Pasuram 7.3.4

Tamil text and transliteration:

இழந்த எம்மாமைத் திறத்துப் போன என்நெஞ்சினாரும் அங்கே ஒழிந்தார்,
உழந்து இனியாரைக் கொண்டுஎன்உசாகோ? ஓதக் கடல்ஒலி போல எங்கும்
எழுந்தநல் வேதத்துஒலி நின்றுஓங்கு தென்திருப்பேரெயில் வீற்றிருந்த,
முழங்கு சங்கக்கையன் மாயத்துஆழ்ந்தேன் அன்னையர்காள் என்னை என்முனிந்தே?

iḻanta emmāmait tiṟattup pōṉa eṉneñciṉārum aṅkē oḻintār,
uḻantu iṉiyāraik koṇṭueṉucākō? ōtak kaṭaloli pōla eṅkum
eḻuntanal vētattuoli niṉṟuōṅku teṉtiruppēreyil vīṟṟirunta,
muḻaṅku caṅkakkaiyaṉ māyattuāḻntēṉ aṉṉaiyarkāḷ eṉṉai eṉmuṉintē?

English translation of verse 7.3.4:

Ye, elders, that doyen, my mind, sallied forth to get me back
The lustre lost but there itself got badly stuck;
My mind, thus lost, who shall hence my companion be
And what shall I speak? can you indeed be angry with me,
Seeing me immersed in the wondrous Lord Who wields
The resounding conch and stays in Teṉtiruppēreyil, the standing seat
Of Nalvētam, reverberating all over like the roaring sea?

Notes:

(i) The mind is accorded an exalted position by the Nāyakī and referred to, with great respect, by reasons of its being God-bent and competitive in its exuberance for God-enjoyment. Discoloration set in because of the Nāyakī’s extreme dejection, in her state of separation from the Lord. In a bold bid to restore to the Nāyakī her lost lustre, the mind went up to the Lord but alas! It got stuck up at that end, completely absorbed in Him. The Nāyakī can hardly find any company other than her own mind for giving her the much-needed solace and, she feels worse off than Sītā in captivity, where she had atleast Trijaḍā and Saramai to console her. The Nāyakī is worse off than Sītā, in the sense that the former cannot court the company of anyone, neither the sense-buried Earthlings nor the egotistic tin-gods of the upper worlds, nor the Nityas, totally absorbed in God-enjoyment in the yonder heaven and least of all, the One who keeps aloof, having robbed her of her very garment.

(ii) She herself is now caught up in the compelling charm of the Lord at Teṉtiruppēreyil and she keeps musing over the Lord’s fascinating features, all the time.

(iii) This pilgrim centre is said to be resonant with the sweet, chanting of Nalvētam (Sāmaveda)