Pasuram 8.6.1

Tamil text and transliteration:

எல்லியும் காலையும் தன்னை நினைந்துஎழ
நல்ல அருள்கள் நமக்கேதந்து அருள்செய்வான்
அல்லிஅம் தண்ணம்துழாய் முடிஅப்பன்ஊர்
செல்வர்கள் வாழும் திருக்கடித் தானமே (2)

elliyum kālaiyum taṉṉai niṉaintueḻa
nalla aruḷkaḷ namakkētantu aruḷceyvāṉ
alliam taṇṇamtuḻāy muṭiappaṉūr
celvarkaḷ vāḻum tirukkaṭit tāṉamē (2)

English translation of verse 8.6.1:

Tirukkaṭittāṉam, where reside the devotees rich, is the place
Where my Lord sporting tulaci garland cool and lovely, on His crown, stays,
And salves us, shedding on us solely His extra-ordinary grace
And making us meditate on Him always [day and night].

Notes:

(i) The Āḻvār is indeed overwhelmed by the Lord’s spontaneous grace. Well, he doesn’t take it on a quid-pro-quo basis, that is, he does not look at this influx of the Lord’s extra-ordinary grace, making him meditate on Him day and night, as compensation for the grief he experienced in the last decad, but as one shed on him for the Lord’s own pleasure and exultation, at His sweet will. What more? The Āḻvār feels that the Lord has not shed on any one else, not even the ‘Nityas’ in Heaven, grace of this magnitude. It is indeed most gratifying to the Āḻvār that the Lord presents Himself in Tirukkaṭittāṉam, wearing the tulaci garland, pretty and fragrant, as longed for by him in the third song of the last decad.

(ii) Rich devotees: The text of the song, as in the original refers to this pilgrim centre, as one inhabited by rich persons. The richness, alluded to here, is, however, not of the material kind but the ‘Kaiṅkarya Śrī’ like that of Lakṣmaṇa who served Lord Rāma in all possible ways and was thus extremely rich in divine service. Real affluence lies in eternal service to the Lord.