62. Eternal Living God

Rivka Yehoshua. Recorded by Marcia Walerstein-Sibony and Barbara Johnson, Moshav Aviezer, September 22, 1981; IV-90.

Nitya jīviyāya taṃburāně tān   (x2)
Tanně stutippāḍuvān ěppoḷuṃ ñaṅṅaḷ   (x2

1. The Lord who lives eternally is You, O Tamburan;   (x2)
Forever we will praise You, praising Tamburan.   (x2)

2. As we join together, together every day,   (x2)
Yet again we praise You, as we come to pray.   (x2)

3. Unique, beyond comparison, You are the Only One,   (x2) 
You without beginning, You without end.   (x2)

4. Not in earthly species, nowhere in humankind—   (x2)
No one can describe You, by mouth or in the mind.   (x2)

5. You are the only One without a body shape,   (x2)
Without any likeness, without any form.   (x2)

6. Without comparison or similarity,   (x2)
You are the most holy, You are the Holy One.   (x2)

7. Before there was one thing on earth, before the heavens too,   (x2)
Before all of creation, You are the Only One.   (x2)

8. For Him there is no order fixed; for Him there was no birth.   (x2)
All the creatures call You “Lord of All the Earth.”   (x2)

9. The humans You created with Your holy hands   (x2)
Are calling on You always: You, the Only One.   (x2)

10. You the One Who teaches, showing us Your strength.   (x2)
To all the greatest persons, the ones with love for You,   (x2)

11. To all the chosen persons, the ones whom You have loved,   (x2)
You have granted foresight¹ —the power of prophecy.   (x2)

12. Of all the Israel People, never yet was born   (x2)
Anyone like our prophet, our Moshe Rabban.   (x2)

13. He beheld the Lord “Holy face to human face.”   (x2)
Faithful in the holy house was Moshe Rabban.   (x2)

14. To the Israel People Tamburan gave His love;   (x2)         
In love he gave His People the Torah of truth.   (x2) 

15. Throughout all of time, this alone will endure;   (x2)
Never in all of time will He change this Law.   (x2)

16. He knows all the secrets in the thoughts of men;   (x2)
He knows what will happen before it has begun.   (x2)

17. To persons of good character, to all who are good,   (x2)
He acts with loving tenderness,² granting love and care.   (x2)

18. To all of the wicked ones, for all of their wrong deeds,   (x2)
His punishment is given, and sorrow is theirs.   (x2)

19. All those who are waiting to be saved by Tamburan,   (x2)
All will be redeemed by Mashiya at the end.   (x2)

20. He will send Mashiya, and salvation will bloom;   (x2)
With His full compassion, His mercy and His love,   (x2)

21. The Lord will re-awaken all those who have died.   (x2)
May Your Holy name be blessed forever, Tamburan.   (x2)

22. May Your Holy Name be blessed, O Lord Tamburan,
May Your Holy Name be blessed forever Tamburan.

This second version of the Hebrew piyyut Yigdal Elohim Ḥai is sung quietly to the same tune as that of song 38, “Song About Love,” with each line repeated once before going on to the next. It was almost certainly composed in Parur, as it is found only in four notebooks, all from or associated with Parur. Rivka Yehoshuah from Parur recorded it in 1981, and almost thirty years later, it was taught to the Nirit Singers by two sisters from a Parur family, Rivka Hai and the late Molly Pal.

The Malayalam of this song is more modern than that of song 61, and it is a more complete translation of the Hebrew source, with reference to all of Maimonides’s “thirteen articles of faith.” Though Zacharia found it to be the less poetically creative of the two songs, he praised stanza 17 as embodying an essential element of Kerala culture—the God Who will behave the same toward all people (Jerusalem, July 2001).

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¹ As we worked together on this translation, Venus Lane noted that the Malayalam term can be rendered as “long distance darśan,” the ability to see into the future.
² Zacharia noted that the Malayalam term translated here as “loving tenderness” refers to the love of a parent for a child (Jerusalem, July 2001).