Pasuram 3.5.2

Tamil text and transliteration:

தண்கடல் வட்டத்து உள்ளாரைத் தமக்கு இரையாத் தடிந்து உண்ணும்,
திண்கழல்கால் அசுரர்க்குத் தீங்கு இழைக்கும் திருமாலைப்,
பண்கள் தலைக்கொள்ளப் பாடி பறந்தும் குனித்தும் உழலாதார்,
மண்கொள் உலகில் பிறப்பார் வல்வினை மோத மலைந்தே.

taṇkaṭal vaṭṭattu uḷḷārait tamakku iraiyāt taṭintu uṇṇum,
tiṇkaḻalkāl acurarkkut tīṅku iḻaikkum tirumālaip,
paṇkaḷ talaikkoḷḷap pāṭi paṟantum kuṉittum uḻalātār,
maṇkoḷ ulakil piṟappār valviṉai mōta malaintē.

English translation of verse 3.5.2:

Those that sing not tunefully the glory
Of Tirumāl, who does on the Asurās gory,
That kill and eat up the denizens of this Earth,
Bound by the oceans cool, pour all His wrath,
Tormenting them and fail to leap about and dance in gay-abandon
Will in this sinful world get trapped, (again and again).

Notes

(i) The Āḻvār deplores those who do not recognise the enormous good done to them by the Lord, by way of protecting them from the devilish. Failure on their part to gratefully acknowledge the Lord’s benefaction will only get them consigned to Saṃsāra, the breeding ground for sins and the resultant miseries and involvement in the dreadful cycle of birth and death.

(ii) By ‘Asuras’ is not meant those born in the Asura clan. As a matter of fact, the two broad classifications, indicated by Lord Kṛṣṇa in Chapter XVI-6 of Bhagavad Gītā, are ‘Devas’, the Divine and ‘Asuras’, the Devilish. Whosoever renders service to the Lord and His devotees or co-operates with those who render such service is the ‘Divine’ while those who range themselves opposite and hate God and His devotees and obstruct the service rendered to them, are the ‘Devilish’. Even Lakṣmī, who is Grace personified and knows not what it is to punish (ajñātha nigrahai [?]), is one with the Lord, in the matter of inflicting punishment on the ‘Devilish’.