Pasuram 3.7.9

Tamil text and transliteration:

குலம் தாங்கு சாதிகள் நாலிலும் கீழ் இழிந்து, எத்தனை
நலம் தான் இலாத சண்டாள சண்டாளர்கள் ஆகிலும்,
வலம் தாங்கு சக்கரத்து அண்ணல் மணிவண்ணற்கு ஆள் என்று உள்
கலந்தார், அடியார் தம் அடியார் எம் அடிகளே.

kulam tāṅku cātikaḷ nālilum kīḻ iḻintu, ettaṉai
nalam tāṉ ilāta caṇṭāḷa caṇṭāḷarkaḷ ākilum,
valam tāṅku cakkarattu aṇṇal maṇivaṇṇaṟku āḷ eṉṟu uḷ
kalantār, aṭiyār tam aṭiyār em aṭikaḷē.

English translation of verse 3.7.9:

They are my masters who the vassals are of the vassals
Of those that, as His loving servitors, do mingle
With the Lord of sapphire hue, holding the discus bright,
In right hand, albeit they are born in a down-trodden Caste,
Worse than the Caṇṭāḷa with little or no repute.

Notes

(i) The servants of the servants of those devotees, enthralled by the bewitching beauty of the Lord holding the charming discus in hand, are said to be the Āḻvār’s masters, even though the said devotees are otherwise terribly depraved, and worse than the ‘Caṇṭāḷa’, outside the Ken of the four prescribed, time-honoured castes. While devotion to the Lord’s devotees is the Key-note of this song, there is an unfortunate tendency on the part of the superficial modern critics, with a degree of perversion, to go by the letter of the song rather than the underlying spirit. These unrelenting critics question the bonafides of those who reverently chant ‘Tiruvāymoḻi’ and yet do not put into practice the principles, the Ālvār stood for and expounded in his works, e.g. this crucial song.

(ii) Stanzas, such as this one, would, however, appear to spot-light the greatness of such highly evolved spiritual personalities as Tirumaḻicai Āḻvār, Tiruppāṇāḻvār, Nampāṭuvāṉ, either born as outcastes or brought up by outcastes, who yet belong to a world of their own and a new denomination known as ‘The clan of God’s servants’, which has nothing to do with the conventional caste-system and classification. Of course, devotion has to be appreciated and adored wherever it is discerned, irrespective of considerations of caste and things of that sort. This love and reference for devotees cannot, however, override the prescribed norms of conduct, appropriate to one’s caste and station in life. This song should not, therefore, be misconstrued as conferring unbridled authority for hammering down and brushing aside the mandates of the Śāstras, as restated by Lord Kṛṣṇa in His ‘Song Celestial’—(Bhagavad Gītā, XVĪ-24).