvious means adopted by me. My life however is sweet. What a wonder this is!

In order to bestow His grace to all beings, Lord Krishna Himself hiding His own true nature, form and attributes carries out their tasks without any need for them to resort to any other means.

The same Lord remains far away unreachable to the demoniac beings.

In ancient days, He himself strode over all the worlds. The means that wondrous Lord showed and how that came about, no one would know.

O' my mind! Won't the Lord not eliminate the ignorance and the desires in indulging in various things arising as a result of the invincible effects (both meritorious and otherwise) of our previous karmas from the ancient days,

the Lord holding down the demon Hiraṇya in the battle, tore his heart apart allowing his blood to flow, flooding all the lower grounds and put down his life and ego of his material wealth?

O'Lord with the divine resplendent form! I had lost myself immersed in thy pure sweet auspicious guṇas. Please do not change that experience ever from now on.

In the days ahead for me, the wealth that I besiege of you is not to do service at your divine lotus feet after attaining moksha but merely not to ever forget thine divine feet.

The waves of the wide ocean surge and splash near the great Lord who lies in it in a meditative sleep.

The moment we begin to think of His glorious names, the powerful effects of all our unrighteous actions, should leave us and reach the forest or other regions.

Why is the delay in their leaving us? Do they wish to return to us?

O' my mind! There is no other saviour wherever you may want to search, who will protect you from falling into this eternal, big and terrible hell of this material mundane life.

Without looking elsewhere away from Him, follow that wondrous Lord who is adorned with garland of sweet Tulasī flowers. Otherwise follow your evil ways.