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Lyrics & meaning

Pennukku Deivam Endru

From Niraparaadhi · 1984

Lyricist
Pulamaipithan
Singer
K. J. Yesudas
Music director
Shankar Ganesh
Details
Niraparaadhi1984

Lyrics & meaning

Tanglish lyrics English translation
Male
Nirabaraathi….nirbaraathi…nirbaraathi…..aa….aa…aa…Innocent... innocent... innocent... ah... ah... ah...
Male
Pennukku dheivam endru peru vachcha paaviThe sinner who named woman as a goddess,
Engaedaa kondu vanthu kelungadaa kelviWhere have you brought her? Ask the question, guys!
Pennukku dheivam endru peru vachcha paaviThe sinner who named woman as a goddess,
Engaedaa kondu vanthu kelungadaa kelviWhere have you brought her? Ask the question, guys!
Male
Dheivaththin koyil enna kallaraigalthaanaaIs a deity's temple actually a grave?
Therukku vachcha maram thookkumaramthaanaaIs the tree planted on the street meant to be a gallows tree?
Male
Pennukku dheivam endru peru vachcha paaviThe sinner who named woman as a goddess,
Engaedaa kondu vanthu kelungadaa kelviWhere have you brought her? Ask the question, guys!
Male
Kallu thanni saaraayam kaasukkoru samsaaramToddy, water, liquor, and a wife for cheap money,
Mangaiyargal koottam santhaiyilae yaelamA crowd of women auctioned off in the market.
Evanukku maanamWho among them has any honor?
Male
Sattathukku urakkam dharmaththukku mayakkamThe law is asleep, and righteousness is unconscious.
Sattaththukku urakkam dharmaththukku mayakkamThe law is asleep, and righteousness is unconscious.
Naalungetta moodaa nadakkattum podaaYou fool devoid of sense, let whatever happens happen, go on!
Male
Pennukku dheivam endru peru vachcha paaviThe sinner who named woman as a goddess,
Engaedaa kondu vanthu kelungadaa kelviWhere have you brought her? Ask the question, guys!
Male
Pillaikku paalillai Paalukku kaasillaiThere is no milk for the child, and no money for the milk.
Pasi vantha pillai thudikkindra pothuWhen the hungry child squirms in distress,
Vetkkam ini yaedhuWhere is the place for shame anymore?
Male
Vilaiyondru koduththaan vidhiyendru sumaanthaalSomeone paid a price, and she bore it as her fate.
Vilaiyondru koduththaan vidhiyendru sumaanthaalSomeone paid a price, and she bore it as her fate.
Nadhiyengum thanneer ival sinthum kanneerWater flows in all rivers, but her eyes shed tears.
Male
Pennukku dheivam endru peru vachcha paaviThe sinner who named woman as a goddess,
Engaedaa kondu vanthu kelungadaa kelviWhere have you brought her? Ask the question, guys!
Male
Aandavan ingaedaa avanaiyum kondaadaWhere is God here to praise Him?
Kathiyattra thaayai karpazhikkum naayaiA dog that dishonors a helpless mother,
Pinam thinnum peyai….A corpse-eating demon...
Male
Edharkingu padaiththaan enna seiyya ninaiththaanWhy did He create them here? What did He intend to do?
Edharkingu padaiththaan enna seiyya ninaiththaanWhy did He create them here? What did He intend to do?
Badhil solluvaanaa verungallu thaanaaWill He answer, or is He merely a lifeless stone?
Male
Pennukku dheivam endru peru vachcha paaviThe sinner who named woman as a goddess,
Engaedaa kondu vanthu kelungadaa kelviWhere have you brought her? Ask the question, guys!
Male
Dheivaththin koyil enna kallaraigalthaanaaIs a deity's temple actually a grave?
Therukku vachcha maram thookkumaramthaanaaIs the tree planted on the street meant to be a gallows tree?
Male
Pennukku dheivam endru peru vachcha paaviThe sinner who named woman as a goddess,
Engaedaa kondu vanthu kelungadaa kelviWhere have you brought her? Ask the question, guys!

Beyond the translation

Song interpretation

This powerful track from Niraparaadhi (1984) serves as a fierce social critique against the hypocrisy of a society that reveres women as divine goddesses ('Dheivam') while subjecting them to extreme poverty, exploitation, and injustice. The song highlights the plight of struggling mothers driven to desperation by hunger and poverty, while condemning systemic failures where law and righteousness lie dormant. Through scathing rhetoric, lyricist Pulamaipithan questions both societal morality and God's silence in the face of suffering and cruelty inflicted upon the helpless.

Writing craft

Poetic devices

Rhetorical Question

Dheivaththin koyil enna kallaraigalthaanaa

The lyricist uses rhetorical questions to challenge societal hypocrisy regarding the treatment of women.

Personification

Sattathukku urakkam dharmaththukku mayakkam

Abstract concepts like law ('sattam') and righteousness ('dharmaththukku') are personified as sleeping and fainting.

Ethukai (Second-letter Rhyme)

Pillaikku paalillai Paalukku kaasillai

Rhyming of second consonants across adjacent lines or words to create rhythmic harmony ('Pillaikku' / 'Pasi').

Metaphor

Nadhiyengum thanneer ival sinthum kanneer

Comparing the river's water to the endless tears shed by suffering women.

Did you know?

Trivia

Composed by the legendary music director duo Shankar-Ganesh and rendered with intense emotion by K. J. Yesudas, the song features lyrics by veteran poet Pulamaipithan. The song showcases intense angst and philosophical questioning characteristic of 1980s Tamil cinema's social drama genre.

Keep listening

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