Pasuram 4.10.7

Tamil text and transliteration:

ஓடி ஓடி பல பிறப்பும் பிறந்து மற்று ஓர் தெய்வம்,
பாடி ஆடிப் பணிந்து பல்படிகால் வழி ஏறிக் கண்டீர்,
கூடி வானவர் ஏத்த நின்ற திருக்குருகூர் அதனுள்,
ஆடு புள் கொடி ஆதி மூர்த்திக்கு அடிமைபுகுவதுவே

ōṭi ōṭi pala piṟappum piṟantu maṟṟu ōr teyvam,
pāṭi āṭip paṇintu palpaṭikāl vaḻi ēṟik kaṇṭīr,
kūṭi vāṉavar ētta niṉṟa tirukkurukūr ataṉuḷ,
āṭu puḷ koṭi āti mūrttikku aṭimaipukuvatuvē

English translation of verse 4.10.7:

Serve you did for ages and in many ways,
The lesser gods, passing thro’ several gates of birth,
Well have you seen the extent of their so-called grace;
Better seek refuge at the feet of Lord Ātināta,
With the bird (Garuḍa) on His banner, enshrined in Kurukūr,
For Devas, in their strength, to come and revere.

Notes

(i) The text, “brahmāṇaṃ śitikaṇṭañ ca yās cānyā devatāḥ smṛtāḥ, pratibuddhā na sevante yasmāt parimitaṃ phalam” says that knowledgeable persons do not worship Brahmā, Śiva and other lesser deities, as the benefits derived thereby are much-too-slender and limited. The Āḻvār, therefore, exhorts people to seek refuge in Lord Ātinātha, in lovely Kurukūr. The very fact that these people have been worshipping the god-lings in myriads of ways through countless births and have still not been able to get rid of the dreadful cycle of birth and rebirth, shows that these deities could do precious little for their emancipation. What is even more noteworthy is that those very deities throng round the Lord, enshrined in Kurukūr and sing His praise to their hearts’ content.

(ii) Actually, these deities derive all their power from Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Lord, see also 1-1-5; again, in spite of their internal bickerings, these deities join together in the face of a common danger and propitiate the Lord, in a body. The Āḻvār, therefore, advises his addressees to seek refuge at the Lord’s feet with immovable faith. In his scintillating commentary, Nam-piḷlai cites, as examples of such robust faith, king Ambarīṣa and Saint Tirumaḻicai Āḻvār.

In order to test Ambarīṣa’s steadfastness the Lord appeared before the King, disguised as Indra, mounted on Airāvata, the white elephant (which again was but Garuḍa, the Lord’s mount, in disguise) and offered to grant him boons.

Pat came the King’s admonition, as follows:

“Who are you and what is this insect you have brought with you? Don’t you know that I am votary of Lord viṣṇu from whom all of you derive your position and authority. Surely, I am not the one who would pay homage to strollers like you, passing along the streets. May it please you to depart from here”.

Saint Tirumaḻicai Āḻvār (BC 4202) was sitting with his legs stretched, stitching his torn-out garments, when Śiva and Pārvati passed by. The Āḻvār’s nonchalance, unmindful of the presence of the exalted couple, provoked Pārvati and, at her insistence, an indignant Śiva demanded the Āḻvār’s explanation for his disrespectful behaviour. Calm and unruffled, the Āḻvār queried whether the distinguished visitor could grant him salvation (mokṣa) but the latter said, “No, it is beyond my jurisdiction; it can be attained only by resorting to Viṣṇu”. The considerate Āḻvār, thereupon asked Śiva whether he could postpone the death of creatures, at least by a day. On his betraying his helplessness once again, the Āḻvār jeeringly asked the visitor to decree that the thread, the former was holding, did follow the needle as he was sewing. Unable to brook this insult, Śiva opened up the third eye on his forehead but the Saint overpowered it by pointing to the innumerable such eyes in his leg.

(iii) There is yet another anecdote, cited in Īṭu commentary, to illustrate the certainty of salvation through oneness of faith in the Supreme Lord.

When Śrī Parāśara Bhaṭṭar was once reading that portion of Viṣṇu Purāṇa, dealing with the life of the meritorious King Yayāti whom Indra conspired to pull down apprehensive of the usurpation of his own position, two of the listeners, Piḻḷai Viḻupparaiyar and Appāṉ Tiruvaḷuntur Araiyar asked the learned discourser about the chief lesson to be learnt from the life-story of king Yayāti. Bhaṭṭarya elucidated: “Here is the lesson; the lesser gods, when propitiated, grant men their desires, but, side by side, envy rankles in the hearts of the former over the latter’s mounting stature and they seek an opportunity to pull the votaries down, to prevent their drawing level with those very gods. On the other hand, Lord Viṣṇu looks upon His creatures’ happiness as His own and He can never be swayed by such base passions as the lesser gods. One should not, therefore, resort to lesser gods but place all one’s faith in the Supreme Lord”.

(iv) Bhaṭṭārya also cited the example of Lord Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa serving Sage Viśvāmitra as his humble servants. On being questioned at this stage how the Yādhavas came to grief, in spite of their close association with Lord Kṛṣṇa, Bhattārya pointed out that the Yādhavas had to share the fate they did, because of their irreclaimable ways, although Lord Kṛṣṇa did His very best for them, such as bringing from Kubera, the God of wealth, Treasures such as ‘Śaṅka nidhi’ and ‘Padma nidhi’. Further, they looked upon Kṛṣṇa, not as God but as a mere kinsman, companion and so on, an ephemeral passing relationship which automatically lapsed at the end of their lives.