Pasuram 4.7.11

Tamil text and transliteration:

தழுவிநின்ற காதல் தன்னால் தாமரைக் கண்ணன் தன்னை,
குழுவு மாடத் தென் குருகூர் மாறன் சடகோபன், சொல்
வழுவு இலாத ஒண் தமிழ்கள் ஆயிரத்துள் இப்பத்தும்,
தழுவப் பாடி ஆட வல்லார் வைகுந்தம் ஏறுவரே.

taḻuviniṉṟa kātal taṉṉāl tāmaraik kaṇṇaṉ taṉṉai,
kuḻuvu māṭat teṉ kurukūr māṟaṉ caṭakōpaṉ, col
vaḻuvu ilāta oṇ tamiḻkaḷ āyirattuḷ ippattum,
taḻuvap pāṭi āṭa vallār vaikuntam ēṟuvarē.

English translation of verse 4.7.11:

Those that sing with zeal and revel in these songs ten,
Out of the thousand flawless Tamil songs bright of Caṭakōpaṉ,
Chief of Teṉkurukūr with a cluster of castles,
Adoring the lotus-eyed Lord with love inexhaustible,
Will the high Heavens scale (and enjoy bliss perennial).

Notes

(i) The lotus-eyed Lord having blessed the Āḻvār, right inside his mother’s womb, the Āḻvār emerged into this world with God-love, ingrained in him.

(ii) The clustering of houses in Kurukūr would, ipso facto, denote the clustering of people, in that town. A juicy explanation for such crowding, furnished in ‘Iṭu’, is that the Lord’s advent in Kurukūr was expected any moment, in view of the Āḻvār’s inordinate longing and people clustered around him to watch the great event. There is a strong parallel to this in Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa. At the end of his long exile Śri Rāma met Sage Bharadvāja [Bharadwaja] at the latter’s āśram, enroute to Ayodhya and enquired about Bharata’s welfare. The sage replied: “Yes, all are well; anxiously awaiting your return, Bharata is spending sleepless days and nights, smeared with mud raised by torrential tears from his eyes falling on the ground”. If Bharata is in such a forlorn state, how could all be well there? What the Sage emphasises here is that the Intensity of Bharatha’s dev tion was such that it inspired robust confidence in the citizens that Śrī Rāma would hasten his home-coming and So, they had all gatheṟed, in great glee, to greet him.