Pasuram 7.3.3

Tamil text and transliteration:

செங்கனி வாயின் திறத்ததாயும் செஞ்சுடர் நீள்முடி தாழ்ந்ததாயும்,
சங்கொடு சக்கரம் கண்டுஉகந்தும் தாமரைக் கண்களுக்கு அற்றுத் தீர்ந்தும்,
திங்களும் நாளும் விழாஅறாத தென்திருப்பேரெயில் வீற்றிருந்த,
நங்கள்பிரானுக்குஎன் நெஞ்சம் தோழீ! நாணும் நிறையும் இழந்ததுவே.

ceṅkaṉi vāyiṉ tiṟattatāyum ceñcuṭar nīḷmuṭi tāḻntatāyum,
caṅkoṭu cakkaram kaṇṭuukantum tāmaraik kaṇkaḷukku aṟṟut tīrntum,
tiṅkaḷum nāḷum viḻāaṟāta teṉtiruppēreyil vīṟṟirunta,
naṅkaḷpirāṉukkueṉ neñcam tōḻī! nāṇum niṟaiyum iḻantatuvē.

English translation of verse 7.3.3:

Come, ye, mate, enthralled by the Lord’s fruit-like lips red,
Enamoured of His tall resplendent crown, glowing red,
Enticed by His conch and discus and by His lotus eyes enslaved
My mind has unto the Lord, in Teṉtiruppēreyil enshrined,
With its fanfare of festivals unbroken, lost its reserve and refinement.

Notes:

(i) The elders and neighbours having retreated from the scene, giving up the task of reclaiming the Nāyakī as hopeless, only the mate stays on, for further counselling. When she points out how unbecoming of the feminine rank and position the conduct of the Nāyakī is, the latter indicates in this song what indeed brought her to this pass. Actually, the Nāyakī’s mind is getting exclusively absorbed in each one of these features of the Lord, even as He pervades all things, in toto, inside out. It is worth recalling, in this context the anecdote of Śaubhari. Great indeed was the spiritual prowess of sage Śoubhari. One day he went to a pond and noticed the fish playing about, huddled together. This fascinated the mind of the sage, steeped in renunciation till then, to lead a married life and rear up a large family, as in the fish pond. Learning that king Māndhāthā had fifty charming princesses, all unmarried, the sage asked the king to give him one of his daughters in marriage. The King evaded the issue by asking the sage to propose to the Princesses directly so that whosoever liked him could be taken as his bride. The sage knew the trick of the King quite well and, therefore, transformed himself into a charming young man whom the Princesses vied with one another to marry. The powerful sage took on fifty forms, on account of his great tapasya, and married all of them. Similar is the intensity of the Āḻvār’s longing to enjoy the Lord, in minute details, assuming different forms.

(ii) The Lord is enshrined in His Iconic (Worshippable) Form for the sake of us, the bound souls lingering in this world, even as His transcendent Form in Heaven is for the enjoyment of the ‘Nityas’ (Eternal heroes) and ‘Muktas’ (Released Souls) there, the ‘Vyūha’ (Operative Form) in the Milky ocean is for those akin to ‘Muktas’ and the Incarnate Forms are for the fortunate ones, who existed in those good olden times. This being the case, how could the Nāyakī keep away from the Lord in His ‘Arca’ (iconic) form at Tiruppēreyil?