Seventh Centum, in retrospect (Decad-wise Summary)

(7-1): In the opening decad, the Āḻvār follows up the trend of thought, as in VI-9-9, where he dreaded the mischief of the senses and the frightful possibility of his going astray in the event of the prolongation of his stay in this abode. If the Āḻvār dreads in this manner, despite his having taken a deep plunge into the ocean of divine consciousness, it is because this land is notorious for its corrupting influence, bringing within its dirty pale even the ‘Nitya Sūrīs’, the proximate attendants of the Lord in Heaven, should they ever happen to step on to this soil;

(7-2): The Āḻvār, whose stay in this abode is being pṛolongued by the Lord, despite his protestation, is once again (figuratively) transformed as the Nāyakī (Mistress), weighed down by melancholy too deep for words. The critical condition of the Nāyakī and her various moods are narrated in the second decad by the gnostic mother to Lord Raṅganātha, enshrined in Śrīraṅgam (Tamil Nadu), bending over her daughter, right in the Sanctum. The mother enquires of the Lord, the Sole Saviour, as to what His intentions are and how exactly He would like to deal with her love-lorn daughter. This decad, however, ends on a happy note, the mother being mighty glad that her daughter has, after all, attained the benign feet of Lord Raṅganātha;

(7-3): The bliss of the union of the Nāyakī and Lord Raṅganātha having overflown its continents, the Lord hits upon a method whereby the God-enjoyment of the Nāyakī could be stabilised, instead of her being swept off by it. The Lord goes to Teṉtiruppēreyil (near the Āḻvār’s birth place) on a hunting expedition, by way of relieving the distress of the people over there from the depredations of wild animals. Although the Nāyakī herself equipped Him with weapons and bid Him farewell, wishing Him success, yet she is all agog to go there herself, unable to brook separation from her Lord even for a short while. In the third decad, we see the Nāyakī insisting that she shall go, in the face of stiff opposition from her mother, mates and other kinsfolk. At best, she would allow them to escort her and leave her with the Lord, even if they cannot allow her to go alone;

(7-4): Just when the Nāyakī was attempting to go to Tiruppēreyil where the Lord had gone for game-hunting, he returned victorious. Exceedingly jubilant over the Lord’s quick return from the victorious expedition, Parāṅkuśa Nāyakī gets locked up in His sweet embrace, by way of relieving His fatigue (mental experience of course). In his current festive mood, the Āḻvār recounts in the fourth decad the Lord’s wondrous deeds and benefaction, vast and varied, exclaiming, “What a marvel!” “What a wonder!” and so on.

(7-5): In the fifth decad, the Āḻvār cites some more achievements of the Lord, much to his own delectation. At the same time, he could not help wondering how the worldlings whose birthright it is to share this enjoyment. kept aloof from God and he even felt vexed with them for their callous indifference to Him, in the face of His numerous deeds, good and great, bringing to the fore His benevolent dispensations and loving condescension, (Although it is all worded in the third person, this decad is indeed yet another address of the Āḻvār to the wordly me).

(7-6): Despite his enormous yearning, of unimaginable depth, the Āḻvār has not been able to experience the bliss of lasting communion with the Lord. Alternating between ravishing joy and deep dejection, as seen all along, the Āḻvār, in his present disconsolate state laments loudly, in the sixth decad, so as to melt even the stony hearts of the ungodly. In the first two songs of this decad, the Lord has been set out as the goal, the next five songs reveal Him as also the ‘Means’ for attaining Him while the three following songs highlight Him as the Great Redeemer, destroying the ungodly and salving the devout through His voluntary grace, cutting out all their impediments (sins).

(V1I-7): In response to the soul-stirring utterances of the Āḻvār, as in the sixth decad, the Lord enabled him to comprehend (mentally of course) His exquisite Form, limb by limb. Led away by the Lord’s charming beauty, the Āḻvār aims at external perception and physical enjoyment of the Lord’s enchanting Form, with outstretched hands but feels frustrated, when the experience longed for, is denied to him. The Āḻvār, once again transformed (figuratively) as Nāyakī, hits back the prodding mates and elders, overwhelmed by the Lord’s bewitching beauty. But it is a note of stinging regret that runs through the entire seventh decad as the Nāyaki could not envision the Lord’s Form as a whole, but perceive only one limb at a time, whetting her appetite all the more for the enjoyment of the Lord’s Form, in its entirety;

(7-8): Cut out from the worldly moorings and with God-love welling up his boson, by leaps and bounds, the Āḻvār craves for immediate union with the Lord. So great is the Āḻvār’s ardour that non-realisation of his inordinate longing should have normally resulted in his collapse and extinction. It is, therefore, a matter of great wonder for him that he is still kept alive in this narrowing abode, with all its susceptibilities. When asked by him to elucidate this wonder wrought by the Lord, he exhibits unto the Āḻvār, many more wonders—His kaleidoscopic cosmic wealth. Thereupon, the Āḻvār voices forth in the eighth decad his mental reactions to the wonderful phenomena in front of him, besides seeking clarification from the Lord, in regard to the many bewildering complexities, baffling intellectual comprehension;

(7-9): Perplexed over the prolongation of his stay in this cussed land with its sordid surroundings, the Āḻvār elicits from the Lord his intention tn this regard. The Āḻvār is informed that he has been kept in this abode in order to get from him, the soul-stirring hymns of unparalleled sweetness, for the edification and enjoyment of Himself and His devotees. Overawed by the Lord’s tender solicitude and loving condescension, in choosing him for this assignment, in preference to the eminent sages like Vyāsa, Parāśara and Vālmīki and the sweet singing divine bards, par excellence, the first three Āḻvārs, the Āḻvār gratefully acknowledges in the ninth decad the Lord’s great gesture, perplexed a great deal over his inability to recompense the Lord, A there was hardly anything he could call his own;

(7-10): The Lord has indeed chosen an enchanting place, namely, Tiruvāṟaṉviḷai (Kerala State) from where He and His dear Consort (Mahālakṣmī) could enjoy listening to Tiruvāymoḻi recital by Saint Nammāḻvār. The Āḻvār, whom we saw, in the ninth decad, remaining perplexed over his inability to recompense the Lord for the extraordinary grace shed by Him, was, therefore, given a chance to fulfil his heart’s desire, by singing this great hymnal unto Him and His Consort, in that holy centre, much to Their dictation.—And so, in the concluding decad of this Centum, the Āḻvār attempts to render the service graciously assigned to him by the Lord. So great is his desire to reach this fascinating pilgrim centre, looking upon it as his ultimate destination, relegating even the high Heaven to the background.