📌 சந்த அமைப்பின்படி வரிகள் பிரிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன — மெட்டுக்கேற்ப சீர் பிரிவு / Lines follow traditional chandam (rhythmic) word-breaks of the original composition.
Can I be born by my own power? Can I die by my own power? Can I praise You by my own ability? Even the gift of seeing with these eyes is not mine.
Can I call upon You by myself? Can I walk by my own strength? Can I merely exist on my own? Yet I remain attached to the house of women (worldly pleasures and family attachments).
Can I experience pleasure by myself? Can I breathe by myself? Can I even become weary by my own will? I continue to suffer from the endless disease of worldly bondage.
Can I burn away my karma? Can I even think by myself? Can I endure anything on my own? Then who indeed am I in this world?
O King, who flayed the elephant demon! O my Lord! Bestow upon me the nectar-like grace of Your sacred feet.
O Spear-bearing Lord, whose reflection cannot be seen in the mirror-like hearts of the unlearned and impure, but only in the hearts of the spiritually mature!
O Lord of the golden form, who accepted the fierce warrior (Veerabhadra), who long ago severed the head of Daksha!
O Lord, the beloved of Valli, the tribal maiden! O Lord of the fertile land! O Supreme Master who is the Lord even of the Holy Trinity (Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva)!
Central theme
The poet repeatedly says, "What can I do by my own power?" He realizes that birth, death, speech, movement, thought, pleasure, suffering, and even devotion are all possible only through the Lord's grace. The hymn is a complete expression of humility, surrender, and the recognition that divine grace alone leads to liberation.
கிருத்திகை, சஷ்டி, செவ்வாய்க்கிழமை மற்றும் முருகன் பூஜை நேரங்களில் பாடலாம். Recite on Krittika, Shashti, Tuesdays and during Murugan puja.