[sri ramanuja] SRI ANDAL AND ALWARS – A STUDY By Sri U.Ve. Elayavilli Sriraman Swami

[Guest guest]

SRI ANDAL AND ALWARS – A STUDY

By Sri U.Ve., Elayavilli Sriraman Swami, Bangalore

 

Today is Tiruvadippooram. All Srivaishnavas in the world are sure to

celebrate this festival. We have also celebrated at Bangalore by

chanting Tiruppavai, Nacchiyar Tirumozhi, etc followed by my

discourse. I hereby wish to join you all by writing this essay which

is the essence of my discourse.

The subject matter of the lecture is that Sri Andal excels all other

Alwars in so many respects. Let us examine them all one by one.

 

1. Alwars were ordinary souls just like any on of us. Sri

Nammalwar has made a solemn declaration and testifies to this fact.

He says in his Tiruvoimozhi, "Mari Mari pala pirappum pirandu". The

Lord finally in one of his (Nammalwar's) birth, bestowed on him

knowledge and devotion, dispelling his entire ignorance. So he

became equal to Nitya Suris, even while he was living in this world.

This is the case with all the other Alwars. But in the case of Andal

there was no need for the lord to bless her with supreme knowledge

and devotion and also to dispel ignorance as it was non-existing

always.

Alwars were woken up (ignorance) by the lord. The lord thought that

thereafter all the Alwars would take care of all the souls in this

world. Hence he reposed with confidence. Then the Alwars woke Him up

by singing Suprabhata. In this context I am reminded of a funny

tale. A couple attended a discourse. The discourser gave the

definition for a chaste lady, "she who sleeps after her husband

sleeps and gets up before he rises from his bed". The couple

returned home. The husband was reading a book on our Sampradayam.

The lady shouted at him, "Who can I become a chaste woman, if you do

not go to bed early?" the staggered husband blinked at her unable to

understand her. "What do you mean?" he asked her in a feeble voice.

The lady replied, "If you retire to bed early, I can sleep after

you. I am already half asleep. If a woman should become chaste she

must sleep after her husband goes to sleep. Did the discourser say

so or not? So go to bed quickly, so that I may fulfill the first

condition". The helpless and hapless husband had no other choice

except obeying his spouse as she had determined to become a chaste

lady. Later on while he was half asleep the wife woke him up

suddenly and commanded him, "look here, and even if you get up early

in the morning do not get out of the bed. Lying on the bed, wake me

up and go to sleep again, so that I may wake you up to become

chaste". The husband now totally lost his sleep throughout the

night.

All the Alwars are almost equal to this woman. They were woken up

from the slumber and then they woke Him up. This is the case with

Periyalwar and Thondaradipodi Alwar. But Sri Andal does not belong

to this category. She herself went to lord Krishna, who was enjoying

the company of Nappinai even as a lion would relax embracing tightly

the lioness woke and taught Him the lesson that He should recruit

all the souls for his service without which they would be useless.

This is a glaring contrast between Sri Andal and Alwars.

 

To be continued…..

 

Pray for Sri Andal and Rangamannar's blessings on you all,

celebrating Tiruvadippooram festival.

Sri Ramanuja Dasa, Elayavilli Sriraman