ANdAL...

[Guest guest]

Sri:

Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:

 

Dear BhAgavatAs,

 

Humble pranams to all. "Of the months,I am the mArgashIrSha"

says the Lord in BG 10.35. This is the precious month and this is the

month our incomparable ANdAL composed her grand work TiruppAvai

observing the fast/nOnbu for the union with the Lord. Unfortunately I

never had the bhAgya to listen to upanyAsms by great SV AchAryAs on

ANdAL's(and others' too!) works but TiruppAvai and vAraNamAyiram were

the two prabandhams that I learnt first in my life. I would like saha

bhAgavatAs to share their knowledge of listening to AchAryAs on "why

ANdAL excels over others especially periyAzhvAr,parAnkusa nayaki and

parakAla nayaki?"

 

Something strikes my mind about ANdAL's greatness over others

(10 azhvArs)and would like to share and also receive feedback too.

 

NammAzhvAr says in TVM 1.7.8,that "Lord can not afford to

leave me because I am a slave to Mother Nappinnai who is ever

associated with and inseparable from Him(agalagillEn)". Because of

this mediatrix role of thAyAr,NammAzhvAr is very sure of reaching the

Lord's lotus feet.

 

ANdAL is an amsa/incarnation of bhUmA devi. The ten AzhvArs

(as per Upadesa Rathna MAlai)were nityasUris and sent by God Himself

to correct and liberate jIvAtmAs. ThAyAr/Sri is above nityasuris in

our RAmAnuja Darshanam. By this itself ANdAL is superior to all

others. Although NammAzhvAr and ParakAlan imagined themselves as

nayaki pining over the nAyaka/Lord,their's is an assumed

role,something artificial. The love between man and woman is natural

and has extra dimension that is lacking in that of man-man. That's

how the Lord has created us. Hence ANdAL didn't have to put any

effort to transform herself to nAyaki role and her love for Him is a

spontaneous smooth flow as she got that swabhAva(to love)from Sri

herself. ANdAL considered herself as the foremost gOpikA and gOpikA's

love for KrShNa is spoken in volumes in Srimad BhAgavatham.

 

Once RAdhA visited KrShNA's palace and He wasn't home and

RukmiNi happily welcomed her with hospitality and paid her humble

respects(as she was the devotee of her husband). RukmiNi,out of

affection, gave hot milk to RAdhA and RAdhA without saying anything

drank it. After chit-chatting for sometime RAdhA took leave of

RukmiNi. Then our Lord enters and when RukmiNi was about to do pAda

pUja for Him,noticed boils on His feet and questioned Him(how He

got). KrShNa replied: "RAdhA keeps My lotus feet in her heart and

worships Me. Since the milk you gave her was very hot,it burnt her

heart and that's why I have got boils on My feet". RukmiNi

says "RAdhA didn't say that it was hot". KrShNA replies that

obviously she would not as she was a great devotee of Me and would

not want to hurt anyone's feelings. This shows the greatness of

gOpikA's love for the Lord. So,ANdAL excels over NammAzhvAr and

ParakAlan's love for God.

 

How is her love superior to PeriyAzhvAr's love(YashOdA's

role)? Whenever Lord incarnates,He has to enter some garbha

(eg:kausalya,devaki) and is born but Sri/thAyAr, being the Universal

mother is unable to find a better mother than Herself,and thus

incarnates Herself without undergoing that ordeal. Since ANdAL is an

amsa of thAyAr(by swabhAva),her love is universal. She infact accrued

fame to PeriAzhvAr by becoming his foster-daughter! Just like Janaka

maharaja and Samudra rAja,PeriAzhvAr also got the fortune to become

His father-in-law.

 

Since she being the universal mother,knows very well of our

shortcomings,knows the methodologies to correct her children/us in no

time. She is a born teacher unlike others. She left the "great"

and "ever-happy" nitya vibhUti and above all she left Him and came

down to bhUlOka to redeem us. Who can surpass her love???

 

PS:I don't know if RAdhA-RukmiNi-KrShNa's incidence is mentioned in

Srimad BhAgavatam as I'm still in the first canto itself. But I have

heard about it(could be wrong also!)

 

Whatever came to this little mind is just reflected here and seek

pardon for unforseen and unintentional errors.

 

"pAdakangaL thIrkkum paraman adi kAttum

vEdam anaiththukkum viththAgum

kOdaith thammizh ay ayndhum ayndhum aRiyAdha mAnidarai

vaiyyam sumappadhum vambu"

 

ANdAL TiruvadigaLE saraNam

AzhvAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar TiruvadigaLE saraNam

NC Nappinnai

[Guest guest]

Dear Smt Nappinnai,

 

I am attaching a recent post of mine to Bhakti-list

dealing with the question of why Andal was considered

greater than the Azhvars?

 

It was based on extracts from several vyakhyanams to

Thiruppavai by our pUrvAchAryas.

 

Periyavaccan Pillai starts out in 3000padi by saying

that Andal is far greater than other Azhvars. (Andal

to Periyazhvar and Periyazhvar to other Azhvars is

like mountain to atom in each case). Then he asks

why? And follows up with the following reasons:

1. Azhvars saw Him after He woke them up; Andal woke

Him up and explained her problem. 2. Just like Sri

Lakshmana, right from her birth she was submerged in

the bhagavat guNas 3. Unlike a man liking a man, it is

natural for a woman to like a man. 4. Her bhakti to

Him is greater than that of Azhvars.

 

2000padi starts with the same comparison as 3000padi.

The reasons given are: 1. She is the only child of the

10 azhvars and received their knowledge as stree

dhanam. 2. Azhvars got divine knowledge from Him while

she went and gave divine knowledge to Him (that is,

woke Him up and presented her case). 3. Andal (who

is attached to Periyazhvar) is like Madhurakavi Azhvar,

unlike other Azhvars who are like Sri Lakshmana, and

Periyazhvar who is like Sri Bharatha. 4. Like Lakshmana,

she was attached to Him right from birth.

 

4000padi presents the following reasons: 1. From her

ten fathers (Azhvars), she received knowledge as stree

dhanam. 2. Azhvars destroyed their natural bhAvam and

took on a stree bhAvam while she had stree bhAvam

naturally. She did not have to take on that bhAvam

(anyApadesha). 3. She had greater qualities than

Azhvars (He gave her His beauty and guNa), while the

pirAttis gave her their svarUpa and svabhAva.

Therefore, unlike her fathers (the Azhvars) her

femininity was not made, but natural. 4. She too,

however has a anyApadesha which is taking on the

gOpika bhAvam. Their kulam is one that is close to

Him, as in "kulam tharum" pasuram.

 

Andal Thiruvadigale Sharanam

Azhvar Emperumanar Jeeyar Thiruvadigale Sharanam

 

adiyEn madhurakavi dAsan

TCA Venkatesan

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Sri:

Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:

Srimad Vara Vara Munaye nama:

 

Dear Sri Venkatesan,

Pranams to you. Thanks for posting Sri PVP's vyAkhyAnam. I

would also like to know what Sri MaNavALa mAmunigaL has got to say

about this(as per his own words in Upadesa Raththina MAlai). If you

have his vyAkhyAnam,can you please post it?

 

AzhvAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar TiruvadigaLE saraNam

NC Nappinnai

[Guest guest]

Dear Smt.Napinnai,

Your piece on Andal is moving and inspiring.

I have heard in discouses that there is no reference

to Radha in Srimad Bhagavatam or any Purana.She also

does not figure in Divya Prabandham or any Tamil

classic. Radha is a character in various Hindi

devotional works of medieval period.

Nappinnai figures in both Divya Prabandham and Tamil

classics, but not in Sanskrit. Sri Appayya

Dikshitar[15th century] has stated that Nappinnai

figures in Sri Vishnu Dharmam, but according to Sri

Prativadi Bhayankaram Annangaracharya Swamy, the

extant Sri Vishnu Dharmam text does not have reference

to Nappinnai.

It is possible that Radha and Nappinnai represent folk

traditions of devotional Vaishnavism.

Regards,TCAsrinivasaramanujan

 

T. C. A Srinivasaramanujan

Email: tcasr

[Guest guest]

Sri:

Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:

 

Dear Smt Nappinnai,

 

adiyEn's praNams.

 

Unfortunately, I do not have the vyakhyanam for

Upadesaratthinamalai. So, I will simply point out

directly what Mamunigal has said about Andal and

why she is thought of as greater than the Azhvars.

 

The first point he raises is "emakkAgavanRO ingu

ANdAL avathariththAL" - she came to this world for

our sake. And what did she leave behind? "kunRAtha

vAzhvAna vaikuntha vAn bOgam thannai igazhnthu" -

she left that place where the joy never diminishes

("anthamil pErinbam"). The other azhvars did not

have the same status as our thayar. They were jIvas

like us (there is also the thought that they were

amsams of nithyasUris), who were seeking to reach

His lotus feet. In that process, they were showing

us the path. Andal on the other hand was already at

His lotus feet; so her supreme sacrifice (after all

the upanishads say that no one returns here from Him

"na ca punarAvartate") in leaving Him to walk amongst

us and show us the path to reach Him, makes her greater

than the Azhvars.

 

She was born as "periyAzhvar peNpiLLai". She could

have been born anywhere, to anyone; but she chose

to be born as Periyazhvar's daughter. Periyazhvar's

greatness is amazing. Who would think of singing

mangalashasanam to Him for His protection? Perhaps

the gOpikas with their unconditional love for Him

come the closest. To be born as his daughter simply

elevates her to unseen heights.

 

The effect of being Periyazhvar's daughter is seen

in the fact that her bhakti and love for Him came to

her right from the time she was born. After all, she

was born not in a lotus, but in a thulasi bed, the

same thulasi which is extremely dear to Him. Mamunigal

makes this point of her devotion starting at a young

age by saying "pinjAy pazhuththALai". The other

azhvars don't appear to have had this kind of devotion

starting at such a young age.

 

Mamunigal next says "ANdALukku (oppu) uNdAgil" - this

means that she has none equal to her (and the implied

is that none superior to her). Recall, Parasara Bhattar's

famous point to Sri Ranganatha that He could not match

thAyar's karuNa that She shows in Her eyes, even when He

matches Her beauty in the nAcciyAr kOlam.

 

Finaly, Mamunigal says "anjukudikkoru santhathiyAy" -

she is the sole heir to the Azhvars (and perhaps even

all Srivaishnavas) - the anjum kudi - the clan that is

forever worried about His safety and well-being. Being

their only heir means that she inherits all their wealth

(which is their qualities, knowledge, devotion, love),

as stree dhanam. Possessing their combined wealth makes

her greater than them.

 

To top it all, She is also the heir to the greatest amongst

acharyas, Bhagavad Ramanuja. She became his younger sister

("perumbUdur mAmunikku pin AnAL") and as such inherits

everything from him as well.

 

Let me finish with this anecdote. Someone once asked

Ramanuja to discourse on a pasuram of Thiruppavai. His

answer was "One may find someone capable of speaking

about even ThiruppallANdu, but one will not find such a

person for Thiruppavai". So, the fact that she gave us

Thiruppavai alone ("vEtham anaiththukkum viththAgum" -

the seed for all the Vedas), is probably sufficient to

prove her greatness.

 

Azhvar Emperumanar Jeeyar Thiruvadigale Sharanam

adiyEn madhurakavi dAsan

TCA Venkatesan

 

--- "vaidhehi_nc <nappinnai_nc"

<nappinnai_nc wrote:

> Sri:

> Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:

> Srimad Vara Vara Munaye nama:

>

> Dear Sri Venkatesan,

> Pranams to you. Thanks for posting Sri PVP's

> vyAkhyAnam. I

> would also like to know what Sri MaNavALa mAmunigaL has

> got to say

> about this(as per his own words in Upadesa Raththina

> MAlai). If you

> have his vyAkhyAnam,can you please post it?

>

> AzhvAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar TiruvadigaLE saraNam

> NC Nappinnai

 

 

 

 

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