Pasuram 8.5.1

Tamil text and transliteration:

மாயக்கூத்தா!வாமனா! வினையேன்கண்ணா! கண்கைகால்
தூயசெய்ய மலர்களா சோதிச்செவ்வாய் முகிழதா
சாயல்சாமத் திருமேனி தண்பாசடையா தாமரைநீள்
வாசத்தடம்போல் வருவானே! ஒருநாள் காண வாராயே.

māyakkūttā!vāmaṉā! viṉaiyēṉkaṇṇā! kaṇkaikāl
tūyaceyya malarkaḷā cōticcevvāy mukiḻatā
cāyalcāmat tirumēṉi taṇpācaṭaiyā tāmarainīḷ
vācattaṭampōl varuvāṉē! orunāḷ kāṇa vārāyē.

English translation of verse 8.5.1:

Wondrous Lord, Oh, Vāmaṉā, oh, Kaṇṇā beyond this sinner’s reach!
With eyes, hands and feet like red lotus in fresh bloom,
Lips, red and radiant, cool, green, leaf-like complexion, You seem,
As You walk along, a huge lotus pond in motion, full of fragrance!
May it please You to appear before me, for a day at least.

Notes:

(i) The Āḻvār’s request to the Lord is that He should appear before him like a lotus pond, the mere sight of which quenches one’s deep thirst. The Lord’s eyes, hands and feet look like red lotus flowers in bloom. His coral lips with bewitching smiles resemble the lovely lily and His emerald form looks like the green pond with lotus leaves. This completes the picture of the lotus pond, envisaged by the Āḻvār. c.f. ‘Karacaraṇa Saroje......... Haṛsarasi’—(Mukunda Mālā)

(ii) What precisely egged the Āḻvār on to such a longing has also been indicated in this song. As he was comtemplating the Lord’s incarnation as the bewitching Vāmaṉa, at Indra’s behest, the Āḻvār longed that He should also present such an exquisite Form to him. If the Lord’s incarnation as Vāmaṉa was for the sake of Indra, His incarnation as Kṛṣṇa was only to torment the Āḻvār, by going back to the Celestium, just six weeks before his coming into this abode, like unto a dainty dish hitting against the teeth and falling to the ground without getting inside the mouth to be chewed with great relish. That is why the Āḻvār calls Kṛṣṇa, as the one beyond his (sinner’s) reach.