Pasuram 3.1.9

Tamil text and transliteration:

மழுங்காத வைந் நுதிய சக்கர நல் வலத்தையாய்,
தொழும் காதல் களிறு அளிப்பான் புள் ஊர்ந்து தோன்றினையே,
மழுங்காத ஞானமே படை ஆக மலர் உலகில்
தொழும்பாயார்க்கு அளித்தால் உன் சுடர்ச் சோதி மறையாதே?

maḻuṅkāta vain nutiya cakkara nal valattaiyāy,
toḻum kātal kaḷiṟu aḷippāṉ puḷ ūrntu tōṉṟiṉaiyē,
maḻuṅkāta ñāṉamē paṭai āka malar ulakil
toḻumpāyārkku aḷittāl uṉ cuṭarc cōti maṟaiyātē?

English translation of verse 3.1.9:

(It was but meet that) you went and rescued
The elephant, passionately intent on worshipping you,
Mounted on that bird (Garuḍa) and wielding the discus ever acute;
(If instead), by mere resolve, ever alert, you did succour
Your devotees in this wide world, all over,
On your splendour great, it would indeed be a slur.

Notes

(i) The omnipotent Lord could, by a mere resolve, create this vast and wonderful universe. He can likewise achieve all things, by a mere resolve from His heavenly abode, without moving about. And then, He has such powerful weapons as the discus, ever sharp, which can be commissioned at any time, anywhere. And yet, when Gajendra the pious elephant, engaged in a titanic struggle with a crocodile, raised an alarum inviting the Lord’s help, the Lord rushed to the pond, mounted on Garuḍa, without merely commissioning the discus to do the job. In fact, He had no other option. The elephant entered the lotus pond, plucked a lotus flower to be offered to the Supreme Lord, Nārāyaṇa, and, in the process, got caught by a crocodile. In the long and grim struggle that ensued, the elephant got terribly emaciated and yet, his sole concern was to offer the flower to the Lord and hence, the alarum raised by him.

Unto the Lord who presented Himself before the elephant, the latter declared:

“Oh, Slayer of Madhu, I was not in the least worried about this mortal frame, bound to decay some day, but my sole concern was to worship you and offer this lotus flower in my trunk (hand) at your golden feet”.

How can the aspiration of such an ardent devotee be fulfilled by the Lord, in absentia, by the mere exercise of His ‘Saṅkalpa’ (resolve) from where He is seated, like pressing a button afar, with all its mechanical efficiency? This brings us on to the purpose of the Lord’s Avatārs, main and secondary.

(ii) There are three components in the Lord’s motive behind His incarnations, viz,

(i) Paritrāṇāya Sādhūnāṃ—Sādhu paritrāṇaṃ or protection of the righteous;

(ii) Vināśāya ca duṣkrtām—Duṣṭa nigraha or vanquishing the evil-doers,

(iii) Dharma Samstāpanārthāya—resuscitation and establishment of dharma, (moral standards).

(iii) A little probe into this will reveal that (1) above, is the main purpose and that the other two are merely auxiliary thereto or the ingredients thereof. Even so, would it be necessary for the Lord to assume a special form and incarnate without merely contemplating, “May the righteous prosper and the evil forces die out?”

No, this won’t do, the Lord has to necessarily come down to meet the aspirations, the deep yearnings of the devout. What is, “Sādhu paritrāṇam’ after all? It is nothing but the fulfilment of the aspirations of the devout and the cutting out of things disliked by them. He cannot resist their deepest urges and inclinations, such as drinking in, with their naked eyes, the Lord’s nectarean beauty, an irresistible longing to embrace Him bodily and so on. It is during such contacts, that the Lord’s auspicious traits shine forth and it is only the contemplation of these traits, down the ages, long after He has gone back to the Celestium, that sustains the Sādhus (the devout), down to the present day and this, in essence, is the “Sādhu paritrāṇaṃ”.