2478. The poet says, “O lord, for the sake of protecting all souls, you took birth in several wombs!, chief of the gods in the sky, hear the request of your devotee. Remove my false knowledge, bad behavior, and unclean body and give me your grace so that I, born from my mother’s womb, will not be born in this world again. ”

2479. Her friend says, “She loves the cloud-colored Kannan, the god of the gods in the sky. Her eyes are filled with tears, as if she were a fish frolicking in the water of a flourishing pond. May he prosper!”

2480. She says, “Worshiped by the gods, he wears a thulasi garland and my lovely heart goes behind him as he rides on the angry Garudā, carrying a fire-like discus that destroys his enemies. Nappinnai, the beautiful daughter of the cowherds who play the flute, the earth goddess and Lakshmi are with him like his shadow. Will my heart stay there looking at his beloved wives or will it return?”

2481. She says, “My lonely heart was attracted to his bird Garudā and went behind it. I have nothing to give to him who wears cool thulasi garlands. O cool poisonous wind! Is it right for you to blow and make me shiver for the love I have for him who drank milk from the breast of the devil Putanā?”

2482. Her friend says, “The blowing of the cool wind is like fire, it doesn’t seem to know it is the cool season. Does he send it to make wide-eyed girls become pale? Does the cloud-colored Kannan make a rule for the wind to blow so cold?”

2483. He says, “This beautiful vine-like girl with sharp eyes like arrows and eyebrows like bent bows shot her arrow-look at me, her target. She is like the god who rides on Garudā, fought and conquered the Asurans, and is like Yama himself, and she is like his son Kama the god of love. Her love will take away your life. Protect yourselves. ”

2484. She says, “The wind blows, the rain pours down and the clouds look like bulls fighting together. The earth is cool and the sky has the dark color of Thirumāl. Is this the rainy season that comes to make lovers suffer in separation? I don’t know. I have done bad karmā. ”

2485. She says, “All that I see and hear reminds me of my beloved, the chief of the mountain. I know that he wants to go far away, crossing the large mountain of Thiruvenkatam, to earn wealth, and it seems certain he will go. ”

2486. He says, “Her face is like a lotus. She has shining dark eyes and lovely lips, her teeth are like white pearls, her eyes are like beautiful blooming kuvalai flowers and she looks like a beautiful doe. She is divine like the sky world of the god with a strong sharp discus in his hand. Who could bear to be separated from her, as lovely as a precious flourishing creeper?”

2487. He says, “O girls, you are as beautiful as the vines in the Thiruvenkatam hills in the north where Māyon stays. Even though I tell you how I suffer, you don’t listen. Are your mouths as beautiful as thondai fruit? Are you worried that if you speak, the parrots that hear you will feel shy? Tell me, I have done bad karmā. ”

2488. He says, “When I told her whose teeth are like white pearls, ‘You are like Kannan’s heaven. You eyes are very special. I need to be apart from you so I can gather wealth, ’ her large eyes like kendai fish shed tears and her precious golden body became pale. Now, all these things keep appearing and disappearing before me, making me suffer. ”

2489. She says, “The pale color of my body increases. The nights seem as long as eons. My dear Kannan who has a beautiful discus and is adorned with a cool thulasi garland gave me all this pain because his good heart loves me. ”

2490. She says, “The sun, the king of the day, the ruler of the earth with his scepter, has set and the heat and the light have gone away. The king of cold and darkness has come to rule. The cool wind coming from the thulasi garland of my beloved makes my bangles grow loose. Who will protect me? The night grows like an eon. ”

2491. He says, “Her beautiful fish-shaped eyes that are sharp like spears have taken over my life. The bright light of Kama’s divine arrows will not leave me. They target my life. She is like the divine heaven of the shining dark-colored god. ”

2492. Her friend says, “You came searching for an elephant and said to us, ‘You with fish-shaped eyes, did you see an elephant?’ If others find out that you came here, won’t they gossip? We guard the millet field in Thiruvenkatam of the lord colored like the ocean or a cloud. You haven’t come for a while— every day for a long time we have guarded the millet field. ”

2493. He says, “You are as precious as the sky where Kannan stays. When I am away from you, it seems as if many eons pass, but the time I am with you seems very short. Whether you are with me or away from me, I become weak. This darkness gives me much pain. ”

2494. She says, “O ocean! You look like the darkness that is spreading. May you prosper with your abundant waves. The dark-colored lord resting on the snake bed Adisesha shines like a black sun that spreads its rays and take away the darkness. Do not erase the tracks of the wheels of the chariot on which my beloved rides. ”

2495. Her friend says, “Does the sky look as if it has taken its water from the ocean and risen, or does the ocean look as if it has the color of the sky? Is it the time of the eon when the flood comes and he swallows all the worlds and the sky, or it is just the rainy season? The tears this girl sheds are like a waterfall. ”

2496. Her mother says, “The dark clouds rise in the rainy season and their thunder seems to scream out, ‘Is there anyone to protect the chastity of these women?’ If the lord adorned with a thulasi garland and riding on Garudā does not give his grace soon enough, the village will gossip about my little daughter whose words are few. ”

2497. Her friend says, “O Velan! She is not sick because her words are few. Her sickness is not one that some young god has given— it is only because she has fallen in love with our lord. O Velan, stop your worship. O mothers, hear my words. Bring the cool thulasi garland from him who swallowed all the seven worlds and put it on her. ”

2498. Her friend says, “The gods in the sky bathe you in pure water, adorn you with beautiful garlands and burn incense to you and worship you. You stole the butter in the cowherd village and ate it, and you fought the seven bulls with bent horns to marry Nappinnai, the daughter of the cowherd and you danced the kudakkuthu dance. ”

2499. Her friend says, “He wears a dress made of leaves and in his hands he carries a bow and an arrow. It seems he has come to hunt. He asked us, ‘Did you see an elephant?’ He rides on Garudā and is a thief. He asks things he can’t ask at his house. Did our relatives tell us to go to the millet field to answer naughty questions like this?”

2500. He says, “I have done bad karmā. My mind thinks of the millet field where she is and the path to go there. O girls watching the millet field, are you like goddesses in the sky where the lotus-eyed Kannan stays? Tell me, what are your divine qualities?”

2501. Her mother says, “Her beautiful fish-eyes shed tears like a river. Does she suffer with love sickness? She wants the garland of him who rides on Garudā adorned with a thulasi garland dripping with honey and carried Govardhanā mountain as an umbrella, to protect the cows and the cowherds from the big storm. What will become of the heart of my daughter ornamented with lovely bangles?”

2502. She says, “My bangles grow loose because I love the lord the god of the gods and the god of Indra, the king of the gods. His scepter that protects the sky and the earth is bent because he does not want to help me. I worry about the pain that his thulasi garland may give to those who love him like me on this earth”

2503. He says, “The sun travels through all lands and makes this desert so hot that no one can live here. You, precious as gold, have crossed into even this hot land with me. Let us go to the temple in Thiruvekka where the gods in the sky come to worship Kannan. The beautiful, blooming grove near the temple will take away our weariness and make us feel good in this desert land. ”

2504. She says, “The world says, ‘If someone receives the grace of the ruler, the protector of the world, even enemies will become his friend. ’ This is true. I received the cool thulasi garland of Kannan and wear it, and now even the cold wind that would blow like whistling fire in the middle of every night makes me cool. ”

2505. She says, “In Srirangam where you stay, the Kaveri flows with abundant water. There birds look to catch crabs and the flowing water stops them and saves the crabs. We want your cool thulasi garland and are distressed that we do not have it. The cool wind blows and makes us suffer more and no one can escape from worry when their thoughts wander. Give us your grace. ”

2506. She says, “O swans that were born in good families, go with your mates to the dark-colored lord who shines like lightning and tell him, ‘We are her messengers. She begged us to tell you how she loves you. ’ Women do not go as messengers. Aren’t you the right ones to go for me?”

2507. She says, “O swans and bees, I bow to you and ask you to take my message to him. Tell me, won’t you go to him? I won’t forget your help. If you see other women Kannan loves in Vaikundam tell them also about me. Understand that helping me is the right thing for you to do. ”

2508. She says, “O clouds floating in the sky with shining lightning over hills as beautiful as pure gold studded with jewels, You are going towards the place where he is in the Thiruvenkatam hills that are known everywhere. If I ask you to be my messengers, will you agree? If I ask you to fly over me, will you do that and go to see him?”

2509. She says, “O clouds, tell me, how did you get the good fortune of having the color of the divine Thirumāl? Did you do tapas to receive the grace of him who gives life to all? Dark and filled with water, you give rain to the world and make it flourish. ”

2510. Her friend says, “You rest on Adishesa on the ocean and rule this world with a scepter and your divine discus and you take away the bad karmā of the world and the wide sky and give your grace to all. Are you ignoring her, thinking she is just a woman? Do you think she is a stranger? We cannot understand what you are thinking, but we see her growing pale and her beauty being spoiled. ”

2511. Her friend says, “You are our Thirumāl. Upset, she kicks and erases the kudal she drew on the sand because it will not come together. She loves you and wants your thulasi garland. I don’t know how to help her and keep her from worrying so. ”

2512. She says, “The evening, the woman of the west, feels alone after the sun, her husband, has left as she holds in her lap the moon, her son, whose mouth is filled with milk. The cool wind blows strong as if it wants to take away all the grace that Thirumāl who measured the world gives to those who long for his thulasi garland. "

2513. Her friend says, “The night is getting dark and the world looks as if the end of the eon had arrived. She always prattles, saying, ‘cool thulasi garland, ’ but our father who destroyed the forts in Lankā surrounded with tall palaces does not feel sorry for her suffering. How could he be so cruel to her?”

2514. Her mother says, “Hunters live with arrows that kill animals in the forest where my daughter went with him, and there are other thieves there who steal cows. Young people there beat their loud drums. I have done bad karmā. My soft-waisted daughter, beautiful as a doe, has gone away with Kannan, worshiping his lotus feet. How could she walk with him in the terrible forest?”

2515. She says, “Did the neelam flowers do long tapas as they grew in ponds with their strong stalks? Is that why they have the color of him, the dancer on the pot who measured the world and the sky at Mahābali’s sacrifice?”

2516. She says, “The dark-colored one, the protector of good people and of the gods in the sky, rules the sky and the world surrounded by the ocean rolling with waves. The lotuses that bloom in the ponds on the dark hills look like the lord with a dark body and lotus eyes. ”

2517. She says to her friends, “O you ornamented with beautiful jewels! The sun that is like a beautiful white elephant sets in the evening and darkness appears like a herd of elephants. When will the day come when my mothers bring the thulasi garland of the beloved of the earth goddess and put it on me to make me happy?”

2518. She says, “The terrible wind does not stop blowing. There is so much heat, I don’t know what to do. He who rides on Garudā and destroyed the Asuras does not give his grace to me. People gossip in the mandram in the village and the cruel wind burns me. ”

2519. She says, “He grew to the sky as if to say, ‘The distance between the sky and the earth is too small for me. ’ My eyes that worship his feet are like the soft lotuses in a pond waving in a strong wind. ”

2520. She says, “His eyes and hands are like beautiful lotuses and he has the color of a dark mountain. Even the sages who know everything, the gods in the sky and all others cannot describe his beautiful color. ”

2521. She says, “The sages and the scholars of religions who try to find the paths of dharma may say, ‘This is the color, beauty, name and form of the highest lord, ’ but he is only the light of wisdom and no one really knows who he is, or what his greatness is. ”

2522. She says, “He gives his grace to us with his lotus eyes. Is there anyone who can help us as he can or any friend like him? The bond between him and us is forever— he is with us and we will have no trouble. O heart, do not worry! Worship him and live. O ignorant heart, only he can remove our births. ”

2523. She says, “I thought my mind was my own and there was no one closer to me than my own heart. I thought my heart would help me if I sent it as a messenger to him who split open the chest of Hiranyan, but it went to him and stayed. It doesn’t want to come back but wanders sweetly with him. ”

2524. Her mother says, “My daughter fell in love with Kannan. The wind from the north blows always and makes her suffer, the moon pours down its rays and makes her hot and her conch bangles grow loose. She longs for his cool thulasi garland and her body grows pale because he hasn’t given it to her. What will happen to my gentle daughter?”

2525. She says, “How can a worm moving so slowly with its soft body ever get to see the world? I am just like that worm waiting to see him. People have long believed that lizards can tell the future, and this lizard tells me that the beloved of Lakshmi will come to see me soon. I hope that is true. ”

2526. She says, “O friend with a shining forehead, the dark-colored lord who wears thulasi garlands that swarm with bees is Madhusudhanan, he is Damodharan. I have not seen, heard or known a darkness like the color of his body that eclipses even the darkness of the night. But it is not only his dark body— this darkness of the night also makes me suffer. ”

2527. He says, “O charioteer, drive swiftly. Don’t go slow. I must go and see my beloved with shining forehead before her pallor increases. We should go to the wide Thiruvenkatam hills of the god of gods in the sky where a waterfall shines like the pearl garland. and falls to the ground.

2528. She says, “He, Māyappirān, churned the milky ocean using Mandara mountain for a churning stick and the snake Vāsuki for a rope and he gave to the gods the nectar that came up. The conch bangles I bought from the fishermen are becoming loose. Does the ocean want to have them back because they belong to it?”

2529. She says, “The rain goddess takes the white waves of the dark ocean and goes to him as he rests on a snake bed with Lakshmi. The waterfalls make the hills look like the breast of earth goddess and then as they flow into rivers it looks as if she were shedding tears and saying, ‘Tirumal is cruel!’”

2530. The fortuneteller says, “She fell in love with the god of the gods in the sky and is sick with love for him. Bring a thulasi garland or a leaf from it or a beautiful branch of the plant or its root and fan her with it. ”

2531. Sending bees as messengers, she says, “O bees, it is easy for you to fly to the sky where he is. Before you go to see him, make sure you remember clearly the message that I give you. Go to his faultless lotus feet and tell him. The cowherd women scolded him because he stole their butter and ate it, but I won’t say anything like that. Help me reach his faultless feet. ”

2532. He says, “O bees! Come. You drink honey from the beautiful flowers that bloom on the water, on the earth and in the trees, and you feel happy and fly about. I want to tell you something. She is like the Vaikundam of him who took the form of a boar. You drink honey from the fragrant flowers on her hair. Have you ever seen such flowers anywhere else?”

2533. She says, “O friend! Through the divine grace of him who swallowed the whole earth and spit it out we have a place to live. We are not afraid of anything. The cool breeze brings honey from his beautiful thulasi garland and sprinkles it on my body and my ornaments. No one around me knows this. I am happy. ”

2534. He says, “Her face is like a lotus, her eyes are like beautiful kendai fish or sharp spears, her nose is like a vine and she wears earrings in her ears. When our eyes met we felt as if we had drunk the nectar from the milky ocean churned up by the gods. No one will gossip about us—our love is true. ”

2535. Her friend says, “When he took the boon from Mahābali, one foot covered the whole world and the other foot had to go to sky since there is no space left on the earth. He is the highest lord of the world and the sky and he is the light of knowledge. There is nothing left anywhere for the lotus-eyed Kannan to measure. ”

2536. Her foster mother says, “She longs for the thulasi garland of Madhusudanan, the lord of flourishing world, and she, her lovely teeth like jasmine, cannot bear the pain of the night that seems as long as an eon. My daughter’s round breasts have grown pale. I have done bad karmā. ”

2537. Her mother says, “My daughter’s breasts have not grown out yet, her hair is not yet thick and she doesn’t know how to put her clothes on. She only prattles. Her bright, mesmerizing glance is precious beyond any price. She only knows to say, ‘Is he the highest lord? Is Thiruvenkatam the hill where he stays?’”

2538. Her friend says, “O friend, how can we praise his might? He is the highest and most ancient god of the gods in the sky and all in the sky worship him. He measured the whole earth and the sky with his two feet without growing tired, yet he came to the cowherd village and was born as a baby there. ”

2539. Her friend says, “You have the color of a cloud and you rest on a snake bed on the ocean. Even if she worships the ocean and asks it to be calm, it just roars out, ‘aṟaiyoo!’ Her chastity cannot be saved without your divine grace. Is this right, O lord?”