nAcciyAr tirumozhi IV-kUDal izhaittal - Introduction

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrI ANDAL samEta SrI rangamannAr tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

 

nAcciyAr tirumozhi IV-kUDal izhaittal - Introduction

 

A. Translation from SrImAn SaDagOpan's tamizh treatise:

 

godai and her friends who had just struggled and fought with kaNNan, finally

got back their garments, and kaNNan disappeared after this. As soon as He was

gone, they start worrying about how to be reunited with Him. They decide to

do "kUDal izhaittal". It is a method where a circle is drawn and then inside

that circle, several arbitrary number of small circles are randomly drawn.

The small circles are then paired together (two at a time). In the end, if all

small circles are paired, then it means the person who drew them will have

her/his wish fulfilled and be united with her/his lover; if a small circle is

left alone, this is an indication of bad omen and the wish to be united with

the lover will fail. godai uses this method to see if she will be reunited

with her kaNNan.

 

In the third tirumozhi "teLLiyAr palar", consisting of 10 pASurams, ANDAL

indulges in the kUDal izhaittal hoping to get a good omen by getting all small

circles paired inside the big circle. Praying for a successful outcome in

this, she does mangaLASAsanam to SrI sundararAjap perumAL of tirumAlirumSOlai,

vEnkatAcalapati of tiruppati, sourirAjap perumAL of tirukkaNNapuram, and

kalyANa nArAyaNan housed in dvArakai temple.

 

B. Some additional thoughts:

 

SrI periyavAccAn piLLai makes the following comments on godai's resorting to

kUDal to reach kaNNan. She falls at the feet of the "kUDal" method which

is acetanam, and asks for the desired result of pairing of the circles.

Why is she doing these kinds of things, which are inconsistent with the

actions of one for whom He is the only means? SrI PVP interprets this as

the indication of ANDAL's extreme distress in not attaining Him. Recall

that in the first tirumozhi she was pleading to kAman, a demi-god, for

blessing to be associated with kaNNan. A similar explanation was given

there as well. SrI PVP also remarks that He who has been acting like a

vr*tta hInan (lacking discipline and morals), is now being sought by ANDAL

who is a vr*ttavati (full of dharma and morals) through rigorous discipline

and conduct (vr*tta).

 

SrI P.B. aNNa~ngarAcArya svAmi points out that kUDal is also referred to by

tirumazhisai AzhvAr in nAnmugan tiruvandAdi - "azahippan tiruvEnkaTattAnaik

kANa izhaippan tirukkUDal kUDa". Thus this was probably one of the accepted

ways of expressing the intense desire in bhagavat samSlesham in AzhvAr's

times.

 

sarvam SrIman nArAyaNAyEti samarpayAmi.

 

adiyEn,

Kalyani Krishnamachari

(kkrishnamachari)