Pasuram 3.8.1

Tamil text and transliteration:

முடியானே! மூவுலகும் தொழுது ஏத்தும் சீர்
அடியானே, ஆழ் கடலைக் கடைந்தாய்! புள் ஊர்
கொடியானே, கொண்டல் வண்ணா! அண்டத்து உம்பரில்
நெடியானே!, என்று கிடக்கும் என் நெஞ்சமே. (2)

muṭiyāṉē! mūvulakum toḻutu ēttum cīr
aṭiyāṉē, āḻ kaṭalaik kaṭaintāy! puḷ ūr
koṭiyāṉē, koṇṭal vaṇṇā! aṇṭattu umparil
neṭiyāṉē!, eṉṟu kiṭakkum eṉ neñcamē. (2)

English translation of verse 3.8.1:

My mind thaws down, calling you, my Lord!
As wearer of the crown regal, possessor
Of the feet by all the three worlds adored,
Churner of the deep sea, having on Your banner
The bird (Garuḍa), that also conveys You, cloud-hued.
Super-eminent among heaven’s denizens and so on.

Note

The Āḻvār longs for the physical presence of the Lord whose resplendent crown proclaims His overlordship of the entire universe. Knowing full well that He can’t be seen unless He deigns to come and present Himself, the Āḻvār’s mind is, all the same, very much agitated, meditating on the various features and aspects of the Lord. The dovetailing of thoughts, as presented in this song, is indeed very interesting. Right from the crown on the Lord’s head proclaiming His sovereignty, the Āḻvār comes down to His lovely pair of feet, fit to be adored by one and all, high and low, good and bad, without distinction. Unto those who adore His feet the Lord gives His whole body, in between, with which He performs many wonderful, breath-taking deeds for their sake. And for those, who are unable to come and worship His feet, He moves about on His unique vehicle, namely winged-bird, Garuḍa, the very embodiment of the Vedas and grants them ‘darśan’. The blue-hued Lord, on His golden mount, the Garuḍa, affords a pleasant and attractive contrast in colours and the whole contour is exhilarating. Garuḍa, holding in his palms the feet of the Lord, proclaims the supremacy of the Lord, setting at naught the doubts of the Vedic scholars, confounded by the conflicting texts, some propounding the supremacy of Brahmā, the four-headed, some pointing to the supremacy of Śiva, a third set proclaiming the overlordship of Śrīmān Nārāyaṇa and so on. These conflicting claims could, no doubt, be resolved by a careful study and Śrīmān Nārāyaṇa’s supremacy established, beyond doubt. But here is Garuḍa, with the Lord mounted on his shoulders and holding in his palms His feet, the sole Refuge of one and all, simplifying ouṛ job and driving home the Lord’s supremacy.