The breath-taking expansion of the Lord as Trivikrama, spanning the entire Universe, up and below, is mentioned first. When the King embarks on a mighty undertaking, his immediate attendants vie with each other in exhibiting their eagerness to ensure its successful achievement. When Rāma set out on exile, Lakṣmaṇa was the first to step forward to accompany Him. Likewise,

When the momentous churning of the Milk-ocean took place, so great was the upheaval of the ocean that the rivers bound for the ocean were repulsed so fast that they had to swirl back to the mountains whence they sprang. And then, there was the mighty serpent, Vāsukī functioning as the rope churning the great mountain, making all the noise that the tremendous friction could

The Lord incarnated as the Great Boar, slew the demon Hiraṇyākṣa (the golden-eyed) in a pitched battle, and forked the Earth, hidden by him under the waters, with His unique tooth, long and portruding. When the Lord put the Earth back in position, all its contents, namely, the seven islands, the seven mountains and seven oceans were quite in tact, without undergoing any

This song brings out the extraordinary situation that prevailed at the time of the deluge when all the elements, Sky and Earth, the Sun, Stars and other luminous bodies fell from their respective positions and moved into the Lord’s stomach, literally sucked in, to avoid being swept off. When the Sun, the chief indicater of time and its numerous components got dislodged,

On seeing Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Divine Charioteer, ranged on the side of the Pāṇḍavas, Kings and Warriors of great prowess, arrayed opposite, screamed and trembled. The exalted Celestials came in their strength and watched from above, bubbling with reverent admiration, the wondrous battle down below, whose strategy was directed by the Lord at every turn, culminating in the victory of the Pāṇḍavas.

Oh, what a thrilling spectacle it was, the way Narasiṃham slew Hiraṇya, like unto one mountain cleaving another lain, down below, blood flooding all over, high and low! Isn’t it strange that the blood should flow, in all directions, including the sky, like water flooding low-lying areas?

Oh, what a grand imagery! The blood of the Rākṣasas, rolling down dead in large numbers, fills the ocean and overflows into the rivers pushing the waters back. Lord Rāma’s arrows reduced Rāvaṇa’s Laṅka to ashes, a veritable grave-yard. The arrows sped in different directions, clashing with each other, roaring like the sea.

Kṛṣṇa’s encounter with Vāṇaṉ (Bāṇāsura) and his allies has already been set out, in detail, in the notes under III-10-4. Subrahmaṇya, Son of Śiva, is referred to here as the one with peacock banner. Agni, the fire-god, flaunted all his forty-nine facets, in vain; he had to cut a sorry figure, like his compatriots, before Lord Kṛṣṇā.

This song could refer either to the initial creation of the worlds with their diverse contents as one of His great achievements or be treated as a follow-up of the preceding song, dealing with the subjugation of Bāṇāsura by Lord Kṛṣṇa. The Lord’s creation became worth its while, only when He subdued Bāṇāsura and quelled his hauteur galore, cropprotection does indeed form an integral part of crop-cultivation.

Here is a short and sweet picture, graphic enough, of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s mountain-lifting to protect a whole township and its cattle from the fury of Indra, which visited on them through a heavy down-pour of revengeful rains for a whole week. While the cattle grazed on undisturbed, moving a little down on the mountain slopes, the wild animals, caught unawares, tumbled down,

The Āzhvār feels as if he is one of those who took shelter under mount Govardan, when Lord Kṛṣṇa held it aloft. It could also be interpreted as his joining the rank and file of the Śrī Vaiṣṇavas, who have sought refuge at the Lord’s feet, scared of the worldly life, like unto those in the pastoral village, who took shelter under Govardan. As Nampiḷḷai puts it, the Āzhvār