Andal said, “Now you have come out and seated yourself on the throne we set for you, which is none other than our heart, and you are asking us to tell the purpose of our visit, vandha kaariyam. But My Lord , we have absolutely forgotten why we came, on seeing you!”
The Lord said, “you have mentioned my thrivikramavathara three times so far, Ongi ulagaLandha , ambaramoodaRutthu Ongi ulagalandha , and this one, anRu ivvulagam aLandhaai.”
“We are lost in rapture in seeing your lotus feet , thinking that these tender looking foot once measured the whole universe!”Andal. “ Actually you did not get the third step because by first you had covered the earth and by second the sky and so where is the place for the third? Mahabali was included in the first step itself as he is in earth only. That is why I am now giving you three steps!”
“Thank you” said the Lord, but why did you say senRangau thennilangai cheRRaai? I did not destroy lanka which I had already given to Vibheeshaana. “
“ We marvel at your prowess of vanquishing the king of Lanka in your incarnation of Rama and the feet , which traveled through the forest and went to Lanka, “Andal, “If you wanted to kill RavaNa you could have done it from AyodhyA itself and need not have taken the trouble of going to the forest at all. But you went to dhandakaraNya in order to give refuge to the rshis there. So the feet which walked all the way to DhandakAraNya are praised here.”
“Thennilangai chettrai does not mean that you destroyed Lanka. I have aleady made it clear when I said ‘thennilangao I kOmaanaichetra. But, the word means, then=beautiful , nilam = country, kai= kaikkonda , one who had it in his hands, that is, Ravana. So the phrase means ' praise be to you who destroyed Ravana.”
“Is it this beautiful looking foot that kicked the cart and broke it to pieces! ponRacchakatam udhaitthaai pugazh pOtri.”
The Lord said, “ Even my mother did not believe the words of the boys who said that the cart went to pieces because I kicked it and she felt my feet to ensure that it was not hurt.”
Andal said, “kanru kunilA erindhAi . It was the arms which threw the asura who came in the form of a calf (kanRu)but we praise your his feet, kazal pOttri, because when you threw up the calf,(kuNilaa erindhaay) the posture you were standing in, drew the attention to your graceful and lotus-like feet.”
“At least in the next line you praised my arm when you said kunRu kudaiyaai edutthaai, “said the Lord.” No,” said Andal , even there your feet are to be praised because it is the feet the gopas surrendered when oppressed by deluge-like rain.”
The Lord said , “I do not know why I am portrayed in pictures and sculptures a sholding the mountain raised up with my little finger. . I held the mountain as an umbrella which means that I grasped it with all my fingers and inverted it like an umbrella. The words in Bhagavatha 'cchathraakam iva ' like an umbrella has been taken to imply that I inverted the mountain, which has been vouchsafed by Desika and your father, Periazhvar.. My telling the gopas 'yathopajosham visatha girigartham sagodhanaah,' meaning , enter into these hollows or caves of the mountain along with the cattle etc. and live there. So the beings of gokula were not standing under the mountain but lived comfortably in the caves as in their houses. Unless the mountain was upturned this is not possible as they could not have climbed up the top which was under the rain.”
“Yes my father has explained this to me,” said Andal. “He described this incident beautifully by 10 verses says that the hand of Krishna looked like adhisesha holding the earth.'padangal palavumudai paambaraiyan padarbhoomiyai thaanga kidappavan pol' as the fingers resembled the hoods of the sesha with his hand opened wide, 'thadangai viraindhum malara vaitthu.”
“Yes, said the Lord “ I really enjoyed his words saying senthaamarai kaiviral aindhinaiyum kuppaaga edutthu mani neduntholl kaambaaga kodutthu kavitthamalai.' ‘upturned the mountain 'kavitthu,' holding it with five fingers of lotus-like hand, with His arm as the supporting stick of the umbrella,’ and he also said'the streams of water falling around looked like the pearl strings round the umbrella,'parandhizi thellaruvi muthuvadam.'”
“Yes,my Lord, All these show without doubt that you must have held the mountain with His hand and not His little finger, which must have been the modification later for the sake of dramatic element,” said Andal.
“Indeed these are the feet that stood holding the govardhana hill for seven days! What kind of vatsalya was that which made you stand still for seven days to protect your devotees! That is why I said gunam pOtri, to show your mercy in protecting all from the torrential rain. “
“ Of course we do extol your arm that wields the weapon that destroys the enemies”. venRu pagai kedukkum- you destroy the pagai , the enmity, by winning over , venRu, Even when you kill it is only to remove the enmity which will last as long as that janma lasts. “
“I am sure this pasuram also has some hidden meaning,” said the Lord.
“Let me point them out myself. This pasuram denotes saranagathi, the 6 pOtri implying the six angas of saranagathi as mentioned by me in the Paancharathra agama, then ilangai means the one who has the beautiful(then) land ( ilangai), that is , body, as the abode , meaning the mind. Chttraay means leading the mind in the right path. “
“The wheel sakadam implies the karma which leads the jeeva towards its path , namely birth and death. I kick this wheel to pieces( ponRa ) by my feet when you surrender to me.” Anything else ? “
“Yes my Lord there is more,” said Andal.” The word pOttri repeated six times denotes that you are none other that Narayana who has six gunas that define the word BhagavAn, namely, jnana, bala, aisvarya,shakthi, thEjas and veeryam.”
“ponRacchakadam udhaitthaai can also mean the wheel of the chariot which you pressed so that it sank into the earth and Karna’s nagasthra blew only the crown of Arjuna. The word chakadam or wheel may refer to the heads of Kaliya which rotated like wheel and your feet dancing on them, kicking them(udhaitthaay)”
“KunRu denotes your qualities like soulabhya. souSeelya and vaathsalya. You protect us using these as an umbrella from the rain of sin. If there are any remnants of sin which prevents us from reaching your feet, due to our beginningless avidhya , you use will like a lance (vEl) to destroy them.”
“Excellent. Now tell me what do you want. “ Said the Lord.
. Andal replied ,”We have come today to serve you ever and obtain your grace Have mercy on us.”
The Lord laughed and said, “ You proved that you are the daughter of Periazhvar, who sang PallAndu for me, in offering mangalASAsanam, saying pOtri, pOtri. “
Pasuram 26
mAlE maNivaNNA
mArgazineerAduvAaam
mElaiyAr
seyvanagaLvEnduvanaj kEttiyEl
jnAlatthai ellAm
nadunga muralvana
pAlnnavaNNatthun
pAnchajanniyamE
pOlvanasangangaL
pOyppASdudaiyanavE
SAlapperumparaiyE
pallANdisaippArE
kOlaviLakkE kodiyE
vithAnmE
Alin ilaiyay aruLElO
rempAvai
Finally now you are
specifying what you required from me as the result of your pavai nonbu, after
your sacred bath in the month of margazi following the tradition set out by
your elders ” said the Lord.
“But there is a difficulty.
You are asking for conches like my milk-hued panchajanya which causes tremor
for the whole world with its sound, great drums, people who sing pallaAndu,
beautiful lamps, flag and canopies.”
“The problem is there
is no conch, milk hued like mine and if I give you that what will I
do? Another of different colour will be alright?”
Andal replied, “
Surely you are having fun at my expense because yopu know very well what I
meant. Any way iw will tell you why I specified the white colour. The white coloured
conch is supposed to give loud sound. The white colour also denotes satthva
which is the great sound that enters the and drives out the rajas and thamas. “
“But you are the one
who slept on a banyan leaf, ‘aalin ilaiyaay as I said , meaning that nothing is
impossible for you who can create, sustain and annihilate the world, all can be
done through the sound of your conch alone, ’jnaalatthai ellaam nadunga
muralvana,’ as it is synonymous with pranava. When you blew his conch
before the battle all the kouravas were already destroyed and the actual battle
was only a drama through your leela. Was it not?”
“ You converted an
ordinary kuSa grass into brahmasthra in Ramavathara and reduced the sea to a
ditch by crossing over it easily, used monkeys as your army and vanquished the
mighty Ravana as easily as you would swat a fly, and endless miracles you did
in Krishnavatara. So to create conches like yours is a child’s play for
you.”
“I can see ,” said the
Lord , “that you are much enamoured with paanchajanya since you have attributed
three lines to it alone describing it in detail.”
Andal said, “three
lines are allotted for the conch alone because, it is equivalent to
the pranava which has three mathras, a,u, and m and Panchajanya was similar to
you, born in the sea, grew into the body of the asura panchajana and
finally reached your hand and you also were born in Madura, grew in Gokula and
migrated to Dvaraka..”
“Very ingenuous , “
said the Lord, but I knl ow that you were not asking for these things in the
real sense of the terms . So tell me what you imply by them. “
Andal said , “It is
not the conch really we ask for but for a nature of suddha satthva, both inside
and outside which drives out the rajas and thamas in us which by creating the
big sound of your nama in us drives out the other thoughts.”
“We next ask for the
big drum , saalapperumpaRai, which is the namasankeerthana which pervades
everywhere and eclipses all other noises. We also wish for the sathsangam like
those who sing pallandu for you so that our minds will not be swayed by
association with the worldly people.”
“We ask for the lamps
that are lit around you, which is the intellect that is absorbed in you..Let us
carry the flag of devotion to signify that we belong to you. Please also give
us the canopy, vithaanam, of your protection”
“The spiritual
significance ,” said the Lord, “ has been pointed out by devotee-saints that
this pasuram being the 26th,. It signifies me, who is paramathma. There are 24
thathvas or evolutes of prkrthi, the primordial nature and 25th is the
jeevathma denoted as purusha who is implied by the last pasuram
'orutthimaganaippirandhu' This pasuram refers to the paramathma ,the
26th. It also denotes the ashtakshara manthra which is 8=2+6.The number 2
stands for the dhvaya manthra and the number 6 denotes the six padhas of the
dhvaya and also the six angas, limbs of prapatthi.”
“Not only that, my
Lord, this pasuram also denoted the six angas of prapatthi.”said Andal.
1.SAlapperumparai-
denotes Anukoolya sankalapam.Parai is the enjoined karma which are approved by
God. Perumparai is the resolve to do the enjoined karma.
2.jnAlatthai
---pOyppAdudaiyanaveL- prthikoolya varjanam-pAnchajanyam means the
indhriyavyaApAra, born of indhriyas, that is anything done with the five
indhriyas. pAlannavaNNam- denotes the satthva- oriented action and pOippAdu
implies wide application of indhriyas in avoiding the actions that are
prohibited.
3.kOlavilakku- denotes
mahAviSvasam.the faith should be like the kutthuviLakku, steady and
one-pointed.
5.kodi-karpanyam.The
word kodi also means creeper and the prapanna needs the support of the Lord as
the creeper needs the tree.
6.pallAndisaippar-
those who have no other wish except singing the glory of the Lord, indicate
phalathyagam.This way of life continues till the end for a prapanna.”
“Wonderful, “ said the Lord to which Andal
replied, “what is so wonderful my Lord, when I am nothing but parrot in your
hand and repeats what ha sbeen said by you and repeated by others before me.
Like a father who feels elated when a child repeats what has been said to him ,
you are praising me because you are the embodiment of love. Your lustre
is like the blue sapphire which lighted up the dark prison cell and also the
path of Vasudeva in the night and now it shines inside our heart to dispel the
darkness
of ignorance in us.”
Pasuram 27
koodArai vellum seer
gOvindhA unthannai
pAdipparai kondu
yAm peru sanmAnam
nAdu pugazum
parisibnAl nanrAga
choodagamE thoLvaLaiye
thodE sevippoovE
pAdagamE enranaiya
palkalnum yAm aNivOm
Adai uduppOm adhan
pinnE par sOru
moodanei peidhu
muzangai vazi,vAra
koodiyirundhu
kulirndhElOrempAvAi
The Lord said, “I will
certainly grant your wish.I suppose you are happy now?”
Andal with extreme joy
replied, “Oh Lord Govinda, You win over even those who do not come to you of
their own accord, by your love and attributes, so that any one who comes in
contact with you cannot help being your devotees. Hence you are kooddarai
vellum seer Govindan.”
“You conquer, vellum,
even those who turn away from you , koodaar, by your attributes, seer, and you
are conquered by those who love you. Did not Vali who first despised you as Rama
for killing him with an arrow hiding yourself, praised you in the end and so
did Tara and MandOdhari even though you killed their husbands. Ravana was
defeated by your valour, Surpanakha by your beauty and Vibheeshana by your
divinity.”
“This remind me of a
funny episode in my life as Krishna,” said the Lord. .I used to steal butter
and most of the people welcomed it as the cows started yielding bountiful milk
and the butter was excessive equal to the quantity of the curd after I have
eaten them. But how ever there were some who were against me for this.
Such a man was waiting to catch me when I came into his house attached a bell
to the pot.. I came stealthily and stole the butter and the moment I
started eating the bells rang.. The owner of the house came and caught me and
tied me with a rope. But I caught hold of his hands and held him. In the
meanwhile I went to the wife of the man disguised as her husband and asked her
to open the door of her chamber. When she let me in, I said that Krishna is a mayavi
and he might come in the guise of the husband and told her not to open the
door. Then the real husband suddenly finding me disappear came to her room and
she did not let him in. Then I told her to open the door so that they can bind
him if he was really Krishna . They opened the door and bound him and out of
pity I showed them my real form and converted them into bhakthas.”
“What a delightful
episode , “ said Andal.
“Well , said the Lord,
“ I have granted your wish . What are you going to do now?”
Andal replied, “the
reward for our singing the glory of you obtaining your grace as mentioned
earlier is to be united with you. We shall enjoy this by adorning ourselves
with all ornaments and eating the sweet rice with a lot of ghee which drips
over our elbows. “
“Of course we dress in
new clothes and wear ornaments because it is only fit to appear in a proper
manner in front of you who is the king of kings.”
“We will be wearing
choodagam-bangle, thOLvaLai-jewelled armband, thodu, sevippoo , the ear
ornaments and paadagam-anklet and wear new clothes.
“Not only that. While
I said in the beginning, neyyuNNOm paaluNNOm, now that you have given us
what we wanted, we will eat akkaaravadisil or sarkaraippongal , that too mooda
ney peydhu muzhangai vazi vaara, ) with ghee overflowing and dripping through
our elbows.”
The Lord said, “ why
should you allow the ghee to drip down instead of eating it?”
“ It is because
, when we offer it to you as naivedhyam we will be looking at your face and
will forget to eat it.” Said Andal.
“You are verily the
daughter of him who mentioned, neyyidai sorum (rice mixed with ghee) niyathamum
atthANicchEvagamaum( the opportunity to do service to Him daily)
kaiadaikkAyum(thAmboolam-betel leaves and nuts etc)kazutthukku pooN (neck
ornament) kAdhukku kunNdalam (earrings)meyyidai nalladhOr sandham( fragrant
sandal paste to apply on the body, when coming to serve me.” Said the Lord.
“But what we mean
actually is that we will wear your signs and the ashtakshara manthra , dhvaya
manthra and the caramasloka are the real ornaments for us. The bliss of being
near you is like the sweet meat which drips of love like ghee from the
sweet rice. The new clothes we wear is the awareness that we are your
servants .We share the happiness of being with you which oozes out like the
ghee dripping from the elbow ,on eating the sweet pongal.” Said Andal.
“When we imagined
ourselves as 'Ayppadiselvacchirumeer' the girls fortunate in living in ayarpadi
which denotes the sAlOkyam kind of mukthi, that is living in the same world
you.. Reaching the abode of you , 'nandhagopan koil' implies sAmeepyam, the
nearness of you.. In the previous pasuram we asked for all the signalia of the
you, like pAnchjanya etc. which refers to the sAroopyam, the likeness of you.
In this pasuram the union with you is meant, that is sAyujayam. The words
pAlsOru moodanei peidhu and koodiyirundhu denote that the final state in
devotion aspired for, that is, the constant union with the you and enjoy the
bliss along with you.”
“You have called me as
Govinda which is my favourite nama, said the Lord and Andal replied that it is
the favourite of his devotees as well because it has grewta implications.
“Not once but three
times I will call you so and I will elaborate on it in my next pasuram, “said
Andal. The Lord said “ I am waiting eagerly to taste the sweet ‘paaRsOru that
will come from you tomorrow, ” which made Andal feel humble and she expressed
it beautifully in the next pasuram.
Pasuram28-karavaigal
pin senru
karvaigaL pin senru
kanam mEithunbOm
arivonrum illAdha
Aikkulatthundhannai
piravipperundhanai
puNNiam yAmudaiyom
kuraivonrum illAdha
gOvindhA unthannOdu
uravEl namakkinru
ozikka oziyAdhu
ariyAdha piLLaigalOm
anbinAl unthannai
sirupEr azaitthanavum
Seeri aruLAdhE
iraivA nee tharAi
paraiyElOrempAvai
When the Lord praised
her in the previous Pasuram, suddenly Andal was made aware of her
insignificance which is the usual emotion a devotee feels when the Lord showers
His grace. Nammazvar felt this and went and hid himself near a culvert thinking
that he did not deserve the grace of the Lord. Arjuna felt this when Krishna
showed him his visvaroopa.
Now Andal imagining
herself as a gopi, says, “ Oh Lord, you are flawless and we are right opposite,
being ignorant and thus do not deserve your infinite mercy. We do not know your
greatness. Like the cowherds who follow their cows and eat when they
graze and bring them back.”
“You are perfect
without a blemish having innumerable auspicious qualities whereas we have
nothing but defects. How can we understand your simplicity in becoming one
among us and your mercy in making yourself easily available to all. ?”
“But we have one
qualification. We have found out that you are the only true relative to us and
we love you due to some previous punya. But out of love we might have treated
you with familiarity as one of us like Arjuna did and we feel
similar remorse. So please do not get angry but shower your grace
on us.”
The Lord said, “ Did
you ever wonder how I came to be born in the clan of cowherds? You said you
have done some punya for that to happen, aaykkulatthu unthannai
piRaviperumthanai puNNiyam yaam udaiyom. The punya of the aaykkula was the
gorakshana or looking after the cows, as the cow has all the fourteen worlds in
its body and circumambulating the cow three times is equivalent to going round
the earth.”
“ You said , you were
ignorant , aRivonRumilladha aaykkulam. I expect only love which at its height
becomes bhakthi more than learning or austerities as I have said 'nAham
vedhairh na thapasA na DhAnEna na chejyayaa----bhakthyA thu ananyayA sakyah,'
To understand me in reality is possible only through bhakthi and not by penance,
meritorious deeds or by performing sacrifices. Due to punya alone one gets
bhakthi, which you have in abundance.”
Andal said,” Yes, that
is why Sabari had done more punya than Guha as you did not eat what Guha
brought but ate only from Sabari. This was because she had aachaarya smbandha.
But to us , poor cowherd girls who is the acarya?”
The Lord replied that
The cows themselves served as their acharya, like the King Dileepawho
was told by Vasishta to serve Nandhini, the calf of Kamadhenu to get his
wish of progeny.
, “The real aRivu or
wisdom is only that about me. All the rest are only ignorance. Well I am
waiting for your elucidation of the name Govinda,” said the Lord.
“You are Govinda ,”
said Andal,” because, you give mukthi as gaa means svargam or moksham.
You acquired the
astras from Visvamitra in Ramavatara and gaa means ishu or astras.
.You knew the cows
gaaH , meaning , you knew them to be the rshis of dandakaranya.
You are known by the
Vedas, ‘go’ also meaning Vedas.
You enabled Indra to
get his vajra by advising him to go to Dhadheechi and beg him to give his
backbone, gaa, meaning vajrayudha..
You have eyes
everywhere as you are refereed to be sahasraakshaH sahasrapaath, gaah
meaning eyes, plural form signifying more than two , thrinethra for
instance as Narasimha as nammazvar says ‘muniyE naanmuganE mukkaNNapaa.’
You have a fiery form
being in the centre of the orb of the Sun, suryamandalamaDhyavarthi as upanshad
says, gaah also meaning jwaalaah or flames.
As the word ‘go’ means
earth, water, vedas and sense organs, you brought out the earth as varaha , you
resorted to the waters as mathsya and koorma, you are the real purport of the
Vedas and you are the Lord of the indhriyas , as Hrsheekesa.”
“Astounding ,” said
the Lord, “ I myself may have forgotten the various significance of the
name. Above all this name is dear to you as your birthplace , ssrivilliputthur
is referred to as govindan vaazhumoor.’”
“The most important
meaning of the name is your lifting the govardhana , is not it so? “ Said
Andal , ‘go’ being another rname for a mountain and also specially so as it
was also go vardhan, the benefactor of the cows.”
“Your
govindapattabhishekam is deemed as being even superior to your abhisheka in
Ramavatara, my Lord. You know why?”
“Tell me,” said
the Lord with an impish grin.
“Valmiki said that the
abhisheka doem by vasishta was like that of Indra done by the devas. But
here Indra himself did the abhisheka!” said Andal.
“When I am
called Govinda I feel indebted to the devotee, said the Lord, as in
the case of Droupadi who screamed with grief calling me Govinda when I
immediately came to the rescue. Hence the name is not only dear to you but to
me also.”
Pasuram 29
sitramsirukAlE
vandhunnai sEvitthun
pottramarai adiye
pottrum poruL keLAi
pettram meitthuNNum
kulatthil pirandhu nee
kuttrEval engaLai
koLLAmal pOgAdhu
ittraipparai koLvAn
anru kAN gOvindA
ettraikkumEzEzu
piravikkum unthannOdu
uttrEmE AvOm unakkE
nAm AtseivOm
mattrai nam kAmangal
mAttrElOrempAvAi
The Lord said ,
“finally you are now stating the real purpose in coming to me in
so early in the
morning.”
Andal said, “Are you
wondering why we coming to see you so early in the morning? We want to catch
you before you go to tend the cattle. Moreover how else can we have the darsan
of your beautiful lotus feet , sitru am siru kal, peeping a little outside from
your bed? It is the golden feet, potraamarai adi, which drew us here , which we
came to worship. The boon we are asking is this. We should belong to you for
all the lives to come and should serve you alone. Remove all the other desires
of ours.”
“But if you have
called me I would have come by myself saving you the trouble of coming in
the early hours in the cold weather , as you saidf , panitthalai veezha, “said
the Lord.
Andal said, “. we do
not expect you to come to us as you did to gajendra and Draupadi for we know
that we have not acquired that kind of merit. But our only hope is that you
have come down to the clan of cowherds and definitely you will not forsake us.”
“Sitram sirukaala is
very auspicious as it denotes the brAhmamuhurtha when yogis and ages wake up
and start their worship. That is why we chose it,” said Andal, while kAle means
the time when the gopis start their work such as churning the milk. sirukAle is
the time before that when they wake up.”
“The time you are
found in Gokula is short because (i) as soon as the day breaks you will go to
the forest to tend cattle.”
“ Moreover, to a
devotee, the time he acquires the knowledge of you is the early morning because
till then it was night spent in sleeping due to ignorance. The day starts when
the love for you dawns in the heart.”
“we do not want
anything else like gold or worldly pleasures but want only to serve you and
therefore leaving everything we have come to you as Vibheeshana did, saying,
'thyakthva puthrAmscha dhArAmscha rAghavam SatraNam gathah' that is,
"leaving my sons and wives I have surrendered to Rama."
“So, You want seven
times seven births more but not mukthi,” said the Lord.
Andal replied, “the
seven multiplied by seven births are like just one birth when we serve you. We
do not ask for mukthi. Let us be born again and again if only we will remain in
your service. Take away all our other desires which may give us further births
but let us be born by your will alone. Being born in the clan of cowherds you
cannot refuse our service to you.”
The Lord said , “ You
know , I was called a farmer by Vedanta Desika in his dayasatakam. He says that
I am a krsheevala, farmer who is intent on His harvest of prapannas. “
“It is quite
true , sadi Andal, “ how can we but marvel at your great mercy oh Lord, when
like a farmer guarding his crop you come down by your incarnations among
your creations and also by your archavatharas by taking your place in temples
as though to guard your children! “
“ You are only real
relation to us for all our lives ( seven times seven) , because others belong
to one life only.”
“Does not the
upanishad say, 'na vA arE pathyuh kAmAya pathih priyO bhavathi,
Athmanasthu kAmAya.' The worldly relationships are selfish-motivated. The husband
is not dear for his sake but for the sake of oneself only, thus
enumerating various relation ship and attachments sayong that everything
not for their own sake but out of self interest only. You are the real self of
all.”
The Lord said ,
”through your pasurams you have delineated the principle of saranagathi.”
Andal said, “ The one
to whom the sarangathi is done should have both sakthi and kaaruNya. That is
why we , resorted to you and the divine mother together as Lakshmana did when
he prayed to accompany you in your Ramavathara to the forest, whereas the
surrender of you as Rama to the seagod was not fruitful because it was
asmarThe samrThasya saranagathi, being done to one who had no power over you
who was his overlord.”
“Saranagathi is
like a yajna. Athamaa is the havis and you , Achyutha is the agni. PraNava is a
bow and aathma is the arrow. The athma should be fixed in pranava and should
hit the target which is Brahman, that is you my Lord.”
“Yes,” said the
Lord, “your Thiruppavai is the mahayajna called aathmasamarpanam.”
This the last Pasuram
as the next only serves as the phalasruthi.
Pasuram 30
Vangakkadal kadaindha
mAdhavanai kesavanai
thingaL thirumugatthu
sEyizaiyAr senrirainji
angapparaikonda Attrai
aNipudhuvai
PaingamaltthaNtheriyal
bhattarpirAn kOdhai sonna
sangatthamizmAlai
muppadhum thappAme
ingipparisuraippar
eerirandu malvaraitthOL
thingaL thirumugatthu
selvatthirumAla
engum thiruvaruL
pettru inburuvar empavai
This pasuram is by way
of phalasruthi.
This work describing
the entreaty of the girls with faces like moon and eyes like lotuses. to the
Lord Kesava, of lovely locks, the Madhava, Lord of Lakshmi, who helped in the
churning of the beautiful milky ocean, in order to acquire the necessary requirements
for their pavai nonbu, is the composition of Godha of Srivlliputthur, the
daughter of Vishnucchittha, (Periazvar) who wears the garland of lotuses and
thulasi. Those who recite this 30 pasurams which are equal to sangatthamiz,
will get happiness through the Lord's grace.
vangakkadal-This is
not the Bay of bengal, as it may appear to the superficial reader but the word
vanga means beautiful, and refers to the milky ocean. It is so called
because it is associated with the Lord, and it gave out all the precious
things and the amrtha in the end.Vanga also means full of waves.
kadaindha
Madhavan-Madhavan means the Lord (Dhava) of Lakshmi(ma) He is mentioned here as
the one who churned the ocean not only because He was instrumental in doing so
by helping the devas by carrying the manthara mountain and dropping it
into the ocean and supported it as koorma, but because he helped at every step,
by churning it with them and lastly through His mohini avathara. As a result He
also became maadhava, the Lord of Lakshmi.
yamunacharya says in
his Sthothra ratna that the Lord took all the trouble to churn the ocean
in order to obtain Lakshmi as He bridged the ocean later for her sake(to
retrieve Sita )'yadharTham ambOdDHih amanTHi abanDHi cha.'
But if one starts thinking
about the reason for His wish to get Lakshmi, for which the ocean was churned
as Yaamuna says, it appears that He wanted her to make His hrdhaya her abode so
that it will be full of mercy. So He wanted her not for Himself but for the
world which will be benefited by her dhaya influenced by which alone the Lord
shows His grace without minding our sins. This explanation looks
appropriate especially when Andal calls Him as Madhavan, mAyah Dhavan-
lord of Lakshmi.He not only churned the milky ocean but also churned the ocean
of milk and curd in Gokula by his exploits of stealing butter, curd etc., and
causing a great furore among the gopis, perhaps as a practice to churn the
great ocean of army later the Mahabharatha war.
kEsavan- kEsa is hair
and as Krishna has beautiful locks of hair he is called Kesava. It also
means the slayer of the demon Kesi. Another meaning of Kesava is that ka is
Brahma , isa means Siva and the particle va means the one who have them both in
Him as Lord Naryana, synonymous with the Brahman of the Upanishads whose
manifestations are the trinity. Kesava is also the adhishtana devatha of the
month of Margazi. This is the end pasuram of Thiruppavai which started as
paraman adi pAdi and ends with kesavanai which resembles a pAdhadhikeSAntha
sthothra.
paingamalatthaNtheriyal
bhattarpiran-Periazvar. as Vishnucchittha, the father of Godha was known as,
used to wear the garland of lotuses and thulasi leaves. The former symbolises
the Sridevi and the latter is of the Lord Narayana.
Kodhai sonna
sangatthamizmalai-Kodhai in Tamil means garland and godha in sanskrit means gAm
dhdhAthi ithi- or goDHa which means gAm dhaDHathE-one who give good words.
Periazvar was proficient in both the languages and with foresight, he must have
chosen the name which became appropriate.
Her words are extolled
as being equal to the ancient Tamil works at the time of Tamil sangam and hence
it is referred to as sangatthamiz mAlai. Sangam also means group, attachment
and beauty. This work has to be enjoyed together in a group of devotees and
without attachment to the worldly objects and also it is full of beauty.
ingipparisuraippAr-
ingu is this world and the word parisu means the reward in the form of
kainkarya.
eerirandumAlvaraitthOL-
eerirandu, two and two ,that is four arms like mAlvarai, mountainous.
chengaNthirumugatthu-
His eyes are like red lotuses ( not fully red but streaked with redness)
selvatthirumAl-He is
rich with His auspicious qualities and association with Sri(thiru)
selvatthirumal is
commented variously.
Thirumaal means
srinivasan who is associated with Sridevi and hence even though He is rich ,
that is avaaptha samastha kaaman, has everything , He is also with dhaya.
He is selvetthirumaal
because He has the selvam or richness of having innumerous bhagavathas.
He acquired the wealth
in the form of the garland worn and given by Andal, soodikkoduttha maalai
Nammazhvar refers to
Him as selvanaaraNan. So h eis rich by being addressed thus by the Azvar.
He was also called as
SevappiLLai by Ramanuja when he went in search of the archa murthy of Melkote
which was taken by the Sultan who was reigning in Delhinow and was given
to his daughter. Ramnuja could not find the vigraha even though the sultan told
him to search for it and take it becasedueit was in the inner apartment of the
princess., hiiden in acloset. But Ramanuja called ‘SelavappiLLaay come,’ and
the vigraha came out to his hands. Hence the utsavamurthy of Melkote is called
sevanarayanan or sampathkumaran.
engum thirivaruL
pettruinburuvar -blessed with His grace always and be happy. Those who learn
this work will be happy in this world and the next till they unite with the
Lord.
This pasuram contains
what is known as anubanDha chathushtayam. For any work there are four
requisites which are usuall mentioned either in the beginning or in the
end.They are,
1.viashyam- subject
matter of the work
2. grantham- the name
of the work
3. aDhikari- those who
are qualified to understand it or the author.
4. Phalam or fruit.
Vangakkadal kadaindha
-----angappaRai konda aaRRai- the subject matter is mentioned by this, namely
the girls approaching the lord for fulfilling their wish.The glory of both the
Lord and the devotees are referred to by saying vangakkadal kadaindha MaaDhavan
and KeSavan and the girls are described as thingaL thirumugatthu Seyiazaiyaar,
who look lustrous like the Moon.
aNi pudhuvai
----bhattar piran kodhai---the glory of the author, Andal,the daughter rof
Bhattarpiran who sang pallaandu to the Lord Himself.
Sangatthamizh maalai
muppadhum- the glory of the work which is known a ssangatthamizmaalai. Sangam
means group or collection. It implies that this should be enjoyed together by
all. Sangam also means attachment or desire . here the desire should be to enjoy
this work. Sangam means beautiful and this work is beautiful as it is musical
set to metre. Finally sangam can refer to the Thamizh sangam and this work
deserves to be included as sangatthamizh.
Thus ends the
Thiruppavai of Sri Andal which have been explained by me to the best of my
knowledge and ability following the commentaries of scholars and devotees of
the past.