Thiruppavai Paasuram 2- Vaiyyathu Vaazveerkal

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srirasthu

srimathyai Godhayai nama:

srimathe Ramanujaya nama:

 

AndAL in this pAsuram, explains to Her friends the do's and dont's to

conduct this vow. Since Her appeal was for a great cause and the

prerequisite was a just interest in doing the deed, a huge group was

formed to follow Her. Infact she exclaims as to how come so many

people are interested in performing good deeds in this ignorant world.

 

She explains to them that we might, for outsiders look like we are

performing this to please the Supreme God to shower rains, but

understand that " Naamum " - i.e., we, the group of elite devotees are

different from the usual mass. This is so because we firmly believe

that to reach Him, He is the only means and we are longing for His

divine company and service.

 

The most important part of this pAsuram is when she starts dictating

the code of conduct for SrivaishnavAs in general and for people

conducting this vow in particular.First and foremost duty of a

vaishnava is to sing the glory of Sriman Narayana as said in the

drAvida and samskritha vEdhams. AndAl specifies that one should sing

the praise the His lotus feet (paraman aDi pADi) of the Lord who is

reclining on His royal serpent couch thinking about one's redemption.

Forgo all worldly desires like eating butter, ghee etc. Do not adorn

your eyes with collyrium, or decorate your hair with oil etc till the

vow is completed. All this AndAL says to stress a point that a

Srivaishnavite needs decoration only when in the union of Sriman

Narayana. Since the whole concept of this vow is to reunite with Him,

AndAl advices us to restrain from these. More importantly never

involve in an act forbidden by our ancestors. Bharata refused the

kingship though granted by his father and permitted by Rama on the

grounds that the tradition of Ikshavaaku Kings did not permit a

younger son to rule when the elder was living.

 

Most important quality of a SriVaishnava that AndAL speaks about is

that he should not speak bad about others or even think about it,

because it indirectly reflects on speaking bad about the God residing

within him. Finally when attending the vow one should give as much to

charity as possible and also impart knowledge about God to all those

who are in need of it. In a nutshell one should be in divine thoughts

and spend as much time as possible in serving and helping Him and His

devotees.

 

adiyen Ramanuja Dasan,

Madhusudanan Ramanujam

 

Andal thiruvadikale saranam

azvar emperumanaar jeeyar thiruvadikale saranam