Purananuru - Part 17
From Cape Kumari in the south, from the great mountain
in the north, from the oceans on the east and on the west,
the hills, the mountains, the woods, and the fields
in unison utter their praise of you! You
who protect us! You, who are descended
from those who ruled the entire world,
their gleaming wheels rolling free, you
who avoid cruelty and hold your rod erect,
are impartial and take only what is your due!
Murderous warrior who governs those living in cool
Tonti, with its low-hanging coconut clusters, wide fields,
its mountain boundary and broad seashore where the sand
is like moonlight and there are flowers like fire
in the clear backwaters! As a killer elephant with long tusks,
very large, very strong, might disdain to notice
the cover over an elephant trap and be caught
in the deep pit and then destroy that hole
so that it cannot be used again, rejoining
his herd which is filled then with relief,
so, through your irresistible strength, you escaped,
overcoming your discomfiture, and many who had been
deeply despairing rejoiced! And praise of you
was sung on high before a multitude of nobles
of exalted family, while enemy kings served you,
calculating that they might gain rich land you had captured
or fine jewels that had come to you if only
your heart were gracious toward them, but more profoundly
they thought, “We will lose our high walls with the flags
upraised on them, we will lose our broad fortresses protected
with their outposts, should he glance at us in anger!”
and they serve you because of your might and your glory
which I have come to see and to praise, O greatness!
You whose army has so many shields that the people,
bewildered, see them as massed clouds, and so many
enormous elephants that the honey bees
take them for mountains, an army so hugely swollen
your enemies are terrified, so like the ocean that the clouds
try to draw water from it! You whose royal drum is like thunder
shattering the heads of snakes whose venom
is hidden within their fangs! Boundless benefactor ruling those of the west!
in the north, from the oceans on the east and on the west,
the hills, the mountains, the woods, and the fields
in unison utter their praise of you! You
who protect us! You, who are descended
from those who ruled the entire world,
their gleaming wheels rolling free, you
who avoid cruelty and hold your rod erect,
are impartial and take only what is your due!
Murderous warrior who governs those living in cool
Tonti, with its low-hanging coconut clusters, wide fields,
its mountain boundary and broad seashore where the sand
is like moonlight and there are flowers like fire
in the clear backwaters! As a killer elephant with long tusks,
very large, very strong, might disdain to notice
the cover over an elephant trap and be caught
in the deep pit and then destroy that hole
so that it cannot be used again, rejoining
his herd which is filled then with relief,
so, through your irresistible strength, you escaped,
overcoming your discomfiture, and many who had been
deeply despairing rejoiced! And praise of you
was sung on high before a multitude of nobles
of exalted family, while enemy kings served you,
calculating that they might gain rich land you had captured
or fine jewels that had come to you if only
your heart were gracious toward them, but more profoundly
they thought, “We will lose our high walls with the flags
upraised on them, we will lose our broad fortresses protected
with their outposts, should he glance at us in anger!”
and they serve you because of your might and your glory
which I have come to see and to praise, O greatness!
You whose army has so many shields that the people,
bewildered, see them as massed clouds, and so many
enormous elephants that the honey bees
take them for mountains, an army so hugely swollen
your enemies are terrified, so like the ocean that the clouds
try to draw water from it! You whose royal drum is like thunder
shattering the heads of snakes whose venom
is hidden within their fangs! Boundless benefactor ruling those of the west!
Translation:
Language:
Reviews
No reviews yet.