Pasuram 6.7.1

Tamil text and transliteration:

உண்ணும் சோறு பருகும்நீர் தின்னும் வெற்றிலையும் எல்லாம்
கண்ணன், எம்பெருமான் என்று என்றே கண்கள் நீர்மல்கி,
மண்ணினுள் அவன்சீர் வளம் மிக்கவன் ஊர் வினவி,
திண்ணம் என் இளமான் புகும் ஊர் திருக்கோளூரே.

uṇṇum cōṟu parukumnīr tiṉṉum veṟṟilaiyum ellām
kaṇṇaṉ, emperumāṉ eṉṟu eṉṟē kaṇkaḷ nīrmalki,
maṇṇiṉuḷ avaṉcīr vaḷam mikkavaṉ ūr viṉavi,
tiṇṇam eṉ iḷamāṉ pukum ūr tirukkōḷūrē.

English translation of verse 6.7.1:

‘Tis certain that my daughter like unto the doe young,
Who, with tears welling up her eyes, always keeps saying,
Kaṇṇaṉ is unto her the food of the hungry, beverage of the thirsty
And the betel chewed for pleasure, has, after due enquiry.
Gone to Tirukkōḷūr where resides the Lord, grand and majestic.

Notes

(i) The famous author of ‘Ācārya Hṛdayam’ has succinctly brought out the superior excellence of the Āḻvār vis-a-vis the Ṛṣis. Whereas the Ṛṣis subsisted on the forest produce, such as roots, fruits etc, Lord Kṛṣṇa was the sole Sustainer for Nammāḻvār, the very food needed for appeasing hunger, the water required for quenching thirst and the betels one chews for pleasure, the one and only source catering to his God-hunger, God-thirst and Godlove. The Āḻvār was ‘Kṛṣṇa tṛṣṇā tatva’, the very personification of God-love. Unto him, Vāsudeva was all, “Vāsudevas sarvamiti”, The gnostic mother was, therefore, quite sure that her daughter of such a disposition would have found her way, after due enquiry, to Tirukkōḻūr, the place where the Lord exhibits the exuberance of His wealth and auspicious qualities, in super-abundance.

(ii) An interesting question was posed by Āḷavantār (Saint Yāmunācārya) to his audience, as to which of the two, Saint Nammāḻvār who looked upon God as his food etc., or Saint Tirumaṅkai Āḻvār who exclaimed that the Lord had stolen away his soul, they had to be more apprehensive about. They observed. “We have indeed to fear more, the former’s precipitate flight, alone and unaided, to the shrine at Tirukkōḷūr, than for the latter who is already in the company of the Lord at Tiruvāli. no matter how the union came about, stealth or otherwise. Our sympathies are naturally with Parāṅkuśa Nāyakī, on her lone journey, in quest of the Lord of her heart”, The great master, however, thought otherwise: according to him, there was the fear of Tirumaṅkai Āḻvār and the Lord getting into a state of delirium on account of their rapturous reciprocation of ravishing love, a state of inebriation or stupor, such as the addicts of dōtura-narcotic fall into. The plight of Saint Tirumaṅkai Āḻvār, drowned in love, therefore, excited their fear more than that of Saint Nammāḻvār who was yet lonely and self-conscious, full of ardent expectation of meeting his beloved Lord.

(iii) The eyes of the Saints, soaked in God-love, swim with pearls of tears of delight. As Mahābhārata puts it, even God-Science, such as Upanishads, is remote from the ambrosia of Lord Hari’s narratives, if it fails to melt the heart, wet the eye and thrill the frame. Nañcīyar used to say: “Thrice did I go over the treatise of Tiruvāymoḻi with Tirunaraiyūr Araiyar but none of the teachings did affect and melt my heart so much as when I actually witnessed him once, when explaining a passage, transported into the region of ecstasy, with tears rolling down the cheek”,

(iv) A native of Tirukkōḷūr left the holy land and employed himself elsewhere, tilling the land. Anaṉtāḻvān, a great devotee, who happened to see him, enquired where he came from. On learning that the man hailed from Tirukkōḻūr, Anantāḻvāṉ grew furious and exclaimed that one could as well graze a couple of asses, staying in that holy land and eke out one's livelihood, rather than forsake the land of eternal living where the Eternal Master stays, in all His splendour. Similarly, when Saint Rāmānuja was proceeding to Tirukkōḷūr, he saw a woman coming from the opposite direction and elicited from her that she was actually coming from holy Tirukkōḷūr. The Saint exclaimed, in great surprise “What, is it at all possible for those who have once taken their abode in that holy place to leave it?”

(v) Tirukkōḷūr is one of the eighteen pilgrim centres of Pāṇḍiya nādu. It is also the birthplace of Maturakavi Āḻvār.