Pasuram 4.4.3

Tamil text and transliteration:

அறியும் செந்தீயைத் தழுவி 'அச்சுதன்' என்னும்மெய்வேவாள்,
எறியும்தண் காற்றைத் தழுவி 'என்னுடைக் கோவிந்தன்' என்னும்,
வெறிகொள் துழாய் மலர் நாறும் வினையுடையாட்டியேன் பெற்ற
செறிவளை முன்கைச் சிறுமான் செய்கின்றது என் கண்ணுக்கு ஒன்றே?

aṟiyum centīyait taḻuvi 'accutaṉ' eṉṉummeyvēvāḷ,
eṟiyumtaṇ kāṟṟait taḻuvi 'eṉṉuṭaik kōvintaṉ' eṉṉum,
veṟikoḷ tuḻāy malar nāṟum viṉaiyuṭaiyāṭṭiyēṉ peṟṟa
ceṟivaḷai muṉkaic ciṟumāṉ ceykiṉṟatu eṉ kaṇṇukku oṉṟē?

English translation of verse 4.4.3:

This fell-sinner’s little daughter, whose wrists are with bangles packed,
Clasps the blistering flame red, saying it is Accutaṉ, her Lord
But remains unhurt; the chill wind that blows she does embrace,
Saying it is Kōvintaṉ, her Sire, and acquires the sweet fragrance
Of the tuḷaci on His person; many a thing like this do I witness!

Notes

(i) The flamboyance of the Lord’s person is referred to, as a bundle of brilliance. And so, the Nāyakī embraces the red flame with the same avidity with which she would embrace the Lord and because of her sincerity, she does not get blistered, even as Prahlāda was not scalded by fire and remained unscathed.

(ii) The cool, southerly breeze is unto the Nāyakī, like Kṛṣṇa, back home in the evening after tending the cows, coming towards her for a sweet embrace. Locked in the Lord’s embrace, in the form of the cool breeze, the Nāyakī acquires the sweet fragrance of the tuḷaci on the Lord’s person. (It is well known that fire blisters the common man while even the cool, southerly breeze has a blistering effect on the lover during moments of separation from her beloved. From what the mother has seen of the Nāyakī, she does not fall in either category—inscrutable indeed are her ways.