Pasuram 7.3.7

Tamil text and transliteration:

பேர்எயில் சூழ்கடல் தென்இலங்கை செற்றபிரான் வந்து வீற்றிருந்த,
பேரெயிற்கே புக்குஎன்நெஞ்சம் நாடி பேர்த்து வரஎங்கும் காண மாட்டேன்,
ஆரை இனிஇங்குஉடையம் தோழீ! என்நெஞ்சம் கூவ வல்லாரும் இல்லை,
ஆரை இனிக்கொண்டு என் சாதிக்கின்றது? என்நெஞ்சம் கண்டதுவே கண்டேனே

pēreyil cūḻkaṭal teṉilaṅkai ceṟṟapirāṉ vantu vīṟṟirunta,
pēreyiṟkē pukkueṉneñcam nāṭi pērttu varaeṅkum kāṇa māṭṭēṉ,
ārai iṉiiṅkuuṭaiyam tōḻī! eṉneñcam kūva vallārum illai,
ārai iṉikkoṇṭu eṉ cātikkiṉṟatu? eṉneñcam kaṇṭatuvē kaṇṭēṉē

English translation of verse 7.3.7:

My mind that went in quest of the Lord, who burnt down
Laṅkā, across the sea, surrounded by walls gigantic,
And now stays in Tiruppēreyil, hasn’t come back;
Nobody else can keep me company nor is there any one
To restore my mind unto me; here’s none who can perchance
Do unto me a good turn and my mind I shall follow hence.

Notes:

(i) “Having seen in Tiruppēreyil, the victorious Lord who vanquished that felon, Rāvaṇa”, says the Nāyakī unto the mate, “it is no wonder, my mind doesn’t come back to me. Having lost such a great companion, there is hardly any point in my staying behind, as there is none who can take his place. Even you are in a state of extreme debility. It is, therefore, but meet that I follow suit and join my mind right where it has gone”. Did not Śrī Rāma say, in Uttara Rāmāyaṇa, when he set out for the Celestium after His long stay in this abode, that He was going the way Lakṣmaṇa had gone a little earlier? Lakṣmaṇa was the first to go and Śrī Rāma went a little later.

Śrī Nampiḷḷai would say that Hanumān visited even the inpenetrable Laṅkā, remote and inaccessible, from where none could return safely and came back with a message from Sītā but the Nāyakī’s mind could not get back from near-by Tiruppēreyil. And now, instead of sending a message to God, she has to send one to her mind. There is none to carry the message either. There is thus no remedy except her going there herself.

(ii) The Lord in Tiruppēreyil is said to be fresh from His victory over Rāvaṇa. But then, that was the time when Śrī Rāma’s mind was vitiated by feelings of suspicion and anger, leading to His acrimonious address to Sītā, in such harsh terms as:

“My love is fled, for on thy fame
Lies the dark blot of sin and shame;
And thou art hateful as the light
That flashes in the injured sight”.

Śrī Āḷavandār (Saint Yāmunācārya), the great preceptor, was greatly piqued by this unreasonable accusation of the Mother and he said: “Surely, it isn’t my radiant Mother’s light that hurts but Rāma’s sore eye that is hurt. The mote is indeed in Rāma’s eye; Sītā is absolutely pure, bright like the pure flame that appears tainted owing to dark suspicion obscuring Rāma’s heart”.