The Praise of God
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akara mudhala ezhuttellām ādhi / pakavaṉ mudhaṟṟē ulaku
Just as A stands first among all letters, the Primal Divine stands first for the world.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“A, as its first of letters, every speech maintains; the 'Primal Deity' is first through all the world's domains.”
“A is the starting-point of the world of sound: even so is the Great Original the starting-point of all that exists.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
எழுத்து எல்லாம் அகர முதல = எழுத்துக்கள் எல்லாம் அகரமாகிய முதலை உடையன; உலகு ஆதிபகவன் முதற்று = அதுபோல உலகம் ஆதிபகவனாகிய முதலை உடைத்து. (இது தலைமை பற்றி வந்த எடுத்துக்காட்டுவமை; இப்பாட்டான் முதற்கடவுளது உண்மை கூறப்பட்டது.)
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Just as the letter A is the first of all letters, the Primal Being (Aadi-Bhagavan) is the first source of the world. Parimelazhagar reads it as a pointer-simile: as A naturally begins all sound, the First One is the natural origin of all that exists.