Pasuram 1.4.5

Tamil text and transliteration:

நல்கித் தான் காத்து அளிக்கும் பொழில் ஏழும்; வினையேற்கே
நல்கத் தான் ஆகாதோ? நாரணனைக் கண்டக்கால்
மல்கு நீர்ப் புனல் படப்பை இரை தேர் வண் சிறு குருகே!
மல்கு நீர்க் கண்ணேற்கு ஓர் வாசகம் கொண்டு அருளாயே.

nalkit tāṉ kāttu aḷikkum poḻil ēḻum; viṉaiyēṟkē
nalkat tāṉ ākātō? nāraṇaṉaik kaṇṭakkāl
malku nīrp puṉal paṭappai irai tēr vaṇ ciṟu kurukē!
malku nīrk kaṇṇēṟku ōr vācakam koṇṭu aruḷāyē.

Preamble

Parāṅkuśa Nāyakī begs of a heron to convey the following message to her beloved Lord:

“It matters not if I rot here, away from Him. But He is Nārāyaṇa who, by the very implication of that name, resides in all beings and sustains them all, unsought and unsolicited, with no exception whatsoever. Even the solitary exclusion of myself from the scope of His benevolent protection will jeopardise His position of eminence, His very name. It behoves Him, therefore, to avert this calamity.”

English translation of verse 1.4.5:

Ye little lovely heron, seeking food in water-logged flower gardens,
When you behold Nāraṇaṉ, the sole sustainer of the worlds seven,
Will you deign to tell Him that here is one,
With tearful eyes, a sinner He can’t throw down,
And bring back any reply He chooses to send on?

Notes

(i) Line 4: With tearful eyes: Tears welling up and filling the eyes of the Āḻvār would, as it were, serve as an identification mark for him, whether in a state of separation from or union with the Lord. In the former case it would be tears of grief and in the latter, tears of Joy.

(ii) When a doubt was expressed as to how the Saints, soaked in God-love, could address the senseless birds to carry messages to God, the illustrious Nampiḷḷai replied: In affairs of love to God, even storks and stones can serve as messengers, albeit the party at the other end is as exalted as Sītā, the crown jewel of Janaka’s clan. On one occasion, Parāśara Bhaṭṭar was informed of the death of a low-caste devotee in such ordinary language as “he has breathed his last.” Bhaṭṭar at once admonished his informant and said that the news should have been worded as: “He bade farewell here to go and join the ranks of the celestials in Heaven.” He added that caste is of no account, when good men go to God and so also, when messengers are for God, they may be even stones and plants, not to talk of the animate birds.

(iii) Line 4: ‘a sinner He cannot throw down’: “Having roused my appetite for Him, where there was none before, could He now give me up on account of my past sins? Could He who, as Nārāyaṇa, extends protection to one and all (universal), give up His chosen ones like me? Have I sinned to the extent of making even the oceanic water go dry as it is being pumped out?