A Revolutionary lady - Sri Anbil Ramaswamy's brilliant write up - Part 3

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika Mahadesikaya nama:

 

Dearest all,

Subsequent to the first two posts and the overwhelming

responses, here is 3rd post.

Sri Anbil Ramaswamy Swami is pouring in with his Godha

sthuthi posts as well. Insatiable nectar for all your

consumption and pleasure

 

Regards

Namo narayana

dAsan

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

12. Authentic Sequence of Vedic wedding

 

Though she had an Inter caste marriage, she seems to

have undergone the ceremony in the strict Vedic

manner. This is vouched by her narration of her “dream

scene” in “VaaraNam Aayiram” (Naachiyaar Tirumozhi

10). The exact sequence of a Vedic wedding has been

brought out in clear detail. It was not a mere dream

but we are told that she did marry Rangamannar at

Srivilliputtur in the traditional way. She was thus

the FIRST to describe the elements of Vedic wedding in

such detail and is being followed in all Hindu

weddings even to this day!

None other than Andal seems to have attempted this for

our guidance.

 

(It will be noticed that “Maangalya DaaraNam” that the

Television and movies trumpet in season and out of

season with the popular lines “maangalyam

TantudaanEna” is NOT A VEDIC MANTRA AT ALL and it has

become part of the ceremonies by way of tradition, the

most important components being PaaNigrahaNam and

Saptapathi)

 

13. “Hen- pecked” husband?

 

Yet another revolution that she engineered is that she

converted her spouse virtually into a “hen pecked”

husband! Rama’s story shows how he carried out the

command of his father (pitru vaakhya paripaalanam).

 

But, what did Godha’s husband do?

 

He did “pathni Vaakhya paripaalanam”!

In wedding ceremonies, elders used to utter the

following mantra: “moorthaanaam pathyur aarOha” which

means “Place your feet on the head of your husband”.

It is not to be taken literally. It is a figurative

way of advising that the wife should conduct herself

in such a way that her husband would not mind even her

placing her foot on his head! Indeed, they were an

ideal couple “made for each other” that they were

devoted to each other and their thoughts were in

unison with each other. In fact, Swami Desika in Bhoo

Sthuthi 10 says that the lord bore BhoodEvi on his

head” “Bhavateem sirasaa dadaati”

 

Arangan ruled Arangam. But Godha ruled over Arangan

himself!

 

{Let not modern womenfolk try doing this (especially

in public) because tolerance by a husband would be

possible ONLY IF the wife is an ideal spouse reading

the mind and acting according to the husband’s wishes.

Otherwise, she will be branded as a “termagant” and

lose what respect she attempts to gain!

 

14. Son-in-law staying in his “In-law’s house

 

There is a Tanian (dedicatory verse) which says

“kOdai piranta oor, Govindan vaazhum oor”

Meaning that the “Lord resides at the birthplace of

Godha”. Thus, the Lord became “VeeTTOdu MaappiLLai”-

one who made his wife’s home his own home (like most

of the hen-pecked husbands of today!) Why? This is

because Andal bound him through her garland of flowers

as much as by the garland of poems.

If YasOda were there to witness this, she would have

regretted why she bound KrishNa with mere ropes!

Luckily for the Lord, he had no parents. Just imagine

that if he had parents, what they would think, on

encountering such a situation!

 

Is this not a unique achievement of Andal?

 

15. The Mediatrix (Purushaakaaram)

 

Asmad Acharyan, Srimad Andavan, Poundarikapuram Swami

Asramam used to portray a court scene.

The Lord is the presiding judge duly assisted by Sri

Devi (Mahalakshmi) and Bhoodevi (Godha) on either

side. The soul is brought before the “bench” for

trial. The long list of sins committed by it over

several lives is reeled out. The list enrages the Lord

so much that he decides to award maximum punishment.

Sridevi on his right intervenes and asks “na kaschit

na aparaadhyati?”

 

Meaning “There is none who has not erred. Let the soul

be forgiven” You will remember that Sri Sita said this

to Hanumaan when he wanted to punish the Raakshasis

who tormented her in Ashoka vana.

Paapaanaam vaa Subhaanaam vaa vadhaarhaaNaam

pLavangama!

 

Kaaryam KaruNam aaryEna na kaschit na apraadhyati//

(Valmiki Ramayanam 6.116.44)

 

The Lord then turns to his left side where sits

Bhoodevi. She is even more compassionate than Sridevi.

She says that nothing that the soul had done could be

construed as amiss, the accused has not committed any

sin at all and therefore, the question of punishing

did not arise! The Lord has now no choice except to

abdicate his right to punish and grants “mOksham” to

the soul.

This is called “Purushaakaaram” of the compassionate

mother that Andal is.

 

Her recommendation ensures immediate relief .

(like “Instant Coffee” or “Instant Rasam” that we have

come to know!)

 

Swami Desika says that if only Bhoodevi were not there

on the left side of the Lord, the angry face of the

Lord would have remained turned away forever dooming

our chances of redemption.

Aardhraaparaadhini janEpyi abhirakshaNaatrtham

RangEswarasya Ramayaa vinivEdhyamaanE/

paarsvE paratra bhavatee yadi tatra na aaseet

praayENa dEvee! Vadanam parivartitam syaat // (Godha

Sthuthi Slokam 24)

What a mercy! What a relief for the soul seeking

pardon!

We can do no better than bowing our heads for Andal’s

infinite mercy.

 

Is she not one step above Periya PiraaTTi?

 

16. Why is Oppiliappan fed on salt-less diet?

 

Oppiliappan is also known as Uppu+ili+appan. The

legend has it that the Lord desired to marry BhoodEvi

who had taken birth as the daughter of MarkaNDEya

Maharishi. The Maharishi hesitated because she was

then too young for marriage and could not even cook.

The Lord agreed to have food even without salt and

since then all savories offered to the Lord are

without salt and the Lord came to be called

“Uppu-ili-appan” What has this to do with Andal and

her revolutions?

 

You know that Andal is the incarnation of Bhoodevi

whose compassion we saw far exceeds that of Sridevi.

There is a secret behind serving Salt-less food to the

Lord.

 

Salt is said to trigger “RajOguNa”- comprising of

anger etc. Since the Lord is a strict disciplinarian

and a “DaNDadharan” (wielder of the punishing rod),

when he gets angry on seeing the unpardonable heap of

sins and indiscretions of the Jeevas, he would be

raring to mete out due punishment. If he is fed on

food without salt that would mollify his anger and the

poor soul will saved from punishment (besides probably

saving the Lord from high blood pressure!)

Is this not a trick played on the Lord by Mother Earth

for the sake of the soul?

 

17. Andal, the “Whistle-blower”!

 

In Naachiyaar Tirumozhi 11.10, she says:

semmaiyuDaiya Tiruvarangar taam paNiththa

“maymmei Peru Vaarthai” Vittuchithar kETTiruppar

Tammai ugappaarai Taam ugappaar enum soll

tammiDaiye poi aanaal saadippaar yaar iniyE?

In this stanza, Acharyas used to say that the word

“Vaarthai” refers to AshTaaksharam, “Peru vaarthai”

refers to Dwayam and “Meymmei peru vaarthai” refers to

Lord’s Charaama SlOkam in Bhagavad Gita meaning that

VishNu chitta would have heard this Charama slOkam.

The question arises, how her father, VishNu chitta who

was contemporary of Andal in Kali Yuga could be said

to have heard the Charama slOka imparted by Lord

KrishNa to Arjuna in Dwapara yuga.

 

The secret is that VishNu Chitta is the incarnation of

GaruDa, the divine bird vehicle of the Lord, even as

Andal was the incarnation of Bhoodevi. During the

Mahabharata war, he took the role of the chariot of

Arjuna because his Lord was to ride on that vehicle.

Thus, he would have been very much a witness for the

delivery of Charama slOka.

 

(Do you know that besides Arjuna and GaruDa, there was

one more witness at the battlefield? He is none other

than AnjanEya, whose figure was on the flag atop the

chariot of Arjuna. If you look at the figure of

AnjanEya on the flag, you will see his face slightly

turned away. Do you know why? It is because AnjanEya

was a witness of the Dharma Yuddha that Sri Rama waged

against Ravana in TrEta Yuga. As the Mahabharata war

advanced in Dwapara Yuga, norms of Dharma were

progressively dumped and Lord KrishNa himself was

instrumental to it on several occasions. He could not

bear to see Dharma being trampled upon)

 

A parallel to this chronological confusion could be

noticed in Bhagavad Gita. Lord KrishNa tells Arjuna

that he advised the secrets of life and death first to

Vivaswaan who advised Manu and who in turn advised

Ikshvaagu (as if it was a slip of the tongue). Arjuna

promptly hauled him up saying that KrishNa was after

all contemporary with him and how could he have

advised Vivaswaan of a bygone eon. To which, KrishNa

replies “Both of us have taken several lifes; I

remember them all but you do not” and proceeds to

reveal his message. The rest is history.

Was not Andal a consummate whistle-blower?

 

Another chronological confusion (also related to

Andal) could be seen in her ‘Vaazhi Tirunaamam”:

“Perumpudoor maa munikkup pinn aanaaL vaazhiyE”

 

How come, she is depicted as the younger sister of

Ramanuja? Is she not chronologically senior to

Ramanuja being the daughter of Periyaazhwar in an

earlier age? The answer to this riddle is that during

her days, she vowed to present “100 taDa of akkaara

aDisl” (A sweet porridge) to PerumaaL. Somehow, she

could not fulfill that promise. Once Ramanuja offered

this to the Lord and when he visited Srivilliputtur to

pay his obeisance to Andal, it would appear that a

female voice (a-sareeri) was heard from the sanctum

saying “Oh! My aNNaavO” which means: “Oh! My Elder

brother!” From that time onwards Bhagavad Ramanuja is

deemed to be Andal’s elder brother and Andal as his

younger sister.

 

[To be continued]

 

dasoham

Anbil Ramaswamy

 

 

 

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