ninnai charaNadainthEn, kaNNammA
ninnai charaNadainthEn

ponnai, uyarvai, pugaLai virumbidum
ennai kavalaigaL thinna thagAthena..

ninnai charaNadainthEn, kaNNammA
ninnai charaNadainthEn

midimaiyum achamum mEvi en nenjil
kudimai pugunthana, kondr(u)avai pOkkena

ninnai charaNadainthEn, kaNNammA
ninnai charaNadainthEn

thunbam ini illai, sOrvillai
sOrvillai, thORpillai

anbu neRiyil aRangaL vaLarththida
nallavai nAttida, theeyavai Ottida

ninnai charaNadainthEn, kaNNammA
ninnai charaNadainthEn

-Bharathiyar

Discaimer :
I am not a literary guy. So the above might be incomplete lyrics of the song. This just from my memory. If some one can correct me I will be more than happy ! Further, the context, the translation etc are purely my interpretation. Other POVs are most welcome ( and anticipated )

Context :
Bharathiyar is one of the most respected and popular modern Tamil Poet. His range is from Patriotic to Romantic to pious. He is an extremist - in his thoughts and words! Passionate, eccentric. Literary depth of his poems are so deep that some of them are a part of Preschool Rhymes and some of them are still being debated in literary circles as to what they mean !!! In fact the very Preschool rhymes are still discussed in literary circles as to what they actually mean : the symbols and semantics.

A prominent theme in his poems is Lord Krishna. He addressess Krishna in three different ways.

Kannan : Lord Krisha : whom he prays to, plays with, rags ..
Kannamma : Lord Krishna as a girl : whom he prays to, flirts with, loves, teases ..
Kanna : Bala Krishna, the kid : whom he prays to, plays with, enjoys his pranks ...

The above song belongs to the Kannamma theme where he prays to her and sings about the greatness of surrendering to "her"

Translation:

ninnai charaNadainthEn, kaNNammA
ninnai charaNadainthEn

I surrender to thee, Kannamma
I surrender to thee

ponnai, uyarvai, pugaLai virumbidum
ennai kavalaigaL thinna thagAthena..

Gold, status, fame wished for
by me, the grief that engulfs because of these wishes, I cant stand grief, so ...

I cant stand the grief that comes with my materialistic wishes, so ...

ninnai charaNadainthEn, kaNNammA
ninnai charaNadainthEn

I surrender to thee, Kannamma
I surrender to thee

midimaiyum achamum mEvi en nenjil
kudimai pugunthana, kondr(u)avai pOkkena

Cowardice and fear spread in my heart
They have taken my heart as their home, to kill them and remove them ..

ninnai charaNadainthEn, kaNNammA
ninnai charaNadainthEn

I surrender to thee, Kannamma
I surrender to thee

thunbam ini illai, sOrvillai
sOrvillai, thORpillai

There will be no more sorrows, no tiredness
No despair and no defeats

anbu neRiyil aRangaL vaLarththida
nallavai nAttida, theeyavai Ottida

In order to encourage virtue through the path of love
In order to let goodness prevail and in order to drive away the evil

ninnai charaNadainthEn, kaNNammA
ninnai charaNadainthEn

I surrender to thee, Kannamma
I surrender to thee

English :

I surrender to thee, Kannamma
I surrender to thee

Gold, status, fame wished for
by me, the grief that engulfs because of these wishes, I cant stand this, so ...

I surrender to thee, Kannamma
I surrender to thee

Cowardice and fear spread in my heart
They have taken my heart as their home, to kill them and remove them ..

I surrender to thee, Kannamma
I surrender to thee

There will be no more sorrows, no tiredness
No despair and no defeats

In order to encourage virtue through the path of love
In order to let goodness prevail and in order to drive away the evil

I surrender to thee, Kannamma
I surrender to thee Close