NAMMALVAR: TIRUVOIMOZHI: A SELECTION: 5-6-7

உற்றார்கள் எனக்கு இல்லை யாரும் என்னும்;

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உற்றீர்கட்கு என் சொல்லிச் சொல்லுகேன் யான்

       உற்று என்னுடையப் பேதை உரைக்கின்றனவே?

(5-6-7)

My little girl says,

      “I have no relatives here,

-       -  

How can I tell you,

My kinsmen,

What she means

(Translation: A K Ramanujan)

The six “mother’s verses” (taaipaasuram) fuse several themes:

Each poem rings changes on the god’s epithets, the refrain-like repetitions (e.g., “world surrounded by the sea”) and on the character of the listeners to whom the mother addresses her words.

The poems also represent different stages of the bhakti (devotional) career. The poem is at once a philosophic and a love poem.