Pasuram 6.1.2

Tamil text and transliteration:

காதல் மென் பெடையோடு உடன் மேயும் கரு நாராய்
வேத வேள்வி ஒலி முழங்கும் தண் திருவண்வண்டூர்
நாதன் ஞாலம் எல்லாம் உண்ட நம் பெருமானைக் கண்டு
பாதம் கைதொழுது பணியீர் அடியேன் திறமே.

kātal meṉ peṭaiyōṭu uṭaṉ mēyum karu nārāy
vēta vēḷvi oli muḻaṅkum taṇ tiruvaṇvaṇṭūr
nātaṉ ñālam ellām uṇṭa nam perumāṉaik kaṇṭu
pātam kaitoḻutu paṇiyīr aṭiyēṉ tiṟamē.

English translation of verse 6.1.2:

Oh, Stork of complexion fine, move you do in search of food,
With your beloved mate; go and report my condition, with hands folded.
Unto my Lord, Master of the Universe, Who sustained the worlds
During deluge and now in cool Tiruvaṇvaṇṭūr resides
Amid vedic chantings and rituals with a flourish of trumpets loud.

Notes

(i) The Nāyakī is commissioning a stork to go and reverently report her condition at the feet of the Lord who stands pledged to redeem His ardent votaries, but now remains wholly absorbed in the vedic chantings and rituals put through with great eclat in Tiruvaṇvaṇṭūr by its pious brahmins. It is said of Śrī Rāma that He would be present wherever vedic chantings and ritualistic proceedings were going on.

(ii) It is noteworthy that the Nāyakī advises her emissary to prostrate at the feet of the Lord. This could either reflect her attitude, already commented upon, in para (iii) of the notes below the preceding song or stress the correct code of conduct. It is no use paying obeisance without actually prostrating before the worship-worthy. The great Nañcīyar used to say: “Whenever I saw a devotee of Viṣṇu and I fell at his feet with my head touching them, it was only then, I felt as if I ate my fill and all my hunger vanished”.