Pasuram 8.7.9

Tamil text and transliteration:

வயிற்றில் கொண்டு நின்றொழிந்தாரும் எவரும்
வயிற்றில் கொண்டு நின்று ஒருமூவுலகும் தம்
வயிற்றில் கொண்டு நின்றவண்ணம் நின்றமாலை
வயிற்றில் கொண்டு மன்னவைத்தேன் மதியாலே.

vayiṟṟil koṇṭu niṉṟoḻintārum evarum
vayiṟṟil koṇṭu niṉṟu orumūvulakum tam
vayiṟṟil koṇṭu niṉṟavaṇṇam niṉṟamālai
vayiṟṟil koṇṭu maṉṉavaittēṉ matiyālē.

English translation of verse 8.7.9:

The Lord, Who, in His stomach, holds with no effort,
The earthly rulers who, in their stomachs, keep their subjects,
The exalted Celestials and the worlds three,
I have consented to get firmly inside me.

Notes

(i) To a question, doggedly put to him, suggesting that there ought to be some merit in him for the Lord to bestow on him His grace, of such a magnitude, the Alvar says that the only merit in him is his passive quiescence or mere non-resistance to the influx of His grace. To those sticklers, who have a fad for bargaining and would, therefore, insist upon making the influx of the Lord’s grace contingent upon some kind of initiative in us, the Āḻvār’s own utterances should serve as the eye-opener. Even this consent to the Lord’s reclamation is induced by the Lord’s grace. Therefore it is, this hymnal is replete with expressions like: “Oh, Sire, You have lifted me unto Your holy feet, after duy moulding and reconditioning my mind, so as not to stifle your effort to redeem me”. See also the elucidation in aphorism 110 of ‘Ācārya Hṛdayam’.

(ii) By the earthly kings holding, in their stomachs, their subjects, is meant the protection extended by the former to the latter like unto the mother feeding the babe inside her womb. The Lord’s retention, in His stomach, of the exalted Celestials and all the worlds with their contents, also denotes His role, as the universal Protector, a function which He discharges through a mere fraction of His resolve.