Tiruvalymoli: A Translation
Who possesses the highest, unsurpassable good? That one;
who graciously gives the good that clears the mind? That
one; who is the chieftan of the unforgetting immortals?
That one; so bow down at those radiant feet that destroy
affliction and then rise up, my mind.
He is beyond the scope of the understanding of minds
which blossom and rise up when impurity is banished, he
is not within the understanding of the senses; this one
is all good and understanding, there is no one like him,
past, present, or future; he is my good life, there is
no one greater than him.
He is hard to know if you think, "he lacks that," "he
has this;" he bears all forms in earth and heaven, but
has no form; with the senses yet not of the senses;
unlimited, all pervading, the incomparable one who has
the good: to him we draw near.
We here, that man, this man, the other in-between, that
woman, this woman, that other in-between, whoever, those
people, these people, and the others in-between, that
thing, this thing, and the other in-between, whichever,
those things dying, these things, the others in-between,
bad things, good things, things to be, things that were:
that one became all of them.
Each of them by his own manner of knowing has his own
lord, and so reaches his feet, and each one's lord is a
lord without fault; that each might get there in his own
right way, He stood there.
"He sat, he stood, he lay down, he moved about;" "he
didn't sit, he didn't stand, he didn't lie down, he
didn't move about:" he is hard to know if you think he
has one nature; thus always is his nature, my steadfast
one.
Steadfast sky, fire, wind, water, earth, everything
spreading forth from them - he becomes all this soul in
the body, though hidden, he pervades everything, he is
within; his is within the radiant scriptures, he has
eaten everything, that bright one.
First cause for everything beginning with the sky which
the gods find hard to know, this highest one ate it all;
"the destroyer of the three forts," "the giver of
knowledge to the gods" - you talk thus of Hara and Ayan;
but destroying the world, making it, he is within.
If you say "he is," he is, and his form is all these
forms; If you say "he is not,"his non-form is all these
non-forms; "He is," "he is not:" if he has these
qualities, he exists with both natures, without limit he
pervades everything.
He is within the waters in the broad, cool ocean, he
pervades it all; this broad world, earth and sky without
limit, every small hidden place and every thing shining
there - everywhere he hides, pervading all, he is
within, he eats all this, strong one.
These ten verses from the artfully composed thousand
sung by Shatakopan of Kuruhur at the feet of that
highest one who abides as wide sky, fire, wind, water,
earth, as subtle sound, vigor, strength, cool affection,
patience - these ten verses are your freedom.
By Shatakopan, "Nammalvar"
8th century CE, Tamil Nadu
Francis X. Clooney, SJ is a scholar of Mimansa, Vedanta and Nyaya in the Sanskrit traditions and in the Tamil