Pasuram 8.10.3

Tamil text and transliteration:

உறுமோ பாவியேனுக்கு இவ்உலகம் மூன்றும் உடன்நிறைய
சிறுமாமேனி நிமிர்த்த என்செந்தாமரைக்கண் திருக்குறளன்
நறுமாவிரைநாள் மலர்அடிக்கீழ்ப் புகுதல் அன்றி அவன்அடியார்
சிறுமா மனிசராய் என்னைஆண்டார் இங்கே திரியவே.

uṟumō pāviyēṉukku ivulakam mūṉṟum uṭaṉniṟaiya
ciṟumāmēṉi nimirtta eṉcentāmaraikkaṇ tirukkuṟaḷaṉ
naṟumāviraināḷ malaraṭikkīḻp pukutal aṉṟi avaṉaṭiyār
ciṟumā maṉicarāy eṉṉaiāṇṭār iṅkē tiriyavē.

English translation of verse 8.10.3:

Would it be appropriate if I did attain
The lotus feet, of fragrance sweet, of the lotus-eyed Lord,
Who did His midget form expand and pervade
The worlds three, all at once, seeing that there remain
In this abode, His devotees great, the ‘little-big’ men,
Who did redeem me, and my mind I can’t turn
On anything but unremitting service unto them?

Notes:

(i) Having abjured wealth and ‘Kaivalya Mokṣa’ in the two preceding songs, the Āḻvār now asserts that even service unto the Supreme Lord has to be given the go-by, overwhelmed, as he is, by service unto the ‘little-big’ men (as in the original text), over here, which is virtually an enlargement of service unto God. The ‘little-big men’, an apparent contradiction in terms, refers to the great apostles of profound knowledge but with frail bodies, who move about, in this harrowing world, and propagate the gospel of God-love. Here is an interesting anecdote, in elucidation of this extraordinary phrase. When Kūratāḻvāṉ was reciting this stanza within the hearing of his son Parāśara Bhaṭṭar, the latter, a mere boy, was curious to know how the diametrically opposite qualities of littleness and bigness could inhere in one and the same individual. When the young lad sought of his erudite father, clarification in this regard, the latter appreciated the query but expressed his inability to illustrate the position in the light of the Vedic truths, which could not be inculcated in the boy, at that stage, when he had not yet had the spiritual initiation through ‘upanayana’, the sacred investiture ceremony. The learned father, however, found it handy to bring home to the boy the import of the expression in question through concrete examples of the great devotees, profound scholars like Ciriyāccāṉ, Mutaliyāṇṭāṉ, Empār Aruḷāḷapperumāḷ Emperumāṉār etc., possessing frail bodies.

(ii) It might be recalled that the Āḻvār was earlier under the irresistible spell cast by the enthralling beauty of Lord Vāmanā but now he switches on to the service of the devotees subjugated by Vāmana’s exquisite charm.