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Exceedingly Abundantly Song
Exceedingly Abundantly Song
Thiruvembavai and Thiruppalliyezhuchchi
In Hindu Tradition, Margazhi Nonbu ( penance observed in the month of Margazhi ) is observed by maids and lasses in the name of Lord Shiva. If the penance is observed with sincerity and in earnestness, the lasses will be blessed with blissful married life with ideal husbands.
Here Thiru Vasagam and Thiruppalliyezhchchi are so composed as though sung by lasses observing Margazhi penance. Walking up early, fresh morning during the Month of Margazhi to worship the Lord, will definitely invoke the blessings of Lord Shiva. Interestingly Thiru Annamalai is one of the five shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva representing Fire. Now a days people throng in more and more numbers in this shrine and make circum ambulation of the Holy Mountain Thiru Annamalai. ( Arunachala) In the list of devotees Europeans and white people also included. The classic “Thiruvembavai” assumes the form of Dialogue between a group of Lasses and one of their friends, who are all Shiva Devotees observing Penance, during the Holy month of Margazhi.
Thiruvembavai
1. (Group of girls to their friend who is half awake in her house) “Shiva is the rare and grand sacred-flame, who is without birth and death, and whom we sing and you listen, you sword- eyed damsel. Are you so deaf that you still sleep even after listening all these? Our praise of the omnipotent Shiva has reached the ears of a lass and she has rolled and rolled down in tranze and ecstatic-crying. We wonder if she could come to normalcy. Where as you sleep still in spite of our calling. Oh! Girl pupil of our eye! Listen to us at least now. Wake up! Let us observe “Margazhi Nonbhu” (penance by unmarried girls)”.
2. “Oh! Girl you often night and day and whenever we speak you would say “My love is fixed for Lord Shiva” But now you sleep on the flowery bed. Oh! Girl with the best of ornaments wake up!”
“No no ! sincere friends! do you make fun of this sacred practice?(penance). Even the celestial beings shudder to worship the exceedingly resplendent feet of our Lord Shiva. We the girls are lucky to have our Lord who has condescended to offer a glimpse of his Lotus feet to us . Don’t we thank our Lord, who dances in Thillai(Chidambaram) and for that, we urge you.
3. “Oh! Girl with pearl white teeth, you used to wake up earlier and praised our Lord Shiva as ‘father’, ‘Sweet-God’ and you spoke sweetly. Don’t you open the door.”
(The girl to her friends) “Hello my dear long-established and ideal devotees of the Lord Shiva! with ease you wake up in the early morning but I am only a new-devotee of the Lord and can’t you bear with me?”
“Oh! Girl your love for Shiva is with pure heart, we know and can a girl of your nature afford to while away her time without singing the Lord’s praise and we pray to have your kind of devotion and clean heart.”
4.“ Oh! Girl with bright pearly teeth, has your day not dawned as yet?” “You girls, with colorful parrot’s melodious talk, have you all come?” is any one missing?”
“We will count how many girls have come and in the meanwhile don’t fall in to sleep again. Shiva is the panacea for celestial beings and he is the essence of Vedas. He is the feast to our eyes and we are going to sing his glories and praises and we don’t have time to count those who have actually come and count yourself if you find any shortage in the number of devotees go and sleep again.”
5.“Even Thirumal(Vishnu) can not have easy access to Lord Shiva’s Lotus feet;neither does quadri-headed Brahma to Lord Shiva’s tuft of hair(head). In fact Shiva has hidden himself as a high-mountainous grand flame and you, wicked girl! You indulge freely in canards as if they(canards) are milk and honey, by telling lies that you know our Lord. Open the door! You don’t understand Our Lord and you don’t wake up from your bed even after we have sung the Shiva who is beyond the scope of earthly people, heavenly beings, and other people living beyond the cosmos, and the Shiva who has assumed the divine form to liberate all of us, and the Shiva who has honored us by absorbing simple- minded devotees like us besides our Loud calling “Shiva! The Grand Sire! Shiva! The Grand Sire!” “Oh! Girl with perfumed hair-tuft! What sort of a girl you are!
6. “Oh! Girl ! you are shy and afraid(in matters fit to be afraid) like a deer , have you forgotten your promise? You have promised “I will wake up first and wake up you all” You for got your assurance and now sleep. To which direction has your promise gone? Aren’t you ashamed for this? Lord Shiva can not be understood either by earthly or celestial beings but he has deigned to bless us .We are fortunate. You are unmoved even after listening us singing the praise of our Lord. Is this proper? Come and join with us so that we can sing the praise of our Lord Shiva, who is the Lord of us and others.”
7. “Oh Mother like girl! Do you have a dual personality as the one having love to Shiva and the other to sleep as if you don’t have any love for Shiva ? Previously you used to chant “Shiva, Shiva” on hearing the trumpet, and conch being blown to remember us of the Shiva who is even beyond the concept of heavenly beings, and the Shiva who is unique and is with tremendous glories. You used to melt down like wax on fire even before others could say “Shiva! the God inhabitated in the Southern Part of Tamil Nadu” Listen to our individual as well as Chorus calling of Shiva as “ Our father; our Lord and as ‘Delicious Ambrosia’. How can you still sleep?
You remain silent like the unwise people who won’t melt down towards Shiva. What is the true nature of sleep?
8. Hen is crowing as the day dawns. Other birds also chirping. The wind instrument with seven tunes, played on auspicious occasions is also now being played. The white conch also hoots. We sing our Lord Shiva as unique, merciful, and has true shaped God. Don’t you hear this? Long live!. We wonder What sleep is this? Don’t you open your mouth? Can you answer us? Come and join with us to sing the praise of our Lord Shiva, and he will save us on the judgment day with all his benevolence?
9. Shiva! You are the most ancient among old things. You! the latest thing among the recent things. You are our lord. We prostrate unto your feet and to your devotees. We will submit to your devotees. Bless us to have your devotees only as our husbands. We will do whatever they command. Will we lack anything, if you can give the above boon?. (“True devotion to lord Shiva by un married girls will get them married with good husbands” is the customary belief)
10. (The girl who is half-awake inside the house, thus speaks to her comrades,) “ Under this earth, there are seven worlds and still beneath there is one more world without any specific name. Up to that extreme underworld, Lord Shiva’s knotted hair reaches and it transcends beyond sky. He bears Goddess Parvathy in himself. He only assumes many forms of earthly beings, and celestials are all speaking about Shiva’s immeasurable and endless grandeurs. You comrades! You all belong to the holy place, where friendly devotees’ hearts living, immaculate birth i.e Shiva whose temple is located. Tell me which is his (Shiva) native? Who is his neighbour? How to worship him?”
11. “We splash water with the sound “Muger”from the temple- tank which is surrounded by bees and we praise the glory of the Lotus feet of our Lord Shiva. We have been servants of our Lord Shiva from generation to generation and we are well off today with Shiva’s grace. Oh! Shiva you are so bright as fire! You have smeared the sacred ash all over your body, which is silver in colour. You are the better half of slender waisted, decorate-eyed Uma! We have passed all the ordeals set by you so far only to make us eligible for salvation. Please take care of us so that we won’t get exhausted.”
12. “ Shiva has at his disposal the rushing, noisy, abundant, and crystal clear water. In Chidambaram he dances on the cosmos with fire in one of his hands. Shiva also creates, protects, and regulates all of us, the world and the heavenly beings to liberate ourselves from birth death cycles with the accompaniment of meaningful songs glorifying our Lord-Shiva, with the clinking sound of the ornaments like “megala”, and with buzzing of the bees sitting on the lengthy hair. Let us holy dip in this tank with the praise of our Omni-potent Lord Shiva”
13. “ Let us plunge and bathe in the lotus pond, which is also replete with cool and ash colored –lily buds and red lotuses, with birds perched on the surface of the waves. The birds form an intricate flock and devotees also come for ablution. This pond resembles our Lord Shiva and Parvathy in as much as the people come to cleanse themselves (of sins and impurities). This pond has ado with the unmarried young girls with their stirring of the water by plunging and with the sound made by their anklets, and with the water displaced by their Spluttering Breasts”.
14. “Let us Holy-Dip with the pendant ear- ring moving, with the movements of other ornaments worn in our body, with the string of flowers worn on the head moving and wasps(hornets) buzzing and circling ,with the praise of Chidambaram, with the singing of Godly messages found in the sacred Vedas, with the praise o the hero of sacred scriptures(Vedas), with the singing of grand-light with the singing of Konrai Garland, with the singing of attributes of Shiva as being the Alpha and Omega of all things and with the signing of the greatness of the Lotus
Feet of “Goddess Uma“ who has handled us to salvation and Uma s has worn bangles (Who has brought us up).
15. “ You girls, with tightly tethered breasts, and with ornaments worn on the breasts , Please listen to me as I am going to tell you about the girl who falls in a tranze after worshipping our Lord Shiva! That girl, when speaking about our Lord would tell multiple times “ My Lord, My Lord”. She feels ecstatic when she tells “My Lord!” She is choked with emotion and tears of joy rolls down as if from a falls. She prostrates several times in worship of Lord Shiva. She would not care about celestial beings. Let us sing in praise of the enlightened man who would be this girl’s prospective husband. Let us also holy-dip in the tank, which is full of flowers.
16. Oh Rain! You shrink water from sea and raise to the sky and assume blue color like our Goddess Parvathy and sound like the anklet worn by her. You also draw the rain bow which resembles the eye-brows of our Goddess Parvathy; and you shower like the grace of our Lord Shiva , who is inseparable from his consort, and you also shower like divine blessings of our lady Parvathy to devotees.
17. “Thirumal(Vishnu) who protects the world in deference to Shiva’s command, Creator Brahma, Chieftain of heavenly beings and others and all these can not have such a divine bliss as we have. “Oh Girl with sweet- smelling hair! Shiva wipes out all our sins, and he visits our houses and prints his Lotus-feet steps, he is the God who intends to bless us, Lord Shiva is the Ambrosia we seek, we, the servants of our Lord Shiva, He is the Boss of us, we sing his praises and with Goodness flourishing are our lives , let us plunge and holy-dip in the pond”.
18. “Oh! Girl! sing the praise of our Lord Shiva, who remains in Annamalai(Thiruvannamalai or Arunachala) as a standing example for magnanimity. Sun light has appeared already and star lights becoming thin like the gems from the crown worn by Celestial beings losing their brilliance, when they worship the Lotus feet of our Lord Shiva ( which is far resplendent with it’s rosy tint.) Lord Shiva is also female, male and both and he is bright sky, earth and all these elements combined and is also separated from all these combinations, Our Lord is Ambrosia of spiritual enlightenment, and he is ever permanent and let us holy dip in this serene pond.
19. “Shiva! Our Grand Sire! We appeal to you with the recalling of the customary phrase used by the brides father at the time of marriage ,” This Girl offered to you, has surrendered to you too”. Please listen to our appeal. “Let not our breasts reach the shoulders of those who are not Shiva’s servants! Let not our hands serve except you! Let not our eyes see night and day anything except you! If you, our beloved Lord! Bless us thus, will there be any harm to us even if the sun rises in a different direction except east?
20. Our Lord Shiva! Protect us and bless us with your lotus feet. Guard us and bless me with your Lotus feet which is the end all. May your divine feet, the Lotus feet are also the origin of all living things and save us! Your divine feet, that offer to living beings,the benefits in this present birth and in the next birth too. May your divine feet, that absorb everything and save us, may the feet which are unknown to Brahma and Vishnu save us, May your divine feet, which make us your servants only to shower on us your bliss and to save me! The water sanctified in this month Margazhi, which is the divine grace personified. May the sacred water with which we take holy bath, save us.
Thiruppalliyezhuchchi
1. Oh! The Grand Lord Shiva! Obeisances to thee! You are Shiva-the -Chief -Source and Grand Thing of my perfect life. Morning has dawned! We worship your Lotus Feet with the offering of fragrant flowers with love unto your flowery feet that is decked with ornaments on the ankles and with the chanting of “ Namasivaya and with envisaging your comely face with winsome smile. You have the excellent flag with the icon of the green parrot, which lives inside the grove. You Shiva! Living in Thirupperundurai, the shrine surrounded by pleasantly cold watery, marshy lands abound in blossomed many petalled Lotus flowers. You have the simpleton in me as your permanent servant. Our superbly perfect Lord! May you wake from your divine sleep!
2. Aruna! The charioteer of the Sun, turns up with the spreading of the purple-dawn light. By now physical darkness has gone.(Contrasted with the darkness of the mind.)Shiva! You are the Sun-rise. Like your lotus- face, with its grace, the grace being raised and raised by the fragrant flowers of the eyes of your creation also goes on blossoming. Wasps, bees and hornets in their swarm and in their bee-lines after beelines start buzzing. Shiva! you are present graciously in Thirupperundurai. You are the Huge – Mountainous-Source of benediction and bliss and from us with spiritual and virtuous enlightenment. You are the sea full of waves, you are our approachable good elder-brother! Would you wake up so that we can work out our salvation that itself is your will!
3. Shiva! You manifest in Thirupperundurai as sweet, sonorous Tamil(language). You are beyond the ken of those egoistic people, how so ever great they may be! We surrender unto you and such is our cult and you are present in spite of our simple nature and background. Our grand Lord! Cuckoo birds have sung! Hens have crowed. All birds chirped one after the other. White conches from temples also have hooted. Stars also slowly faded away their lights. Sun with its matchless light, appears in its full brightness, Shiva! You are the grand-light and great wealth to us! May you wake up from your divine sleep so that we can behold your good , divine feet with decoration by anklets.
4. Shiva! On one side there are devotees playing Veena, the string instrument, on the other side devotees playing with “Yazh” another string instrument and devotees from both rows worship you with the Chanting of “Namashivaya” with the accompaniment of properly tuned music instruments. “Iruk” the unique Charm(powerful word) and “Manthra” are one and the same. “ Namashivaya” is the foremost and perfect of all the Charms(powerful words). Because of that uniqueness, that powerful word, is extolled(praised) as “sum and substance of the scriptures and finally termed as ‘Iruk. Such a great five lettered powerful word(Na Ma Si Va Ya), that is the matter from the scripture combined with classic Tamil songs sung by the devotees in a manner loved by heavenly beings. On the one side devotees and on the other side devotees are holding closely- stringed garlands with fragrant flowers with love for the purpose of Shiva’s worship. Worshippers who are your devotees with tears of joy are on another side. Similarly still on another side Shiva devotees with their folded hands on the top of their heads in worship and some devotees are dancing with the praise of our Lord they are present still in another side are present. Thus you are present in Thirupperundurai, to bless all the above devotees. Would you awake from your sacred-sleep. You rule over me, though I am not disciplined.
5. Oh Shiva! The Lord in Thirupperundurai! You are never without the exterior coolness denoted by watery agricultural fields and interior coolness of classical Tamil Scriptures. Gifted poets sing as you are the inseparable combination of every element and as you are the God without birth and death. Devotees also dance out of sheer love unto you. Besides these, we have not even heard those who claim to see you. You are beyond the scope of our idea or imagination. Such is your magnanimity that f or the sake of simpletons like us, you come before us to sever three archetypal sins “lust, anger, and ignorance ”. You are the prime God, who salvages us. May you wake up from your divine sleep!
6. Shiva !You are the husband of the Goddess, who is by nature Godly. Your devotees are not anxiety stricken by the worldly diversions and they earned your blessings and got liberation. The devotees are so modest as females when they worship you. Oh Shiva living in Thirupperundurai! which is encapsulated by the landscape with copper- red lotus flowers, you liberate us from this birth only to lead us the ideal path. May you wake up from your divine sleep.
7. Let us come to the sense that Lord Shiva can not be realized by any one and by anything except through his blessings. As such, it is highly debated even by heavenly- beings who don’t know the real nature of our Lord Shiva. In fact Lord Shiva is the “ deliciousness of fruit”, “Ambrosia”, and he is beyond comprehension. Nevertheless, He has so absorbed and blessed us as we perceive him through the “Grand-Light”, and we are also able to feel that “That- Distant- Shiva” is here “This- Shiva-Approachable”. Shiva! You are the God who lives in Thiru Vuththarakosamangai, the shrine surrounded by Honey bearing groves. In Thiru Perundurai, you are present as Shivakurava! We would ask you the ideal-way chosen by you to make us your servants. Oh! Our Grand Sire! Would you wake from your divine sleep!.
8..Shiva! You are the origin of the world, Present state of the world, and changes to the world, and all these take place due to your divine approval. As such, you are considered to be the basis, mid part and end of the different phases of the world. Your perfect nature is not understandable even by Brahma, Vishnu, and Haran, who are executing your divine command of “three fold duties”. As such, who can realize you?(except by your making it understandable , no one can understand on their own effort) You, Grand Sire! and mother of the world with beautifully featured fingers that play ball,(Consort Parvathy forming left side of Lord Shiva) come and bless these ‘physical temples’ of the true-devotees which is constituted by their old ages and mere skinny frames. Shiva! You accept us as your devotees and bless us by showing your true form which is comparable to the red flame, and with your showing of the holy Shrine “Thirup Perundurai where you are ‘Shiva Kurava’ and by manifesting yourself as a Brahmin- Guru- who leads the morally and spiritually righteous path of living. Shiva! You remain always as ‘ever- permanent-thing’ , ‘delicious Amrosia’! May you wake up from your divine sleep!.
9.Oh! Shiva you are the excellent thing that can not be approached by heavenly beings nor can they have a idea about you . You so remain majestically in Thirup Perundurai that we serve you avidly. We are your devotees generation after generation and simpletons like us can feel you through mind and eyes and you give us the ecstasy which is akin to honey. You are the Ambrosia churned sout of the ocean of divine blessings. You are the sweet you wake up from your divine sleep.
10. Shiva! You are present in all your splendor in Thirupperundurai. Vishnu, who dwells in the Sky, Brahma who is in the Lotus flower found that their respective worlds are quite useless for realizing God, and they have found that the earthly world only is able to fetch them the blessings of Lord Shiva. Brahma and Vishnu have come to the sense that they are frittering away the life by not being born in the earthly world, and wisdom has dawned on them that this southern part of the world(South India) is the place, where Shiva with ease showers his blessings unto all creatures and living things. Both Vishnu and Brahma respectively have wishes and have passions, and you are present in this world and accept the simple souls to bless us with your infinitely extended mercy and benedictions. Pure and unmixed Ambrosia!(Shiva) you are with enormous love for us! May you wake up form your divine sleep.
ADDITIONAL…..
8. “ Oh girl! Shiva is beyond the scope of the thinking faculty of the celestial beings. How can you remain silent without telling “Shiva” even after hearing to his favorite instruments being played. Until recently, it has been you practice that when you hear “Shiva in the southern land”, your heart would melt down like wax as if it is heated and what has become of you now? You remain silent even after hearing our singing “ Shiva in the southern land” We sing Shiva with epithets, “Our own, Our Lord, Our Chief and Ambrosia-like Shiva!” Don’t you hear all these? Do you still sleep? You are silent like hard hearted people when divine ecstasy is here, what is pleasant about sleeping?hu apachayam aaka, mun paarththavardham
mathi chayam aaka anRO, vaama
About the Author
Prof.Dr.S.Elangovan, English Professor is serving as English Professor in Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering & Technology, Thiruppachchur, Thiruvellore, Tamil Nadu, Indian is a prolific writer.
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