Fifth Centum, in retrospect (Decad-wise Summary)

(5-1): The Āḻvār draws the searchlight inward, to discover the root-cause of the extraordinary grace showered on him by the Lord, whereby he could not merely stand apart from the worldlings, without wallowing as one of them but also advise and correct them. Finding, however, that, even for a mere show of piety, devoid of genuine love for him, the Lord has condescended to open up the flood-gates of His grace on him, without caring in the least to go beneath the skin and expose his hollowness, the Āḻvār just marvels, in the opening decad of this Centum, at the Lord’s overwhelming grace and gives vent to his wonderment;

(5-2): The Āḻvār having weaned the people from propitiating minor deities, through his splended exposition of the supremacy of Mahāviṣṇu in IV-10, this abode has now become a land of bliss, hardly distinguishable from Heaven. A golden era has thus been ushered in here, attracting ever the denizens of the upper worlds to this land, to behold and admire this new state of affairs. It is such an exhilarating milieu that the Alvar hails, in the second decad, besides envisioning the advent of Tirumaṅkai Āḻvār and Saint Rāmānuja, in the days to come, the veritable destroyers of the ungodly forces of Kaliyuga;

(5-3): Reverting to the ‘Nāyaki’ state, which obtained during the three consecutive decads (6 to 8) of the fourth Centum, the Āḻvār is seen, in the third decad, all agog to get united with the Lord or at least procure from Him the tuḷaci garland and wear it on her locks. Non-fulfilment of her intense longing, however, induces her to contemplate the drastic step of embarking on what is known as ‘Maṭal’ in Tamil literature, that is, coming into the open and carrying her tale of woe to the public at large, so that the cruelly unresponsive Lord could be arraigned at the bar of public opinion and the union with Him got accelerated.

(5-4): In order to put through the proceedings, contemplated in the preceding decad, the Nāyakī has to, first of all, draw a sketch of her lover (the accused), for public exhibition. But it is pitch dark and she cannot draw the picture. It is an unusually long night, dark and dewy. The whole world is fast asleep and the Nāyakī has no company. Against this background, the Nāyakī is seen, in the fourth decad, having recourse to the contemplation of the Lord’s auspicious traits, soothing her aching heart;

(5-5): The fifth decad is sung by the Āḻvār, while still in the feminine state. The Sun having risen, at long last, the Nāyakī could enjoy, in her mind’s eye, the glorious vision of the Lord, in His Iconic Form at Tirukkuṟuṅkuṭi (also known as Vaiṣṇava Vāmana Kṣetra). The elders, who tried to bring the Nāyakī round, by admonishing her, are hit back by her, questioning the propriety of their admonishing one whose heart stands rivetted to the exquisite Form of the Lord at Tirukkuṟuṅkuṭi;

(5-6): The gnostic mother finds Parāṅkuśa Nāyaki (Āḻvār), seated like a discourser, with the fingers in an instructional pose and declaring that she had created the whole world, that she would become the world herself and so on. Queried by her kinsmen, the bewildered mother says that the Nāyakī is perhaps possessed by the Supreme Lord, who is the Inner Self of all beings. Every song in the sixth decad is in two distinct parts, namely, the narration of the Nāyakī’s God-vision (Man identified with God), followed by the mother’s suggestion that it is perhaps God who has taken possession of the Nāyakī, that speaks through her;

(5-7): The Lord is still keeping Himself away from the Āḻvār, although, on previous occasions, He obliged the Āḻvār with His presence (mental vision of course), whenever the Āḻvār’s longing for such communion was far-too-intense. Pondering within himself, the Āḻvār apprehends that the Lord might either want him to adopt other means, such as ‘Karma Yoga’, ‘Jñāna Yoga’, and ‘Bhakti Yoga’, or intend to give him up on the ground that he was pursuing other means, instead of looking upon Him as the Sole Means. In the seventh decad, the Āḻvār, therefore, hastens to clarify his true stand in this regard, at the feet of the Lord enshrined in Vāṉamāmalai, also known as Cirīvaramaṅkalanakar, deep south in Tamil Nāḍu;

(5-8): In the seventh decad, the Āḻvār fell, like an uprooted tree, at the feet of the Lord enshrined in Vāṉamāmalai and sought refuge and yet, he was not favoured with the Lord’s presence. The Alvar, therefore, turns his attention, in the eighth decad, to the Lord gracing Tirukkuṭantai (Kumba-kōṇam in Tamil Nāḍu), hoping that He might be intending to grant him audience at that centre. The Āḻvār is contemplating, with all the fervour at his command, the enchanting prospect of the Lord casting sweet glances at him, conversing with him and gathering him up to his bosom in sweet embrace. The Āḻvār has, however, met with disappointment once again and he ends this decad on a despondent note, exclaiming that he just does not know how many more pilgrim centres he has still to knock at in this manner.

(5-9): In the ninth decad, we see a frustrated Āḻvār turning his attention on yet another pilgrim centre, named Tiruvallavāḻ (in Kerala), his coveted union with the Lord at Tirukkuṭantai, not having materialised. Even so, he could not get there, being obsessed with the fragrance wafted across from there, the lovely breeze, the musical drone of the bees humming in the orchards over there, the Vedic chantings, etc. Thus stranded, the Āḻvār assumes the state of Nāyakī and speaks out her infatuation to her mates; (Of course, it is all mental experience and no physical movement, as such, is involved.)

(5-10): In the concluding decad of this Centum, the Āḻvār prays unto the Lord to grant him at least the stamina to contemplate His glory and sustain himself, even if He would not oblige him with his company. Having failed to realise his longing for communion with the Lord in His Iconic Form, in successive pilgrim centres, the Alvar turns to the Lord in His incarnate Form, overlooking the time-lag for the simple reason that the devotees could freely mingle with the Lord, during His Incarnations, converse and embrace, unlike the ‘Arca’ (iconic manifestation), where such exchanges are not possible. Even among the Lord’s many incarnations, the Āḻvār has a partiality for the proximate Kṛṣṇāvatār, the manner in which He was born and the way He grew up, touching the inner core of his being and sending him unto a trance.