Pasuram 9.8.1

Tamil text and transliteration:

அறுக்கும் வினையாயின ஆகத்து அவனை
நிறுத்தும் மனத்துஒன்றிய சிந்தையினார்க்கு
வெறித்தண்மலர்ச் சோலைகள்சூழ் திருநாவாய்
குறுக்கும்வகை உண்டுகொலோ கொடியேற்கே? (2)

aṟukkum viṉaiyāyiṉa ākattu avaṉai
niṟuttum maṉattuoṉṟiya cintaiyiṉārkku
veṟittaṇmalarc cōlaikaḷcūḻ tirunāvāy
kuṟukkumvakai uṇṭukolō koṭiyēṟkē? (2)

English translation of verse 9.8.1:

Can this fell sinner by any means draw near
Tirunāvāy, full of flower gardens, cool and fragrant,
Which roots out the ills of those, greatly intent
On retaining the Lord, [that great Nectar],
In their minds, with devotion unique?

Notes:

(i) The Āḻvār wants to know the means by which he could abridge the distance between him and the pilgrim centre, called Tirunāvāy.

(ii) The ills, referred to here, are of three distinct types, namely, (i) those which obstruct the path of knowledge of the essential nature of the individual soul (Svarūpa virodhi); (ii) those, which stand in the way of practising the means for attaining salvation (e.g.) not beseeching His redemptive grace but pinning all faith on one’s own self and resorting to self-protection (Upāya virodhi) and (iii) those, which hinder the final bliss in the yonder state (e.g.) rendering service unto the Lord in the final state in Heaven, with the egoistic tinge of self-enjoyment, without resigning, in toto, to His grace and pleasure (Upeya virodhi). Even if this Pilgrim Centre did not cut out all these ills and evils, it was by itself a very attractive place from which one could hardly lift one’s mind.