Inputs for CD ROMs on ANDAL: Part V

[Guest guest]

General Remarks

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

ANDAL is the incarnation of Bhoomi Devi, one

of the three dear consorts of Lord Narayanan. She is

the only woman AzhwAr among the twelve AzhwArs. She

incarnated on an Aadi Pooram day in the Tulasi garden of

Sri Vishnuchittar at Srivilliputthur. Andal's charithram

is described very well by Sri Mani VaradarAjan in

Vaishnava home pages( http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/alvars/andal).

 

The 11 Dhivya Desams sung by Andal

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

The MangaLAsAsana Dhivya Desams are:(1) Thiruvarangam

(2)Thiru AayipAdi (3)ThirukkaNNapuram (4)Thirukkudanthai

(5)Thiru DhvArakai (6)Thiru Parama Padham (7)Thiru PaaRkkadal

(8)ThirumAlirumchOlai (9)Thiru Vadamathurai

(10)ThiruvilliputthUr (11)ThiruvEnkatam .

 

Fifty Nine of the 173 Paasurams of Andal perform

MangaLAsAsanam for the EmperumAns of the 11 dhivya desams.

ThiruvEnkatam, ThirumAlirumchOlai and Thiruvarangam

have received 16,11 and 10 paasurams respectively.

The EmperumAns of Srivilliputthur , ThirukkaNNapuram ,

Thirukkudanthai and Thirupparama padham have received

one paasuram each.Thiru Vadamathurai , Thiru AaypAdi,

Thiru DwArakai , all dhivya desams connected with

Lord KrishNA have received 6,5 and 4 paasurams respectively.

ThiruppARkkadal has received the remining 3 paasurams.

 

Her Prabhandhams : ThiruppAvai

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

Andal has blessed us with two immaculate prabhandhams :

ThiruppAvai (30 Paasurams)and NaacchiyAr Thirumozhi

(143 Paasurams) . In ThiruppAvai , Andal utilizes the story

of a Vratham observed by Gopis in Bhagavatham and recasts

that story with a new orientaion. She enacts the concept of

bridal mysticism to perform upadEsam for us about

the relationship between the jeevans and the Supreme

Lord that can not at all be severed and that total surrender

at His holy feet and seeking uninterrupted kaimkaryam

to Him is the parama purushArtham for us.In Thiruppavai,

Andal also awakens the sleeping Krishna and reminds Him

of His sworn duties to come to the rescue of the suffering

jeevans . Only the dearest consort of the Lord can take

such liberties with Him on behalf of us , Her children.

 

Her Prabhandhams: NaacchiyAr Thirumozhi

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

This foundling daughter of Vishnuchitthar-- known later

respectfully as PeriyAzhwAr-- grew up in a parama Bhagavatha

family and began to identify early on Lord Krishna as Her beloved.

She adorned the garlands woven for the Lord by Her dear

father to see if She would be an appropriate bride for

Her Lord .Her father was upset over the apachAram committed

by his daughter through this act and discarded that garland

worn by Her as unfit for the Lord. He created another

garland that day and presented it to the Lord of Srivilliputthur ,

Sri Vatapathra Saayee. The Lord appeared in Vishnuchitthar's

dream next morning and told him that He preferred the garland

worn by Andal because it carried Her body fragrance. From then on

Vishnuchitthar presented to the Lord only those garlands

worn first by his daughter , the Soodik Koduttha NaacchiyAr.

 

As Andal reached marriage age , She refused to be considered

for marriage to any one except the Lord Himself. She

dreamed about Her marriage to the Lord in Her other

Prabhandham , NaachiyAr Thirumozhi . The 143 passurams of

this Prabhandham are filled with the intensity of feelings

of Andal seeking the Lord as Her bridegroom , Her Lord's

indifference, Her suffering as a result of that and

finally Her aanandham over His sevai at BrundhAvanam as

Raajagopalan.Some thing wonderful happened thereafter.

 

Andal's Marriage to Lord RanganAthan

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

The Lord of Srirangam appeared in the dream of Vishnuchitthar

after Andal completed the NaacchiyAr Thirumozhi and commanded

him to bring his daughter to Srirangam for Her marriage with Him.

Vishnuchitthar obeyed he Lord's command and traveledwith his daughter

to Srirangam. When Andal reached the sanctum sanctorium of Her Lord ,

RanganAthan at Srirangam , She climbed over the bed of Adhiseshan

and merged with Her Lord .

 

Tell Me More section

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

There is a rich source of information available on the net

on ThiruppAvai and NaacchiyAr Thirumozhi of Andal. The text

of the Prabhandhams, the inner meanings of ThiruppAvai

Paasurams as given to us by PoorvAchAryAs , the recital

of the thrity paasurams by Srimathi Nithya SrI , contributed

articles on the deep VaishNavite tatthvams covered by Andal

in Her ThiruppAvai and more are are housed in the following

home pages/URL(this is just a partial list):

 

(1)http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/alvars/andal

( Life and aruLiccheyalkal of Andal by Sri Mani Varadarajan).

 

(2)http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Troy/7673/azhwars/andpas.html

(Taniyans of ThiruppAvai ,Brief commentaries on ThiruppAvai

Paasurams by Sri U.Ve.Bhuvarahacchar Swamy ).

 

(3)http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Troy/7673/Azhwars/nachiyar.html

( The postings of Srimathi Kalyani Krishnamachari on Naacchiyar

Thirumozhi decads).

 

(4)http://geocities.com/Athens/Troy/7673/azhwars/godas.html

( Swamy Desikan's Godha sthuthi and commentaries:V.SatakOpan)

 

(5)http://Srivaishnava.20m.com/pavai/pavaimeaning_index.htm

( Postings on ThiruppAvai Paasurams by U.Ve.PerukkAraNai

Swamy : V.SataKopan ); This beautiful and informative

home pages are maintained by Sri Venkataraghavan of

Baharain .

 

(6)http://www.geocities.com/Troy/7673

( Beautiful and rich home pages on Srivilliputthur

maintained by Sri Venkat Iyengar of Srivilliputthur:

The topics of coverage are -->Andal , PeriyAzhwAr ,

the temples of Andal and VatapathrasAyee , Uthsavams

for Andal and picture gallery).

 

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SaTakOpan