Pasuram 10.9.4

Tamil text and transliteration:

எதிர்எதிர் இமையவர் இருப்பிடம் வகுத்தனர்
கதிரவர்அவரவர் கைந்நிரை காட்டினர்
அதிர்குரல் முரசங்கள் அலைகடல் முழக்குஒத்த
மதுவிரி துழாய்முடி மாதவன் தமர்க்கே.

etiretir imaiyavar iruppiṭam vakuttaṉar
katiravaravaravar kainnirai kāṭṭiṉar
atirkural muracaṅkaḷ alaikaṭal muḻakkuotta
matuviri tuḻāymuṭi mātavaṉ tamarkkē.

English translation of verse 10.9.4:

The Celestials marched ahead of the devotees of Mātavaṉ
Who does on His crown wear honey-studded tuḷaci garland,
And put up inns to lodge en route these souls Heaven-bound;
The twelve Katiravars and other escorts took them along,
Showing things around, the drums they played, bellowing
Like the roaring of the seas with surging waves.

Notes:

(i) The Devas in the upper regions, are said to manifest their great joy over the heavenly ascent of the devotees of Mādhava, by playing music, en route, and putting up nice halting camps in enchanting surroundings, where the distinguished marchers might possibly alight and relax themselves. Even if these special camps, studiously set up by the Devas in their eagerness to serve the Heaven-bound souls, are not eventually used by the latter, the former will have the immense satisfaction of having discharged their duty, in keeping with their essential nature. There is no element of exaggeration in this, as will be borne out by those

of us who are aware of the fact that pots of money are lavished on the face-lift of buildings and thoroughfares. which our top state-dignitaries are likely to pass through, just one after-noon. It has also turned out, in a few cases, that the V.I.P. for whose approbation or at least the avoidance of his or her displeasure, lakhs of rupees were spent overnight towards repairs and renovation of roads, erection of buntings and festoons, etc., en route, did not visit the place at all, due either to the cancellation of the proposed visit or last minute changes entailing the adoption of a different route altogether.

(ii) In his famous Īṭu Commentary, Nampiḷḷai deplores how these very Śrī Vaiṣṇvas, who are given such V.I.P. treatment by the denizens of the upper worlds, are, during their stay in this abode, despised and neglected by men over here. Well, the Śrī Vaiṣṇavas have nothing to worry. On the other hand, they shall rejoice if they were put down by those who hated them merely on the ground of their being the worshippers of Lord Viṣṇu, as the episode of Miḷakāḻvāṉ, already set out in the notes below III-5-5 and reproduced here as well, will show.

A certain Rājā, a rabid opponent of Vaiṣṇavism, built a number of houses for being gifted away to the poor. When Miḷakāḻvāṉ approached the Rājā for the grant of one of these houses to him, the Rājā flatly declined. When asked by the supplicant the grounds on which he was refused the hospitality, the Rājā made no secret of his aversion for Vaiṣṇavāites and broke out: “No doubt, You are worthy in other respects, but as a Śrī Vaiṣṇava and a disciple of Śrī Rāmānuja, You stand disqualified.”

So great was Miḷakāḻvāṉ’s love of his religion and his great preceptor that he exclaimed:

“Oh, is that so? I am mighty glad, you recognise me as a Vaiṣṇava, although I thought I was not worthy of being called one”, So saying, he gathered up his garment, threw it up in the air and danced in sheer joy. This goes to show that the frowns of men, over here, are of no consequence to those souls, consumed by the fire of divine love. Did not the unrelenting repulsion of Vibhīṣaṇa, as the family traitor by the irate Rāvaṇa, prove a great blessing to the former?