Pasuram 7.8.5

Tamil text and transliteration:

பாசங்கள் நீக்கி என்னை உனக்கே அறக் கொண்டிட்டு, நீ
வாச மலர்த் தண் துழாய்முடி மாயவனே! அருளாய்,
காயமும் சீவனும் ஆய் கழிவு ஆய் பிறப்பு ஆய் பின்னும்நீ,
மாயங்கள் செய்துவைத்தி இவை என்ன மயக்குக்களே!

pācaṅkaḷ nīkki eṉṉai uṉakkē aṟak koṇṭiṭṭu, nī
vāca malart taṇ tuḻāymuṭi māyavaṉē! aruḷāy,
kāyamum cīvaṉum āy kaḻivu āy piṟappu āy piṉṉumnī,
māyaṅkaḷ ceytuvaitti ivai eṉṉa mayakkukkaḷē!

English translation of verse 7.8.5:

My wondrous Lord, wearing tuḷaci, cool and fragrant, on Your locks fine!
You rid me of all things unwholesome and made me Your vassal
The body that binds and the bound souls, their growth and decline
Are all by You controlled and yet, You have kept me still
In this body foul, what glamour You find in it, please tell.

Notes:

This is the key-song, providing the preamble for this decad. The Saint asks the Lord to elucidate the riddle of His keeping him, in this material body, in mundane surroundings, even after weaning him away from the worldly things and engendering in him inordinate God-love, brooking no further delay in its consummation. With all this special equipment provided unto him by the Lord Himself, the Āḻvār felt sanguine that the Lord had admitted him into His sweet fold. Prolongation of his stay in this abode of dark nescience, however, makes him doubt the Lord’s intentions and hence the clarification now sought.