Parāṅkuśa Nāyakī is the feminine poetic persona adopted by Nammāzhvār in many decads of the Tiruvāymozhi. The Āzhvār, whose maṅgalāśāsana name is Parāṅkuśa, assumes the role of a nāyakī — a young woman — to articulate the ātmā's state of viraha (separation) from and milana (union with) Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. This poetic convention, inherited from classical Tamil Saṅgam tradition (akam poetry), is elevated by the Āzhvār into a vehicle for the highest Vedāntic insight.
In Śrī Vaiṣṇava hermeneutics, the nāyakī metaphor is not ornamental but doctrinal. The jīva's relationship to Bhagavān is inherently that of the beloved to the lover: the ātmā is śeṣa (dependent), bhogyā (the object of the Lord's delight), and dāsī (servant-bride) in relation to Bhagavān who is śeṣī, bhoktā, and Svāmin. Nampiḷḷai's Īdu commentary expounds at length on each nāyakī decad, showing how the Āzhvār's anguish of separation (viraha), her mother's lament, her friends' consolations, and her moments of union each map onto stages of the bhakta's or prapanna's journey.
The Parāṅkuśa Nāyakī also symbolises Bhūmi Devī and Śrī Devī in some ācārya interpretations, as the feminine ideal of total self-giving to Bhagavān. Her longing is not neurotic but noble: it springs from the ātmā's recognition of its true nature as ananya-śeṣa, belonging to none but the Lord. Maṇavāḷa Māmunigaḷ composed his own verses meditating on this persona, deepening the tradition of seeing in Parāṅkuśa Nāyakī the archetype of the perfected devotee.