Pasuram 9.7.3

Tamil text and transliteration:

தக்கிலமே கேளீர்கள் தடம்புனல்வாய் இரைதேரும்
கொக்குஇனங்காள்! குருகுஇனங்காள்! குளிர் மூழிக்களத்து உறையும்
செக்கமலத்துஅலர் போலும் கண்கைகால் செங்கனிவாய்
அக்கமலத்துஇலைப்போலும் திருமேனி அடிகளுக்கே.

takkilamē kēḷīrkaḷ taṭampuṉalvāy iraitērum
kokkuiṉaṅkāḷ! kurukuiṉaṅkāḷ! kuḷir mūḻikkaḷattu uṟaiyum
cekkamalattualar pōlum kaṇkaikāl ceṅkaṉivāy
akkamalattuilaippōlum tirumēṉi aṭikaḷukkē.

English translation of verse 9.7.3:

Ye, flocks of cranes and herons, your food you seek
In the big ponds over here, better go to cool Mūḻikkaḷam and ask
The Lord whose eyes, hands and feet and the red lotus are alike,
Whose lips are like a red fruit and whose complexion does match
The lotus leaf, whether unto Him I won’t be a match.

Notes:

(i) In each of the four decads, where the Nāyakī despatched messages to her Lord, there is one song, considered to be the very cream of that decad. And now, here is the topical song of this decad. Apprehending that the Lord is totally absorbed in the sweet company of the devotees surrounding Him at Tirumūḻikkaḷam. forgetting all about the Nāyakī, she now wants these birds to remind Him of how she got enthralled by His exquisite charm, reducing her to her present state. The Lord would seem to be oblivious of His own enthralling beauty which had brought on the Nāyakī’s infatuation to such a high pitch that she can’t brook separation from Him, any longer. So then, the Nāyakī deems it fit to remind the Lord, through these birds, of His own ravishing beauty and the magic spell it has cast on the Nāyakī, in particular. It is this special feature that characterises this decad. See also the preamble to this decad, where it has been set out that the Lord’s enchanting charm, in His iconic Form, is the source of inspiration for the Nāyakī’s message conveyed through these birds.

(ii) The Nāyakī, according to Nampiḷḷai, wants these birds to ascertain from the Lord whether He has at all any fascination for her. If the reply be in the affirmative, she would try her best to hold on to her life; if otherwise, she would seek some means to put an end to her life, even as Sītā, in captivity, made a desperate bid to strangle herself with her long locks.

(iii) The Lord’s complexion is compared to the lotus leaf. See also the Śloka in Rāmāyaṇa which affirms this: ‘tam padmadala patrākṣam’. The word ‘akṣa [akṣam]’. refers both to the eye and the body, the former is comparable to the lotus petals and the latter to the lotus leaf.