Introduction to Section 4.6

In the last decad, the Āḻvār was seen at the acme of divine bliss, bubbling with joy and fully satisfied. The Lord has, however, since withdrawn Himself from the Āḻvār’s mental vision and he is now consigned to the bottom-most depths of dejection, transformed once again as a ‘Nāyakī’, unable to speak out her woe. It is her mate that speaks, in this decad. Parāṅkuśa Nāyakī is thinning down alarmingly, in her present state of extreme desolation. The elderly women around who notice this with great concern, seek the help of the professional sooth-sayer (a female gipsy) for divining the cause of the Nayaki’s malady and suggesting the remedies therefor. On being told by the gipsy that the Nāyakī is under the spell of a minor (inferior) deity, these women proceed to propitiate that deity with the customary offerings of meat, liquor etc, as advised by the concerned priest. This only aggravates the mental agony of the Nāyakī and, at this stage, her mate, who knows the real cause of the Nāyakī’s malady, is critical of the steps taken by the womenfolk and vehemently condemns them. Thus, this decad brings out the Āḻvār’s singular devotion to Lord Viṣṇu and his total abhorrence, rather intolerance of anything which smacks of allegiance to the minor deities.

It is indeed puzzling that such a traumatic experience should at all overtake the Āḻvār, just after what we had seen of him in the last decad. If one searches for any link between these two consecutive decads and attempts to explain the violent fluctuations in the Āḻvār’s fortunes, lack of coherence seems to be the only coherence, as Empār would put it, ‘asaṅgathireva saṅgathiḥ’. Of course, ‘asaṅgathi’ could mean either lack of coherence or disunion (i.e.) Separation from the Lord (viśleṣa). As a matter of fact, the vicissitudes in the mystic experiences of the Āḻvār, alternating between the satiate and disconsolate states of mind, constitute the chief feature of ‘Tiruvāymoḻi’. The Lord’s purpose in bringing about such contrasting situations has already been elucidated, time and again.