Pasuram 4.9.1

Tamil text and transliteration:

நண்ணாதார் முறுவலிப்ப நல் உற்றார் கரைந்து ஏங்க,
எண் ஆராத் துயர் விளைக்கும் இவை என்ன உலகு இயற்கை?,
கண்ணாளா! கடல் கடைந்தாய்! உன கழற்கே வரும் பரிசு,
தண்ணாவாது அடியேனைப் பணி கண்டாய் சாமாறே. (2)

naṇṇātār muṟuvalippa nal uṟṟār karaintu ēṅka,
eṇ ārāt tuyar viḷaikkum ivai eṉṉa ulaku iyaṟkai?,
kaṇṇāḷā! kaṭal kaṭaintāy! uṉa kaḻaṟkē varum paricu,
taṇṇāvātu aṭiyēṉaip paṇi kaṇṭāy cāmāṟē. (2)

English translation of verse 4.9.1:

Oh, what a world is this, which countless miseries breeds,
Where over one’s privations, friends and relations do grieve
While the hostile ones do with joy immense chuckle!
Oh, merciful Lord who did the milk-ocean churn,
Pray hasten my end so that I do your feet attain.

Notes:

The Āḻvār lays before the Lord two options, namely, curing the miseries of the worldlings or terminating his stay over here. It is a fantastic world, without a correct perspective of good and bad things. When calamities befall a person, his friends and relations bemoan his lot while his foes rejoice, as if there is a festivity in their homes. This is indeed too much for the Āḻvār to bear.

The Āḻvār seems to suggest to the Lord who undertook all that trouble to churn the milk-ocean and deliver the nectar unto the selfish Devas, that He could also mend the ways of the world and cure them of their miseries. The Lord said, there was nothing He could do in the case of the worldlings who did not reckon with Him at all, and struck a divergent path. So then, the Āḻvār is pressing the other alternative, namely, cutting out the tenure of his stay here, like unto the one caught up in forest fire looking for water and shelter, the immediate needs.