711. “O Kanna, your face is like the shining full moon,
your hands, chest and arms are strong,
your dark hair is adorned with fresh flowers,
your forehead is like the crescent moon
and your eyes are like lotuses blooming in a pond.
I do not have the fortune of seeing
you with my eyes when you are a baby
even though I think of myself as your mother.
I am unlucky and I don’t have the pleasure
of raising my child, yet still I am alive. ”
Word by Word (WBW) meaning
(The words may be rearranged to facilitate conversion from poetry to prose (Aṉvayam). Please read the meanings (in black) continuously to form the sentence and understand the simplified meaning based on the Divyārtha Dīpikai for the verse.)
In this deeply moving pāśuram, the blessed mother Śrī Dēvakī poignantly expresses her unbearable sorrow. She gives voice to the lament of a soul who, due to the immense burden of her past deeds, considers herself the most unfortunate of sinners. Her great misfortune was to have been denied the unparalleled bliss of witnessing and cherishing