Pasuram 6.10.10

Tamil text and transliteration:

அகலகில்லேன் இறையும் என்று அலர்மேல் மங்கை உறை மார்பா,
நிகர் இல் புகழாய் உலகம் மூன்று உடையாய்! என்னை ஆள்வானே,
நிகர் இல் அமரர் முனிக்கணங்கள் விரும்பும் திருவேங்கடத்தானே,
புகல் ஒன்று இல்லா அடியேன் உன் அடிக்கீழ் அமர்ந்து புகுந்தேனே.

akalakillēṉ iṟaiyum eṉṟu alarmēl maṅkai uṟai mārpā,
nikar il pukaḻāy ulakam mūṉṟu uṭaiyāy! eṉṉai āḷvāṉē,
nikar il amarar muṉikkaṇaṅkaḷ virumpum tiruvēṅkaṭattāṉē,
pukal oṉṟu illā aṭiyēṉ uṉ aṭikkīḻ amarntu pukuntēṉē.

English translation of verse 6.10.10:

Oh, Resident of Tiruvēṅkaṭam, reverently sought by the peerless Amarars
And sages in their bunches, on Your winsome chest inheres
The Divine Mother who from a flower emerged, ever saying that
From You she shall not for a moment be apart;
Of incomparable glory, You are the Lord of all the three worlds,
And at Your feet lovely, this vassal squarely takes refuge, with no other hold.

Notes

(i) In the preceding nine songs, the Āḻvār described the Lord’s greatness and grandeur and also gave vent to his deep yearning to get at Him. And now, he takes refuge at the Lord’s feet, seeking the good offices of the Divine Mother, ever present on the Lord’s chest, so as to accelerate his union with the Lord. While doing so, he gives expression to his abject destitution and exclusive dependence on the Lord. It has to be noted that the Āḻvār is still seated in lotus pose, inside the hollow of the tamarined tree at Tirunakari. Of the three types of ‘Prapatti’, surrender to the Lord’s loving grace, by word, deed or thought, this one falls under the first category, ‘vācika’ (Añjali, paramā mudrā kṣipraṃ Devaprasādinī).

(ii) The Divine Mother, Lakṣmī, the lotus-born, is inseparably poised on the Lord’s chest and yet, why should she keep uttering the words, “From you, I shall not, for a moment, be apart”? As the saying goes, “A thing is too good to last long”. No wonder, in the exuberance of her enjoyment of the Lord’s nectarean person, the Mother is, side by side, haunted by the fear of getting dislodged from this exhilarating milieu and hence, her constant submission, as above.