Pasuram 1.1.11

Tamil text and transliteration:

கர விசும்பு எரி வளி நீர் நிலம் இவைமிசை
வரன் நவில் திறல் வலி அளி பொறை ஆய்நின்ற
பரன் அடிமேல் குருகூர்ச் சடகோபன் சொல்
நிரல் நிறை ஆயிரத்து இவை பத்தும் வீடே. (2)

kara vicumpu eri vaḷi nīr nilam ivaimicai
varaṉ navil tiṟal vali aḷi poṟai āyniṉṟa
paraṉ aṭimēl kurukūrc caṭakōpaṉ col
niral niṟai āyirattu ivai pattum vīṭē. (2)

English translation of verse 1.1.10:

The foregoing ten stanzas, out of the thousand, rich alike in sound and substance (matter and manner of expression), sung by Caṭakōpaṉ of Kurukūr, in adoration of the Glorious Feet of the Supreme Lord, the great Contriver and Controller of the five elements, the spatial ether, air, fire, water and earth, with their respective basic qualities of sound, force, heat, chillness and endurance, shall lead (the chanters on) to ‘Mōkṣa’ (final emancipation from the bondage of ‘Saṃsāra’, the terrific cycle of birth and death).

Notes

(i) This sets the pattern of the entire work, the last stanza of each decad indicating the benefits accruing to one who chants the songs in the decad and/or learns the meanings thereof. One might wonder how the Saint could refer to the size of the work, as comprising, thousand stanzas right at the start. Well, there are two ways of looking at it, namely,

(a) as one whose knowledge was fully inspired by God, he knew that he would reel off a thousand stanzas; and

(b) the poet could not sustain himself except by singing a thousand songs in adoration of the Lord, and thus it was a matter already contemplated by him, a resolution, as it were, to sing as many songs.

(ii) Summing up, in this stanza, the decad as a whole, the Saint has made it abundantly clear that our salvation lies in seeking refuge at the Lord’s Feet, the path of loving surrender to God being the central theme of the whole work, otherwise known as ‘Dīrgha Śaraṇāgati’. Actually, the first decad is the epitome of the entire hymnal, even as the first three stanzas of this, decad sum up the topic of the whole decad while the-first stanza is the quintessence of the first three stanzas and the opening Jine of the first stanza, the; brilliant summary thereof.