Notes

(i) The white wading birds, stork, crane and heron employed by the Āzhvār as emissaries to God, signify the preceptors, absolutely pure, in and out, standing four-square against the temptations of worldly life, just like these birds with tremendous staying powers, taking up firm positions in the watersheds, coolly resisting the onslaught of the waves.[1]

(ii)

Notes

(i) There are many points of comparison between the Kōels and the Ācāryas (preceptors).[1]

(ii) Here is an interesting anecdote to drive home the point that our accumulated sins cannot be washed off by our own efforts and that it is only the Lord’s spontaneous grace that can cut the gordian knot and absolve us. Kōḷari Āḻvān and Teṟkāḷvāṉ, two residents of

(i) Lucky pair of swans or lucky Āzhvār?

It is not so much the felicity of the swans that they remain duly mated, enjoying conjugal bliss, as the luck of the Āzhvār himself. But for their lucky state of existence they would not have been available now for employment by the Āzhvār. Although Śrī Rāma was bemoaning his separation from Sītā, he felt greatly relieved after

When Sri Parāśara Bhaṭṭar was discoursing on this song, a Tamil Scholar contended that the expression, “having seen my plight”, in the first line (original text) should be ‘having heard of my plight’. His doubt was how, when they had already been locked in the joy of union, could God, one of the pair, see the signs of pain of the other, after separation. To this, Bhaṭṭar

(i) Line 4: With tearful eyes: Tears welling up and filling the eyes of the Āzhvār would, as it were, serve as an identification mark for him, whether in a state of separation from or union with the Lord. In the former case it would be tears of grief and in the latter, tears of Joy.

(ii) When a doubt was expressed as to how the Saints, soaked in God-love, could address

In the preceding stanza, the Lord was advised against imperilling His position as Nārāyaṇa. On second thoughts, the Āzhvār now apprehends the frightful possibility of the Lord staying away from him, choosing the lesser of the two evils, the greater one being contamination by the Āzhvār. Here then is a compromise formula—the Lord, being an ocean of grace, will certainly

This is the key stanza of this decad. The messages sent in this decad, keep in the forefront the Lord’s noble trait of forgiveness (aparādha sahatvaṃ). If the Lord is not prepared to concede even the simple request (as in the preceding stanza) of some day passing through the street where the Āzhvār lives, alienated by his shortcomings, the question is now asked, what has

(i) ‘Pūvai’ is a nice-looking, tiny bird.

(ii) Here is a thrilling anecdote. With declining health, Peria Tirumalai Nambi, one of the five Preceptors of Śrī Rāmānuja, became too feeble to offer the diurnal worship to the household Deity-Lord Kṛṣṇa, given the pet name of ‘The little one dancing for butter’. And so, one day, drawing aside the drapery that hung before

(i) The chill blast, inflicting severe pain on Parāṅkuśa Nāyakī, like unto the king’s executioners torturing the subjects found guilty of high treason, is addressed by her as follows:

“You see me deep down in dejection, due to long separation from my Lord and it is my grievous misfortune that, in such a state, I abstain from the stipulated daily service, such as gathering

When the details of service unto the Lord were spelt out by the Āzhvār in the preceding stanza, his mind, bent upon such service, was about to slip out of the body. It is held by some that the Āzhvār requested his mind not to get parted till stability with the Lord was attained. Being, however, a decad where the Āzhvār sends errands, it would be more appropriate to say

(i) In the preceding decad, expatiating on the Supreme Lord’s easy accessibility, the Saint wanted to abide in the proximate Kṛṣṇa avatāra but failure to achieve it led him to send errands to the Lord in this decad. Having seen the intensity of the love of Parāṅkuśa Nāyakī and her yearning for Divine presence, too deep for words, as revealed in the preceding ten stanzas,