Pasuram 3.8.4

Tamil text and transliteration:

கைகளால் ஆரத் தொழுது தொழுது உன்னை,
வைகலும் மாத்திரைப் போதும் ஓர் வீடு இன்றி,
பை கொள் பாம்பு ஏறி உறை பரனே, உன்னை
மெய்கொள்ளக் காண( விரும்பும் என் கண்களே.

kaikaḷāl ārat toḻutu toḻutu uṉṉai,
vaikalum māttiraip pōtum ōr vīṭu iṉṟi,
pai koḷ pāmpu ēṟi uṟai paraṉē, uṉṉai
meykoḷḷak kāṇa( virumpum eṉ kaṇkaḷē.

English translation of verse 3.8.4:

Oh, Supreme Lord, resting on hooded Serpent,
My eyes long for the pleasure of my hands
Which have their fill of salutation unto you and besides
Wish to behold truly your form exquisite, with no respite.

Notes

(i) The Āḻvār’s eyes pine for the experience of the hands besides their own. They long to enjoy the bliss of worshipping the Lord, thus performing the function of the hands. They also wish to truly (physically) behold His sweet Form, as distinguished from mere mental perception so that He can be touched and embraced.

(ii) That portion of this stanza (original) which deals with the intense worship of the Lord by the hands (repeatedly), is construed by a section of Śrī Vaiṣṇavas as stressing the necessity for worshipping the Lord several times over, as against the creed of many others, to prostrate, at a time, only once. The latter avoid the overtone or semblance of self-effort for the propitiation of the Lord, which militates against the basic principle of ‘Prapatti’ or loving surrender to the Lord’s sweet grace. References to this very topic of worship elsewhere in ‘Tiruvāymoḻi’ (2-10-9 and 1X-3-9), go to reinforce the latter code of discipline.