Upadesa rathna Maalai: Part 7 ( Paasurams 22-24); The three Paasurams on ANDAL's glory

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The Greatness of the Birthday of ANDAL

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inRO ThiruvAdippUram , yemakkaaha-

vanRO ingu ANDAL avatharitthAL , kunratha

vAzhvAna Vaikuntha vaann bhOgam tannai ihazhnthu

AzhwAr ThirumakaLaaraai ........(22)

 

(Meaning ): Is it n't today the most auspicious

AaDippUram ? Is it n't this day , when ANDAL

left behind the nithya SrI and the dhivya bhOgams

of Sri Vaikuntam to incarnate in this samsAric world

as the daughter of PeriyAzhwAr for asmadAdhi's

(for samsAris like us) ujeevanam ( salvation )?

 

Comments:In URM, Sri MM has devoted 3 paasurams

for ANDAl. This is the first one. In the first two ,

he celebrated the avathAra Dinam and in the third one ,

Sri MM saluted Her glory.

 

Lord KrishNA gave GithOpadEsam to all of us

while using ArjunA as a vyAjam (excuse ).

The UpadEsam was in Sanskrit and it was

much above the head of many.Hence , the full

benefit of that well-meant upadEsam for all was not

achieved. To overcome this problem , Bhumi Devi

incarnated as Godhai and blessed us with ThiruppAvai

in Her own unique Tamizh ( Vedam anaitthukkum

VitthAhum Godhai Tamizh )and in a way in which it

was easily understood by every one .This She did

for the upliftment of all of us suffering with

SamsAric afflictions .

 

Nothing can come close to ANDAL's or Her Thirumiozhi's glories

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PeriyAzhwAr peNNpiLayAi ANDAL piRantha

ThiruvAdip Pooratthin seermai , oru nALaikku

UndO manamE uNarnthu paar, ANDALukku

unDAhil oppu itharkkum uNDu ......(23)

 

(Meaning ):Is there a day , which compares in

srEyas and magnificience to the avathAra dinam

of Sri ANDAL , who incarnated on this earth as

the dear daughter of PeriyAzhwAr ? Oh my mind !

Please reflect on this question . If there is

a principle or entity that matches the glory

of ANDAL , then there will be another day , which

will equal the greatness of ThiruvAdippUram day .

 

The elaboration of the unmatched glory of ANDAL

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anjuk kudikku oru santhathiyAi , AzhwArkal

tanjeyalai vinji niRkum tanmayaLAi , pinjAi

pazhutthALaip patthiyudam naaLum

VazhutthAi manamE mahizhnthu......(24)

 

(meaning ): Oh My mind! Please eulogize always with

devotion ANDAL , who excelled all the ten AzhwArs

in Her deeds and who had such ripened bhagavath-premai

and Kaimkarya anubhavam for Her Lord even at a very

young age.She is the One , who was born as the only

daughter of the five families of the God-fearing

AzhwArs .

 

(Commentary): The three key groups of words in this

exquisite paasuram of Sri MM are:

 

(1) anju kudikku oru santhathiyAi

(2) AzhwaarkaL tamsyalai vinji niRkum tanmayaLAi

(3) PinjAi PazutthALai

 

(1)The Santhathi of Anju Kudi: There are double meanings

here .Anju Kudi is the vamsam (kudi) of BhaagavathAs (AzhwArs here),

who are always afraid (anjum ) of any haani (danger) coming

the way of our Lord .PeriyAzhwAr performing ThiruppallANDu

mangaLAsAsanam out of fear that there may be some kaNN

Yecchil ( dhrishti dhOsham ) falling on the Lord , when He

presented Himself in public to bless him (PeriyAzhwAr)

at Mathurai . ANDAL is the progeny of that anjum kudi

is one meaning.

 

PeriyAzhwAr had four sons already .With ANDAL,

the size of the family of PeriyAzhwAr became

Four+one =five. That is another meaning for anju kudi.

 

(2) AzhwArkaL tamseyalai vinji nirkum tanmayaLAi:

 

All AzhwArs had deep Bhakthi and Jn~Anam about

the svarUpa -SvAbhAva visWshams of their Lord,

Sriman NaarAyaNA . Two AzhwArs (NammAzhwAr

and Thirumangai ) assumed Naayaka-Naayaki

BhaVam to express their joy over samslEsham (union) with

Him and vislesham ( sorrow ) over separation from Him.

Thirumangai AzhwAr went one step ahead and performed madal

Oorthal ceremony to shame the Lord to accept her .

Swami Desikan refers to their crying out in joy and

sorrow through the assumption of feminine roles

by NammAzhwAr and Thirumangai in GodhA Sthuthi as :

 

bhOkthum tava priyatamam bhavathIva GodhE

bhakthim nijAm praNya BhAvanayA gruNantha:

ucchA vachai: viraha sangamajaiudhanthai:

srungArayanthi hrudhayam Gurava: thvadhIya:

 

Yet , these two AzhwArs and the other eight were MEN

and their act of Kaamam for the Lord was not as

authentic as that of ANDAL . She is the Lord's

consort and Her enjoyment of the Lord as His Devi

can not ever be equal to the others , who assumed

feminine roles .Her svabhAvam is that of a woman .

Her realtionship has to be more natural than that

of the ParakAla and ParAnkusa Naayakis in anubhava

poorthi .

 

(3) pinjAi pzhutthALAi : In her fifth year already ,

she blessed us with ThiruppAvai , where as the AzhwArs

took a long ,long time for their Bhakthi to progress

to the stages of para Bhakthi, Para Jn~Anam and Parama

Bhakthi .She jumped to parama Bhakthi right away instead

of the steady ripening of Her Bhakthi thru the other two stages.

 

Charama Jn~Anam also came to Her much earlier than the other AzhwArs.

For NammAzhwAr , that charama Jn~Anam came at the 10th decade

of the 8th centum (NedumARkkadimai decade); for Thirumangai ,

this charama Jn~Anam dawned at the 7th centum , 4th decade

( ThirucchErai Paasuram: KaNN sOra venkuruthi--). The Bhagavatha

Seshathvam Jn~Anam came thus much later to these AzhwArs .

For ANDAL however ,this Jn~Anam is captured in the first paasuram of

ThiruppAvai : " neerAda pOthuveer pothuminO, ---AaypAdic chelva

siRumIrkAL ". No wonder that Bhattar offered his PraNAmam to

Her in his Taniyan with a depth of reverence : " GodhA tasyai

nama itham itham bhUyEvAsthu bhUya: " to this pinjilE

pazhuttha ANDAL .

 

Daasan, SadagOpan