Periyazhvar says in a verse, that when he is old, he will be unable to think of the Lord. The ills of old age will keep him from thinking of anything else. Old age carries with it its own problems. When one’s end is nearing, one can hardly recognise anyone. How then can one think coherently? But Periyazhvar is not worried on this count. He says that he will think of the Lord while he still can, and before old age catches up with him. Even if he were to forget the Lord towards the end of his life, the Lord must remember, he says. And he says it with the full confidence that the Lord will indeed remember, said M.A. Venkatakrishnan in a discourse. And how does he have this firm conviction that the Lord will remember? He answers the question by saying that since the Lord came for Gajendra, He will remember Periyazhvar’s past salutations, and will Himself do the remembering when Periyazhvar is no longer able to do so.
When we talk of the thought process, clearly it is the atma that does the thinking, and not the body. Periyazhvar says he will not think of the Lord when he is old. In other words, his atma will not think of the Lord when he is old, since anyway the body does not do the thinking. But jivatmas and the Lord have a sareera-sareeri connection, which means that all the jivatmas constitute the body of the Lord. So, in the case of the Lord, the jivatma is a sareera. So, when the jivatma does not do the thinking, the Lord who inhabits it, does the thinking. And so, He will remember Periyazhvar’s past worship and do the thinking on his behalf, when Periyazhvar no longer thinks of Him. So, we do not have to worry that we will be unable to worship Him when we are old. It does not matter at all, for whatever remembering has to be done, will be done by Him.