Introduction to Section 6.10

In the last decad, the Āḻvār voiced forth, in deep anguish, his inordinate longing for communion with the Lord, so as to be audible to Him, right in Heaven. And yet, there has been no response from the Lord and the Āḻvār is, therefore, in a state of extreme mental distress and physical debility. He is, however, quick to realise that the Lord stands enshrined in holy Tiruvēṅkaṭam (Andhra Pradesh), the common meeting ground of the ‘Nitya Sūrīs’ (Eternal Heroes in Heaven), the ‘Nitya Samsārīs’ (worldlings), birds and beasts. At this holy centre, the Āḻvār seeks refuge at the feet of the Lord through the good offices of the Divine Mother, inseparably poised on His winsome chest, voicing forth his sole dependence on Him. In the first nine songs of this decad, the Āḻvār dwells upon the glory and grandeur of the Lord, the Great Saviour, and, in the tenth, he surrenders at His feet, the Sole Refuge. No doubt, the Āḻvār had surrendered himself earlier also at the feet of the Lord, enshrined in other Pilgrim centres, c.f. IV-9, V-7 and V-8, but there is as much difference between those and the one currently resorted to, as between ‘Tirumantram’ and ‘Dvayam While the holy conjunction of Mahālakṣmī, the Divine Mother and the Lord is but implicit in the former, it is explicit in the latter, as in this decad, vide tenth song.