Seventeenth Day Of Dhanur Maasam : AndAL's Bridal Mysticism

[Guest guest]

Dear Members of the Bhakthi Group :

 

First Of all , May the blessings of the Divya Dampathis

keep this precious group together in this New Year 1997

to experience their Anantha KalyANa guNAs ! May their

choicest blessings shower on every member of this group

and bring them closer to their sacred feet in a spirit of

Atma Nivedanam and Bhagavatha Kaimkaryam !

 

In today 's posting , I will summarize the highlights of an

excellent paper by Dr. G.R. BalakrishNan : " IS ANDAL

A BRIDAL MYSTIC ? ".

 

Definitions : Mysticism in general has been defined as

" the first hand experience with God " . Professor Sarvapalli

RadhAkrishNan has defined "GOD " in this context this way :

" GOD is not a logical concept or the conclusion of a syllogism

but a real presence , the ground and possibility of ALL knowledge

and values " .

 

Bridal Mysticism is one of the nine modes of relationships with the Lord

where the relationship is similar to that one between the bride and the groom

(BharyA-BirthA ) . The soul of the devotee is the bride and GOD

is the Bridegroom ; their union is recognized as the spiritual marriage .

The charactrestrics such as " irrevocableness , unswerving loyalty ,

love ad selfless service are supposed to mark the human marriage

to mellow to the greatest extent in the spiritual marriage" .

 

The great outpourings of AndAL to realize the Lord as her husband

are full of this experience of Bridal mysticism . As the only female AzhwAr

and on top of it as the consort of the Lord , She could exceed the experiences

of the other two AzhwArs , who took on the role of ParakAla and

Paraankusa Nayakis to delight in their experiences as the brides of the Lord .

For all of us too , the path shown by these three AzhwArs and

particularly AndAL is a living proof of the Vedanthic revelation :

 

Sa Eva VaasudevO sau sakshAth purusha uchyatE

StriprAyam itarat sarvam jagadh brahmapurrassaram

 

" The supreme Lord is the only Man ; all others from Brahma

downwards are like women , Who long to be united with HIM ."

 

AndAL rejected the worldly pleasures , marriage to mere mortals

and longed for union with the Lord as her groom in body and soul.

The outpourings of her thoughts in NacciyAr Thirumozhi are suffused

with this sense of longing and seeking of the Lord as her bridegroom

in the spirit of bridal mysticism .

 

The soul in the practise and experience of bridal mysticism

goes through the harrowing experience of separation from HIM

(Vislesham ) and the exhilirating experience of union (Samslesham )

with HIM . In Professor P.N. Srinivasachari "s words , " for them ,visleshA

appears to be stretched into eternity and in SamsleshA , the eternity is

crowded into a moment " . In response to bride AndAL's soulful cry ,

her Groom blesses her with an elaborate dream in which She

lives through the individual rites of a Vedic marriage to the Lord

to unite her with HIM as HIS bride ( VaraNamAyiram Pasurams of NacchiyAr

Thirumozhi ) . After waking from this thrilling dream , she suffers the

worst from separation from her Lord. He was almost there.

She cries out to the Sacred Conch (Panchajanyam ) and asks it

to relate the blessed experience of the taste of the Lord's nectar -like

kiss . She implores the dark rain clouds , birds,flowers and bees to be her

messengers to her Lord and to bring HIM to her quickly .She is

reminded of Her Lord in everything she sees around her . After these

painful efforts that get her no where , she decides to put up

with her sorrow and places her trust in the Lord's infinite mercy .

 

PiLLai LokAcharya and ManavALa Maamuni have pointed out the need to

annihilate AhankAra to realize the fruits of bridal mysticism . according to

them ,

even the presence of a tiny bit of AhankArA (divisive ego )

led to sorrow for even the greatest devotee of the Lord like AndAL .

Once that was banished in the intense pursuit of realizing

the unitive life with the Lord as her groom , AndAL was able to face

" the sorrows undismayed and enjoy pleasures uncontaminated " .

Any shred of divisive ego was pulverised through total surrender to the Lord ,

the eternal bridegroom . Here , Dr. Balakrishnan quotes the following two

statements of RamaNa Maharishi and Sage AurobindO in support of

the selfless love of a jivan for ParamAthmA :

 

" Love of GOD for the sake of love and for nothing else , not even for

the sake of salvation " is the true mark of bridal mysticism ---RamaNa Maharishi

 

To a true devotee , therefore , GOD is both the path and the goal

of the journey on this earth (Deha YaatrA ) , " a path in which

there is no self-losing and a goal to which his wisely guided steps

are surely arriving at every moment ." --Sage AurobindhO

 

Dr. Balakrishnan Continues : " And true love brings with it deep

humility , an awarenes of one's insignificance before all and helplessness

before God . AndAL does not feel it as a humiliation at all when she

goes al out with her sufferings to pretty little things like flowers

and bees and seeks consolation from them .It is this humility ,

born of love of God , that helps her WIN the game of Love ".

 

The limbs (AngAs ) of SaraNAgathi like KaarpaNyam , Gopthruva

VaraNam, Atma NikshepaNam and others are built into these appeals of

AndAL to her Lord in both Thiruppavai and Thirumozhi paasurams .

The last deacd of her Thirumozhi , she provides proof for attaining

her quest of spiritual union with the Lord in wedlock as HIs bride.

With utter rapture, joy and contentment , she describes her visions

of Lord KrishNa in Brindhavanam going about attending

to the welfare of the cows and playing with his companions

under the shade of GarudA's lofty wings .

 

AndAL's Sacred Prabhandhams attest to her unique experience

of GovindhA as her Consort in the mode of bridal mysticism . Through

the sharing of her divine experience , she invites all humna souls

(jeevans ) to experience the unitive life with Sriman NarAyaNA , her

consort . AndAl then is the greatest bridal mystic of all seeking the

Lord as their bridegroom through SaraNAgathi performed with the help

of a SadAchArya in the hallowed and hoary SrivaishNavite tradition

of BaraNyAsam .

 

In the next posting , I will summarize the thoughts of

Professor A . Srinivasaraghavan of Madras on the concept

of Prapatthi as experienced by GodhA Piraatti .

 

Sri Ranganatha MaNI PadhukhAbhyAm Nama :

 

Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan

January 1 , 1997

 

..