Ninth Centum, in retrospect (Decad-wise Summary)

(9-1): Love unto the Godly men, dwelt upon, in the concluding decad of the eighth Centum, is automatically carried over to all those closely associated with them and the love so generated reverts to the Lord, as the One loved and revered by the devotees. And so, the Āḻvār illustrates copiously and in a telling manner, in the opening decad of this centum, the utter futility of our hanging on to the earthly relations and all else except the Supreme Lord Who alone is our Eternal Saviour and Sole Sustainer under all circumstances. The miserable hollowness of the ephemeral bonds of the earthly relations and associates, the veritable parasites, is exposed by the Āḻvār in all its nakedness. This decad is said to be in benedictive adoration of Mathurā, in Uttara Pradesh, in view of the frequent references to that holy centre, hallowed by its association with Vāmana and Kṛṣṇa; it was also the capital of the kingdom, ruled by Śatrugṇa, Lord Rāma’s youngest brother;

(9-2); With the awareness that the Lord stays in His worshippable (Iconic) Form in Tiruppuḷiṅkuṭi in order to extend to His votaries all the benefits which they could expect from their earthly relations, the Āḻvār now proceeds (mentally of course) to that holy centre, eager to become the recipient of the Lord’s love and attention. But then, the Lord remained unresponsive and yet, it did not detract from the Āḻvār’s immense faith in Him, as his all. What agitated the Āḻvār’s mind was the manner in which the Lord was reclining in the holy centre without changing sides, even once, by way of adjustment. Closetted with the Lord, in the shrine, the Āḻvār pleads with Him privately, in the second decad, that He should deign to move about, come forward a few paces, in the company of His Divine Consorts, greet him with His bewitching smiles and so on;

[Meaning apart, the diction of this decad (original text) is such as to melt even stony hearts. Those of us, who get caught up in the bewildering complexities of life, will do well to chant this decad and feel relieved and refreshed. How soothing are these verses indeed!]

(9-3): In the second decad, the Āḻvār fervently prayed that the Lord be pleased to turn His sweet glances on him, grant audience to him and the denizens of all the three worlds, remaining in a seated posture, beckon him or come down to him and permit him to stroke His lovely pair of feet and so on. The Lord, however, focussed his attention on the fundamental relationship that subsists between them, which hardly affords any scope for such entreaties by him and much less, for the grief that results from the Lord’s apparent non-compliance. The basic fact of the Lord being Nārāyaṇa, in whom all things and beings inhere and who abides in all, reduces all things and beings to the abject position of mere bodies unto the Life within, dominating, directing and supporting them. Consoled thus by the Lord, in quite a convincing manner, the Saint regains his composure and gives vent, in the third decad, to his rapturous admiration of Lord Nārāyaṇa, as our Sole Benefactor, His great concern for His subjects and loving condescension;

(9-4): Keen to maintain His reputation as the repository of the auspicious qualities of tender solicitude, etc., denoted by His name, Nārāyanā [Nārāyaṇa], (which come to the fore through the irresistible spell cast on Him by Goddess Mahālakṣmī) the Lord presented Himself to the Āḻvār. Overjoyed by the Lord’s presence (mental vḻsion), the Āḻvār gives vent, in the fourth decad, to his gratitude for the Lord having pressed him into service and got these hymns sung by him, for the edification of the pious. “What a bliss and that too, bestowed on a single individual!” is how the Āḻvār revolves in his mind;

(9-5): In the eighth song of the fourth decad, the Āḻvār referred to his having got the vision of Lord Kṛṣṇa, a by-gone Avatāra. This led him to the desire for external perception of the Lord as well, without being confined to a mere mental vision. It did not, however, materialise; worn out by dejection, due to this apparent desertion by the Lord, the Āḻvār tried to divert his mind by seeking the fellowship of things around, bearing the Lord’s likeness. But the very things, chosen for diversion, served only as incentives to remind the Āḻvār, all the more, about the Lord and thus torment him. We see the Āḻvār, in the fifth decad, in the plight of a female-lover, separated from the Lord after their erstwhile union, trying to sustain herself in the sweet environments of a lovely garden. But there, the warbling koel and the blue peacock remind the forlorn lover of the Lord’s sweet accents and charming complexion and she at once concludes that the Lord has set these creatures on her, just to make her collapse, pining for Him. She, therefore, asks them why they are at such great pains to put an end to her life which she would as well part with, at her own volition. Even so, the Nāyaki manages to pull through, recounting, in this decad, the Lord’s auspicious traits;

(9-6): It was only the absorbing recollection of the immensity of the Lord’s love, during their erstwhile union, experienced in the seventh decad of the eighth centum, that warmed up the Āḻvār. In the sixth decad of this Centum, the Āḻvār lauds the glory and greatness of the Deity enshrined in the pilgrim centre, called Tirukkāṭkarai (Kerala State), who kindled, in the Āḻvār, this kind of reminiscence and made him revert to the exhilarating mental state, as in VIĪI-7;

(9-7): While in a reminiscent mood, as in the sixth decad, the Āḻvār developed once more a deep yearning for direct perception of the Lord. This led him on to send emissaries, in the seventh decad, to the Lord in His Iconic Form at Tirumūḻikkaḷam (Kerala State), the accent resting on His enchanting beauty. Put briefly, the message, to be conveyed by the birds to the Lord, is:

“Oh, Sire, enshrined as you are, in Tirumūḻikkaḷam, You seem to have got completely absorbed in the company of your Consorts and proximate attendants, to the exclusion of poor Parāṅkuśa Nāyakī. Alas! the Nāyakī, enthralled by your exquisite beauty, can hardly brook separation from you, any longer. Please take note of this fact and do hasten to her”.

[Note: This is the last of the four decads in which messages were despatched to the Lord at different destinations, by the Alvar, figuratively transformed as a forlorn female lover, the other three being 1-4, VI-1 and VI-8],

(9-8): The Āḻvār could hardly contain the effervescence of God-love in him and patiently await the return of the emissaries sent by him to the Lord, in the seventh decad. And so, he tried to sustain himself by meeting the Lord, enshrined in Tirunāvāy (Kerala State). But, in his present state of desolation and debility, he could not make the trip to that pilgrim centre. The next best he could do, under the circumstances, was to meditate on the Lord at Tirunāvāy, right from where he was. This is precisely what he does in the eighth decad;

(9-9): It is evening when the cool, southerly breeze wafts the sweet fragrance of the jasmine, in full bloom and the lovely Moon is up in the sky. And then, there is the roaring of the sea, the tuneful cooing of the warbling birds, the distant sound of the bugle and a host of other things, which make that part of the day highly delectable. But all these normal instruments of happiness affect the frustrated Āḻvār adversely, as he could not gain access to Tirunāvāy, much as he longed for. And so, in the ninth decad, the Āḻvār experiences the pangs of separation, undergone by the Gopīs (Shepherd damsels), during those evenings, when Kṛṣṇa was a little late in returning home after tending the grazing cattle, by day. On certain evenings, Kṛṣṇa would retum at the head of the cattle, sounding the bugle, while, on other days, he would allow the cattle to go ahead and then walk behind them. Even that little prolongation of Kṛṣṇa’s absence, in the latter case, upset the Gopīs who suffered the anguish of an age. The Āḻvār is found, in this decad, experiencing singly all those pangs of Gopīs in the above context;

(9-10): Seeing the Āḻvār in dire distress, the Lord placated him by saying that He has come all the way from Heaven to near-by Tirukkaṇṇa-puram only for his sake and that He will surely accomplish his desire, at the end of his current span of life. Thus placated, the Āḻvār gives vent to his joy, in the concluding decad oj this centum. With his characteristic compassion for the sorrowing mankind, sunk deep in the ocean of Saṃsāra, he preaches unto them the path of loving surrender to the Lord who is easily accessible to one and all at the holy Tirukkaṇṇapuram, bent upon retrieving the votaries and assures them that even the mere mention of the name of that holy centre shall rid them of all, their sins and miseries.