Manikkavasagar has composed these songs about the glory of the Lord in the form of a question-and-answer dialogue!
Pūcuvatum veṇṇīṟu pūṇpatuvum poṅkaravam
Pēcuvatum tiruvāyāl maṟaipōlum kāṇēṭī
Lord Shiva is adorned with sacred white ash all over His body! He wears snakes as His ornaments! What He speaks—the words uttered from His sacred mouth—are equal to the Vedas! Behold this, my friend!
Teṉpā lukantāṭun tillaicciṟ ṟampalavaṉ
Peṇpā lukantāṉ perumpittaṉ kāṇēṭī
Is not the Lord of Thillai’s Chitrambalam (Chidambaram), who dances facing the south and delights in taking a female form as half of Himself, a great madman? In all other temples, the Lord faces the east, but the Lord of Thillai (in Chidambaram) Chitrambalam dances facing south for us to see, making us face the north! He is the one who holds Goddess Shakti on His left side! He is not a madman (not pitthan)! He is a slave to the love of His devotees! Behold this, my friend!
Kaṭakariyum parimāvum tērumukan tēṟātē
Iṭapam ukan tēṟiyavā ṟeṉakkaṟiya iyampēṭī
Taṭamatilkaḷ avaimūṉṟum taḻaleritta annāḷil
Iṭapamatāyt tāṅkiṉāṉ tirumālkāṇ cāḻalō
When asked, “Why does Shiva joyfully ride a bull as His mount instead of choosing a mighty elephant, a horse, or a chariot?”, the companion replies, “On the day Lord Shiva burnt down the three massive fortress cities(karma-maya-ego) (Tripura), it was Lord Thirumal (Vishnu) himself who took the form of a bull to bear Lord Shiva!”
Naṉṟāka nālvarukkum nāṉmaṟaiyiṉ uṭporuḷai Aṉṟāliṉ kīḻiruntaṅ aṟamuraittāṉ kāṇēṭī
Sitting beneath the banyan tree as a Guru, He imparted the ultimate spiritual wisdom (Gnana Upadesam) to the four sages led by Sanaka. He revealed the inner meaning of the four Vedas! How? Not by speaking with His mouth, but by conveying it through silent signs (Chinmudra)!
Nalamuṭaiya nāraṇaṉtaṉ nayaṉamiṭan taraṇaṭikkīḻ Alarāka iṭaāḻi aruḷiṉāṉkāṇ cāḻalō
When Lord Narayana (Vishnu) was offering worship to Lord Shiva with 1,000 flowers, he found there were only 999 flowers. Immediately, he plucked out his own lotus-like eye and offered it as the 1,000th flower! Deeply delighted in His heart by this devotion, Lord Shiva bestowed His grace upon him!
Aruntavaruk kaṟamutalnāṉ kaṉṟaruḷic ceytilaṉēl Tiruntavak kulakiyaṟkai teriyākāṇ cāḻalō
is only because He appeared as Dakshinamurthy on that day and graciously imparted spiritual wisdom for the very first time to the four great sages! It is only because the Lord Himself showed the way to reach Him that those who perform penance today are able to attain God!! It is solely because of the Lord’s grace that individual souls (Jivatmas) are able to reach the Supreme Soul (Paramatma)—the Lord!