Pasuram 9.1.10

Tamil text and transliteration:

கண்ணன் அல்லால் இல்லைகண்டீர் சரண்அதுநிற்கவந்து
மண்ணின் பாரம் நீக்குதற்கே வடமதுரைப்பிறந்தான்
திண்ணமாநும் உடைமை உண்டேல் அவன்அடி சேர்த்துஉய்ம்மினோ
எண்ணவேண்டா நும்மதுஆதும் அவன்அன்றிமற்றுஇல்லையே.

kaṇṇaṉ allāl illaikaṇṭīr caraṇatuniṟkavantu
maṇṇiṉ pāram nīkkutaṟkē vaṭamaturaippiṟantāṉ
tiṇṇamānum uṭaimai uṇṭēl avaṉaṭi cērttuuymmiṉō
eṇṇavēṇṭā nummatuātum avaṉaṉṟimaṟṟuillaiyē.

English translation of verse 9.1.10:

The Lord was in North Maturai born as Kaṇṇaṉ,
To establish the truth that none but He is our haven sure
And to rid Mother Earth of her terrific burden;
You and what yours you deem, at His feet do offer
And salvation attain; there‘s no need to waver,
For there’s hardly a thing that unto Him doesn’t belong.

Notes:

(i) The Gītā Śloka, “Paritrāṇāya Sādhūnām......” has been interpreted by our Ācāryas differently, at different places, but it should not be misconstrued that they are at variance with one another. Actually, these are the different facets of the central theme, namely, the Lord is the ‘Ready Means’ (Siddhopāya) around whom revolves the triple functions of His Avatāras, namely, Sustenance of the Righteous, suppression of the unrighteous and stabilisation of the moral order of things. Saint Rāmānuja has held that the sole purpose of the Lord’s advent on Earth is to succour the ‘Sādhus’ (Godly men), relegating the other two components to a secondary place, as they could as well be achieved by the Lord’s mere resolve, thus dispensing with the need for His incarnation. But then, there is an aphorism in ‘Śrīvacana Bhūṣaṇam’ which quotes Nañcīyar, as attributing the herculean tasks performed by the Lord during His Avatāras to His intolerance of the insults by the wicked ones on His devotees. In the eighth song of this very decad, ‘Sādhu paritrāṇam’ was emphasised as the main purpose of the Lord’s Avatāras. In this song, however, ridding the Earth of its unwholesome burden (destroying the wicked) has been adduced as the purpose of the Lord’s advent as Śrī Kṛṣṇa. This brings into focus the aspect of extinction of the wicked ones. Actually, this aspect is but a natural corollary to ‘Sādhu paritrāṇam which comprises both the fulfilment of the thing, wished for. and elimination of the obnoxious. Further, the third aspect of the Avatāra is re-establishment of the moral order of things, which had declined alarmingly, prior to the Lord’s advent. But the Lord, Whose purpose it was to resuscitate ‘Dharma’ and put it back on stable footing, did call upon Arjuna to give up altogether the pursuit of Dharma (Gita XVIII.66). This adds a new dimension to the Lord’s purpose of setting up ‘Dharma’. What He is after is to make us pin all our faith in Him, the ‘Siddha Dharma’, ‘Kṛṣṇam dharmaṃ sanātanam’, ‘Rāmo Vigrahavān dharmaḥ’.

(ii) There’s no need to waver, in regard to the submission unto the Lord of yourself and your so-called possessions, whether a particular thing belongs to you or to Him. There is hardly a thing which does not vest in Him, which you can call your own.