Pasuram 9.3.8

Tamil text and transliteration:

இன்றிப்போக இருவினையும்கெடுத்து
ஒன்றியாக்கைபுகாமை உய்யக்கொள்வான்
நின்றவேங்கடம் நீள்நிலத்துஉள்ளது,
சென்றதேவர்கள் கைதொழுவார்களே.

iṉṟippōka iruviṉaiyumkeṭuttu
oṉṟiyākkaipukāmai uyyakkoḷvāṉ
niṉṟavēṅkaṭam nīḷnilattuuḷḷatu,
ceṉṟatēvarkaḷ kaitoḻuvārkaḷē.

English translation of verse 9.3.8:

Right in this sprawling world is the holy mount Vēṅkaṭam,
Where stands the Lord, Who the devotees awaits and salves them,
Clearing them of fruits, good and bad; Celestials they could be deemed,
That unto the holy Mount repair and worship the Lord Supreme

Notes:

(i) In the preceding song, the Āḻvār longed for the vision of the Lord in Heaven but that would not be possible in this material body. The Lord, however, pointed out to the Āḻvār the possibility of his enjoying, right in this body, the Lord at Tiruvēṅkaṭam, in this very land. But the Āḻvār avers that it is only the stout-hearted Devas, who can remain stable and enjoy the Lord at Tiruvēṅkaṭam and that it would be next to impossible for men of his melting tenderness of heart, breaking down in ecstasy, eyes swimming with tears of delight and faltering legs, to steady themselves and worship Lord Veṅkaṭēśa. And so, according to the Āḻvār, Tiruvēṅkaṭam, though situated on Earth, affords little scope for worship, by one of his stance.

(ii) It is the Lord’s spontaneous grace that extricates the subjects from the clutches of the fruits of their good and bad actions which consign them to Svarga and hell, respectively. The one is as much an impediment as the other, to the final emancipation of the individual. The upaniṣads declare that the fruits, either way, have to be enjoyed by the individual soul, unless the Lord, in His redemptive grace, cuts them out and puts the subject in Heaven, with a clean slate, unencumbered in any way, by one thing or the other, ‘merit’ as well as ‘demerit’.