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Alvars were devotees of Lord Vishnu who propagated Vishnu devotion in ancient India. One of the Alvar named Nammalvar said the following (found from Teachings' of Ramana Maharshi book) -

In ignorance, I took the ego to be the Self, but with right knowledge the ego is not and only you remain as the Self.

So, the saint is establishing his and Lord Vishnu's self/Atma as one based on his Advaitin experience. I want to know where do I find this quote?

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    Why this question has been edited with identification request tag ? Its meant only for images right? I think mods should do something about it. Commented Mar 31, 2018 at 9:51
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    @RakeshJoshi Dude, please read the tag wiki: hinduism.stackexchange.com/tags/identification-request/info Commented Mar 31, 2018 at 10:04
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    @LakshmiNarayanan let the mods clarify. Commented Mar 31, 2018 at 10:05
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    @RakeshJoshi It is for images, verse and stories. Only few think it is only for images and not for others saying that it is created for image identification only but it is false. They said this is a useless tag and love scripture tag. See related discussions on meta and chat. It is perfectly fine for verse identification and quote identification. Commented Mar 31, 2018 at 10:09
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    Then what is the use of scripture tag? @Sarbabhouma Commented Mar 31, 2018 at 10:55

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This is from Thiruvaimozhi 2.9.9

Nammalwar is not saying his soul and Vishnu are one and the same due to Advaitan experience. By "true knowledge", he means understanding the relationship between him and Lord. Nammalwar is an attribute of a Lord and he says everything which belongs to Nammalwar is Lord's belongings. He is feeling sorry that he cannot serve Lord like the Nitya Suris do in the Paramapadam (the eternal abode of Vishnu).

The Pasuram is

yAnE ennai aRiyagilAdhE
yAnE enRanadhE enRirundhEn
yAnE nI en udaimaiyum nIyE
vAnE Eththum em vAnavar ERE

Simple translation based on 12000 based on vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar‘s 12000 padi.

Due to I myself not having true knowledge in the matters relating to me, considering myself as independent and considering everything but myself as my belongings, engaged in ahankAram (considering myself as independent) and mamakAram (considering the belongings of bhagavAn as mine) and merely existed (without manifesting AthmA‘s eternal nature); Oh one who resides in paramapadham manifesting the pride of lordship, being praised in all of paramapadham (where true knowledge is practiced without this ignorance) by those residents of the paramapadham praising (your relationship with them)! Once this true knowledge is understood, I realise that “I” can be said as “You”, due to me being prakAra (attribute) of you which is inseparable and in the same manner being your attributes, my belongings can also be called as “You”.

The webpage also cites Nampillai's and Manavala Jeeyar's commentary to the pasuram to understand what Nammalwar meant by him the same as Lord Vishnu.

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    Its highly unlikely Ramana Maharshi will understand it wrongly as he belonged to Tamil Nadu only. Can you provide some other translation as well? Possibly, plane translation. Their translation is more like an interpretation. Commented Mar 31, 2018 at 11:03
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    @Rohit. It is even more unlikely that a Sri Vaishnava Acharya, who was also from Tamil Nadu and who came from the Guru Parampara of Nammalwar himself, would understand it wrongly. But you're right that the above is less of a translation and more of a commentary. Here is an actual translation: "I and my possessions are Your property and we are at Your service; I did not have this knowledge and had a wrong knowledge - I had "I" and "mine" attitudes, so long. Now I am Yours and my possessions are also Yours; You are the Chief of NityasUris and our Chief!" tinyurl.com/yccpubtx Commented Mar 31, 2018 at 13:34
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    @Rohit. Here's another translation: "Oh, my Lord, by this entire Heaven adored! Chief of Celestials, Fancied I, in ignorance bred, I my master was and all things mine own; but now do I realize, all are yours, I and mine." archive.org/stream/Thiruvaimozhi_english_commentry/… And yet another one: "Not knowing my true self, I thought I was my own. O, Radiant Lord worshipped by the celestials. Me and what is mine are yours!" dravidaveda.org/… Commented Mar 31, 2018 at 13:40

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