(perumizhalaik kuRumba nAyanAr purANam - Periyapuranam as English poetry)

 
 
        "I am a servitor of Perumizhalai-k-Kurumpar" 
 
                        - The Tiru-th-Tonda-th-Tokai. 
 
1.     Perumizhalai in the land of Mizhalai is rich 
    In groves of mango tree, bunchy coconut trees, 
    Jack fruit and areca trees (and is girt with fields); 
    The streets thereof blaze with the lustre of the holy ahs; 
    It is a hoary town renowned for its citizens established 
    Unswervingly in the way of Vedic piety.                (1706) 
 
2.     Mizhalai-k-Kurumpar was the prince of the hoary and holy place; 
    The would receive the devotees of the Lord who wears 
    The crescent in His crest and do untold, all services 
    Required by them by sheer divination; it was thus 
    He came by the fruit of his mellowing knowledge.        (1707) 
 
3.     Endless was the food he provided for the devotees 
    Who came in throngs; he would confer on them all 
    Wealth immense humbly; he enshrined 
    In his lotus-heart the roseate flower-feet of the Lord 
    The locks of whose Consort are buzzed over by honey-bees.    (1708) 
 
4.     As he thus throve for the world to come by a knowledge 
    Of the infinitude of divine servitorship, he hailed 
    As ordained the Tiru-th-Tonda-th-Tokai inseparable from the minds 
    Of devotees; he hailed its author Nampi Aroorar; 
    Blessed with the grace of the Lord he was stablished 
    In the worship of His divine feet.                (1709) 

 

 

5.     With his hands he adored, with his tongue he hailed 
    And with his mind he meditated the feet of the lord 
    Of Paravai whose great eyes were tinct with collyrium; 
    Thus he throve. “This indeed is the path of deliverance 
    Leading to the auric feet roseate unknown to the lord 
    Of Lakshmi, and Brahma too!” Thus he thought 
    And thus he lived in unison with his faith.            (1710) 
 
6.     By virtue of his quotidian chanting of the name 
    Of Nampi Aroorar, he became a master of the Siddhis 
    Eightfold, commencing from Anima; thereafter 
    As his devotion grew multifold, he attained the beatitude 
    In which only Panchakshara -- the name of the First One --, 
    Constituted his kith and kin, wealth and consciousness.        (1711) 
 
7.     As thus he flourished, Van-tondar who was claimed 
    By the Lord -- whose banner sports the Bull, and who walked on earth 
    His beauteous and divine feet touching it, and who also 
    Vanquished him in His lis against him, by flourishing 
    A deed of palm-leaf before the assembly --, 
    Came to Kodungkoloor the tops of whose mansions 
    Tocuhed the very moon.                        (1712) 
 
8.     Van-tondar hymned in garlands of Tamil verse 
    The nectarean Lord of Tiruvanjaikkalam who devoured 
    Venom; by the grace of the Lord of celestials, it was 
    Clear to him that he was to reach thence Mount Kailas 
    In the north; the heart of Mizhalai-k-Kurumpar conned this 
    Clearly even when he was here in his far-away town.        (1713) 
 
9.     “Van-tondar of Tirunavaloor, renowned on earth, 
    Is reaching the inaccessible Kailas divine on the morrow; 
    Parted from him I will not languish like them 
    Who still continue to live having lost the pupils 
    Of their eyes!” Thus resolving he said: “I will attain 
    The feet of Lord Siva this day itself by yoga.”            (1714) 
 
10.     All his inner organs became one; pure consciousness 
    Streamed through suzhu-manai; by cultivated yoga 
    Pranava caused the opening of Brahmarantra; 
    Through this his spirit coursed its way to the Kailas 
    To the feet of the Primal One even before Nampi Aroorar 
    Could there arrive.                        (1715) 
 
11.     Adoring the feet of Mizhalai-k-Kurumpar who reached  
    The feet of the Lord of Mount Kailas, by his constant 
    Yogic exercise, never to part from the feet of the lord 
    Of Parava, I proceed to narrate the glory 
    Of Karaikkal Ammai whose mien soft excels 
    Even that of the peafowl and whose words excel 
    The sweet melody of the kuyil.                    (1716) 
 
 
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. perumizalaik kuRumba nAyanAr purANam in English prose 
2. பெருமிழலைக் குறும்ப நாயனார் புராணம் (தமிழ் மூலம்) 
3. thiruththoNDar purANam main page
4. 12 shaivite thirumuRais