Pasuram 1.6.9

Tamil text and transliteration:

தரும அரும் பயன் ஆய திருமகளார் தனிக் கேள்வன்
பெருமை உடைய பிரானார் இருமை வினை கடிவாரே.

taruma arum payaṉ āya tirumakaḷār taṉik kēḷvaṉ
perumai uṭaiya pirāṉār irumai viṉai kaṭivārē.

English translation of verse 1.6.9:

The bliss very dear, Tirumakaḷ’s unique Spouse confers,
The Benefactor great (in her gloricus company) full of grace,
The fruits of actions, good and bad, He severs,
(The impediments to the free flow of His grace).

Notes

(i) Tirumakaḷ, (Goddess Mahālakṣmī) is the very embodiment of grace.^[1] Her perpetual presence by the side of the Lord is intended to prepare the ground for the supplication by the individual souls, at all times, without any restriction whatsoever. Although the Lord is the ultimate giver and deliverer, yet He invariably acts only when Mahālakṣmī plays the recommendatory role, mediating and pleading for erring souls.

(ii) For the attainment of final bliss, both merit (Puṇya) and demerit (Pāpa or Sins) are impediments. As Śrī Vedānta Deśika has put it, in his ‘Varadarāja pañcāsat’, the former is a golden fetter while the latter is tin iron fetter. A golden fetter is still a fetter and thus both ‘Puṇya’ and ‘Pāpa’ impede one’s advancement to the final goal. Hence the need to cut out both, an act of grace galore, on the part of Lakṣmī-Kānta (the gracious Consort of Goddess Mahālakṣmī).

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

‘lakṣmyā saha hṛśīkeśo devyā kāruṇya rūpayā’ (Śrī Pāñcarātra.)