Thiruvembavai and Thiruppalliyezhuchchi

 In Hindu Tradition, Margazhi Nonbu ( penance observed in the month of Margazhi ) is observed by maids and lasses in the name  of Lord Shiva. If the  penance is observed with sincerity and in earnestness, the lasses will be blessed with blissful married life with ideal husbands.

Here Thiru Vasagam and Thiruppalliyezhchchi are so composed as though sung by lasses observing Margazhi penance. Walking up early, fresh morning during the Month of Margazhi to worship the Lord, will definitely invoke the blessings of Lord Shiva. Interestingly Thiru Annamalai is one of the five shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva representing Fire. Now a days people throng in more and more numbers in this shrine and make circum ambulation of the Holy Mountain Thiru Annamalai. ( Arunachala) In the list of devotees Europeans and white people also included. The classic "Thiruvembavai" assumes the form of Dialogue between a group of Lasses and one of their friends, who are all Shiva Devotees observing Penance, during the Holy month of Margazhi.

                             Thiruvembavai

1.  (Group of girls to their friend who is  half awake  in her house) “Shiva is the rare and grand  sacred-flame, who is without birth and death, and whom we sing and you listen, you sword- eyed damsel. Are you so deaf that you still   sleep even after listening all these? Our praise of the omnipotent Shiva has reached the ears of a lass and she has rolled and rolled down in tranze and ecstatic-crying. We wonder if she could come to normalcy. Where as you sleep still  in spite of our calling. Oh! Girl pupil of our eye! Listen to us at least now. Wake up! Let us observe “Margazhi Nonbhu” (penance by unmarried  girls)”.

2. “Oh! Girl you often night and day and   whenever we speak you   would  say “My love is fixed for Lord Shiva” But now you sleep on the flowery bed. Oh! Girl with the best of ornaments wake up!”

“No  no !  sincere friends! do you make fun of this sacred practice?(penance). Even the celestial beings shudder  to  worship the  exceedingly resplendent feet of our Lord Shiva. We the girls are lucky to have our Lord   who has condescended to offer a glimpse of his Lotus feet to us . Don’t we thank our Lord, who dances in Thillai(Chidambaram) and for that, we urge you.

3. “Oh! Girl with pearl white teeth, you used to wake up earlier and praised our Lord Shiva as ‘father’, ‘Sweet-God’ and you spoke sweetly. Don’t you open the door.”

(The girl to her friends) “Hello my dear long-established and ideal devotees of  the Lord Shiva! with ease you wake up in the early morning but I am only a new-devotee of the Lord and can’t you bear with me?”

“Oh! Girl your love for Shiva is with pure heart, we know and   can a girl of your nature afford to while away her time without singing the Lord’s praise and we pray to have your kind of devotion and clean heart.”

4.“ Oh! Girl with bright pearly teeth, has your day not dawned as yet?” “You girls,  with colorful parrot’s melodious talk, have you all come?” is any one missing?”

“We will count how many girls have come and in the meanwhile don’t fall in to     sleep   again. Shiva is the panacea for celestial beings and he is the essence of Vedas. He is the feast to our eyes and we are going to sing his glories and praises and we don’t have time to count those who   have actually come and count yourself if you find any shortage  in the number of devotees go and sleep again.”

5.“Even Thirumal(Vishnu) can not have easy access to  Lord Shiva’s Lotus feet;neither does   quadri-headed Brahma to Lord Shiva’s  tuft  of hair(head).  In fact Shiva has hidden himself as a  high-mountainous grand flame and you, wicked girl! You  indulge freely  in canards   as if they(canards) are milk and honey, by telling lies that you know our Lord. Open the door!  You don’t understand  Our Lord and you don’t  wake up from your bed even after we have sung  the Shiva  who is beyond the scope of  earthly people, heavenly beings, and other people living   beyond the cosmos, and the  Shiva who  has assumed the divine form to liberate all of us, and  the Shiva  who  has honored us by  absorbing  simple- minded devotees like us besides our Loud calling “Shiva!  The Grand Sire! Shiva!  The Grand Sire!”  “Oh! Girl with perfumed hair-tuft! What sort of a girl  you are!

6. “Oh!  Girl !  you are shy and afraid(in matters fit  to be afraid) like a deer ,   have you forgotten your promise? You have promised “I will wake up first and wake up you all” You for got your assurance and now sleep. To which direction has your promise gone? Aren’t you ashamed for this? Lord Shiva can not be understood either by earthly or celestial beings but he  has deigned to bless us .We are fortunate. You are unmoved even after listening us singing the praise of our Lord. Is this proper? Come and join with us so that we can sing the praise of our Lord Shiva, who is the Lord of us and others.”

7. “Oh Mother like girl! Do you have  a  dual personality as the one having love to Shiva and the other to sleep as if you don’t  have any love for  Shiva ? Previously  you used to  chant “Shiva, Shiva” on hearing  the trumpet, and conch being  blown to remember us  of the Shiva  who is even beyond the concept of heavenly beings, and  the Shiva who is unique and  is with  tremendous glories. You used to   melt down like wax on  fire even before others could say “Shiva! the God inhabitated in the Southern Part of Tamil Nadu” Listen to our individual  as well as  Chorus  calling of Shiva as “ Our  father; our Lord and as  ‘Delicious Ambrosia’. How can you still sleep?

You remain silent like the unwise people who won’t melt down towards Shiva. What is the true  nature of sleep?

8. Hen is crowing as the day dawns. Other  birds also chirping. The wind instrument with seven  tunes, played on auspicious occasions   is also  now being played. The white conch also hoots. We sing  our Lord Shiva as unique, merciful, and  has true shaped God.  Don’t you  hear this? Long live!. We wonder What  sleep is this? Don’t you open your mouth? Can you answer us? Come and join with us to sing the praise of  our  Lord Shiva,  and he  will save us on the judgment day with all his benevolence?

9. Shiva! You are the most ancient among old things. You! the latest thing among the  recent things. You are our   lord. We prostrate unto your feet  and  to   your devotees. We will submit to your devotees. Bless us to have your devotees only as our husbands. We will do whatever they command.  Will we lack anything, if you can give   the above boon?. (“True devotion to lord Shiva  by un married girls will  get them married with  good husbands” is the customary belief)

10. (The girl who is half-awake inside the house, thus speaks to her comrades,) “ Under this earth, there are seven worlds and still beneath there is one more world without any specific name. Up to that extreme underworld, Lord Shiva’s  knotted  hair reaches and it transcends beyond sky. He bears Goddess Parvathy  in  himself. He only assumes many forms of  earthly beings, and  celestials are all speaking  about Shiva’s immeasurable and endless grandeurs.  You comrades! You all  belong to the holy place, where friendly devotees’ hearts living, immaculate  birth i.e Shiva whose  temple is  located. Tell me which is his (Shiva) native? Who is his neighbour? How to  worship him?”

11. “We splash  water  with the sound “Muger”from the temple- tank   which is  surrounded by bees and  we praise the glory of the Lotus feet of our Lord Shiva.  We  have been  servants of our Lord Shiva  from   generation  to  generation and we are well off today with Shiva’s grace. Oh! Shiva  you are so bright as fire! You have smeared the sacred ash all over your body, which is silver in colour. You are the better half of slender waisted, decorate-eyed Uma! We have passed all the ordeals set by you so far only to make us eligible for salvation. Please take care of us so that we won’t get exhausted.”

12. “ Shiva has  at his disposal  the rushing, noisy, abundant,  and crystal clear water. In Chidambaram he dances  on the cosmos with fire  in one of his  hands. Shiva also creates, protects, and  regulates all of us, the world and the heavenly beings to liberate  ourselves from birth death cycles with the accompaniment of meaningful songs glorifying our Lord-Shiva, with  the clinking sound of the ornaments like “megala”, and with  buzzing  of the bees sitting on the lengthy hair. Let us holy  dip in this  tank  with the praise of our Omni-potent Lord Shiva”

13. “ Let us plunge and bathe in the lotus pond, which is also replete with cool and ash colored –lily buds  and red lotuses, with birds perched on the surface of the waves. The birds   form an intricate flock and devotees also come for ablution. This pond resembles our Lord Shiva and Parvathy in as much as the people come to   cleanse themselves (of sins and impurities). This pond has ado   with the unmarried young girls with their stirring of  the water by plunging and  with the sound made by their anklets,  and with the water displaced by their Spluttering Breasts”.

14.  “Let us Holy-Dip with the  pendant ear- ring  moving, with  the movements of other ornaments   worn  in our  body, with the string of flowers worn  on the head moving and wasps(hornets) buzzing and circling ,with the praise of Chidambaram, with the singing of  Godly messages  found in the  sacred Vedas, with the praise o the  hero of  sacred scriptures(Vedas), with the singing of grand-light with the singing of Konrai Garland, with the  singing of attributes  of Shiva as being  the Alpha and Omega of all things and with the signing of the greatness of the Lotus

Feet of “Goddess Uma“ who has handled us to salvation  and Uma s has worn  bangles  (Who has brought us up).

15. “ You girls, with tightly tethered breasts,  and with ornaments worn on the breasts , Please  listen to me as I am going to tell you about the girl who falls in a tranze  after worshipping our Lord Shiva! That girl, when speaking about our Lord would tell multiple times “ My Lord, My Lord”. She feels ecstatic when she tells “My Lord!” She   is  choked with emotion and tears of joy  rolls down  as if from a falls.  She  prostrates   several times in worship of Lord Shiva. She would not care about celestial beings. Let us sing in praise of the enlightened man who would be this girl’s prospective husband. Let us also holy-dip in the tank, which is full of flowers.

16. Oh Rain! You shrink water from sea and raise to the sky and assume blue color like our  Goddess   Parvathy and sound like the anklet worn by  her. You also draw the rain bow  which resembles the   eye-brows  of  our Goddess Parvathy; and  you shower like the grace of our Lord Shiva , who is inseparable from his consort, and you also shower like divine blessings of our lady Parvathy to devotees.

17. “Thirumal(Vishnu) who protects the world in deference to Shiva’s command, Creator Brahma, Chieftain of heavenly beings and others and  all these  can not have such    a divine bliss  as we have. “Oh  Girl with sweet- smelling hair! Shiva wipes out  all our sins,  and he  visits our houses and prints his Lotus-feet steps, he is  the God  who intends to bless us,   Lord Shiva is  the  Ambrosia we seek, we, the servants of our Lord Shiva,  He is the Boss of us, we sing  his praises and with Goodness flourishing are our lives , let us plunge and holy-dip in the pond”.

18. “Oh! Girl! sing the praise of our Lord Shiva, who remains in Annamalai(Thiruvannamalai or Arunachala) as   a standing  example  for magnanimity. Sun light has appeared already  and star lights becoming thin  like the gems from the crown worn by Celestial beings losing their brilliance, when they worship the Lotus feet of our Lord Shiva ( which is far resplendent with it’s rosy tint.) Lord Shiva is also female, male and both and he is bright sky, earth and all these elements  combined and is  also separated from all these combinations, Our Lord is Ambrosia of spiritual enlightenment, and he is  ever  permanent and let us holy dip in this serene pond.

19. “Shiva! Our Grand Sire! We appeal to  you with the recalling of the customary  phrase used  by the brides father  at the time of marriage ,” This Girl offered to you, has surrendered to you too”. Please listen to our appeal. “Let not our breasts  reach the shoulders of those who are not Shiva’s servants! Let  not our  hands serve except you! Let not our eyes see night and day anything except you! If you, our beloved Lord! Bless us thus, will there be any harm to  us  even if the sun rises in a different direction except east?

20. Our Lord Shiva! Protect us and bless us  with your lotus feet. Guard us and bless me with your Lotus feet which is the end   all. May your divine feet, the Lotus  feet are also  the origin of all living things and  save us! Your divine feet, that  offer to living beings,the benefits in this present birth and in the next birth too. May your divine feet, that  absorb everything and  save us, may the feet which are  unknown to Brahma and Vishnu save us, May your divine feet, which make us your servants only to shower on us your bliss and to  save me! The water sanctified in this month Margazhi, which is   the   divine grace personified. May the   sacred water with which we take   holy bath, save us.

                   Thiruppalliyezhuchchi

1.       Oh! The Grand Lord Shiva! Obeisances to thee! You are Shiva-the -Chief -Source and Grand Thing of my perfect life. Morning has dawned! We worship your Lotus Feet with the offering of fragrant flowers with love unto your flowery feet that is  decked with ornaments on the ankles and with the chanting of “ Namasivaya and with envisaging your comely face with winsome smile. You have the excellent flag with the icon of the green parrot, which lives inside the grove. You Shiva! Living in Thirupperundurai, the shrine surrounded by pleasantly cold watery, marshy lands abound in blossomed many petalled Lotus flowers. You have the simpleton in me as your permanent servant. Our superbly perfect Lord! May you wake from your divine sleep!

2. Aruna! The charioteer of the Sun, turns up with the spreading  of the  purple-dawn light. By now physical darkness has gone.(Contrasted with the darkness of the  mind.)Shiva! You are the Sun-rise. Like your lotus- face, with its grace,  the  grace being  raised  and raised by  the  fragrant flowers of  the eyes of your creation also  goes  on blossoming. Wasps, bees  and hornets in their swarm and in their bee-lines after beelines start buzzing. Shiva! you are present graciously in Thirupperundurai. You are the   Huge - Mountainous-Source of benediction and bliss and from us with spiritual and virtuous enlightenment. You are the sea full of waves, you are our approachable good elder-brother! Would you wake up so that we can work out our salvation that itself is your will!

3. Shiva! You manifest in Thirupperundurai as sweet, sonorous Tamil(language). You are beyond the ken of those egoistic people, how so ever great they may be! We surrender unto you and such is our cult and you are present in spite of our simple nature and  background. Our grand Lord! Cuckoo birds  have sung! Hens have crowed. All birds chirped one after the other. White conches from temples also have hooted. Stars also slowly faded away their lights. Sun with its matchless light, appears in its full brightness, Shiva! You are the grand-light and great wealth to us! May you wake up from your divine sleep  so that we can behold your good , divine feet with decoration by anklets.

4. Shiva! On one side there are devotees playing Veena, the string instrument, on the other side devotees playing with “Yazh” another string instrument and devotees from both rows worship you  with the Chanting of “Namashivaya” with the  accompaniment of properly tuned music instruments.  “Iruk” the  unique Charm(powerful word) and “Manthra” are one and the same.  “ Namashivaya” is the foremost and perfect of all the Charms(powerful words). Because of  that uniqueness, that powerful word, is extolled(praised) as “sum and substance  of the scriptures and finally termed as ‘Iruk.  Such  a great five lettered powerful word(Na Ma  Si  Va  Ya), that is the matter from the scripture combined with classic Tamil songs sung by  the devotees in a manner loved by heavenly beings. On  the one side devotees and   on  the other  side devotees are  holding closely- stringed  garlands  with fragrant flowers with love for the purpose of  Shiva’s worship.  Worshippers who are  your devotees with tears of joy are on another side. Similarly still  on another side Shiva devotees with their folded hands on the top of their heads in worship and  some  devotees are  dancing  with the praise of our Lord they are present still in  another side are present. Thus you are present in Thirupperundurai, to bless all the above devotees. Would you awake from your sacred-sleep. You rule over me, though I am not disciplined.

5. Oh Shiva! The Lord in  Thirupperundurai! You are never without the exterior coolness denoted by watery agricultural fields and interior coolness of   classical Tamil Scriptures. Gifted poets sing  as you are the  inseparable combination of every element and  as you are  the God without  birth and death. Devotees also dance out of sheer love unto you. Besides  these, we have not even heard those who claim to see you. You are beyond  the scope  of our idea or imagination. Such  is your magnanimity that  f or the sake of simpletons like us, you come  before  us to sever  three archetypal sins “lust, anger, and ignorance ”. You are the prime God, who salvages us. May you wake up from your divine sleep!

6. Shiva !You are the husband of the Goddess, who is by nature  Godly. Your devotees are not anxiety stricken by the  worldly diversions and they  earned your blessings and   got liberation. The devotees are so modest as females when they worship you. Oh Shiva living in Thirupperundurai! which is  encapsulated by  the landscape with  copper- red lotus flowers,  you liberate us from this birth  only to  lead us  the ideal path. May you wake up from your divine sleep.

7. Let us come to the  sense that Lord Shiva can not  be realized by  any one and by anything except  through  his blessings. As such, it is   highly debated even by  heavenly- beings who don’t know the real nature of our Lord Shiva. In fact Lord Shiva is the  “ deliciousness of fruit”, “Ambrosia”, and he is  beyond comprehension. Nevertheless, He has so absorbed  and blessed us as we  perceive him   through  the “Grand-Light”, and we are  also able to  feel that    “That- Distant- Shiva”  is here  “This- Shiva-Approachable”. Shiva!   You are the God who  lives in Thiru Vuththarakosamangai,   the shrine surrounded by Honey bearing groves. In Thiru Perundurai, you  are present as Shivakurava! We would ask you the ideal-way chosen by you to make us your servants. Oh! Our Grand Sire! Would you wake from your divine sleep!.

8..Shiva! You are the  origin  of the world, Present state of the world, and changes to the world, and  all these take place due to your divine approval. As such, you are considered to be   the basis, mid part and end  of the different  phases of the world. Your perfect nature is not understandable even   by Brahma, Vishnu, and  Haran, who  are executing your divine command of “three fold  duties”. As such, who can realize you?(except by  your making  it understandable , no one can understand on their own effort) You, Grand Sire! and mother of the world with beautifully featured fingers that play ball,(Consort Parvathy  forming  left side of Lord Shiva) come and bless  these  ‘physical temples’ of the true-devotees which is  constituted by their old ages and mere skinny frames. Shiva! You accept  us as your devotees and bless us by showing your true  form which is  comparable to the  red flame, and  with your showing of  the holy Shrine “Thirup Perundurai where  you are ‘Shiva Kurava’ and by manifesting yourself as a Brahmin- Guru-  who leads the morally and spiritually righteous path  of living.   Shiva! You remain always as ‘ever- permanent-thing’ , ‘delicious Amrosia’! May you wake up from your divine sleep!.

9.Oh! Shiva  you are the excellent thing that can not be approached by heavenly beings nor can they have a idea about you .  You so remain majestically in Thirup Perundurai that we serve you avidly. We are your devotees  generation after generation and simpletons like us can feel you through mind and eyes and you give us the  ecstasy which is akin to honey. You are the Ambrosia churned sout of the ocean of divine blessings. You are the sweet   you wake up from your  divine sleep.

10. Shiva! You are present in all your splendor in Thirupperundurai.  Vishnu, who dwells in   the Sky, Brahma who is in the Lotus flower found that their respective worlds are quite useless for realizing God, and they have found that the earthly world only is able to fetch them the blessings of Lord Shiva.  Brahma and Vishnu have come to the sense that they are frittering away the life by not   being born in the earthly world, and wisdom has dawned on them that this southern part of the world(South India) is the place, where Shiva with ease showers his blessings unto all creatures and living things. Both Vishnu and Brahma  respectively  have wishes and have passions, and you are present in this world and accept  the simple souls to bless us with  your infinitely extended mercy and benedictions. Pure and unmixed Ambrosia!(Shiva) you are with enormous love for us! May you wake up form your divine sleep.

                           ADDITIONAL…..

8. “ Oh girl! Shiva is beyond the scope of the  thinking faculty  of  the celestial beings. How can you remain silent    without telling “Shiva” even after hearing to his favorite instruments being played. Until recently,  it has been you practice that  when you hear “Shiva in the southern land”, your heart would melt down like wax   as if it is heated  and what has become of you now? You remain silent even after hearing our singing “ Shiva in the southern land” We sing Shiva with epithets, “Our own, Our Lord, Our Chief and Ambrosia-like Shiva!” Don’t you hear all these? Do you still sleep? You are silent like hard hearted people when divine ecstasy is here, what is pleasant about sleeping?hu apachayam aaka, mun paarththavardham

mathi chayam aaka anRO, vaama