Pasuram 10.10.7

Tamil text and transliteration:

கோல மலர்ப்பாவைக்கு அன்புஆகிய என் அன்பேயோ
நீலவரை இரண்டு பிறைகவ்வி நிமிர்ந்தது ஒப்ப
கோல வராகம்ஒன்றாய் நிலம்கோட்டிடைக் கொண்ட எந்தாய்
நீலக் கடல்கடைந்தாய்! உன்னைபெற்று இனிப் போக்குவனோ? (2)

kōla malarppāvaikku aṉpuākiya eṉ aṉpēyō
nīlavarai iraṇṭu piṟaikavvi nimirntatu oppa
kōla varākamoṉṟāy nilamkōṭṭiṭaik koṇṭa entāy
nīlak kaṭalkaṭaintāy! uṉṉaipeṟṟu iṉip pōkkuvaṉō? (2)

English translation of verse 10.10.7:

Loved am I by You, Oh, Lord, as the one dear
Unto Your Consort, Lakṣmī, the lotus-born;
You did pull the Earth out, on Your tusks, oh, Sire,
As the blissful Boar unique, like a sapphire mountain
Rising up, gripping two Moons,; the ocean blue You did churn,
Once having gained You, shall I now let you slip down?

Notes:

(i) It is a simple, yet irresistible argument, advanced by the Āḻvār. He said: “My Lord, what a mighty exploit You undertook, assuming the form of a great boar with gigantic tusks, protruding miles long, for reclaiming Mother Earth from the deep waters of the deluge! Again, You did chum the very ocean for getting at my other Mother, Mahālakṣmī, the lotus-born. They are exceedingly dear to You and likewise, I am dear unto them. Therefore it is, You are dear to me and it was no mean effort on Your part to get at me, sunk deep in the ocean of Saṃsāra, a mighty effort, comparable with your aforesaid exploits. Once bound to You, in this manner, I am indeed very secure; neither You can shake me off nor I can let you slip off”.

(ii) The Lord’s advent as the Blissful Boar. In Tiruviruttam, the first of the four hymnals of the Āḻvār, he banks upon the grace of ‘Varāha Mūrthi’, the Lord’s incarnation as the Blissful Boar and ends up by reinforcing this point. It is but appropriate that he should revert to this, as he concludes ‘Tiruvāymoḻi’, the last of his hymnals. The Earth having got submerged under the deep waters of the great deluge, the Lord pulled it out on His tusks; and here is a grand poetic imagery. The Lord, in the form of the magnificent Boar, with two protruding tusks gleaming white, rising from beneath the waters, picking up Mother Earth, is compared to a sapphire mountain rising up, gripping two Moons. While the Lord is compared to a Sapphire mountain and His two white protruding tusks are compared to two Moons, there is no mention of the Earth mounted on the Lord’s teeth, as it just faded out of sight in that moon-shine (the gleaming tusks).

(iii) Churning the blue ocean: No doubt, it was the Milkocean that was churned but it is referred to, by the Āḻvār, as the blue ocean, due to the blue shade cast on it by the Lord of bluish hue. c.f. śloka 45 of Śrī Parāśara Bhaṭṭar’s “Śrī Raṅgarāja Sthavaṃ” (apipaṇipathi bhāvāth......) wherein the illustrious author describes the dome (vimāna), just above the Sanctum Sanctorum where Lord Raṅganātha reposes on serpent-bed. Although the dome is white, symbolising, as it does, Ādi-Śeṣa of white complexion, yet it gleams splendidly, says the author, like the blue sea, because of the upward dispersal of the rays of bluish tint from the Lord’s resplendent form of sapphire hue, down below.