(i) What the Āzhvār preaches, in this decad, is briefly mentioned here. There is indeed no restriction on the flowers with which the Lord is to be worshipped. No flower is taboo and, in the name of burning incense, as part of worship, even a heap of garbage could be burnt and smoke raised therefrom. The outward offerings may be trifles but, in God’s eyes, they carry much

(i) That there is no restriction on the flowers to be used for worshipping the Lord is brought out by reference, in this song, to honey-studded flowers, in general, and not merely the lotus, as mentioned in the preceding song. All that is needed is that the flowers should be fresh and not dried up. These flowers are only symbolic of the eight varieties of flowers to be

(i) The highest love to God is love rendered with no personal end in view but culminating in benediction or glorification of God. Love, so disinterestedly rendered, is love of purity and virginity, which carries with it the highest reward, namely, possession of God Himself. It is this kind of loving worship that the Āzhvār is preaching to the world around, now addressed

(i) The doe-eyed Consort of the Lord is the unfailing intercessor between man and God and the Āzhvār is, therefore, sure of the salvation of his addressee (the worldlings) whom he advises to approach the Lord through the good offices of the Divine Mother.

(ii) The Āzhvār has indeed to deal with a cross-section of humanity, with varying degrees of spiritual calibre

As already stated in the preamble to this decad, this is the topical song of this decad. The Lord, enshrined at Tirukkaṇṇapuram, vouchsafes spiritual worldly bliss, at the end of the current span of life, unto those that seek refuge at His lovely pair of feet. This is the unfailing path of loving surrender at the Lord’s pair of feet, as the Sole means of salvation, which

(i) Whosoever takes refuge at the Lord’s feet is tended by Him with the same loving care, without distinction of high and low.

(ii) It was young Prahlādā’s great devotion unto the Lord, that made Him shed His enormous grace on him, despite his belonging to the Rākṣasa clan, and slay his dastardly sire, Avuṇan (Hiraṇya). The Lord loves His devotees even more dearly

The Lord stays in His worshippable from at Tirukkaṇṇapuram, revealing Himself fully, unto those that love Him disinterestedly, as an end in itself, and concealing His true nature from those who seek petty, personal favours from Him and formally propitiate Him to secure their personal ends, devoid of true love unto Him.

The loving worship, referred to here, is the disinterested love of God, with no personal ends in view, which culminates in the highest reward, namely, possession of God Himself. Unto such votaries, the Lord is ever close and easily accessible and the natural corollary to this state is the riddance of their ills and evils, one and all, including the dreadful cycle of birth

The Saint preaches unto the world, voicing forth his own experience which they can very well share, if only they would adore, likewise, the feet of the Supreme Lord. The age-long accumulation of sins has been wiped off, in full, and the dreadful contingency of sins accruing hereafter has also been ruled out. If this is the case with the Āzhvār, there’s no reason why others

The Āzhvār disclosed in the preceding song that he enjoys absolute freedom from miseries and that there is hardly any felicity that he lacks. He now says that this blissful state can be attained even by those who are incapable of pursuing the hard line of Bhakti or the path of loving surrender to His sweet grace (Prapatti), by merely mentioning the name of the holy centre,

(i) Even the end-song partakes of the character of the other songs, in this decad, couched, as it is, in the form of an address (advice) to the men around. It can also be interpreted as conveying the benefit accruing by dint of singing these ten songs, namely, attainment of the Lord’s blissful feet. Those who sing, tunefully and with ecstatic devotion, these ten songs