Pasuram 4.5.11

Tamil text and transliteration:

மாரி மாறாத தண் அம் மலை வேங்கடத்து அண்ணலை,
வாரி மாறாத பைம் பூம் பொழில்சூழ் குருகூர் நகர்க்,
காரி மாறன் சடகோபன் சொல் ஆயிரத்து இப் பத்தால்,
வேரி மாறாத பூமேல் இருப்பாள் வினை தீர்க்குமே.

māri māṟāta taṇ am malai vēṅkaṭattu aṇṇalai,
vāri māṟāta paim pūm poḻilcūḻ kurukūr nakark,
kāri māṟaṉ caṭakōpaṉ col āyirattu ip pattāl,
vēri māṟāta pūmēl iruppāḷ viṉai tīrkkumē.

English translation of verse 4.5.11:

Lakṣmī, the lotus-born, of perpetual fragrance, will help those that learn
These songs ten, out of the thousand composed by Caṭakōpaṉ,
Of Kurukūr, with perennial water and big gardens,
Full of flowers lovely, lauding the Lord at Vēṅkaṭam, the mountain
Cool and lovely, with continual rain, to get rid of all sins.

Notes

(i) There is no mention in any of the ten preceding songs, about the Lord enshrined in Tiruvēṅkaṭam, and yet, in this end-song, the Lord, in His iconic Form, has been referred to. This only shows that the emphasis rests on ‘Arca’ throughout ‘Tiruvāymoḻi’. In the eighth stanza of this decad, the amazing extent of God’s condescending love, giving precedence to the worldlings over even the Divine Mother, was alluded to. The Lord at Tiruvēṅkaṭam is the very personification of such condescending love, and He has, therefore, been referred to in this end-stanza. Continual rains in Tiruvēṅkaṭam ensure the abundance of water for all time in Kurukūr (Tirunakarī), the birth place of the Āḻvār, and because of this plentiful supply of water, the fragrance of the lotus-flower on which Lakṣmī, the Divine Mother is seated, is undiminishing. (Grand poetic imagery indeed!)

(ii) The text, as in the original, is misconstrued by some as placing the Divine Mother on a par with the Lord, in regard to the grant of ‘Mokṣa’. Hers is only a recommendatory role and she can only be instrumental in our attaining Mokṣa at the hands of the Lord whose indivisible and inalienable prerogative is ‘Mokṣa pradatva’ (grant of Mokṣa). The following is the elucidation of Śrīmān Nigamānta Deśika, in his commentary on Saint Yāmuna’s Catuś Ślokī’ in regard to this point. “It is the sole prerogative of the Lord to reward or punish the subjects, in the light of their ‘Karma’, the good and bad deeds. The Merciful Mother, however, makes admirable use of her position and privilege and gets the reward magnified and the punishment minimised through her good offices.”

The chanters of this decad are thus quite safe under the apron of the Divine Mother, the sure deliverer of the goods.