(i) With their youthful vigour and wealth drained off, the erstwhile heroes, the dynamic centre of attraction for the voluptuous women of rare beauty, fade out miserably. And yet, these men try, in vain, to trade on their past reputation and are beaten back and unrelentingly repelled by those very women on whom they had lavished their love and lucre. The necessity for
In the fifth pāsuraṁ of this chapter, our revered Āzhvār, with profound compassion, reveals the treacherous nature of worldly attachments and illuminates the sole path to true, everlasting joy. He cautions that those very relationships which seem to offer the greatest pleasure—intimate bonds with women of pleasing speech—will ultimately lead to profound insult and degradation,