Introduction to Section 4.9

In the last decad, the Āḻvār got terribly vexed with himself and his possessions and wanted to give up his body, life, that and the other. But, even for this kind of dissolution, he had to depend upon the Lord’s help, as in the case of salvation. And so, he prays to the Lord to finish him off altogether. The Āḻvār’s ardour in this respect is remarkable. His longing to get out of this world is due to (1) frequent interruptions in communion with the Lord and the resultant pangs of separation, (2) intolerance of contacts with the worldlings, straying away from Him and (3) the cruel impact of the five senses and the domineering sense-organs, with the serious risk of his straying back into the domain of the sensual pleasures.

In the last decad, we saw the Āḻvār’s pangs of separation from the Lord; in VII-1, he dwells upon the cruel impact of the sense, while, in this decad, he displays his intolerance of living in the midst of the worldlings.

It would indeed be some consolation if the Āḻvār who had the misfortune of not being able to see God, lived at least in the midst of those who were not averse to seeing Him. But even this bit of solace, the Āḻvār felt, he was being denied, having to live in the midst of the worldlings, watching their scramble for food and raiment and their stupid pursuits after sensual pleasures, farther away from God. How then could he tolerate this agonising state of affairs? Did not Tirumaṅkai Āḻvār declare that he shall not think, even for a moment, about those who do not meditate on the Lord reclining on the seashore at the pilgrim centre, called ‘Kaṭaṉmallai’ in the Bay of Bengal? Conveying the same sentiment, in a slightly different manner, that Āḻvār also said that sweet were the moments when he didn’t think of those miserable humans who would not cherish in their hearts the Lord enshrined at Tirukkaṇṇamaṅkai and bear His lovely feet on their heads. Vibhīṣaṇa abandoned Laṅkā and flew towards Rāma’s camp on the other shore, determined to get out of the territory of Rāvaṇa, the heinous offender, whatever be the prospects of his (vibhīṣaṇa) admission into Rāma’s camp. Saint Nammāḻvār would likewise want to get out of this wretched abode but even this could be got done only at the Lord’s volition. Therefore it is, he appeals to Him, in this decad, in such moving terms as, ‘pray, deign to take me unto Your feet expeditiously’, ‘Pray, hasten my death that I may unto Your feet attain’, “when will you clear me out of this fortress and lift me unto Your feet in Heaven?” etc. Life in the midst of blazing fire is indeed preferable to staying in the company of the sinners who just do not know what it is to think of God.

The genesis of this decad is appreciated by Empār and Kūrattāḻvāṉ in two different ways. According to Empār, it is like this: The Āḻvār prays unto the Lord, “My Lord, I could, in a way, put up with my grief due to my separation from you. But it is very much beyond me to bear the misery of staying in the midst of the worldlings who do not reckon with you at all, and wallow in sex and sensuality; you would, therefore, do well to put an end to this kind of misery which can neither be cured nor endured and take me out of this abode”.

Kūrattāḻvāṉ’s elucidation is, however, as follows: The Āḻvār’s attention turned on the world around in search of like-minded persons with whom he could share his grief due to separation from
God and secure some relief. But he found them all steeped in sensual pleasures, as intensely as he himself was in the realm of God-love and God enjoyment. This was, according to the Āḻvār, far more calamitous than his own privation and he, therefore, forgot his own misery, like unto a person stung by a scorpion not minding his own agony so much, when he sees another in greater distress, smitten by a sword. The Āḻvār, therefore, enters into a dialogue with the Lord and pleads for the redemption of the worldlings but the Lord asks the Āḻvār not to worry about them who are sense-buried, totally oblivious of Him and leave them to their fate. Thereupon, the Āḻvār insists that he should no longer be kept in their midst. The Lord, however, consoled the Āḻvār by pointing out to him that he was already on a pedestal of his own, unattached to the world. As a further concession, by way of curing the Āḻvār’s grief caused by his looking at the world, the Lord revealed to him the glorious setting in Heaven where He is seen along with the Divine Mother, Lakṣmī, surrounded by the exalted Celestials. Beholding this heavenly splendour with great joy, the Āḻvār ends this decad on a jubilant note. Such an approach is only indicative of the melting tenderness of heart of Kūrattāḷvāṉ and his extraordinary solicitude for fellow-beings. It is said that once he saw, as he was passing along, a frog in the jaws of a snake, croaking piteously in agony. He sighed, “Alas! to whom does this frog appeal and who will hear it and come to its rescue?” and fainted.