படிக்காசு தம்பிரான் அருளிய
தண்டலையார் சதகம் என்னும்
பழமொழி விளக்கம்,
ஆங்கில மொழிபெயர்ப்பு,
முனைவர் கௌசல்யா ஹார்ட்
English Translation of "Pazamozi Vilakkam"
(aka taNTalaiyAr catakam)
by Dr. Kausalya Hart, USA
In Tamil script, unicode/utf-8 format
Acknowledgements:
Our Sincere thanks go to Dr. Kausalya Hart, Univ. of California, Berkeley, USA (Retd) for providing a soft copy
of this work along with permission for the publication of this English Translaltion as part of Project Madurai collections.
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Preparation of HTML and PDF versions: Dr. K. Kalyanasundaram, Lausanne, Switzerland.
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படிக்காசு தம்பிரான் அருளிய தண்டலையார் சதகம் என்னும்
பழமொழி விளக்கம் - ஆங்கில மொழிபெயர்ப்பு,
முனைவர் கௌசல்யா ஹார்ட்
The 100 verses of taNTalaiyar catakam in Tamil script (Unicode) format has been published as part 1 of this release PM release #938_01"
URL: https://www.projectmadurai.org/pm_etexts/utf8/pmuni0938_01.html
Another version has been published earlier under "PM release # 219" :
URL: https://www.projectmadurai.org/pm_etexts/utf8/pmuni0219.html
Pazhamozh vilakkam - Explaining Proverbs
Worshiping God.
1. The god Thandalaiyar is the giver of boons to all!
If devotees go around the divine temple of the god
and light up at least one lamp using cow’s ghee
and a wick made of thread from lotus flowers,
they will not die and will not be born again.
They will go to Kailasam and be there forever.
All the karma of those devotees who light the lamps will go away.
2. Thandalaiyar, whose jata is decorated with the crescent moon,
gives crores and crores of goodness to me
and removes my bad karma.
What can I give him back?
He is like the sky that pours rain on the earth
giving good life to all
and making the people do tapas and charity—
but what thanks can the earth give back to the sky?
3. The god Thandalaiyar carried sand to receive pittu
so that he could give food to all.
What is the use even if one wanders
all over the eight directions of the world,
goes down under the earth
or flies to the sky like a kite and asks for food?
Unless one worships god, he will not get food
because he is the giver of food.
4. One should do dharma.
Then only will Thandalaiyar give his grace to him.
One should not do bad deeds, lie, hurt others,
or walk in evil paths.
All one needs is to help others
If one does good, goodness will come to him.
If one does bad deeds he will get only a bad life.
5. By the grace of the God Thandalaiyar
whom no one knows,
Saupari did tapas and returned to his country
where the Kaveri river nourishes the land
and became king.
If someone leads a good life
with his wife like Valluvar, it is good,
but, like Saupari,
it is not wrong to lead a faultless life of a saint either.
6. Can one describe the power of the chaste women in Thandalai?
One woman burnt a hunter,
one not wearing any clothes
fed all the three gods in the form of babies,
one defeated seven horses,
one told a sage,
“Do you think I am just a heron
that you can hurt me by just looking at me?”
7. O god Thandalaiyar, you dance in the divine hall!
Even if you have one child who is thankful you,
he will help the whole family.
If one gets even a hundred stupid children
will it be any use to anyone?
I tell you, even if one pig gives birth to many baby pigs,
is it as useful as an elephant that gives birth to one baby elephant?
8. If a devotee sees a good thing,
he will give it to god and the god will be pleased.
The king Varaguna Pandiyar gave his wife
to Shiva because he loved the god.
Kannappar gave leftover food to Shiva with love,
and another devotee gave spinach and pieces of mango to god.
If a devotee sees a good thing,
he will give it to god and the god will be pleased.
9. In the flourishing Thandalaiyar country
those in a good family
will eat only after they give food to their guests.
Whatever they eat without giving food to their guests
is only a bitter medicine for them.
10. The god Thandalaiyar shares his body with his wife
who speaks sweet words like sugar,
In his country why should one give golden umbrellas,
fine clothes and golden dishes to others?
Are these good things?
If someone with a happy face like a blooming lotus
speaks sweetly with others,
it is like a rain of honey pouring on the roofs of houses
covered with sugar cane.
11. You are the sweet god of Thandalai
where good people never think of anything evil.
I did not worship you with thousands of divine words
as good people do and praise you.
I was only involved in desiring women.
If one thinks of the truth,
I am like a donkey trying to cross a river
on a stick that only ants are using to cross.
12. Even if one plants the small seed of a banyan tree,
it will grow into a large tree.
Even if one gives a small amount of food,
people will be immensely thankful.
In the country of the god Thandalaiyar,
people of the world will be grateful until they die
even if they receive a little salt.
13. The god Thandalaiyar gives his grace to all
spreading it throughout the world.
To help useless people is like planting
a good seed on rough land,
buying a bad cow or giving money to prostitutes.
If one does not give wealth to his temple,
it is like rain pouring in a hot forest
or moonlight shining on empty land.
14. O god of Thandalai
with a jata adorned by the crescent moon,
even if someone learns without any mistakes,
and gives advice to others in this world,
if he is a mean person,
he will not be good and reach a good status.
I tell you this: because a bitter vegetable
grows in the divine Ganges,
it does not mean it will be sweet.
15. O god of Thandalai
adorned with tender-leafed kondrai garlands,
even though I do not love women
whose eyes are smeared with kohl,
and I do not get angry at anyone,
and am not interested in living in this world,
my desires do not leave me and I still suffer.
It is like even when the rain stops,
its sprinkling does not stop.
16. Vishnu advised Vaccirappillai,
born in the flourishing country of Thandalai
and gave him learning.
Just like that in the rich country of Thandalaiyar,
people advise all children, good or bad.
People say that teaching good knowledge
for all the children of the villages is good
since the god did that also.
17. Shiva, the god of Thandalai
drank poison and gave his grace to all the gods
and saved their lives.
Duriyodhana tried to pull off the sari of Draupadi
and made the five Pandavas angry.
Patient people who do not hit back
even if someone hits or blames them
will rule a kingdom.
If someone gets angry with others who hurt him,
he can only go to forest to live.
18. In the rich country of Thandalaiyar
adorned with divine ash,
jealous people seeing strong men, scholars,
rich men and beautiful people think,
“Why are we not rich like them?”
and they worry and wander.
They are like childless people
and become jealous and sigh
when they see those who have children.
19. O lord Thandalai,
you share half of your body with your wife
whose voice is like music.
Evil ones wanting to rule the world,
strong enough to hurt others and steal their wealth,
will all suffer and be destroyed.
People get things only according to their fate
and any other things that they want will not come to them.
One should accept things as they come.
20. Ignorant people who do not worship the god Thandalaiyar
are like the parrots that repeat what one says.
They are not able to describe what they have seen
and they say wrong things about everything
and behave in a bad way.
21. See, O god Thandalai, giver of food to all,
even if someone keeps giving good advice to bad people
they will not understand and behave badly always.
When a poet reads a sweet poem to ungenerous people
they will not give anything.
Even if rain pours all day from morning to night,
the seashell on the wall will not grow like a tender shoot.
Just like that bad people will not change.
22. You are the god of Thandalai
surrounded with water where red kaavi flowers bloom.
If you give your grace to someone,
he can achieve anything he wants, go anywhere and do anything.
If god does not give his grace,
even if one runs a long distance in the world
making the bones of his legs hurt,
he will not be able to achieve anything.
His sin will follow him
and only god’s grace will be able to change it.
23. Just as a mother knows her daughter,
O god of Thandalai, only you, my father, know your devotees.
You went as a messenger to Paravainachiyar for Sundarar,
your devotee and a Tamil poet.
Not all know the greatness of Tamil as you do
and praise the fame of Tamil.
A dog does not know whether a pot thrown on the street
will have good food or not.
24. O lord of Thandalai with thick jata,
the fruits ripening on mango, banana and jackfruit trees
will give food for many people.
Just like that good people share their wealth with the poor.
I want to tell you, lord,
even if the etti tree ripens and gives fruits, what is the use?
No one can eat its bitter fruit.
If someone does not share his wealth,
it does not matter whether he lives or not.
25. A good man is someone praised by others.
He worships the feet of Thandalaiyar
and all the world respects him.
If someone lives protecting his wealth like a Bhudam,
saving his gold and not sharing with others,
what does it matter whether he lives live or not?
That man is like a donkey wandering around
that does not even know its name.
26. O god of Thandalai worshiped by all,
the food that one gives without compassion,
a deaf man who sees a dream,
someone who does not give anything to the poor,
and someone who does not know the virtue of wonderful Tamil—
all are useless.
Even if one advises them
it is like blowing a conch in the ear of a deaf person.
27. If people do not follow the teaching of the agamas
of the god of Thandalai,
if they hurt others,
kill without knowing the result,
steal,
do not share their wealth with others,
cook food and eat it themselves,
or follow wrong paths—
they will go to hell.
One should love the life of others just as his own.
28. O god Thandalai in the beautiful temple lighted by bright lights,
I have not searched for you and worshiped your lotus feet every day.
I wander all my life just to earn food to fill my stomach.
I am like someone unable to make himself warm,
because he does not have time to burn sticks to make fire.
29. O god of Thandalai who argued with Brahma,
some wear sacred earrings on their ears,
hold sacred beads in their hands,
and wear on their chests sacred chains
but are not devoted in their hearts.
They are like saints in the daytime
and in the night they are cats that wear sacred beads.
30. Marisan disguised himself as a deer to kidnap Sita
and he was killed by Rama.
Ravana spoke with Sita sweet words like honey,
and kidnaped her to keep her in prison.
He lost his kingdom that rose to the sky.
See the power of the god Thandalaiyar!
Isn’t it true that god thinks differently than man?
31. One should not lie, thinking that Thandalaiyar
who skinned the elephant with a trunk like a palm tree
does not know that a liar will not get food,
and his wealth will disappear.
Can the thazai flowers swarming with bees
bloom without spreading fragrance?
A person who tells the truth will never lie.
32. O god Thandalaiyar,
you went as a messenger for Sundarar, your devotee.
If a devotee of Shiva like Sundarar
treats Brahmins, good people
and the god Shiva himself as servants, it is not wrong—
what ever others say will not hurt the devotee.
If a dog barks at the full moon, it will not hurt the moon.
33. O god Thandalaiyar, giver of moksha to your devotees,
if people do not follow the good advice of elders
and do wrong deeds, they will destroy themselves.
I tell everyone, doesn’t the axe made of wood cut the tree
that is also wood, destroying what it is made of?
34. In the famous country of the god Thandalaiyar,
if worship is done with fragrant smoke,
but with the wrong prayer, who will worship anything?
They will only gossip.
Just like that if a king does not rule his country well,
he will not have anything, even if he has an insignia,
music, a pallanquin, horses and an army.
He is like a devil.
35. If a sage living in the flourishing country of Thandalaiyar
adorned with the crescent moon
does not search for a wife, a rich life or wealth,
and if he thinks only of being a devotee of Shiva,
even a king is not important for him.
36. Even if one lives in the world
with many relatives and children and is rich,
if he does not wear the sacred ashes of the god Thandalaiyar
and does not worship the god, he will not go to moksha.
Even if he dances and worships the god
he is only doing whatever he desires.
37. You beg all through your life
and wander without thinking of the god Thandalaiyar
adorned with the shining crescent moon.
This is the truth.
If you think strongly, the god Thandalaiyar
will protect you, staying in your heart.
The lord, your creator, will make you flourish
like a tree on which water is poured.
38. In the rich country of Thandalaiyar,
praised by poets who know all four types of poems,
if the king rules with good justice
and protects his citizens well,
people will worship him as god.
If the king and the minister rule with cruelty,
they will go to hell.
39. If learned people come to an assembly of scholars,
it is a beauty for the assembly.
If someone is generous and educated he is the best of people.
If the devotees of the just god Thandalaiyar
wear sacred ash and earrings,
that is very beautiful for their face.
40. O lord, ornamented god of Thandalai,
some uneducated people,
say that Bharathiyar is not a good poet.
Some do not know what seer and thalai are in poetry,
but they will ride on a palanquin
and say they are a wonderful poets.
Some have not learned the grammar Karigai
but still compose poems and are proud that they are poets.
If someone does not know the grammar of poetry
but writes poems, will anyone respect what they write?
Their words are only like beating a drum.
41. O god of Thandalai, giver of boons to your devotees,
some have not learned or heard about the sacred Agamas
and do not know the results of good and bad karma,
but they teach saying that they are gurus.
They are like like someone giving a stick to a blind person
and telling him that it will show him the way.
Their teaching is like the blind leading the blind.
42. O Thandalai, god of the mountain,
no one knows whether someone alive yesterday
will live today.
It isn’t necessary to save money,
but it is important to help people and do dharma.
I tell this to the world,
“When the wind blows, one should winnow
the husk from the paddy.
Do something when you can.”
43. You are the god of Thandalai
flourishing with good paddy fields.
I tell you truly, if the wise sages wanting moksha
try to collect gold and paddy fields,
it is like someone who goes to the golden heaven
carrying a precious diamond in his hands.
44. If a son thinks other parents are as loving as his own parents
then everyone will think he is a good son.
He will live happily always serving his elders
and even his enemies will respect him.
The snake that ornamented Thandalaiyar asked the eagle,
“O Garuda, how are you?”
45. If one praises the god Thandalai on whose jata the Ganges flows,
he will have a good life.
If one does not worship the lord who removes bad karma
and only follows mean people,
he will not be happy.
So, ask god to give his grace,
46. You do not worship the feet of the god
of flourishing Thandalai and circle his temple.
You do bad deeds.
When Yama’s messengers come to take you,
will they leave you even if you shed many tears?
Even if a mouse cries and suffers,
will a cat that has caught it leave it?
47. The fine poet Nakkirar went to the victorious Meenakshi temple
and told Sundaresvarar without fear that his poem was wrong.
He was not afraid that he was talking to the god Shiva,
the god of Thandalai, and said,
“Lord, even if you open your third eye and burn me,
your mistake in the poem is a mistake.”
Who can conquer such Tamil poets as Nakkirar?
48. When everything is flourishing in the country of Thandalaiyar,
it is easy to give food to a thousand people as Pari did,
but at a time of famine, even if one gives a little food
it is good.
Even if one gives a pot of water to someone
during hot summer when there is no rain,
it is a very good thing.
49. One should not live without being a devotee
of the lord Thandalai who gives his grace to all with love,
more than a mother to a child.
People are not born with anything,
and they do not take anything
when they go from this world.
They are like a crow that flies around
without knowing its own branch
of the tree where it lives.
50. Even if someone scolds or praises you,
even if happiness or sorrow comes to you,
even if someone gives you a lot of trouble,
you should think it is your fate
and that it is what the god of Thandalai gave to you.
You should not think, this or that person gave that to you
and hate that person.
When fate is the cause of all your suffering,
you should not think of someone as an enemy and hate him.
When someone shoots an arrow at you,
you should not blame the arrow.
51. All his life one should worship the feet of the god
of rich Thandalai and do virtuous deeds.
Without thinking that,
if one leads one’s whole life loving women always,
and only at the end of life worships the lord saying,
“Sankaraa, Sankaraa,”
how could he get any benefit of dharma?
52. I tell you, O god of Thandalai praised by the Vedas,
to help others than one’s relatives—
people coming for refuge,
learned ones, helpless ones, religious ones and elders—
is like giving rich food to Brahmins
and not giving food to one’s own mother
when she is hungry after doing a lot of work.
53. O god of Thandalai praised by the Vedas of all religions,
if you advise bad people even many times,
they forget it and do wrong things,
but if you tell good people even one word of advice,
they take it seriously.
If you hit a good cow one time, it will behave.
Good women will behave well if you advise them once.
54. A king ruling his country with justice
will never go to hell.
O god of Thandalai, I tell you truly,
one cannot go to moksha
if he hides food or riches from the poor.
You protect your devotees
and in the world if they beg they get food always.
55. An evil king
does not do sacred service for the god Thandalaiyar.
He rules his country without justice
not knowing what is good or bad
and his citizens will be angry with him
and rain will not pour in his country.
No one can ask any question there whatever happens.
Such a country of an evil king
is a place where a cruel tiger lives.
56. If people cheat their friends,
do not help others and their parents,
do injustice or blame their gurus
they will be destroyed.
If they worship and praise the god Thandalaiyar,
his devotees, parents with good children,
and those generous to the hungry will flourish.
57. If merchants become rich,
they will be kind to their customers.
If bad people get rich, they will be proud and trouble others.
O god Thandalaiyar, giver of life to many, hear me.
If mean people get rich,
they are like those wandering at night with their umbrellas up.
58. In the rich country of the victorious god Thandalaiyar,
if one does wrong and unjust deeds
stealing the things of others,
if he does charity
thinking that he will be praised in all directions,
it is like killing a cow to make sandals
and giving them to others free.
59. O god Thandalaiyar with an axe and deer in your hands,
if a stupid person becomes the king of a country,
he will not be wise and will not be able to rule.
Even if people put a lot of kohl in their eyes,
if their eyes are small, they will not become large.
60. Learned people will not get angry.
Those without desires
do not think of the high or low caste of people.
Compassionate people do not desire things.
Good people will not go to hell.
A king does not have slaves.
The devotees of the lotus feet of the god Thandalaiyar
will not be born again.
No one should question this—
it is like food someone gets by begging.
61. If one gives a beautiful girl
who knows how to love and be romantic
to a really stupid person
in the country of the god Thandalaiyar,
will it be good?
It is like giving a flower garland to a monkey.
62. If a person gets a good wife
in the land of the god Thandalaiyar where bees sing,
he will be happy with his woman and enjoy life.
He will listen to music
and will not be poor or have any difficulties.
If there is abundant rice in the world,
there will not be any poverty or trouble.
In a house if a man lives with his wife and his sister-in-law,
the sister-in-law will also get his love.
63. In the flourishing country where the Kaviri river flows,
the god Thandalaiyar stays with his wife who speaks like a parrot.
If there is no smart minister in the assembly of the king,
there will not be any justice.
How can the king get advice when there is no minister?
Anyone can hide things in the assembly,
just as a large pumpkin can be hidden in a pot of rice.
64. You are the god of Thandalai surrounded with fragrant plants.
If one goes to an assembly of pundits
and does not know how to talk and be coherent,
it is like a bear that enters in the middle of a worship
when one is bathing the god and reciting mantras.
65. O god of Thandalai worshiped by the Chola king of the southern land,
if one thinks in his mind to destroy another person,
or just says that he will destroy another, he will be destroyed.
Isn’t this the truth of the world?
If one knows he is doing wrong and does evil deeds,
it will surely hurt him.
It is true that if one cooks an appam on the roof of his house,
it will burn the house.
66. O god of Thandalai,
you remove the troubles of your devotees
and show them good paths.
If one respects elders in front of others
but treats them badly when no one is around,
it is like a daughter respecting her mother in front of others
and doing bad deeds behind her back.
67. O god of Thandalai surrounded with cool fragrant groves,
people do not understand that if they praise you
they will achieve what they want
in their present and future birth.
If they praise people on the earth and wander around,
it is like searching for ghee when one has butter in his hands.
68. The help of Brahmins is the Vedas,
help for a king is his strong sword,
for children, help is their mother,
and clever words are help for messengers.
O god of Thandalai, you are the help for your devotees.
You were the help for Sundarar, your friend—
people say for the helpless, god is their help.
69. O god of Thandalai
who embrace your wife with ornamented breasts,
strong warriors do not fear battles,
generous men are not afraid of giving.
rishis learned in the Vedas are not afraid of water,
and chaste women are not afraid of fire.
A young lion is not afraid of a rutting elephant,
a good messenger does not fear to go
where there may be trouble to give messages.
70. Even if one wants to stop a generous person,
he will not stop giving.
Even if one scolds someone who does bad deeds,
it will not stop him.
Even in the rich country of the god Thandalaiyar
thieves will not stop stealing.
Even if you burn the body of a prostitute
you cannot stop her.
71. Some devotees of the god Thandalaiyar
come to an assembly
and give a hundred gold coins to prostitutes,
but they give only a little food to Tamil pandits.
For the Brahmins they give a whole pot of rice,
but for a divine poem they give only one coin.
72. O god of Thandalai, money is very important.
It gives you the ability to learn skills.
If one does not have money, he is a corpse.
Only money talks.
The name of a good family is considered trash
if they do not have money.
73. The devotees of god will not be afraid of anything.
Markandeyan, had a boon
that he would be always sixteen and never get older.
He told Yama of whom the sky and the earth are afraid to go away.
The devotees of Thandalaiyar will not be afraid of anyone.
The fox in the palm tree forest is not be afraid of anything any day.
74. In the rich city of the god Thandalaiyar,
a man cut his child to feed a sage.
A king’s wife became a sage.
In a city only one person can be your best friend.
One’s wife is someone who does not have
a relationship with any other man.
75. Even if a wise man becomes like a Raksasa,
embracing women and doing many wrong things,
will he enjoy all those things he does?
Sundarar the devotee of Thandalaiyar the god of a forest,
really did not enjoy his life when he had many wives
and said, “The mattress does not give happiness’
76. What can food do?
It can make everything good.
It is compassionate and makes everyone healthy.
It can destroy someone if they do not have it.
It shines in the worship of the god Thandalaiyar.
It makes everyone do what you want.
Is there anything else like that?
77. People cheating others, mean people, cheap people,
stupid people and those without compassion
think that they are the best and will live happily.
The god Thandalaiyar gives his grace to his devotees.
Those who blame Thandalaiyar do not know
that their character is the reason for their troubles
and not the god or their fate.
78. O, devotees of Thandalaiyar,
highest lord adorned with jata, hear me.
People should behave according to their intelligence and status.
If small people try to behave like their betters,
they will lose everything they have.
A small crow trying to walk like a swan
will lose the beauty even of its own walk
and people will make fun of it.
79. Some small poets want to behave like great poets and brag.
Some cowards carry a sword and behave like strong heroes.
O god Thandalaiyar, ruler the world, if one thinks of it,
it is like peys wanting to dance
like dancing girls at the temple.
80. O, god of Thandalai
surrounded with groves dripping with nectar,
good thieves do not lie.
Bad thieves are five:
they pretend to be good people,
they bow to god and behave like devotees,
they wear sacred ashes,
they pretend to feel guilty for their bad deeds,
and they always worship and pretend to follow all traditions.
81. In the flourishing rich country of the god Thandalaiyar,
good people think of good things and talk well
but small people are angry always
and say one thing but do something else.
They think of others as enemies
but behave like their friends and talk sweetly to them.
82. All the people in the country of the god Thandalaiyar
where chariots always run on the beautiful streets
carry bows and are praised as strong heroes.
It is important that one should behave and think
like all those good people in the world.
83. In the country of the god Thandalaiyar
who embraces his wife whose breasts are ornamented,
it is better to be silent than to sing badly,
and it is better not to be a scholar
if one has not learned all literature or heard about it.
For a king, it is better to have a strong enemy
than an assembly that does not help him.
84. What is the difference if a devotee of Siva
is born in a low or high caste?
If someone sees a devotee of Shiva
wearing sacred ashes and sacred beads,
he should be happy and praise the sage.
If someone disgraces a devotee
because he is a poor man or born in a low caste,
it is like tying something on fire in the end of a sari.
85. It is not good to want a woman who desires your wealth.
If you listen to the advice of women, it is useless.
The words of women are evil—they only want to get things,
and yet, O god of Thandalai, giver of boons to your devotees,
is there anyone who does not enjoy the pleasures of women?
Even peys like women.
86. Men fascinated with women
whose dark eyes are adorned with kohl,
will not have a second chance.
They will become sick, lose their wealth and become poor.
Isn’t this known to the people of the rich country
of the god Thandalaiyar where paddy flourishes in the fields?
Why, when someone has a wife, should he look for another woman?
It is like looking in a mirror to check a cut on one’s hands.
87. O god Thandalaiyar, you decide the fate of people.
In the world, good people should not want to be friends
of murderers, thieves, drunkards, womanizers
or those who disrespect their gurus.
Even if someone drinks milk while sitting under a palm tree,
people will say he is drinking toddy.
88. If someone wants to get a thing he should not have,
it will give him trouble.
Can anyone receive any gain,
if he gets something in a wrong way?
In the country of the god Thandalaiyar famous in all lands,
even if one takes dice in his hands,
saying, “chee, chee,” it is still a bad thing
because it makes him gamble.
89. Even mud from a termite mound, kuruntadi mud,
earth used in the sacrifice and other kinds of mud,
will be used as medicine and remove all sickness
if it has been used in a puja
while the bell rings and mantras are recited.
That mud will cure any sickness
that comes to the devotees of the god Thandalaiyar.
Once the desires of the world are gone,
you reach moksha and all things are only nectar for you.
90. The deer that lives in the forest
will die if even one of its hairs falls.
Will that also happen to a donkey?
A great man lives without losing respect.
No one can forget Suyodanan.
O lord Thandalaiyar,
in your temple beautiful music is always played.
I tell you, if one loses the respect of others,
it cannot be returned even for a thousand gold coins.
91. Poor people who are friends with good, rich people
have many benefits and live without fear,
but, O lord adorned with the crescent moon,
I tell you, a poor person without such friendship
will not have wealth or happiness.
If he desires things, he is like a pig
wanting to get something that is high on a mountain.
92. One should light a lamp and patiently wait
to enter the place of an intelligent man.
If one is proud and does not do this he will be destroyed.
In the land of Tandalaiyar,
one can see this whether he is poor
in this birth or in the next birth.
The water in a pot that is full will not shake
but in a pot that is not full it will.
93. O god Thandalaiyar, even Vishnu could not see you
when he took the form of a boar.
If good people become rich they will help all—
poets and other good people when they are in need.
Those approaching them will be benefited
like birds that fly to a banyan tree filled with ripe fruit.
94. In the rich country of the god Thandalaiyar,
adorned with the crescent moon,
those not ashamed to do bad things and pretending to be rich
are like dancers taking many roles all through the city
without any shame.
Because they are rich, people in the city
will still praise and appreciate them.
95. A bad wife will have a relationship with a neighbor.
She eats before her husband.
She is not obedient.
She talks angrily.
She only looks for money.
O god Thandalaiyar with a bull flag,
is it a pleasure to live with such a wife?
It is just like living with a devil in the house.
96. Rich people are happy.
Can poor people get gold and become rich?
O Thandalaiyar who bent Himalaya mountain into a bow,
see, some people hide their wives away
and do not allow them to talk to others.
If people know a husband is that sort of coward,
they think his wife could be their mistress.
97. O Thandalayar with the crescent moon floating in your jata,
some will not understand others’ trouble,
hunger, weakness, sickness—
they consider the problems only of themselves,
just as an infant that cannot nurse does not know
the pain in the breast of its mother.
98. Such is this world!
Even if the water of the oceans becomes milk,
and the whole world is filled with rice,
beggars will not get enough food.
O lord worshiped by all the seven worlds,
even if saris are sold for a measure of paddy,
a dog will still be without clothes.
99. In a poor land, can one get milk?
Can dancing women have good character
or bad people be intelligent?
Even if bad people go to many places
will they be become respectable?
O god Thandalaiyar adorned with a snake,
even if someone goes to a foreign land,
he will desire his own food.
100. Even if someone has done seven hundred good deeds
but does one bad deed, wicked people will say he is bad.
O clever god Thandalaiyar, in your flourishing country
even if someone uses sacred ash to clean a brass dish,
it will still have its own smell.