Pasuram 4.4.7

Tamil text and transliteration:

ஏறிய பித்தினோடு எல்லா உலகும் கண்ணன் படைப்பு என்னும்,
நீறு செவ்வே இடக் காணில் நெடுமால் அடியார்' என்று ஓடும்,
நாறு துழாய் மலர் காணில் நாரணன் கண்ணி ஈது என்னும்,
தேறியும் தேறாதும் மாயோன் திறத்தனளே இத் திருவே.

ēṟiya pittiṉōṭu ellā ulakum kaṇṇaṉ paṭaippu eṉṉum,
nīṟu cevvē iṭak kāṇil neṭumāl aṭiyār' eṉṟu ōṭum,
nāṟu tuḻāy malar kāṇil nāraṇaṉ kaṇṇi ītu eṉṉum,
tēṟiyum tēṟātum māyōṉ tiṟattaṉaḷē it tiruvē.

English translation of verse 4.4.7:

My daughter, in the mould of Tirumakaḷ, knows naught
Besides the wondrous Lord, be her mind agitated
Or clear; well under the spell of God-love, she says,
“All the worlds are but Kaṇṇaṉ’s creation.”; she goes
After those who, on their foreheads, apply the ash
Vertically, as Neṭumāl’s votaries; when she sees
A fragrant tuḷaci garland, “This is Nāraṇaṉ’s.” she says.

Notes

(i) The world might find the Nāyakī excited, being out of the ordinary run, but she is absolutely clear, so far as God-head is concerned. Actually, she knows nothing else. Even in her present state, she is voicing forth effortlessly, the Vedic truths delved into, by the great ‘Brahma-Jñānīs’ like Sage Parāśara. This is like a Vedic scholar reciting the Vedas even during mental aberration.

(ii) The Āḻvār is well aware that ash is eschewed by the votaries of Lord Viṣṇu and yet the vertical application of the ash on their foreheads, by a few, caught in two minds, makes the Nāyakī look upon them also as Vaiṣṇavas (wearing the vertical caste-mark) and go after them. The word ‘nīṟu’, in the original text of this song, need not necessarily denote ‘ash’ (bhasma); it could as well mean the dust off the feet of the devotees of Lord Viṣṇu, as indicated by the use of this very word in IV-6-6.

(iii) Parāṅkuśa Nāyakī is said to be an incarnation of Goddess Lakṣmī. Lakṣmī is coveted by the Lord while the Nāyakī covets the conjunction of them both.