Old Tamil Poetry

Thiruvasagam – 12.3

Cremation ground’s his temple, a killer tiger’s skin his garment,
Motherless, fatherless; a loner he is, you see, my friend!
Motherless, fatherless, a loner he is; Yet if he’s incensed,
This whole world will crumble to dust, you see; Chazhalo*

* Chazhalo – a word to indicate that this is a game

கோயில்சு டுகாடு கொல்புலித்தோல் நல்லாடை
தாயுமிலி தந்தையிலி தான்தனியன் காணேடீ!
தாயுமிலி தந்தையிலி தான்தனியன் ஆயிடினுங்
காயில்உ லகனைத்துங் கற்பொடிகாண் சாழலோ.

Thiruchazhal is part of Thiruvasagam, the 8th collection (எட்டாம் திருமுறை) of poems in Saivite canon. In this, first two lines are by a girl teasing her friend about Lord Siva. The next two lines are the friend’s answer. In these playful verses the glory of Lord Siva is explained and his detractors answered. Each verse ends with Chazhalo (சாழலோ) to indicate it is part of a playful banter.

In this verse, the first girl says “He lives in a cremation ground. That is his temple. He wears a murderous tiger’s skin as his garment. He has no father, no mother. He is an orphan, all alone. Is this your God?” The second girl replies, “What you say is true. He has no father, no mother. He is all alone, an orphan, yes. But he is the primordial God of this world. If he is angered, he will crumble this whole world into dust.”

இலி – இல்லை –  Does not have
தனியன் – all alone – orphan
காயில் – காய்ந்து விட்டான் ஆனால் – if he’s angered
கற்பொடி – கல் + பொடி – stone dust