Fwd: [tiruvengadam] A few unusual thoughts on 'tiruppAvai' on 'vaikunta-ekAdasi'

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--- "Sudarshan M.K." <sampathkumar_2000 wrote:

> tiruvengadam

> "Sudarshan M.K." <sampathkumar_2000

> Sat, 06 Jan 2001 07:22:06 -0000

> Reply-to: tiruvengadam

> [tiruvengadam] A few unusual thoughts on 'tiruppAvai' on

> 'vaikunta-ekAdasi'

>

> Dear friends,

>

> A casual conversation on 'tiruppAvai' with a fellow srivaisnava

> y/day threw up rather unusual questions from his side. I place it

> before the group-members for further comments.

>

> The gentleman wanted to know if there is any reference, direct or

> indirect, by "SriAndAl-pirAtti' in any of the 30 'pAsuram-s' to the

>

> most sacred and auspicious day of 'vaikunta-ekAdasi'. This holiest

> of holy 'ekadasi' days invariably occurs only in the month of

> 'mArghazhi' and it might be reasonable to assume it did so even in

> the days of AndAl. So, perhaps she refers to it in some slanted way

> in the 'tiruppAvai'? Where?

>

> The second question: the basic theme of 'tiruppAvai' is

> 'bridal-love of God' shown by the bucolic maidens of the

'aayarpAdi'. AndAl identifies with them totally. As a 'bride'

herself, AndAl's object of passion was the Lord at SriRangam. Why

then does she not even once in the 'tiruppAvai' use the real name of

her divine paramour "Sri Ranganathan"?

>

> AndAl goes to great lengths to describe the glory of singing His

> other names (vide. "uttaman pEr pAdi"....) She copiously and loudly

> sings out the aliases of her divine groom --- plenty of

"nArAyanans", "mAdhavans", "kesavans", "govindans", etc. strewn all

over the 30 'pAsuram-s'....

>

> But not once in the "muppadhu" does AndAL call out the real name of

> her beloved viz. "rangA", "rangA"....!

>

> Why is this so?

>

> AdiyEn had no proper answer for this good friend of mine.

>

> I ventured weakly however with an explanation:

>

> It is generally not considered proper or decorous for a bride to

> take the name of her groom-to-be upon her lips ( i.e. in those

days;

> these days however it is an entirely different manner!). So AndAl's

 

> reticence and studious avoidance of using the name "rangA" in the

> 'tiruppAvai' shows her extreme regard for the traditions and mores

> of her times.... she was adhering to "mEllayAr seyvannagal..." i.e.

> the dictates and customs of her elders...

>

> The other reason could be that AndAl was well aware of the yawning

> 'age-gap' or 'age-chasm' between Lord Ranganatha and herself. She

> was but a little budding girl, while Ranga was an old, very old

> person..."purAna-purusha:".... (vide. "gOdA-stuthi"). Thus

deferring to the very advanced age of her 'groom-to-be', AndAl

probably avoided

> using the name of "rangA" or "ranganathA" anywhere in the

'tiruppAvai'. (In this regard it must be noted that AndAl in the 28th

stanza seeks pardon for freely and blithely (dis-respectfully ?)

using even names like "kesavan", 'mAdhava" etc.... she apologises to

the Lord in fact for her temerity in calling Him by his numerous

"siru pEyar" (pet-names or sobriquets)).

>

> I don't know if my explanation is convincing. Do any of you have

> any further comments?

>

> dAsan,

> Sudarshan

>

>

>

>

> To Post a message, send it to: tiruvengadam (AT) eGroups (DOT) com

>

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

>"Sudarshan M.K." <sampathkumar_2000

>tiruvengadam

>tiruvengadam

>[tiruvengadam] A few unusual thoughts on 'tiruppAvai' on

>'vaikunta-ekAdasi'

>Sat, 06 Jan 2001 07:22:06 -0000

>

>Dear friends,

>

>A casual conversation on 'tiruppAvai' with a fellow srivaisnava

>y/day threw up rather unusual questions from his side. I place it

>before the group-members for further comments.

>

>The gentleman wanted to know if there is any reference, direct or

>indirect, by "SriAndAl-pirAtti' in any of the 30 'pAsuram-s' to the

>most sacred and auspicious day of 'vaikunta-ekAdasi'. This holiest of

>holy 'ekadasi' days invariably occurs only in the month of

>'mArghazhi' and it might be reasonable to assume it did so even in

>the days of AndAl. So, perhaps she refers to it in some slanted way in

>the 'tiruppAvai'? Where?

>

>The second question: the basic theme of 'tiruppAvai' is 'bridal-love

>of God' shown by the bucolic maidens of the 'aayarpAdi'. AndAl

>identifies with them totally. As a 'bride' herself, AndAl's object of

>passion was the Lord at SriRangam. Why then does she not even once in

>the 'tiruppAvai' use the real name of her divine paramour "Sri

>Ranganathan"?

>

>AndAl goes to great lengths to describe the glory of singing His

>other names (vide. "uttaman pEr pAdi"....) She copiously and loudly

>sings out the aliases of her divine groom --- plenty of "nArAyanans",

>"mAdhavans", "kesavans", "govindans", etc. strewn all over the 30

>'pAsuram-s'....

>

>But not once in the "muppadhu" does AndAL call out the real name of

>her beloved viz. "rangA", "rangA"....!

>

>Why is this so?

>

>AdiyEn had no proper answer for this good friend of mine.

>

>I ventured weakly however with an explanation:

>

>It is generally not considered proper or decorous for a bride to take

>the name of her groom-to-be upon her lips ( i.e. in those days; these

>days however it is an entirely different manner!). So AndAl's

>reticence and studious avoidance of using the name "rangA" in the

>'tiruppAvai' shows her extreme regard for the traditions and mores of

>her times.... she was adhering to "mEllayAr seyvannagal..." i.e. the

>dictates and customs of her elders...

>

>The other reason could be that AndAl was well aware of the yawning

>'age-gap' or 'age-chasm' between Lord Ranganatha and herself. She was

>but a little budding girl, while Ranga was an old, very old person...

>"purAna-purusha:".... (vide. "gOdA-stuthi"). Thus deferring to the

>very advanced age of her 'groom-to-be', AndAl probably avoided using

>the name of "rangA" or "ranganathA" anywhere in the 'tiruppAvai'. (In

>this regard it must be noted that AndAl in the 28th stanza seeks

>pardon for freely and blithely (dis-respectfully ?) using even names

>like "kesavan", 'mAdhava" etc.... she apologises to the Lord in

>fact for her temerity in calling Him by his numerous "siru pEyar"

>(pet-names or sobriquets)).

>

>I don't know if my explanation is convincing. Do any of you have any

>further comments?

>

>dAsan,

>Sudarshan

>

>

>

>

>To Post a message, send it to: tiruvengadam (AT) eGroups (DOT) com

>

>To Un, send a blank message to:

>tiruvengadam- (AT) eGroups (DOT) com

>

 

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In reading Sri Andal's vaibhavam one comes across

the following. When she became enamored with the

Lord and was suffering because she was unable to

reach Him, she identified herself completely with

the yadava girls who also suffered in a similar

fashion from their separation with Sri Krishna.

Thiruppavai is thus her outpouring while thinking

like a idaippeN (yadava girl).

 

Our acharyas have expressed thier amazement that

even though Andal grew up in a Srivaishnava family

as Periyazhvar's daughter, she does not once speak

of Brahmin behaviour such as performing rituals

and hOmams and instead talks of cows, buffaloes,

hens, etc.; and that she even knew about things

such as "erumai siRuveedu mEyvAn paranthanakAN".

This goes to show that she had fully assumed the

qualities of the yadava girls and shed her

brahmin identity. This might explain why she did

not talk about things such as Ekadasi which is of

importance in a brahmin household but not else-

where (please correct me if adiyEn is wrong in

this statement).

 

Also, she was at an age when she was likely to

talk about nOnpu's (such as pAvai nOnpu, kAman

nOnpu) and games such as koodalazhaiththal, rather

than about rituals. This is seen in Thiruppavai

as well as in Nacciyar Thirumozhi.

 

To answer the second question, one has to again

read Andal's vaibhavam. She was enamored with

Him completely and in particular Vadabathrasayi in

Srivilliputhoor and considered herself His bride.

Hence she would wear garlands meant for Him first.

This was also the time when she identified herself

with the yadava girls (upon the advise of the

elders).

 

In Thiruppavai she was writing mainly about the

vibhavataram of Sri Krishna (and also about other

vibhavatarams such as Sri Rama and Sri Vamana).

But, she does not write about any archavatarams.

In Nacciyar Thirumozhi, she does mention Thirumal-

iruncolai Azhagar and Sri Ranganathar. But she

does not indicate that she thought herself as the

bride of Sri Ranganathar. In her vaibhavam it

is said that once she made it clear to Periyazhar

that she would marry none but Him ("mAnidvarak-

kenRu pEccuppadil vAzhakillEn"), he described to

her the kalyANa guNams and perumai of the 108

divyadEsap perumAL's and that is when she selected

Sri Ranganathar as her groom. Thus, she did not

write about any archavatarams in Thiruppavai

including Sri Ranganathar.

 

If there are any errors in the statements above,

adiyEn begs the forgiveness of everyone.

 

madhurakavi dAsan

TCA Venkatesan