At Tirukkuḍanthai

On reaching Tirukkuḍanthai, Kumbakonam, the Āzhwār set the palm leaves bearing his writings upon the waters of the Kāveri. The leaves floated back to him against the current, carrying his works, among them the Tiruchanda Viruttam, a poem of exquisite verses, in which he sang:

"Nanrirundhu yoga nīdhi

naṇṇuvārgaḷ sindhaiyuḷ

senrirundhu thīvinaigaḷ

thīrththa dhēva dhēvanē,

kunrirundha māḍa nīḍu

pāḍagaththum ūragaththum

ninrirundhu vekhaṇaik

kiḍandhadhenna nīrmaiyē?"

"Before I was born, You stood at Ūragam, sat at Pāḍagam and lay at Tiruvekhā. I was not then born into this wisdom; but once I was born into it, I never forgot You. And so You left all those places and took up Your dwelling in my heart."

The idea is that the great jñānis never considered themselves born at all until they realised this artha jñānam, the true knowledge of the self and the Lord. Once they realised it, they had no other occupation than to remain immersed in the thought of the Lord. This is how the Mumukshuppaḍi explains the sentiment.

The Āzhwār speaks of the inseparability of the Paramātma and the jīvātma in a powerful line, "I cannot exist without You, nor can You exist without me":

"Nān unnai anri ilēn kaṇḍāi, Nāraṇanē, nī ennai anri illai."