"mahanAy pirandu"...mahanAy oLittu vaLara" (2 of 2)

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Dear friends,

 

Continuing from earlier post today (1 of 2) carrying

the same title as this one...

 

In ancient times in India, the month of "mArgazhi"

actually marked the first month of the new year. It

used to be called "aagrahAyani"... "hayana" means

"year" and the first month of the year is

'AgrahAyana'. The 1st of January which we all

celebrated last week with such fanfare, as you all

know, falls during the middle of "mArgazhi". So it may

not be unsafe to surmise that the Western civilization

took the idea of commencing its Gregorian

calendar-year with 'mArgazhi' or January from the

ancient Indians. Later the Indians changed their

system but the West stuck to theirs.

 

Now, during the month of "AgrahAyana", the ancient

Indians who were followers of the Vedas usually

performed "pAka-yagnyA-s" i.e. "small" ritual

sacrifices which any householder could himself perform

easily at home. Such a yagnya was called "AgrahAyani".

Hence, "mArgazhi" was a very important month for Vedic

practitioners since they had to earmark it exclusively

for the performance of ritual-sacrifices like

"AgrahAyani".

 

Our poetess of SriVilliputtur, "soodi-kOduttha-

nAcchiyAr" AndAl, was the daughter of a very devout,

very orthodox Brahmin priest, Peria-AzhwAr, who was

known to have been very well-versed in the Vedic

dharma. It is therefore quite likely that even as a

young child our "gOdA-pirAtti" must have closely

watched her father practising and following the vedic

discipline of several "yagnyA-s" including (perhaps)

those such as "AgrahAyani". Our "pirAtti" must surely

have grown up amidst a domestic environment where

Vedic chants, rituals and "yagnyA-s' must have been

frequent if not constant occurences. She must have

grown up with extremely intimate and deep

understanding of several "yagnya-karmA-s" and "yagnya-

kAryam"--- the body of ritualism, sacraments and

rites which the Vedas contain in that part of

themselves known popularly as "karma-kAndam".

 

(All of us are aware that the Vedas contain 2 parts:

"pUrva-bhAgam" or "karma-kAnda"... the anterior part

dealing with ritualistic worship... and the

"uttara-bhAgam" or "gnyAna-kAnda": the latter or

terminal part dealing with the vedAntic inquiry into

Upanishadic Truth where there is no place for

ritualism).

 

Watching her father several times perform "yagnyA-s",

surely, therefore, the child AndAl must have quickly

learned too that for any Vedic "karma", the 3 most

essential equipment are (a) "havis" or oblation (b)

"agni" or the carrier of the oblation and ©

"yajamAna", the performer of the "yagnya" or he who

offers the oblations into the fire as worship.

 

Andal must have also had a very thorough idea of how

the "agni" or "neruppu" (in Tamil) meant for a

"yagnya" is ignited and how the 3 sacrificial-fires...

"trEtAgni"... are lit:

 

(1) It is written in the "sutrA-s" (practical manuals)

of the Vedic "karma-kAndA", that the first thing that

Vedic ritualists must do is to go into the forest in

search of "arraNi-kattai"... two pieces of a special

birch-wood which when struck together for a prolonged

period of time ignite into a small spark of flame.

This flame they will carefull cup with their hands and

cover inside a small bowl to make sure it is not

extinguished.

 

(2) Holding the small bowl of flame covered over his

head thus the ritualist will return from the forest

via a small stream or ford which he will wade across

before returning home. The act of wading across the

stream is a sort of purificatory rite in preparation

for the performance of the "yagnya".

 

(3) Back home, the "small flame from the forest" will

then be transferred to a small, circular earthen mound

and fed with pieces of birch-wood until the flame

grows into a small fire. This fire is called

"gArhyapatya" and it belongs to the householder... the

"yajamAnan". In this fire or 'agni' no oblations are

to be made.

 

(4) Fire must be taken from the "gArhyapatya" and

transferred to another larger oval-shaped mound

situated in a southerly direction to the

'garhyapatya". This fire is called "dakshinAgni" (the

"southern" fire). This fire is tended and certain

rites and "yagnyA-s" are performed with it. Oblations

are offered into it.

 

(5) But large sacrificial offerings are generally made

to various deities in another "fire" called

"aahavaneeya" which is square in shape. The first fire

in the "aahavaneeya" is also transferred from the

"gArhyapatya".

 

(6) Very big "yagnyA-s" like "sOmayagnyA-s" and others

meant to propitiate deities like Vishnu etc. are

conducted from great, big and roaring fire-mounds in a

big hall called "yAga-shAlA-s". The fire for such

sacrifices are taken from the "aahavaneeya" fire.

 

This is how the Vedic "karma-kAndA" describe "yagnya"

must be conducted.

 

Now, our dear AndAl-pirAtti must have surely watched,

day in and day out in her home in SriVilliputtur, with

wide-eyed girlish fascination the conduct of various

Vedic rites, as per the various "karma-s", by her

father, Vishnuchittan. But being of feminine gender

she may not have been given an opportunity to indulge

her fascination and actually participate in the

proceedings strictly meant for duly investitured males

only. So it is probable that AndAl, from a distance,

may have only yearned for but never actually

experienced the supremely elevating feelings that

conducting a Vedic "yagnya" arouses in a man.

 

Now, discerning scholars point out to us that what

'Goda-pirAtti' could never experience first-hand, i.e.

actually performing a Vedic rite, she certainly did

seek to vicariously experience it by composing

Stanza#25 of the "tiruppAvai" the whole of which is

nothing but poetic symbolism for all the "karma-

kAnda" procedures described above for tending the

sacrificial fires of the "trEtAgni".

 

Let's examine Stanza#25 closely now:

 

In the Stanza, Lord Krishna is hailed by AndAl as

"neruppenra nedu mALe"... a clear reference to

"fire"... "neruppu".

 

She talks of "orutti mahanAy pirandu"... which is

Krishna being born in Mathura... but which is also the

allegorical symbol of the "gArhyapatya" fire which is

first lit out of the "flame" from the forest is

carefully stoked to life. Devaki's "womb" is here held

to be the symbol of the "garhyapatya" fire. Although

the sacrificial fire is first lit here, no oblations

however are made in the "gArhyapatya". So also, though

Devaki gave "birth" to Krishna, she did not have the

occasion to make "oblations" to Him....i.e. she did

not "feed" Him which only the foster-mother Yasodha

was fortunate to do.

 

Next, Vasudevan carried the child Krishna on his head

across the Yamuna from Mathura to Gokulam in one night

("Or-iravil"). We saw above how the fire from the

forest too is held by the Vedic ritualist over his

head as he wades across a stream to reach the

"gArhyapatya".

 

Vasudevan transported the "fire" of Krishna from the

"gArhyapatya" of Mathura to the southern hamlet of

Gokulam ... the "dakshinAgni" that we saw described

above. This "dakshinAgni" is the allegorical symbol of

YasodhA who lovingly tended the "fire", Krishna,

exactly as Vedic "rt-viks" would do in carefully

tending their sacrificial fires. Thus, AndAl uses the

expression here "orutti-mahanAy ollittu vaLara". The

fire of "dakshinAgni" we saw above was also used to

enable great "yagnyA-karma-s" .... and this too is

symbolised by the love and "bhakti" that the

"gopika-s" of Brindavanam lavished on Lord Krishna as

their "havis" or oblation.

>From "garhyapatyam", it was observed above that, that

the sacrificial fire is transferred to "aahavaneeya".

And from "aahavaneeya" we saw the fires are taken to

huge "yAga-shAlA-s" for the purpose of conducting

"yagnyA-s" on a much grander scale and format. The

"fire" of such large "yagnyA-s" is what is symbolised

by the events where Krishna returned to Mathura to

slay the evil Kamsa and then later moved or

"transferred" Himself to Dwaraka from where He

accomplished the great missions and tasks of his

lifetime....those great "maha-yagnyA-s" whose

allegorical equivalents are the defeat of the evil

Kauravas, the protection of the Pandavas and the

revelation of the highest wisdom of the Bhagavath-Gita

to all mankind....

********* ********** ***********

 

Thus, in Stanza#26 of the "tiruppAvai" our great

"pirAtti" of SriVilliputtur showed how that even as a

member of the feminine gender she was more than

well-versed in the hallowed ritualisms of Vedic

"karma-kAnda" (the exclusive realm of male

practitioners) and also how she had intuitively

understood that the subject-matter of the

"karma-kAnda-s" was the same as that of the Vedic

"gnyANa-kAnda" --- Sriya:patih: Bhagawan vAsudEvan and

none else!

 

AndAl tiruvadigaLE saranam,

dAsan,

Sampathkumaran

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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