Commentary and Notes
to the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei

The notes to the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei are based on Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai’s Maimageipravimageimagea commentary and summarize his most significant interpretations for each decad (Tirumoimagei). Although there are several contemporary commentaries on the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei, they rely on Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai’s authoritative exposition of imageimageimageimageimage’s longer poem. It is for this reason that I have based these notes solely on Piimageimageai’s commentary. However, there are moments when a contemporary commentator, such as Uttamur Veeraraghavachariar, veers away from Piimageimageai’s interpretation. In the notes below, I discuss where these differences occur, and why.

Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai reads the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei as a linear narrative, contiguous with the Tiruppimagevai, despite the differences of voice, points of view, and content in the two poems. Though the commentator often acknowledges these very same differences, he quickly sets them aside in favor of a reading where the heroine in the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei is imageimageimageimageimage herself, just as all the gopimage voices in the Tiruppimagevai coalesce into a single female identity.

His commentary for each decad—referred to as a Tirumoimagei—opens with a succinct synopsis of the previous ten verses to provide both context and continuity, and then articulates relevant theological points. One of the key issues that Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai grapples with is imageimageimageimageimage’s appeal to various sentient and insentient beings such as Kimagemadeva (the god of desire), the clouds, or the kuyil bird. He keeps returning to this fundamental question: “If imageimageimageimageimage has already surrendered to Viimageimageu in the Tiruppimagevai, and has accepted him as her sole refuge, how can one explain her entreaty to these various entities?” The answer to this query varies little—it is unfailingly attributed to a loss of discriminatory capabilities caused by imageimageimageimageimage’s despair at having to suffer the terrible effects of unrequited love. In Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai’s eyes, the perfect parallel for imageimageimageimageimage’s sorry plight is that of the abducted Simagetimage, who too yearned to be united with her beloved. Piimageimageai does not assert that Simagetimage and imageimageimageimageimage’s experience is exactly the same, but rather that their situations are similar—a case imageimageimageimageimage herself makes in the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei. This nuanced position on the parallels between imageimageimageimageimage and Simagetimage comes through most clearly in the messenger Tirumoimageis such as 5 or 8, where the heroine’s association with clouds and various birds is compared to Simagetimage’s relationship with Hanumimagen. This is not to say that Piimageimageai is unaware of imageimageimageimageimage’s divine status—he makes the assertion on several occasions that she is the embodiment of Bhimage Devimage. Such a position enables the commentator to identify Simagetimage’s iconic struggle in the Rimagemimageyaimagea with that of imageimageimageimageimage’s without actually making them the same.

Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai is imaginative and his commentary is quite beautiful in parts, but his commitment to a fairly conservative reading of the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei means that it is often repetitive and constrained by the self-imposed boundaries of Rimagemimagenuja’s qualified nondualist theology (viimageiimageimageimagedvaita). This is reflected in the shorter explications for the later decads of the poem. As a result, while the commentary for the opening verses are quite long and detailed, his comments for the later decads become both abbreviated and repetitive.

The notes below offer a summary of Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai’s commentary for each decad rather than for each individual verse. I have indicated where the ideas are Piimageimageai’s and where they are mine. Where applicable, I have highlighted myths, unfamiliar vocabulary, and relevant literary allusions for individual verses. In the notes, I follow Piimageimageai’s lead and refer to the heroine of the poem as imageimageimageimageimage. These notes are meant as a supplement to the translations, rather than a comprehensive translation or paraphrase of the Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai commentary.

Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei 1. The Song to Kimagemadeva

Like most Tamiimage literary texts, the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei opens with an invocation to a deity (kaimageavuimage vimageimagettu), except here it is addressed not to Viimageimageu, but to Kimagemadeva (the god of desire). It is a particularly significant choice, because the goal is not so much the invocation of a poetic muse, as is the case in other literary works, but an appeal for a mediatory presence in imageimageimageimageimage’s quest of love. Such a position inevitably raises the question of why imageimageimageimageimage would seek a different upimageya (means/path), when according to Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai, it is clear in the Tiruppimagevai that she has already fully surrendered to and accepted Viimageimageu as her only refuge. If at the conclusion at the Tiruppimagevai it is understood that she fulfilled her quest and that it was successful, how does one explain imageimageimageimageimage’s choosing to fall at Kimagema’s feet? Piimageimageai posits several different answers to her puzzling actions. He first suggests that ajñimagena (ignorance) might have led her down this unfortunate path. But this is not a viable response and is not one that the commentator actively pursues. After all, imageimageimageimageimage is a divine being, and as will become clear in his expositions of the later decads, is an emanation of Bhimage Devimage. He therefore softens his harsh charge, and instead suggests that imageimageimageimageimage’s momentary ignorance is caused by a single-minded focus on Viimageimageu that has led her to experience the terrible pain of unrequited love, which in turn causes her to lose sleep. Piimageimageai compares her actions to the citizens of Ayodhyimage, who, mad with grief, appealed to various gods when their beloved Rimagema left for his fourteen years of exile. He also alludes to the fact that Kimagema is really Viimageimageu’s son, so in the larger scheme of things imageimageimageimageimage’s propitiation does not violate her surrender to Viimageimageu (see appendix 2 for a synopsis of the myth that recounts the relationship between Kimageimageimagea and Kimagema). It must be noted here that imageimageimageimageimage does not allude to Kimagema’s filial relationship to Viimageimageu. The contemporary commentator Uttamur Veeraraghavachariar takes an alternate position. He suggests that imageimageimageimageimage did not in fact indulge in the worship of a deity other than Viimageimageu. That is, the vow to Kimagema is simply an instance of imageimageimageimageimage following a prescribed ritual duty (naimittika karma). And when she performed this duty, worship was offered either to Viimageimageu, who resides in Kimagema (as he resides in all things and in all beings), or that she worshipped Kimagema as Viimageimageu.

Catherine Benton points out in her book God of Desire that in textual descriptions of a ritual known as the Damanakotsava (Festival of the Damanaka Flower), Viimageimageu was often substituted for Kimagema. As described in the Padma Purimageimagea, this ritual is one observed by Vaiimageimageavas during the months of March–April, and in it Kimagema becomes a “multiform of Viimageimageu, receiving prayers of supplication while granting his devotees’ petitions, behaving much like the great god [Viimageimageu].”1 There is no contemporary evidence of festivals and rituals to Kimagema, and it is impossible to know if imageimageimageimageimage’s vow to Kimagemadeva is imagined or if it depicts a ritual that was in circulation during her time. imageimageimageimageimage does provide a fair amount of detail on the elements of her ritual vow to Kimagema—she talks of drawing sacred diagrams on the earth, making paintings on the wall, and she mentions all of Kimagema’s symbolic accoutrements, including his sugarcane bow and flower arrows. imageimageimageimageimage’s description of the vow makes no mention of Kimagema’s wife, Ratimage, who, Benton points out, is often evoked in these rituals alongside the god of desire.2

Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai reads the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei as beginning where the Tiruppimagevai ends. The Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei does create both a chronological and thematic continuity with the former poem, beginning as it does in the month of Tai (January–February), and with another vow. The Tiruppimagevai is an enactment of a ritual prayer (the pimagevai nimageimagepu) undertaken by young unmarried girls for the attainment of a virtuous husband. In the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei, the desire is unaltered, and the virtuous husband remains Viimageimageu.

The first verse of the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei quickly moves from the Tamiimage solar months of Tai (mid-January to mid-February) to Mimageci (mid-February to mid-March), and we greet the following month Paimagekuimagei (mid-March to mid-April) in Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei 2. So in a span of three lines imageimageimageimageimage invokes the pimagevai nimageimagepu that she describes in exquisite detail in Tiruppimagevai, while also indicating the length, arduousness, and her commitment to securing her desire. The connection to the Tiruppimagevai, especially verses 2 and 8, is also asserted when she details the ritual requirements for her vow to Kimagema. She wakes up early in the morning and takes a bath in cold water, purifying herself, following, as Piimageimageai points out, Bharata’s example in the Rimagemimageyaimagea, when he bathed in the Sarayimage before approaching Rimagema. But the purpose of the bath is also to cool the fire of separation ravaging her.

Like the pimagevai nimageimagepu of the Tiruppimagevai, this vow too requires special dedication and commitment. Piimageimageai says that she draws beautiful magical diagrams (maimageimageala) only with soft, fine white sand, because it is bright as the sattva guimagea (the virtue of luminosity) that Viimageimageu embodies. The sand is soft, Piimageimageai goes on to explicate, so that it will not hurt Viimageimageu’s feet when he finally comes for her. She chooses perfect thorn-less twigs, picking off any ants, so that her fire sacrifices are untarnished by the blemish of killing a living being.

One of the curious moments in this first decad occurs in the opening verse (Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei 1.1), where imageimageimageimageimage invokes Kimagema and his brother. While there is no mythological basis for it, Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai identifies him as Simagema and adds that it is common practice to invoke a brother in addition to the main figure of propitiation or at the beginning of any arduous quest. To make his point, he offers a comparison from the Rimagemimageyaimagea, when Hanumimagen bowed down to both Rimagema and Lakimagemaimagea before he undertook his ventures to Laimageka. It is possible that Piimageimageai in identifying Kimagema’s brother (Simagema) is referring to one of Kimageimageimagea’s son Pradyumna’s siblings. (Kimagema was born as Kimageimageimagea’s son Pradyumna). In the Bhimagegavata Purimageimagea 10.61, a list of Kimageimageimagea’s sons is provided. While there is no son by the name Simagema—although there is a Samba—this might be the source that Piimageimageai is invoking his commentary.

1.1

Tai: The month the Tamiimage solar calendar that roughly parallels the months of mid-January to mid- February of the western calendar.

maimageimagealas: Intricate designs with specific symbolic meanings that are drawn/created and used to guide ritual practice.

Mimageci: The month of the Tamiimage calendar corresponding to the months of mid-February to mid-March.

Anaimagega: A name of Kimagemadeva, the god of love. This specific epithet means the “formless one.” The gods appeal to Kimagema to awaken desire for the goddess Pimagervatimage in imageiva’s heart. Kimagema shoots his arrow of flowers at imageiva and is successful. imageiva is furious at Kimagema’s intervention in his austerities, and turns him to ash with his fiery gaze. It is in this episode that earns Kimagema the name, Anaimagega—the formless/limbless one. Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai does not explicate either the relevance of the myth or the name to the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei, though he offers a gloss of this particular epithet.

1.10

This is the traditional phala imageruti, the concluding verse of a verse or decad that recounts the rewards accrued from reciting or hearing the poem. A phala imageruti ends either a section (usually a decad) of the poem or the poem itself. I have discussed the phala imageruti in detail in the notes to Tiruppimagevai 30.

A curious feature of the phala imageruti, dramatically in evidence in the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei, is the tension between the text of longing and the meta– phala imageruti that closes the decad on a note of fulfillment, even if that fulfillment is reserved solely for the audience reciting/hearing the text. Somehow the narrative of imageimageimageimageimage’s longing will bring the devotee closer to Nimagerimageyaimagea, though this is not a feature unique to imageimageimageimageimage. There is a suggestion on the part of the poet that verses (even if they are so despairing), will prove just as efficacious for the eager and diligent devotee as her various vows were.

Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei 2. The Song of the Sandcastles

This Tirumoimagei describes the youthful Kimageimageimagea’s mischief in the mythic world of imageyarpimageimagei. Of course, we never “see” Kimageimageimagea; we only hear the pleas of the young gopimage (cowherd) girls pleading with him not to break their sandcastles (ciimageimageil).

In the Tiruppimagevai, Caimagekam topologies of akam (interior) and puimageam (exterior) are literally realized through a careful use of spatial relationships. The Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei does not exploit the possibilities of akam and puimageam in the same ways that we see in the shorter poem. But this Tirumoimagei provides a unique window into imageimageimageimageimage’s deft realignment of these antecedent literary traditions. The narrative situation of this decad is that of young gopimage girls building sandcastles (ciimageimageil) that the mischievous Kimageimageimagea insists on destroying. The making of the ciimageimageil is a game featured in the Caimagekam poems, where like in this instance, it is a metonymy for the interior world of the heroine.

In Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei 2, the gopimages describe their ciimageimageil in elaborate detail, with a focus on how they have carefully constructed the interiors of their sandcastles. A heedless Kimageimageimagea then destroys these very interiors by touching and kicking them. The paradox is further developed as the young girls repeatedly insist through the ten verses of the poem that they are innocent, naïve, and incapable of indulging the mischievous Kimageimageimagea in his whims. What these whims are we can only speculate—though we are given an insight in 2.9, where he is described as entering their homes just for the perverse pleasure of destroying their beautiful worlds. The girls end the verse (2.9) with the query, “what will our neighbors say?” Furthermore, the motif of the sandcastle-home, physical-home, and the female body as home is fully realized in the penultimate verse of the second section of the second Tirumoimagei, where the girls say:

You enter our courtyard
show us your lovely face, your sweet smile
do you intend to break our sandcastles
and our hearts as well?
O Govinda, who leaped and stretched

to span the earth and the sky

if you embrace us like this
what will our neighbors say? (2.9)

The second Tirumoimagei begins on the threshold of the gopimages’ homes, where they claim they have just adorned the streets for Kimagemadeva (2.1). In 2.5, they say that they have built their castles on the threshold of their homes. In 2.9, Kimageimageimagea moves from the courtyard of the girls’ homes, to embracing their bodies, and enters their minds. imageimageimageimageimage plays off the broken ciimageimageil and the sorrowful hearts of the young girls, leaving no ambiguity of the correlation. Kimageimageimagea’s invasion of the interior space of the home, seen as contiguous with that of the heroine’s (imageimageimageimageimage’s) own body, is developed further in the later decads of the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei, where he is accused of entering her and/or her house without her permission to make love to her, to wrest her bangles, or as in this case, to break her/their sandcastles.

Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai does not explore the above angle in his commentary, as he is little interested in the poem’s literary dimensions. Instead he focuses on the relationship of Kimageimageimagea’s apparently callous behavior and the previous decad in praise of Kimagema. He does not find the shift from first person point of view to the plural voice jarring. Rather, he reads both as the voice of imageimageimageimageimage, except in Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei 2 the voice is a plural one, like in the Tiruppimagevai. The central question in Tirumoimagei 1 was “why would imageimageimageimageimage, who had surrendered to Viimageimageu, propitiate Kimagema?” Here the question is “what could prompt the usually benevolent and gentle Viimageimageu to torment his devotees in this manner?” Piimageimageai begins by asserting that having witnessed their (her) surrender to Kimagema, Viimageimageu was upset, but also saddened that his disregard for the gopimages had prompted them to worship another deity. Piimageimageai suggests that the gopimages’ (imageimageimageimageimage’s) prayers to Kimagema were much like the errant cowherds who worshipped Indra and the Govardhana mountain (see appendix 2 for a synopsis of the relevant myth). Not wanting the girls to suffer, Kimageimageimagea decided that he wanted to protect them just as he had rescued the elephant Gajendra from the clutches of the crocodile. But the girls paid him no heed and instead continued to focus all their attention on their sandcastles. This is why, Piimageimageai explains, Kimageimageimagea began to destroy the ciimageimageil, resulting in a mighty battle between them that was akin to the great Mahimagebhimagerata war. The girls accuse Kimageimageimagea that he used the ciimageimageil as an excuse for something else, and their suspicions are confirmed when their verbal sparring ends in union (saimageimageleimagea). But all union inevitably also ends in separation, and so it is for these young girls/imageimageimageimageimage.

This Tirumoimagei begins with the line “O Nimagerimageyaimagea! Praised with a thousand names! /O Nara!” which is of great significance to Piimageimageai. He offers two major interpretations for the phrase Nara-Nimagerimageyaimagea. The first is that Viimageimageu descended from heaven (Nimagerimageyaimagea) to take the form of a man (Nara) like Rimagema, in order that those embroiled in the coils of saimageimageimagera could experience him in an embodied form in this world. He goes on to say that Viimageimageu is after all the eyes of the world, the one bright as the sun. Rimagema captivated everyone with his purity and loveliness, but Kimageimageimagea did so by tormenting all the women. In Piimageimageai’s second explanation, Nara-Nimagerimageyaimagea points to the importance of the imagecimagerya (teacher) in guiding devotees to Viimageimageu, where Nara is the teacher and Nimagerimageyaimagea the supreme deity. When the student questions how one may attain the feet of Viimageimageu, Piimageimageai responds that it is through the recitation of the thousand names of Viimageimageu (nimagemam imageyiram), thus emphasizing a central theme of the Tiruppimagevai—the recitation of the names of god (nimagema saimagekimagertana).

Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei 3. The Song for the Clothes

Piimageimageai reads verses 2.8 and 2.9, the final two verses of the previous Tirumoimagei, as signaling Kimageimageimagea’s union with the gopimage girls (and imageimageimageimageimage), where their two bodies become one, like a pot in two pieces that is seamlessly joined when dry. But according to Piimageimageai, a union is useless if it only occurs when desired. It is appreciated only when it occurs after a lengthy separation. Piimageimageai declares that union prefigures an inevitable separation and creates a beautifully imagined scenario described below that provides the context for the series of ten verses.

The relatives of the gopimages, recognizing the signs of their union with Kimageimageimagea, decide that the joy of union might prove too overwhelming for the girls and intervene by separating them from Kimageimageimagea. Piimageimageai draws a parallel here to Simagetimage and Rimagema who suffered terribly, forgoing food and water during their lengthy separation. Similarly, Kimageimageimagea and the gopimage girls are tormented by their imposed separation. Faced with their daughters’ growing emaciation, their parents consider the options and realize that to continue to keep the lovers apart would result in losing their daughters. But if they allow the union, they would lose their parental authority over their girls. Therefore they devise a plan. They dispatch all their daughters to the riverbank to observe a ritual vow to obtain a suitable husband. They correctly surmise that Kimageimageimagea would follow them, and the desired union would materialize, apparently unbeknown to the parents.

However the young girls had a different plan in mind and are adamant to resist Kimageimageimagea’s seduction. They know that the clever boy would follow them, and so decide to make their way to a different pond one at a time, rather than as a group. But Piimageimageai ends this scenario by saying that one cannot escape Kimageimageimagea so easily and like the shadow that creeps ahead of the sun, he arrives at the riverbank before the gopimages, hides himself, and steals their clothes whilst the girls are occupied with their bath. It is only then that they spy him atop the kuruntai tree, and so proceed to chastise, cajole, and beg for the return of their clothes. To the inevitable question, “how could the gopimages be so bold as to chastise Kimageimageimagea?” Piimageimageai provides a simple answer. He says that Viimageimageu has two attributes. He protects those like the elephant Gajendra who surrender to him. But he also protects those, like the wayward imageiimageupimagela, who wish to do him ill. Thus when worship fails to appease him, the gopimages scold him.

The episode described here is included in the Bhimagegavata Purimageimagea (Book 10, Chapter 22) and is considered emblematic for the need to abandon all shame and sense of self when one approaches Kimageimageimagea. While Piimageimageai does bring up this interpretation in his commentary, it is not the central thrust of his exegesis.

3.2

The reference “our fate bind us/we cannot do that.” (viti iimagemaiyimagel atu mimageimageimagem) is ambiguous. The atu (literally “that”) is unqualified in the verse, though Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai categorically interprets the ambiguous atu as referring to sexual union (saimageimageleimagea). While this is the most obvious interpretation, I would suggest that there are other possibilities. For instance, it could refer to the girls’ refusing to come out of the water, or raising their hands above their heads. We are to imagine the voice of Kimageimageimagea as a subtext of the poem. The “that” in this verse would naturally be a response to Kimageimageimagea’s interjection at the cleverness of the girls: each raising one hand while the other covers their nakedness, 3.1.

3.4

You are the king of the monkeys:

The girls mock Kimageimageimagea hoping that at least this will make him forget his cruelty toward them. imageimageimageimageimage once again alludes to Kimageimageimagea’s preceding avatimagera as Rimagema. In the Rimagemimageyaimagea Rimagema had an army of monkeys and was their leader. The gopimages mention this disparagingly as Kimageimageimagea has climbed up the tree much like a monkey and refuses to return their clothes.

3.9

Kaimagesa’s savage net:

refers to the imprisonment of Kimageimageimagea’s natural parents, Devakimage and Vasudeva.

For this perversity alone have you found your way here:

refers to the story of Kimageimageimagea’s birth, when he was brought from Mathurimage to Gokula to protect him from the wrath of Kaimagesa. Also see Tiruppimagevai 25 for a reference to this particular story.

Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei 4. The Song of Divination

This Tirumoimagei describes a game of kimageimageal, a divination game that was popular among young girls in South India. There are several ways the game can be played. One involves circumscribing a circle while closing one’s eyes—a closed circle signifies imminent union. One can also cast tiny seashells and divine the union based on the patterns in which they fall. Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai describes the kimageimageal as drawing concentric circles within a larger circle, with an even number signifying union, and an odd number signaling separation. The word kimageimageal means “to come together,” but is also an old name for the city of Maturai.

The verses of the fourth Tirumoimagei function on two levels. Since the verses are in the first person singular, we can assume that each verse represents the wishes of one particular girl. But superimposed upon this is a picture of imageimageimageimageimage playing the kimageimageal game desiring her exclusive union with Viimageimageu. Unlike the previous two Tirumoimagei, section 4 returns to the first person singular and it is easy to read imageimageimageimageimage into the poem. But the phala imageruti (4.11) disrupts such a reading, establishing that the kimageimageal game is an imagined situation involving the gopimages, and that the action of the preceding ten verses is located, like in the Tiruppimagevai, in the mythic world of imageyarpimageimagei.

The kimageimageal itself is asked to predict the union of the girls with their beloved dark lord. The meter of the poem reflects the urgency and the eagerness of the desire for this union. Unlike detailed descriptions in the first section of the prayer to Kimagemadeva and the descriptions of the construction of the ciimageimageil, imageimageimageimageimage does not give us any details of the kimageimageal game. Instead, we gather the sensation of it from the rhythm and the desire that each verse of this decad explicates. She uses the kali viruttam meter, which consists of four lines of four metrical feet each. The same prosody is also used in Tirumoimageis 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9.

Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai does not ignore the dual voices of this Tirumoimagei, and expertly links them to the narrative set up in the previous two Tirumoimagei (2 and 3), as well as to imageimageimageimageimage’s own quest. In Tirumoimagei 3 Kimageimageimagea stole the gopimages’ clothes, and they tried different tactics by which to ensure their return. Eventually the girls agreed to do whatever it is Kimageimageimagea wanted (the ambiguous atu in 3.2) and subsequently enjoyed the desired union (saimageimageleimagea). As Piimageimageai repeatedly declares, union inescapably ends in separation and that is the state that the gopimage girls find themselves in Tirumoimagei 4. Kimageimageimagea abandons them because he knows that no experience (bhoga) in this world is permanent. But caught in the pangs of separation, the girls who enjoyed union with Kimageimageimagea are even willing to undergo the torment of having their clothes stolen again, if it would bring Kimageimageimagea back to them. Piimageimageai suggests that it is for this reason that the girls play the game of divination.

Though Piimageimageai provides these answers to the act of divination, he poses the same question again—why does imageimageimageimageimage ask insentient things such as a kimageimageal for aid, when she has already surrendered to Viimageimageu, and has accepted him as both the way (upimageya) and the goal (upeya). The answer is the expected one. He attributes it to the terrible confusion brought on by love-sickness. Still, in 4.1 imageimageimageimageimage/gopimages compares her sorry fate to the nityasimageri (divine beings), who are lucky enough to be eternally beside Viimageimageu, even without resorting to things like the kimageimageal.

4.1

The girls’ first wish is to caress the lord’s feet—an act of absolute surrender and a service that Lakimagemimage, consort of Viimageimageu, specifically performs. They desire to attain him and be united with him in this intimate and inseparable manner of wifely service.

Mimageliruñcimagelai:

the dark grove of Mimagel—Mimagel referring to the old Caimagekam name of Viimageimageu, meaning great god. Mimageliruñcimagelai is the old name of the town that is today called Aimageakar Kimageyil, and is approximately fifty miles from imagerimagevilliputtimager.

4.3-4.10

In the next eight verses, the young imageyarpimageimagei girls do not make a special request. They urge the kimageimageal to fall together so that their beloved will simply come to them. The verses are used to sing the glories and the exploits of the god. Among the many stories alluded to are Kimageimageimagea’s conquest of the serpent Kimageliya, (4.4), his slaying of the elephant Kuvalayimagepimageimagea that Kaimagesa sends to kill him (4.5), the breaking of the maruta trees, which is a reference to the time that Yaimageodimage tied him to a mortar (4.6), the destruction of imageiimageupimagela, the conquering of the seven bulls in order to win the hand of Nappiimageimageai, the slaying of the stork-demon Bakimagesura and finally the killing of Kaimagesa (4.7). The four verses effectively encapsulate all of Kimageimageimagea’s early exploits that are detailed in the later(?) Bhimagegavata Purimageimagea. The killing of Kimageliya is referred to only once more in the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei (12.5), while this is the sole reference of Kimageimageimagea’s defeat of the seven bulls for the hand of Nappiimageimageai.

The fourth section of the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei is the centerpiece of a ritual performance tradition known as the muttukkuimagei (divination with pearls), performed by a community of hereditary performers known as Araiyars. The muttukkuimagei is performed at the temples in imagerimageraimagegam, imagerimagevilliputtimager, and imageimagevimager Tirunakari during the Annual December Festival of Recitation. In imagerimageraimagegam and imageimagevimager Tirunakari, the divination is imagined as being performed by a generic in girl in love (talaivi). In imagerimagevilliputtimager, where it is also performed during the festivals celebrating imageimageimageimageimage’s birth (August) and her marriage to Viimageimageu (April), the heroine of the muttukkuimagei is imageimageimageimageimage. See the introduction (Divining with Pearls: Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei and Araiyar Cimagevai at imagerimagevilliputtimager) for a detailed discussion of the muttukkurimagei.

Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei 5. The Song to the Kuyil

This set of ten verses follows the sequence of ten verses on divination (kimageimageiimageu kimageimagealimage) and precedes the famous “dream-wedding” section. In his introductory comments on this section, Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai points out that frustrated with the vacillation of the insentient (acetana) divinatory tool, imageimageimageimageimage decides to uses a sentient being (cetana) to deliver her message to Viimageimageu and thus determine her fate. He posits that she chooses the kuyil bird for two reasons. First, it can both hear and speak. Therefore it can take the message to the lord of Vimageimagekaimageam as well as bring his message back. Second, as a bird it has the endurance to navigate treacherous paths and fly great distances.

So, in the fifth decad of the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei imageimageimageimageimage calls her first messenger—the little kuyil bird—and uses a number of rhetorical devices to convince it to indulge her wishes. She contrasts her own separation from her beloved with the blissful life of the kuyil and its mate and declares this disparity unfair (5.3). She bribes it with a new friendship with her pet parrot (5.5), promises to bow down before it (5.6), and finally threatens to chase it away (5.9). Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai imagines imageimageimageimageimage’s entreaties to the kuyil, and her indirect arguments with Viimageimageu in several ways. In his mind, imageimageimageimageimage is neither diminished nor misguided in seeking her beloved lord, who is faultless and compassionate. According to Piimageimageai, imageimageimageimageimage is confident that Viimageimageu’s compassion will ensure that he answer her summons and appear before her, his weapons blazing, accompanied by imagerimage and Nimagelimage, if for nothing else than to prevent her from growing thin from her separation. Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai (as imageimageimageimageimage) asks: did not the lord rescue Gajendra when he cried out to him? Just so, he certainly will respond when the kuyil cries out its song of on her behalf. However, she also says that she knows that the god penetrates all things, that he is everywhere, including inside her. But she wishes to see his embodied form and to enjoy him physically. Piimageimageai wonders (again, as imageimageimageimageimage), how she can embrace her beloved to her chest when he resides (hides) inside her.

It is also important to note that in this decad the world of imageyarpimageimagei and its gopimages has been left behind and this begins the motif of timagetu/sandeimagea (messenger) poems. In section 8 of the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei, imageimageimageimageimage sends the cloud as her messenger and in the later sections her human companions are bid to carry her woes to Viimageimageu. However, in a twist to this motif in Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei 12 imageimageimageimageimage insists on being taken to the places that the lord resides—Dvimagerakimage, Vimagendimagevana, Vimageimagekaimageam—arguing that if the lord remains unresponsive despite her pleas and messages, she will go to him, embodying the message of unrequited love herself. Each of these messenger poems is separated by the intervention of other significant themes and motifs—conches and conch bangles being one of the most prominent. So when the motif of message and the messenger is evoked again after such narrative gap, it literally replicates the lapsed time and space between messages, as well as elongates the time and space of imageimageimageimageimage’s separation itself.

The fifth decad is significant for several reasons and can be understood as one of many narrative turning points in the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei. It introduces a new voice (perhaps imageimageimageimageimage’s unmediated voice?) after the intervening sections describing the young gopimages of imageyarpimageimagei. The effect of such a return starkly exaggerates the heroine’s despair. In contrast to the imageyarpimageimagei girls, she is neither the beguiled innocent of the “sandcastle” song (Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei 2) nor the recalcitrant women of the song of the stolen clothes (Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei 3). She has exceeded the eager hope of the kimageimageal (Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei 4) and represents herself as a woman who is in the full throes of unrequited love.

The kuyil section also adapts several motifs common to Tamiimage Caimagekam poetry to mark the extent of her separation from her beloved. This in itself is not unusual, as the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei is replete with delicate allusions to Caimagekam poetry. However, particular symbols that become important in the rest of the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei are introduced here, the two most immediate being the bird and the conch/conch bangles. In this section, there are two kinds of birds—the kuyil (and its mate) and imageimageimageimageimage’s pet parrot. The parrot recurs in several places in the poem, most significantly in Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei (12.9) where it tortures her by repeating “Govinda! Govinda!” Birds and parrots are infamous in both Sanskrit and Tamiimage poetry for tormenting or embarrassing the heroine in various ways, especially by speaking of lovemaking or of the hero’s name at inopportune moments. In verse 5.8, she hints that a secret has passed between her and her beloved. Yet it is left to conjecture what that secret might be. The verse (5.8) leads us to believe that the kuyil, having been witness to the intimacy shared by imageimageimageimageimage and her dark lord, has been chosen as her messenger. The bird therefore is invested with the authority to call the beautiful lord to her. When he arrives, imageimageimageimageimage promises to allow the bird to remain as a witness to what she proposes to do to the beloved because of the suffering she has been forced to endure. The wording of this line is also ambiguous and can be interpreted as “what I will do with him” or “to him.” Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai does not retain this ambiguity but says that what imageimageimageimageimage proposes is to tempt the lord and then to deny him, in retaliation for his delay. The analogy that he offers is that it is akin to putting food before a starving person, only to remove it without warning.

Like the conch (discussed at length in the introduction), the parrot is polyvalent. It signifies the sweetness of speech as well as the silly prattle of girls. Later in Tirumoimagei 5, imageimageimageimageimage describes the beloved as “lustrous as the green-hued parrot” (5.9), and while imageimageimageimageimage does not make mention of it, the parrot is the vehicle (vimagehana) of Kimagemadeva. Of course, no discussion of parrots and imageimageimageimageimage would be complete without mentioning that one of her iconographic markers is a parrot, held either in her right or left hand. In her temple of imagerimagevilliputtimager, a family of hereditary flower sellers makes a parrot of tender leaves and fresh flowers to be offered to imageimageimageimageimage every morning.

5.3

Mimagetali:

Indra’s charioteer. He guided Rimagema’s chariot during his epic battle against Rimagevaimagea.

5.5

The reference to the parrot is significant because imageimageimageimageimage is depicted in iconography and painting with a parrot perched on her left or right hand.

Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei 6. The Song of the Wedding Dream

This decad is the most popular and well-known section of the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei. It describes imageimageimageimageimage’s dream of her wedding to Viimageimageu and comprehensively details every rite associated with the wedding. This decad is sung in contemporary Brahmin imagerimagevaiimageimageava weddings, and for that day, the bride and groom are considered embodiments of imageimageimageimageimage and Viimageimageu. The sixth Tirumoimagei enacts all the marriage rites, beginning with the entry of the groom to the town of the wedding and ending with their tour around the city with on elephants. Missing from the rituals described is the tying of the timageli or sacred thread around the bride’s neck, which is the central ritual event in contemporary South Indian Hindu marriages.

Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai locates the sixth Tirumoimagei within the cycle of separation and union that he imposes on the first quarter of the poem. He begins by stating that in the previous Tirumoimagei, imageimageimageimageimage addressed the lovely kuyil bird and asked it to bring Kimageimageimagea to her. But because Kimageimageimagea has yet to oblige her request, she assumes that the bird failed to do as she instructed. However, according to Piimageimageai, Viimageimageu did hear her plea, but thought that she should suffer the pangs of separation for a while longer, simply because such a desire should not be realized immediately. Piimageimageai supports his claim by alluding to the opening verse of Nammimageimagevimager’s Tiruvimageymoimagei (1.1.1), where Nammimageimagevimager asks his heart to reside at the feet of the lord who dispels doubt. Nammimageimagevimager’s verse is as follows:

Who is he possessing the highest good?
Who is he, who slashes ignorance,

by graciously bestowing wisdom and love?

Who is he, the commander of the never-tiring immortals?
O my mind!

Worship his radiant feet
that destroy all sorrow,

and rise.

(Trans. John Carman and Vasudha Narayanan, p. 195)

Piimageimageai goes on to say that the journey from ajñimagena (ignorance) to union with Viimageimageu requires jñimagena bhakti, which in itself must go through the stages of para bhakti (great devotion) characterized by a mental image of deity, para jñimagena (discerning knowledge), where one has intermittent but complete vision of deity, and parama bhakti (supreme/exclusive devotion), where the devotee achieves complete union with the divine. To drive home his position, he offers the analogy of the dyeing process, in which a garment is not dyed all at once, but only bit by bit. Just so, the journey to Viimageimageu unfolds slowly and the experience must soak into the heart of the devotee. Despite taking this position, Piimageimageai also acknowledges that there is a difference in the case of imageimageimageimageimage, because she is the emanation of Bhimage Devimage and was born with parama bhakti (supreme devotion), unlike the other imageimagevimager, who had to wait their entire lives to reach that stage. Piimageimageai is quick to point out that even Simagetimage, who is imagerimage herself, had to be separated from Rimagema for a while, and so such a separation should be no different for imageimageimageimageimage.

Having made this point, Piimageimageai immediately states that imageimageimageimageimage is different from Simagetimage, and that she is unable to bear the separation and the wait for reunion. Her suffering was so great that Viimageimageu realized that she would be incapable of withstanding the experience, and so resolved to reveal himself to imageimageimageimageimage in a dream. In this regard, imageimageimageimageimage is even greater than Simagetimage, who desperately wanted to be united with her beloved Rimagema at least in a dream and was not blessed with that experience. If one were to ask why there is such a differentiation, Piimageimageai answers that imageimageimageimageimage was utterly alone, while Simagetimage at least had the company of demonesses like Trijimageimageimage and others.

6.3

Antarimage:

Durgimage, who is considered to be Viimageimageu’s sister. The sister usually drapes the bridal garment around the bride and ushers her to the wedding canopy.

6.8

ammi:

a flat black solid pockmarked grinding stone upon which the groom places the bride’s foot. This is regarded as the culmination of the Tamiimage marriage ceremony.

6.9

imageimageimageimageimage makes mention of her brothers, but her hagiography does not attribute any other filial relations to her, aside from her father Viimageimageucittaimage. Although he is mentioned in the phala imageruti verses, Viimageimageucittaimage does not make an appearance in her elaborately imagined wedding scene. At the conclusion of this particular decad (6.11), imageimageimageimageimage indicates that the dream is hers and not an imagined poetic reality.

Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei 7. The Song to the White Conch

The topic of this decad—the praise of Viimageimageu’s conch—is unique in imageimagevimager literature. Although there are instances in imageimagevimager verses in praise of Viimageimageu’s various accoutrements, this is the only series of songs devoted entirely to the conch. In the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei, the conch, both as Viimageimageu’s attribute and as imageimageimageimageimage’s ornament, is constantly evoked as a symbol of union (the conch) and separation (her bangles). See the section on Conches and Conch Bangles in the introduction for a detailed discussion of imageimageimageimageimage’s use of the conch as a polyvalent symbol.

Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai builds his commentary by understanding Viimageimageu’s conch as an intermediary (puruimageakimagera), a position it achieves because of its special closeness to him. In the previous decad, imageimageimageimageimage dreamed that she married her beloved, and now is imagined to awaken and find the dream to be false. Thus, she boldly addresses the conch: “Are they fragrant as camphor? Are they fragrant as the lotus?/Or do those coral red lips taste sweet?” (7.1). If one wonders at the audacity of imageimageimageimageimage’s demand, Piimageimageai is quick to assure his audience that it is perfectly legitimate, for she had at least dreamed that she had married Viimageimageu. Nevertheless, a dream is still a dream and like lightning in the sky, such an experience cannot be permanent.

But the intimacy that the conch shares with Viimageimageu is insufficient to explain why imageimageimageimageimage singles out the conch for such extravagant praise, when the other divine beings (nityasimageri), Garuimagea, and Viimagevaksena also surround Viimageimageu at all times. Piimageimageai provides several responses to this imagined query from his audience, which are as follows. First, the heroine once enjoyed the sweetness of Viimageimageu’s lips just as the Pimageñcajanya (Viimageimageu’s conch) does always. Next, when a heroine (nimageyikimage) and the king are alone in bedchamber they are surrounded by certain indispensable figures. Similarly, the Pimageñcajanya is inseparable from Viimageimageu. Unlike imageimageimageimageimage whose union is always intermittent, the conch’s relationship is inseparable and unbreakable. If one says that the solar disc (cakra) is also essential to Viimageimageu, one must remember that it actually is separated from him when he dispenses it on some important mission. The conch, on the other hand, never leaves Viimageimageu’s side. Moreover, when Viimageimageu needs the conch, he does not send it away, like he does his discus; instead he brings it closer, by placing it on his lips! What greater place of intimacy could there be?

7.1

Conch from the deep sea:

this refers to the story of the Pimageñcajanya, Viimageimageu’s conch. The demon Pañcimagecana turned himself into a conch and hid in the deep sea. Kimageimageimagea found him there, killed him, and claimed the conch as his own. It is therefore known as Pimageñcajanya—that which is born from Pañcimagecana.

7.2

Your resonance stirs fear:

the conch born of Pañcimagecana is used by Viimageimageu to warn other demons from pursuing their wicked deeds.

7.4

Valampuri:

a proper name of Viimageimageu’s conch. A conch that has spirals turning toward the right, unlike most conches that spiral to the left.

Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei 8. The Song to the Dark Rain Clouds

The Tirumoimagei continues the messenger theme introduced in Tirumoimagei 5: The Song to the Kuyil. Messenger poems are a common genre of early Indic love poetry, possibly made most famous by Kimagelidimagesa’s (c. 4th cent. C.E.) Meghadimageta. Here imageimageimageimageimage recruits the dark rain clouds as messengers to the lord of Vimageimagekaimageam to inform him of her terrible plight of her loneliness and suffering.

Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai establishes the narrative context for this decad by describing imageimageimageimageimage’s appeal to the conch as a failed mission. He goes on to elaborate the idea, arguing that the conch did not deign to answer imageimageimageimageimage entreaties, and Viimageimageu’s continued absence is evidence of its apathy. He suggests that the dark rain clouds resembling imageimageimageimageimage’s beloved have arrived, but Viimageimageu has not. In Tiruppimagevai 4 imageimageimageimageimage draws a similar comparison, playing on the word kaimageimagea, to refer to both Kimageimageimagea and the clouds. In that situation, the clouds are harbingers of abundance and prosperity, but here they are the bearers of loss.

In Indic literature, the season of rains is always the time for union and an absent hero invariably promises to return before the coming of the monsoons. Piimageimageai further contextualizes imageimageimageimageimage’s song to the dark rain clouds by implying that Viimageimageu had assured her that he would return before the first rains fell. So when imageimageimageimageimage sees the dark rain clouds so close in hue to her beloved, she is confused and thinks that Viimageimageu has come to her as promised. But she soon realizes that it is not so, although she takes some small comfort that they thunder like his conch—another comparison that she draws in Tiruppimagevai 4.

Piimageimageai makes the further observation that the word megha (cloud) also refers to a class of servants, mimagekar (Tamiimage), who precede a king in procession. imageimageimageimageimage sees the clouds and mistakenly assumes that they had appeared to announce the arrival of her beloved. Here Piimageimageai offers a comparison from the Rimagemimageyaimagea, that imageimageimageimageimage erroneously thinks that like Rimagema who followed the abducted Simagetimage to Laimageka, he would follow the clouds in order to hurry to her. It does not take imageimageimageimageimage long to realize that she is wrong, and overcome by her great sorrow, she weeps. Once again turning to his cherished Rimagemimageyaimagea, Piimageimageai draws a parallel between imageimageimageimageimage’s lonely state in this Tirumoimagei and Simagetimage’s imprisonment in Laimageka. He observes that when Hanumimagen witnessed Simagetimage crying—her tears were like dewdrops on a fresh lotus petal—he was there to assuage her fears and worries. imageimageimageimageimage, unfortunately, has no one to turn to, except these insentient beings (the clouds). The implication, then, is that in some ways imageimageimageimageimage’s suffering is greater, and her need for Viimageimageu’s grace more urgent.

In seeking to explain imageimageimageimageimage’s insistent queries to the insentient clouds, Piimageimageai says that she thinks that they will be amenable to her plight, and so she interrogates them about Viimageimageu’s whereabouts, but they too do not respond. She insists then that since they arise from the same place (Vimageimagekaimageam) as her beloved, they must have a special connection with him that can aid her cause. To Piimageimageai, imageimageimageimageimage is like Simagetimage who sent Hanumimagen as her messenger to Rimagema. imageimageimageimageimage dispatches the clouds, convincing herself that they are fully sentient and embodied Although Piimageimageai does not draw the parallel, one cannot help but recall the lover in Kimagelidimagesa’s Meghadimageta, who distraught and alone, is unable to distinguish between sentient and insentient things, imageimageimageimageimage thus entreats the clouds without realizing that they can do nothing in return.

In considering the role of messengers in the Rimagemimageyaimagea, Piimageimageai makes an interesting observation and nicely draws a comparison to imageimageimageimageimage’s situation. Simagetimage sent just Hanumimagen as her messenger, but imageimageimageimageimage has to send several clouds to Viimageimageu. Rimagema, on the other hand, sent thousands of monkeys to search for Simagetimage, and only one—Hanumimagen—was fortunate enough to see her. The thousands of clouds moving toward Vimageimagekaimageam suffer no such lack, as they will all have the opportunity to gaze upon Viimageimageu’s face.

The Song to the Dark Rain Clouds is one of the most sexually explicit decads in the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei. In these ten verses, imageimageimageimageimage asks to be touched, caressed, and entered. Piimageimageai is not so much uncomfortable with such frank expression of sexual yearning, as much as he is concerned for how it reflects on imageimageimageimageimage. That is to say, he does not shy away from the fact that imageimageimageimageimage is speaking of a real physical desire. However, he feels that such explicit yearning could easily be misconstrued as a banal, mortal kind of lust. He asserts that people like imageimageimageimageimage, who are steeped in bhakti yoga (the discipline of devotion) and who regard Viimageimageu as their lover, blossom when united with him and fade when disunited. They choose imageimageimagegimagera (desire/love) to express their longing. He concludes by saying that like water finds its own level, it is only natural for a woman to desire a man in this manner.

8.1

The verse alludes to Kuimageuntokai 325: the heroine’s tears gather in the space between her breasts where she imagines a heron feeding on fish.

When he said
“I’ll go, I’ll go,”
I mistook it
for all his former
mock departures
and I said “Fine,
leave my side
and go away forever.”

O Mother
our master who supports us—
where is he now
I wonder?

The place between my breasts
has filled up with tears,
has become a deep pond
where a black-legged
white heron feeds.3

Kuimageuntokai 325

Even though Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai does not allude to, or quote, the above Caimagekam poem, he is obviously well aware of the Caimagekam poetics of landscape. He makes the observation that her longing for the beloved transformed imageimageimageimageimage’s body into Tiruvimageimagekaimageam, replete with mountains (breasts) and waterfalls (her tears).

8.9

The clouds are described here as “war elephants” and the question posed in 8.1—“Has he sent word for me?”—is posed once again. We should imagine the events that have occurred in the interim, at least in imageimageimageimageimage’s consciousness. The clouds that have gone as messengers have rained in torrents and scattered the flowers and created havoc in Vimageimagekaimageam—they have acted as her emissaries and placed her plea before him and yet, the beloved has not responded. He remains silent, and imageimageimageimageimage’s angered response is that this warrior-king, who has taken possession of her, does not protect her as a good king should (she uses the word refuge [gati] here) and instead slays her. She implies that in ignoring her pleas he has failed in his duty as both beloved and protector. So she ends saying, “The world will say: ‘heedless that he was her only refuge’/he killed this young girl.’/ What honor is there in this?”

Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei 9. The Song in the Groves of Tirumimageliruñcimagelai

In the previous decad, imageimageimageimageimage asked the clouds to take her message of love to the lord of Vimageimagekaimageam. According to Piimageimageai, imageimageimageimageimage had begun to wonder if she would survive until Viimageimageu came for her, and in this regard is like Simagetimage who told Hanumimagen that she did not know how long she would be able to sustain her life. Piimageimageai repeats the point he made in the previous decad, that while Simagetimage had an able messenger like Hanumimagen. imageimageimageimageimage has no one. The useless clouds failed to leave for Vimageimagekaimageam, and instead just rained on the spot. So, all the flowers begin to bloom and they seem to imageimageimageimageimage as beautiful as the body of her beloved lord.

Piimageimageai muses that this Tirumoimagei reflects how difficult it has become for imageimageimageimageimage to survive, especially surrounded by this environment of abundance, fertility, and beauty. imageimageimageimageimage sees her Viimageimageu’s face everywhere, and everything that surrounds her reminds her of some aspect of his beauty.

imageimageimageimageimage situates herself aptly in a grove (and that too, the Tirumimageliruñcimagelai, lit. the dark grove of Mimagel), presumably in springtime when the ladybirds are scattered about the grass after the rains and the trees burst with blossoms. The spring and the burgeoning of life it brings are in contrast to imageimageimageimageimage’s slow withering away. It is apt to recall here that in 8.8 she compares herself to a dried-up leaf.

Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai suggests that Tirumoimagei 8 and Tirumoimagei 9 are read together. He points out the similarity of both these decads to Nammimageimagevimager’s Tiruvimageymoimagei 9.5. In this latter poem, Nammimageimagevimager in his female persona upbraids the creatures that abide in a grove for tormenting him/her. In it, he/she scolds several kinds of birds for refusing to call to her beloved, and for happily sporting with their mates. And she chastises the rain clouds for assuming the form of her beloved.

9.1

kastimageri: deer musk.

9.3

karuvai: Babul tree, Acacia arabica.

kimageyimage: a hardy tree that produces purple flowers, Memecylon malabarcium.
He entered my home: this is the only explicit reference in the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei to Viimageimageu entering imageimageimageimageimage’s home, although there are several verses that describe his willful entry into her body. In Tirumoimagei 2.9 Kimageimageimagea is described as entering the courtyard to embrace the gopimage girls.

9.6-9.7

Commentaries attached to this verse present an apocryphal narrative involving Rimagemimagenuja, one of the most important teachers of the imagerimagevaiimageimageavas. He is said to have arrived in imagerimagevilliputtimager to offer worship to imageimageimageimageimage. But before reaching his final destination, he stopped at the Tirumimageliruñcimagelai temple of Sundararimageja Perumimageimage to fulfill imageimageimageimageimage’s promise of a hundred pots brimming with sweet rice. After all, Viimageimageu had eventually claimed her as his own. When Rimagemimagenuja arrived in imagerimagevilliputtimager and entered the sanctum of the temple, imageimageimageimageimage is said to have emerged out of the main icon in the garbha gimageha and come running toward Rimagemimagenuja, addressing him as “Aimageimageimage”—brother. From that day on, to honor the relationship imageimageimageimageimage acknowledged, Rimagemimagenuja was known as Kimageyil Aimageimageaimage (lit. Brother of the Temple). The temple in imagerimagevilliputtimager marks the incident by placing the image of Rimagemimagenuja beside imageimageimageimageimage on the day after the conclusion of the Annual December Festival.

9.9

In this verse, imageimageimageimageimage compares herself to a garland of blooming koimageimageai flowers. Piimageimageai points out that the significance of the comparison is that koimageimageai flowers are sacred to imageiva, because he wears them entwined in his hair. The flowers are therefore of little use in a garden of Viimageimageu. The implication then is that imageimageimageimageimage feels just as useless and wasted as a garland of cassia flowers.

koimageimageai: Golden Shower Tree, Cassia fistula.

Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei 10. The Song of Lament

In the previous two Tirumoimageis, imageimageimageimageimage addressed the clouds, the bees, and flowers in the hope that they would respond to her plea, and act as her messengers. Moreover, she hoped that her desire for union would eventually be realized and so she desperately held on to her waning life. But Piimageimageai observes the time for union, the rainy season, has come and gone, and imageimageimageimageimage’s beloved has yet to reveal himself to her. Under these circumstances, he surmises that it would be well-nigh impossible for imageimageimageimageimage to survive much longer.

Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai says that imageimageimageimageimage sees only two paths that can assure her survival. One path is the one adopted by Vibhimageimageaimagea, who surrendered to Rimagema as a friend and in turn Rimagema promised never to let him go. Piimageimageai (as imageimageimageimageimage) asks the rhetorical question: did he not do the same for Draupadimage, who took him as her sole refuge? Did he not say in the Rimagemimageyaimagea that he would always be beholden to those who have surrendered to him, and that he would never let go of such a devotee? Piimageimageai says that despite all the evidence to the contrary, imageimageimageimageimage managed to survive by simply contemplating these words of assurance that Viimageimageu had given to his devotees in the past, and this is the second path, and the one imageimageimageimageimage chooses.

If one were to ask why Viimageimageu, whose nature is infinite compassion, would torment a devotee such as imageimageimageimageimage, Piimageimageai answers that Viimageimageu is also possessed of the quality of independence (svimagetantriya) and thus one cannot necessarily hold him to his words and promises. So if this is the case, what hope does imageimageimageimageimage have? How will she survive? Piimageimageai finds the answer in the final verse of this decad (10.10), where imageimageimageimageimage alludes to the close relationship between Viimageimageu and Viimageimageucittaimage (Periyimageimagevimager). Thus, even if Viimageimageu’s word to her should falter, his relationship with his great devotee Viimageimageucittaimage would ensure that her desire achieves fruition. To illustrate this point, Piimageimageai reminds his audience of the time that Rimagema blessed even his enemy Rimagevaimagea on account of his close relationship to Vibhimageimageaimagea. So too will Viimageimageu’s relationship with her father eventually rescue imageimageimageimageimage from the pit of despair.

10.1

kimagental: castor-oil plant. It has red flowers. Ricinus communis.

10.3

kovvai: scarlet gourd, Coccinia indica.

10.8

Pour down like hot melted wax: this refers to a procedure of bronze casting called vimagerppaimageam, where a wax image is enclosed in clay and fired in a kiln to make a mold into which molten metal is poured to yield the image. Here the rain clouds featured in Tirumoimagei 8 are implored to rain down as a demonstration of the lord as to how to mold him to her. She visualizes the clouds as dark clay bearing hot wax within them; she sees the dark lord as clay and she as the wax that will melt when enclosed in the lord. Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai is aware of the origin of the analogy, and refers to in his commentary to this verse.

10.10

This decad does not have the traditional phala imageruti (see Tiruppimagevai 30 and 1.1 for a discussion on the phala imageruti). Instead Viimageimageucittaimage, also in a position of intimacy with the lord, is entrusted with the duty of making Viimageimageu reveal himself. Also, the verse speaks in the personal plural—suggesting that Viimageimageu will be prevailed upon to reveal himself to all and not just imageimageimageimageimage.

Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei 11. The Song for the Conch Bangles

In Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei 7, imageimageimageimageimage addressed Viimageimageu’s conch and asked it to speak to Viimageimageu on her behalf. She lauded it for its special intimacy and its close relationship with her beloved. In his interpretation of that Tirumoimagei, Piimageimageai suggests that the conch acts as an intermediary (puruimageakimagera). In this Tirumoimagei imageimageimageimageimage focuses on her conch bangles and draws a parallel between her bangles and Viimageimageu’s conch.

Piimageimageai elaborates on this theme, and the parallel between imageimageimageimageimage’s bangles of conch and Viimageimageu’s conch, in the latter sections of his commentary to Tirumoimagei 11. However, his most immediate concern is to explain how Viimageimageu could appear to violate his word to his devotee Viimageimageucittaimage, and by extension imageimageimageimageimage. In the previous decad, imageimageimageimageimage held on to her life on the basis of verses 10.4 and 10.10, in which she speaks of the unshakable bond between Viimageimageucittaimage and Viimageimageu, and believes that the latter’s promise to protect his devotees would apply to her as well. According to Piimageimageai, imageimageimageimageimage was convinced that because she was Periyimageimagevimager’s (Viimageimageucittaimage’s) daughter, his relationship with his lord could not fail her. Yet the evidence is to the contrary, as Viimageimageu continues to remain absent. Piimageimageai compares imageimageimageimageimage to Bhimageimagema, the great hero of the Mahimagebhimagerata, who lay on a bed of arrows through the duration of the great Mahimagebhimagerata war. Just so, to imageimageimageimageimage everything is a torment and neither friends nor relatives can comprehend the cause of her suffering. Piimageimageai pictures imageimageimageimageimage’s concerned relatives gathered around, questioning her. At last she says that “he has stolen my bangles.” But he does not choose to rescue her like he did Simagetimage—forgoing food and sleep, no less—or Rukmiimageimage, or Bhimage Devimage. In Piimageimageai’s fertile imagination, imageimageimageimageimage laments, “Why does he not protect me?” and wonders if it is because she does not love him enough or because he loves her less. Or perhaps it is because he is incapable of protection, or that she appeared not to need rescue! Finally, Piimageimageai imagines imageimageimageimageimage angrily insisting that Viimageimageu declaring himself independent (svimagetantriya) is an insufficient excuse for his indifference. In this way, Piimageimageai envisions imageimageimageimageimage’s musings on the fairness of Viimageimageu’s behavior. In Tirumoimagei 7 she asked for but one conch, and in response Viimageimageu has stolen all of hers. Piimageimageai interjects here an imagined dialogue, where when someone asked imageimageimageimageimage, “why did you desire his conch, which is a weapon?” she replied, “I did not know it was so. To me it appeared as a beautiful ornament.”

The bangle has long been used in Indic literature to signal a woman’s loss and separation. Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai elaborates on this idea and draws attention to the fact that imageimageimageimageimage describes her female companions as imagentiimageaiyimager—richly adorned women. She contrasts herself to the women decked out in their finery, implying that they are fortunate to be united with their lovers. She herself is unadorned to signify her abandoned and lonely state.

The entire decad is in praise of the lord of imagerimageraimagegam. Piimageimageai unpacks the significance of imagerimageraimagegam, which by his time is a ritual and theological center for the imagerimagevaiimageimageava community. Piimageimageai says that it is unbecoming of the lord of imagerimageraimagegam to make women suffer (even if it is his nature), because it is the place that virtuous people come to live. Finally, it is Vaikuimageimageha on earth (bhimageloka vaikuimageimageha), and those who live there are fortunate to enjoy Viimageimageu eternally.

11.2

Loosened my already loose bangles:

imageimageimageimageimage puns on the word kaimageal and uses it to mean both “to lose” as well as “loosened.” Kaimageal also refers to a warrior’s victory anklets. In this latter sense (and this is the meaning that Piimageimageai offers as his gloss), imageimageimageimageimage says that Viimageimageu has taken her loose lost bangles and turned them into his victory-anklets.

11.4-11.6

In 11.5, imageimageimageimageimage ascribes the adjective pollimage to Viimageimageu, a word that means deceptive, wicked, evil, vicious. However, Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai, not liking such negative attributes, assigns the word to Viimageimageu in general, and in his avatimagera as Vamana in particular, and suggests two implied meanings. He asks how it is that imageimageimageimageimage can refer to Viimageimageu as deceptive and offers that in this case it is to be taken as a dimageimageimagei parikimageram—a willful blemish on the lord to mask his astounding beauty and to protect him from any ill influence. The second meaning he offers is not so much interpretation as a creative solution, suggesting that that in this instance alone, the word pollimage ought to be taken to connote beautiful.

11.10

This Tirumoimagei does not have a phala imageruti verse. Instead, Viimageimageucittaimage is once again urged to intercede on imageimageimageimageimage’s behalf. Piimageimageai points out that this final verse alludes to Bhagavad Gimagetimage 2.17, where Kimageimageimagea tells Arjuna that he will accept anyone who comes to him in steadfast devotion.

Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei 12. The Song of Sacred Places

In the verses that follow, imageimageimageimageimage maps out Kimageimageimagea’s life through a landscape of his escapades. She begins with Mathurimage and ends in Dvimagerakimage, and within this context, alludes to various other myths that highlight her anxiety at her prolonged separation. The verses are structured as a conversation between imageimageimageimageimage and her “mothers.” The conversation fluctuates between trying to calm the fears of these mothers (12.5) and pushing them away because they do not understand her love, or her disease. Once again, this Song marks a turning point—so far, imageimageimageimageimage has passively waited for the lord to come to her, having sent various messengers with her messages of love. In the previous Tirumoimagei, she had accepted that the bond between Viimageimageucittaimage and Viimageimageu would ensure that her beloved would come for her. But in this Tirumoimagei, Piimageimageai says that she once again returns to a direct address, claiming that Viimageimageu’s essential quality of independence (svimagetantriya) gives him no choice but to protect those who have taken refuge under him.

In this Tirumoimagei, imageimageimageimageimage takes a much more active role, imploring her dear mothers to take her to the places sacred to Kimageimageimagea and there by to unite her with him. She alone understands that this is the only cure for the disease that consumes her, while her mothers continue to remain ignorant. Here Piimageimageai compares imageimageimageimageimage’s disease of separation to that experienced by Bharata in the Rimagemimageyaimagea. When Bharata heard of Rama’s exile, he fell into a faint and suffered terribly. However no one else, including Rama’s mother Kausalyimage, could discern the reason for his illness, and assumed that it was simply an ordinary affliction.

imageimageimageimageimage begins 12.1 in Mathurimage, the place of Kimageimageimagea’s birth. The next verse (12.2) situates Kimageimageimagea in imageyarpimageimagei, while. 12.3 occurs in the actual home of Nandagopimagela. The next two verses, 12.4 and 12.5, refer to sites of Kimageimageimagea’s play and his conquests on the banks of the river Yamunimage. Verses 12.6-12.8 refer to stories associated with Kimageimageimagea and 12.9 ends in Dvimagerakimage. In a sense, these verses encapsulate Kimageimageimagea’s early childhood life, and conclude with his reign as a great and noble king.

According to Piimageimageai, imageimageimageimageimage is impatient that all of her efforts have yielded no results. Although she is is ready for him, Viimageimageu has yet to come for her. Therefore, she resolves that it is time for her to go to him. But her great suffering has robbed her of all her strength, and imageimageimageimageimage cannot make the long, arduous journey to his beloved sacred places. It is for this reason that Piimageimageai opines that she begs her mothers to take her to these places so she can see him in his embodied form. But these mothers ask her to be patient. To this, Piimageimageai imagines imageimageimageimageimage replying “No, you do not understand my pain. Was it not Yaimageodimage’s responsibility to raise him properly?” She argues that Kimageimageimagea’s callousness is on account of Yaimageodimage and Nandagopa’s lax rearing. Her plight is therefore their responsibility and she demands to be taken and left at their doorstep.

It is unclear who the mothers in the poem are. Piimageimageai is content to see them as well-meaning but misguided relatives, who fail to grasp the true nature of imageimageimageimageimage’s illness. Caimagekam poems feature different kinds of mothers (for instance, a natural mother and a foster mother), who are often cast in a similar role. Very often in these Caimagekam poems, the mother will mistake her daughter’s illness for possession by the god, and summon an exorcist (vimagelaimage) to cure her daughter. In bhakti poems of course, the illness is both love-sickness and possession by the god.

12.1

The language used in this verse is similar to that used in Tiruppimagevai 25, which also describes Kimageimageimagea’s midnight journey from Mathurimage to imageyarpimageimagei.

12.6

Bhaktilocana:

refers to a myth where Kimageimageimagea, tired and hungry with his friends, asked for food at a Brahmins’ sacrifice. They were refused food but upon requesting the Brahmins’ wives, were fed amply.

12.7

Take me to Bimageimageimageimageram:

this refers to the episode of Balarimagema’s defeat of the demon Pralamba, who took the guise of a cowherd and joined in on the games of Kimageimageimagea, Balarimagema, and their friends. Kimageimageimagea recognized him for who he was, and suggested the game of a member of the losing team carrying a member of the victor’s on their shoulders. Pralamba had to carry Balarimagema on his shoulders. Balarimagema grew heavier and heavier, at which point the demon assumed his true identity. Balarimagema then smote him, and the demon fell dead.

Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei 13. The Song of Desire

In the previous Tirumoimagei, imageimageimageimageimage asked to be taken to all of the places associated with, and favored by, Kimageimageimagea—from Mathurimage of the North to Dvimagerakimage. Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai provides the following context for this very important Tirumoimagei. The relatives (her mothers) witness imageimageimageimageimage’s plight and consider their options. It is clear to them that imageimageimageimageimage does not possess the strength to walk and is incapable of making the journey on her own. Piimageimageai envisions them discussing their various options—perhaps they would have to build a comfortable bed and carry imageimageimageimageimage to these various destinations. But even if they were able to do so, would her life last that that long? Would she have the strength to survive this long journey? So they hesitate to oblige her requests. To their indecisiveness, Piimageimageai imagines imageimageimageimageimage replying: “Then at least bring things associated with him to me and help me sustain this life.” In this manner, imageimageimageimageimage requests them to help her foster a relationship with Viimageimageu.

The culmination of imageimageimageimageimage’s misery and fury is reached in 13.8, when she threatens to rip out her breasts and fling them at Viimageimageu’s chest. It is a moment clearly reminiscent of the heroine Kaimageimageaki’s pivotal and furious action at the conclusion of the Tamiimage epic poem, Cilappatikimageram. In that poem, Kaimageimageaki, angry at the king of Maturai for unjustly executing her husband Kimagevalaimage, enacts her revenge on the city by tearing out her breast, flinging it into the city, and consigning it to flames. In his commentary to this verse, Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai makes no mention of the Cilappatikimageram or to this episode. While it is likely that the Jain subtext of the poem made it irrelevant to his commentary, it must also be noted that rarely does Piimageimageai venture a literary analysis of the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei. Even where allusions to antecedent literary forms are evident, he side-steps the issue. He is little interested in the aesthetic and literary influences inherent in the poem. His take on this crucial episode is nonetheless interesting. He says that breasts are the site of parama bhogyam and bhakti (great intoxication and devotion). imageimageimageimageimage threatens to rip out her breasts so that Viimageimageu can experience her suffering as well. Furthermore, he notes that imageimageimageimageimage specifies that her intention is to throw them at his chest and not just on the ground and provides the explanation that in her mind, relief from her anguish can come only with his embrace. Therefore, according to Piimageimageai, imageimageimageimageimage seems to say, “at least let my breasts enjoy the embrace of his chest as they are useless to me. This way they will prove useful to assuage my sorrow.”

Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei 14. The Song of Questions and Answers

The dialogic format of the concluding decad marks it as unique in the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei. The prosody is light and folksy, and the conversation occurs between the two prominent personae evident in the poem—the questioner (identified with imageimageimageimageimage) is represented by the first person singular and her inter-locutors provide the answer in a first person plural. imageimageimageimageimage adopts a question-and-answer format for what we regard as the last decad of the poem.

In his comments on this Tirumoimagei, Periyavimageccimageimage Piimageimageai recapitulates the journey that has finally brought imageimageimageimageimage to this point. imageimageimageimageimage’s quest began in the Tiruppimagevai, where she declared that Nimagerimageyaimagea alone could give her/them the paimageai drum. Eventually, she abandoned the drum in favor of eternal service to him. Clearly that desire was not fulfilled, and in the previous Tirumoimagei we witness her suffering on account of her unrequited love. Piimageimageai observes that the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei documents imageimageimageimageimage’s ripening bhakti, and here in this final Tirumoimagei it has matured into parama bhakti (exclusive, supreme devotion), and it is therefore here in these ten verses that she finally attains Kimageimageimagea.

As this is the final decad of the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei, Piimageimageai finds it imperative to offer a synopsis of each of the previous thirteen sections, to reinforce the journey that led imageimageimageimageimage to this point. His summary is as follows. The Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei begins with imageimageimageimageimage’s entreaty to Kimagema and her observance of a vow to win his favor and assistance. Next, she describes the destruction of the sand-castles (Tirumoimagei 2), followed by the adventures of the girls, who go for an early morning bath and are tormented by Kimageimageimagea (Tirumoimagei 3). In Tirumoimagei 4 she describes their divination and in Tirumoimagei 5 she begs the kuyil to bring Viimageimageu to her, because he had awakened in her the unquenchable desire see him face to face. But when she is unable to see him, she experiences her union in a dream (Tirumoimagei 6). The dream proves so real that when she awakens and finds it to be a fiction, she sings to his conch, when she heard its report of its enjoyment of Kimageimageimagea (Tirumoimagei 7). Like Simagetimage sending Hanumimagen as her messenger, imageimageimageimageimage sends the clouds that resemble her beloved with a message of love for him (Tirumoimagei 8). When he does not appear even after the season of the rain, she is distraught and questions all the things around her (Tirumoimagei 9 and 10). In the tenth Tirumoimagei she hopes that Viimageimageu’s special relationship with Viimageimageucittaimage would ensure that her mission would be realized. In Tirumoimagei 11 she continues this theme and says that if the words of Viimageimageu to Viimageimageucittaimage prove false, then there is very little in this world left to believe. It is her belief in the unshakeable relationship between Viimageimageu and his devotee that helps her survive, and she begins to undertake a journey to the places favored by her beloved. However, her strength fails her and she appeals to her companions and mothers to take her to Kimageimageimagea’s sacred sites (Tirumoimagei 12). They do not heed her urgent request and so she asks them to bring various items associated with Kimageimageimagea to her and to cool the fire of her longing (Tirumoimagei 13).

It is this imageimageimageimageimage, Piimageimageai continues, who was born into a lineage that surrendered to Viimageimageu fully. In the Tiruppimagevai, imageimageimageimageimage decided that Viimageimageu is both the way and the goal. But when her great love was not realized, despite her complete reliance on Viimageimageu, she could not sustain her life and the Nimagecciyimager Tirumoimagei was the result. Viimageimageu knew of her great love, but decided that her desire for him could ripen further and therefore did not grant her dearest wishes. But when she continued to insist on union, and her love for him matured into parama bhakti, he finally accepted her, just as he did Nammimageimagevimager, who speaks of that union in the penultimate verse of Tiruvimageymoimagei 10.10.10:

O supreme cosmic matter

that surrounds, spreads wide,
Dives deep, and soars high!

O supreme transcendent, flaming flower

that encompasses [creation]!

O incomparable blazing fire of wisdom and bliss

that pervades [the universe]!

Greater than these was my desire

that was quenched
when you filled and embraced me.

(Trans. John Carman and
Vasudha Narayanan, p. 256)

NOTES

1. Benton, Catherine. God of Desire: Tales of Kimagemadeva in Sanskrit Story Literature. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2006. p. 94–95.

2. Benton, Catherine. God of Desire: Tales of Kimagemadeva in Sanskrit Story Literature. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2006. p. 94.

3. Selby, Martha. Grow Long, Blessed Night: Love Poems from Classical India. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. p. 127.