(kazhaRsingka nAyanAr purANam - Periyapuranam as English poetry)

 
 
        "I am a servitor of the servitors of Kazhal Singkar, 
        The Kaatava king and lord who fosters 
        The whole world bounded by the sea." 
         
                    - The Tiru-th-Tonda-th-Tokai. 
 
1.     He hailed from the hoary Pallava dynasty famed 
    In this world; he reckoned not aught save the roseate 
    And redemptive and flower-feet of the Lord in whose 
    Matted hair the Ganga flows, and who, of yore, 
    Smote the triple hostile cities; the king was endowed 
    With an immense army that flaunted a victorious flag; 
    He was called Kokkazhal Singkar -- the emperor.        (4096) 
 
2.     Kazhal Singkar, the scion of the Kaatava dynasty, 
    By the grace of the Lord who wields the auric mountain 
    As his bow, waged a war, destroyed his foes, 
    Captured the northern realms and fostered 
    His country establishing it in the way of dharma; 
    Thus he flourished fostering piety.            (4097) 
 
3.     He made a holy pilgrimage to all the shrines of Lord Hara 
    On this earth, did his worship poised unswervingly 
    In love and devotion and performed true and fitting 
    Service; he came to Tiruvaaroor in the south, verily a city 
    Of Siva, and moved into the temple to adore the Lord, the Snapper 
    And Redeemer of the cycle of transmigration.        (4098) 
 
4.     When the king of the great army that marches on 
    To the beat of drums, with his fivefold officials, 
    Was adoring the Lord of the Ant-Hill in the shrine 
    Of the Merciful One, his peerless wife of soft hair 
    Decked with fragrant flowers, his queen-consort, 
    The lofty one among his wives, came to the temple.    (4099) 
 

                                                     
 
 
5.     The queen who in her mien was very like a peafowl, 
    Came round the temple, beheld each one of its glories, 
    Moved on and came near the mantapam where soft flowers 
    Were woven into wreaths; there she picked up a fresh flower 
    That had just then fallen, and inhaled its fragrance.    (4100) 
 
6.     As she was so inhaling, the holy servitor Serutthunai 
    Thought thus: “Ha, she has inhaled a flower 
    Taking it from the mantapam (where garlands 
    Are being woven).” He ran in all haste, secured a weapon 
    Pulled the nose of the Lakshmi-like one who smelt 
    The honey-laden flower, and cut it away.        (4101) 
 
7.     As blood gushed forth from her nose thus cut away, 
    With her flower-decked koontal cascading down, 
    She, the queen-consort, trembling like a peafowl 
    Endowed with a tokai, fell down wilted, on the ground, 
    And lamented aloud; the king who was adoring the great 
    And perfect effulgence at the splendorous 
    And golden Ant-Hill, came thither.            (4102) 
 
8.     The king that came thither, beholding his wilting 
    And sorrowing and lamenting queen who was like 
    Unto a fallen flowery twig severed from the fragrant 
    And verdurous and blooming Karpaka, questioned thus: 
    “Who on this planet of earth 
    Durst do this cruel deed undauntedly?”            (4103) 
 
9.    When he questioned thus, Serutthunaiyaar, 
    The servitor, came near him and narrated to him 
    The events as they took place; then the king 
    Addressing him said: “For this, the punishment 
    Meted out ought to be condign.”                (4104) 
 
10.     This said, he unleashed his sword from its scabbard 
    With which his waist was girt, and saying: 
    “It is but proper that the hand which first 
    Touched the fragrant flower and picked it up 
    Should be first chopped,” cut of with bangles and all, 
    The roseate hand of his queen-consort 
    Of fragrant locks, his own beloved wife.        (4105) 
 
11.     When he thus cut off with his sword the roseate hand 
    Of his peerless queen, the loud resounding 
    Of “Hara, Hara!” by the servitors, rose over the earth 
    And merging with the uproar of the celestials 
    Throughout the heavens, increased in volume; 
    There was then and there a shower 
    Of divinely fragrant Karpaka flowers.            (4106) 
 
12.     The king that performed this rare deed of service, ruled 
    For many years, poised in privileged servitorship, 
    And by the glorious and aeviternal grace 
    Of the Lord unknown to Vishnu and Brahma, 
    Reached the umbrage of His roseate 
    And redemptive feet, and thus gained 
    The great grace which is ever-during bliss.        (4107) 
 
13.     Hailing and adoring the ankleted feet of Singkar 
    Who, even as the world witnessed it, severed away 
    The roseate hand of his great and beloved queen, 
    We proceed to narrate the servitorship of the devotee 
    Blessed with true grace, and hailed 
    As Idangkazhiyaar-- the gloriously great devotee.    (4108) 
 
---------------- 
 
NOTES 
 
Verse No. 
 
    The passage pertaining to this king and occurring in the Tirutthonda-th-Thokai  
    makes it clear that this king was a contemporary of St. Sundarar. 
 
   3.    Verily a city of Siva.  Sivapuri. 
 
   5.    The queen: Some opine that she was a Samana.  The foot-note appended to  
    this verse by Sivakkavimani C.K. Subramania Mudaliyaar is as follows: “Her  
    name is Cangka.  She was a great beauty.  She was like unto a mother to the  
    subjects.  She looked as though that she was the king’s fortune in human  
    form.  She was the daughter of Amokavarsha Nrupatungka.  As she was the  
    queen-consort, she too visited the shrines of Siva. 
 
        “As she was a Samana she did not choose to adore Siva.  She was  
    drawn by the beauty of the shrine and she moved on sipping its beauty.  The  
    king married her for political reasons.  Such are the dicta of historians.” 
 
   6.    St. Sekkizhaar says that this queen was Lakshmi-like. 
 
   7.    tokai: It means fan-tail. 
 
   9.    A Naayanaar prompted by Grace, on occasions, does things which are apparently  
    violent.  Having committed an act of violence, he does not steal away from the  
    place of occurrence.  He is always ready to confront the consequences.  Cf. The  
    Puranam of Yeri Paathar. 
 
  10.    The king feels that the punishment meted out was not condign.  So too felt  
    Pukazh-ch-Chozha Naayanaar. 
 
  11.    The act of the king was a purifying act.  It was sin-removing operation. 
 
  12.    The king: It was this king who built the famous temple in Kaanchipuram.  Siva bade  
    him (in a dream) to postpone the day of its consecration as He was to enter the  
    mental shrine of St. Poosalaar that day.  Lovers of sculpture hail the shrine of  
    this king as a poem in sand-stone. 
 
 
            Here ends the Puranam of Kazhal Singka Naayanaar. 

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

See Also: 
1. kazaRchiNga nAyanAr purANam in English prose 
2. கழற்சிங்க நாயனார் புராணம் (தமிழ் மூலம்) 
3. thiruththoNDar purANam main page
4. 12 shaivite thirumuRais