Pasuram 3.8.2

Tamil text and transliteration:

நெஞ்சமே! நீள் நகர் ஆக இருந்த என்
தஞ்சனே, தண் இலங்கைக்கு இறையைச் செற்ற
நஞ்சனே, ஞாலம் கொள்வான் குறள் ஆகிய
வஞ்சனே, என்னும் எப்போதும், என் வாசகமே

neñcamē! nīḷ nakar āka irunta eṉ
tañcaṉē, taṇ ilaṅkaikku iṟaiyaic ceṟṟa
nañcaṉē, ñālam koḷvāṉ kuṟaḷ ākiya
vañcaṉē, eṉṉum eppōtum, eṉ vācakamē

English translation of verse 3.8.2:

My tongue always keeps uttering Your names, my Lord!
As my sole Refuge, in my mind firmly lodged,
As if it were a citadel big, the poison deadly
That destroyed Rāvaṇa, Chief of cool Laṅkā, the midget
(Vāmana) Who, on the sly, got hold of the worlds (from Bali).

Notes

(i) The Āḻvār’s tongue prays unto the Lord.

“Sire, even as you have condescended to get into the Āḻvār’s mind, pray, get into me, as well, so that I keep on uttering your names. I do hope the Āḻvār’s mind has no monopolistic hold on you”.

(ii) My sole Refuge: The Āḻvār’s tongue is well aware of the fact that it is the Āḻvār’s mind that has sought refuge in the Lord who, in turn, has come into it and stays there as if it is a huge citadel. And now, the tongue gives expression to this fact, regretting very much that the Earthlings do not address the Lord likewise. The pangs suffered by the Āḻvār are in respect of his separation from the Lord driving him in frantic search of the Lord, seeking the help of even inanimate things like mountains and oceans in the process. On the other hand, the pangs undergone by even Riṣīs of the eminence of Vaśiṣṭa and Vyāsa were due to their separation from their sons, as brought out vividly by the Purāṇas.

(iii) Mahābali was not destroyed like Rāvaṇa and the Supreme Lord even went to the former seeking alms, because he had the merit of being a great donor. The Āḻvār’s tongue which began by describing the Lord’s prowess as Śrī Rāma, is now completely absorbed in the Lord’s diplomacy as Vāmana.