Ecstasy Brims and Cleanses, Poem 5, Part 6, Verse 54
உலவாக் காலந் தவமெய்தி
உறுப்பும் வெறுத்திங் குனைக்காண்பான்
பலமா முனிவர் நனிவாடப்
பாவி யேனைப் பணிகொண்டாய்
மலமாக் குரம்பை இதுமாய்க்க
மாட்டேன் மணியே உனைக்காண்பான்
அலவா நிற்கும் அன்பிலேன்
என்கொண் டெழுகேன் எம்மானே.
Don’t Abandon Me 6.181-184, 6. 189-192, 6. 193-196
நீத்தல் விண்ணப்பம்
உழைதரு நோக்கியர் கொங்கைப்
பலாப்பழத்து ஈயினொப்பாய்
விழைதரு வேனை விடுதிகண்
டாய்விடின் வேலைநஞ்சுண்
மழைதரு கண்டன் குணமிலி
மானிடன் தேய்மதியன்
பழைதரு மாபரன் என்றென்று
அறைவன் பழிப்பினையே.
தாரகை போலும் தலைத்தலை
மாலைத் தழலரப்பூண்
வீரஎன் தன்னை விடுதிகண்
டாய்விடி லென்னைமிக்கார்
ஆரடி யானென்னின் உத்தர
கோசமங் கைக்கரசின்
சீரடி யாரடி யானென்று
நின்னைச் சிரிப்பிப்பனே.
சிரிப்பிப்பன் சீறும் பிழைப்பைத்
தொழும்பையும் ஈசற்கென்று
விரிப்பிப்பன் என்னை விடுதிகண்
டாய்விடின் வெங்கரியின்
உரிப்பிச்சன் தோலுடைப் பிச்சன்நஞ்
சூண்பிச்சன் ஊர்ச்சுடுகாட்டு
எரிப்பிச்சன் என்னையும்ஆளுடைப்
பிச்சனென் றேசுவனே.
Game of Repartee 12.9
திருச்சாழல்
தென்பா லுகந்தாடுந் தில்லைச்சிற் றம்பலவன்
பெண்பா லுகந்தான் பெரும்பித்தன் காணேடீ
பெண்பா லுகந்திலனேற் பேதாய் இரு நிலத்தோர்
விண்பாலி யோகெய்தி வீடுவர்காண் சாழலோ
Mystic Meeting 27. 4
புணர்ச்சிப்பத்து
அல்லிக் கமலத் தயனும் மாலும்
அல்லா தவரும் அமரர்கோனுஞ்
சொல்லிப் பரவும் நாமத் தானைச்
சொல்லும் பொருளும் இறந்த சுடரை
நெல்லிக் கனியைத் தேனைப் பாலை
நிறையின் அமுதை அமுதின் சுவையைப்
புல்லிப் புணர்வ தென்றுகொல்லோ என்
பொல்லா மணியைப் புணர்ந்தே
from Sacred Utterances
மாணிக்கவாசகர்
Power-play is inherent in translation practice. We wish to replace the Western privileging of equivalence by drawing from Indic translation practices current at the time of the compositions to offer provocations on how these can challenge and enrich contemporary translation methods. Resistance and respect are thus intertwined in our work.
Classical Tamil poetry is a condensed, complex form. The language is ornate, its music runs with assonance, alliteration, and varied rhyme schemes; it invites faceted, generative interpretations, especially when attempting to share elusive sacred poetry.
Our translation strategies, intuited for the most part after research, rose from myriad grounds of meaning embedded in Manikkavasagar’s songs, and the godhead, Siva. This demands that various poetic possibilities be explored; that contradictory yet twinned aspects of the great god be held in the imagination: as, for instance, without form, and in multiple forms. Besides, in Manikkavasagar’s songs, even the apparently monologic outpourings are dialogues with Siva, now in conversation, now in separation. Each song contains not one, but two distinct personalities: his and His. This is the DNA of the opus; through our two transcreations we attempt to copy (but not contain) this spiral.
Sometimes our two voices offer different versions, both of which we hold true in parallel. Sometimes voices are combined, at other times one chooses a song that keens more to her. It’s after thiruvilayadal, god’s play at unveiling, suggesting more lies beneath the apparent.
Punctuation is sparse, for in close reading, one word is a vein exploding or morphing into others sometimes all at once. Priya uses dark and light inking to suggest the literal and its hidden significance; she occasionally adds her name to the verses as mark not of possession, but release: this is a version. Following the Tamil script, she offers no capitalization. Shobhana eschews all capitalization except those that belong to the ultimate—Him. The symbolism of feet speaks most to her for this is the highest offering of a seeker, the true pointer to humility. Her verses are intentionally aligned to the centre and adopted by Priya in their collaborative work, for this is Shobhana’s direct path to seeing the divine—in every temple of faith.
Classical Tamil poetry is a condensed, complex form. The language is ornate, its music runs with assonance, alliteration, and varied rhyme schemes; it invites faceted, generative interpretations, especially when attempting to share elusive sacred poetry.
Our translation strategies, intuited for the most part after research, rose from myriad grounds of meaning embedded in Manikkavasagar’s songs, and the godhead, Siva. This demands that various poetic possibilities be explored; that contradictory yet twinned aspects of the great god be held in the imagination: as, for instance, without form, and in multiple forms. Besides, in Manikkavasagar’s songs, even the apparently monologic outpourings are dialogues with Siva, now in conversation, now in separation. Each song contains not one, but two distinct personalities: his and His. This is the DNA of the opus; through our two transcreations we attempt to copy (but not contain) this spiral.
Sometimes our two voices offer different versions, both of which we hold true in parallel. Sometimes voices are combined, at other times one chooses a song that keens more to her. It’s after thiruvilayadal, god’s play at unveiling, suggesting more lies beneath the apparent.
Punctuation is sparse, for in close reading, one word is a vein exploding or morphing into others sometimes all at once. Priya uses dark and light inking to suggest the literal and its hidden significance; she occasionally adds her name to the verses as mark not of possession, but release: this is a version. Following the Tamil script, she offers no capitalization. Shobhana eschews all capitalization except those that belong to the ultimate—Him. The symbolism of feet speaks most to her for this is the highest offering of a seeker, the true pointer to humility. Her verses are intentionally aligned to the centre and adopted by Priya in their collaborative work, for this is Shobhana’s direct path to seeing the divine—in every temple of faith.
Manikkavasagar ( மாணிக்கவாசகர் ) is one of the four samayak kuravar who were chiefly responsible for reviving Saivism in southern India, which, in the early medieval period, was largely Buddhist and Jaina. However, the Tamil bhakti poet is considered more a contemplative mystic than a miracle worker or social reformer. Though his exact dates remain uncertain, tradition places Manikkavasagar in 9th century CE.
His name (sometimes spelt as Manikkavacakar) translates as “whose words are rubies,” indicative of the profound power and linguistic beauty of his songs. Bhakti, devotional worship, emphasises personal dedication—as opposed to institutionalized religion—to a chosen god. Fittingly, these mystics sang in their mother tongues rather than Brahminic Sanskrit.
Manikkavasagar’s two collections of over 1,000 songs in Classical Tamil (cen) are Thiruvacakam ( திருவாசகம் , Sacred Utterances) and Thirukkovaiyar ( திருக்கோவையார் , Sacred Songs of Love). These constitute the eighth volume of the twelve-volume Thirumurai, of the scriptural canon of Tamil Saiva Siddantha. Its underlying philosophy pathi-pashu-pasam (Lord-finite beings-in bondage) stresses release (moksha) through the realization of divine grace.
Followed by millions, his songs form a living tapestry of worship. They are still sung in temples and homes, and they proliferate across social media.
Priya Sarukkai Chabria is a poet, speculative fiction writer, translator from Classical Tamil, and Founding Editor of the decade-old online journal Poetry at Sangam. She is the author of thirteen books, including EARTHRISE: Stories—Pasts, Presents, Potentials (2025), the chapbook Five Poems (2025), a reworking of Rabindranath Tagore’s Nobel Prize-winning Gitanjali as Sing of Life (2021), and the speculative fiction novel Clone (2018). She is co-editor of the anthology The Dragon’s Heart: World Poetry in Translation (2025).
Her awards include the Muse India Translation Prize for Andal: The Autobiography of a Goddess (2017), the Kitaab Experimental Story Award, recognition from Best Reads by Feminist Press, and the Outstanding Contribution to Literature Award from the Government of India. Widely published, Priya has held international residencies and presented programs at the Writers’ Centre Norwich, the Sun Yat-sen International Writers Program, the Commonwealth Literature Conference, Innsbruck, and the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, among others.
Her creative praxis includes collaborative projects with visual and performance artists, informed by her deep engagement with ancient Tamil Sangam poetics and Sanskrit rasa theory. She works across poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and translation.
Priya serves on the Advisory Council of G100 (India) and WrICE (Writers Immersion and Cultural Exchange), Australia. Visit her website for more info.
Shobhana Kumar is a poet, translator, and nonfiction writer. Her book of haibun, A Sky Full of Bucket Lists (Red River, 2021), won the Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize and received Honorable Mention in The Touchstone Distinguished Books Awards, established by The Haiku Foundation. She has two books of poetry published by Writers Workshop.
K. Srilata and Shobhana Kumar’s work, I, Salma, Translated Poems (Red River, 2023) is the first collected poems of Salma in English. Their second collaboration is a collection of poems by iconic Tamil poet Subramania Bharathiar (Westland, forthcoming). Kumar is Associate Editor at Yavanika Press, an award-winning e-publishing house, and at cattails, a journal of haikai forms. OK
Her work as a chronicler and archivist spans ten books covering regional histories and biographies, and is used actively by organizations in their culture-building initiatives. She also works in the space to corporate communication and branding strategy. She is mentor to the Centre for Leadership, Empowerment and Development (CLED) at Kumaraguru Institutions.
In her non-work areas, she is founder of Small Differences, an NGO that works with the transgender community, vulnerable children, and the homeless. She serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of pioneering NGOs and institutions.
