“Hreeschathey lakshmeescha pathniyoo” says Purushu sooktham, in this “Hree” denotes Bhoomi piratti, and added even before the word lakshmi to emphasize the importance/specality of Bhoomi piratti and similarly the word “Bhoogarbo” in vishnu sahasranam also denotes the same, Just like
the cow constantly thinks about the calf, and mother of a child always keeps or maintains the well being of her child on her list of priorities, similarly is Bhoo Devi, who is mother earth and mother of mothers is constantly worried about her children i,e, (us).
During Varaha Avataram, Maha Vishnu, took incarnation as a Varaha/Gyana Piran defeated & killed Hiranyaksha and brought back the Bhoomi Piratti (earth) and restored to its place in the universe, still piratti did not have solace, she asked emperumaan to show a way for the spiritual upliftment of chetanas, emperumaan replied about many dharmas and lastly declared 3 ways as resort
1. Thoo malar thuvudhal (worshipping with flowers)
2 Thozudhal / Vanangudhal (prostrate before HIM)
3. Vaayinal Paadi Manthinaal sindhiithal ( singing his glories & keeping
HIM always in our thoughts)
Bhoo dhevi, immediately put 3 knots in her saree pallu to remember them and not only preached them but also executed all the 3, during her avataram as Andal in this world to remind this she declared in Naachiyar Thirumozhi as
Paasithoorthukidantha paarmagatku pandorunaal
maasukadambil neervaara maanamila pandriyan
theesuudaya devar thiruvaranga selvanar
pesi irrupanagal perkkavum peravee
Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha are the chaturvida purusharthas of them Kama (desire) is divided into two 1)Vishaya Kama 2)Aathma Kama
Visaya kamam is one which can make a man to degrade himself to the state of a beast, to enjoy the zenith of sensual pleasures
If we change the way of this vishaya kama with a wise perseverance & dedication its nature changes and thus is born Aathma Kamam which makes a man to break the bonds of this samsara, and know the nature of parathvam and in this way Aathma Kamam grows into a higher elevated spiritual level called Bhagavath Kamam which gives a bhaagavatha a great spiritual pleasure & ultimately leads to eternal bliss this is also mentionend by Thiruvarangathu Amudanar in “Ramanuja Nootriandadi” as “Kannanukke aamadhu Kamam” stating Kamam towards Krishna must be there first in hearts of everyone
Andal in her thiru avataram in this world, enacted and showed us the bhagavath kamam which makes way for prapathi thus leading the chetanas towards the right destination. Thus Andal was born only for the Ujjeevanam of chetanas like us.
During Rama avataram, when the Lord Sri Rama goes in search of Sita Devi, he asks trees,animals and other things, whether they had seen Sita, he also asks River Godavari “Have you seen Sita, where is she?” But still though Sita had told her to speak to Rama, Godavari did not dare to answer him, still remembering the terrible form of Ravana thus accumulated “apacharam or sin,” this was in Treta Yugam, River Godavari had to wait till Kali yuga to cleanse her sin. When Vishnu Chittar named the girl child he found near Tulasi plant as “Goda”, River Godavari had cleansed her sin, since Goda was first half of her name, Thus the birth of Goda devi purified River Godavari from the apacharam done to Sri Rama.
Thus when the name itself, can cleanse the sin, what to say about the prabandhams delivered by her. From being the only women, saint she rose to become the consort of the lord and her songs had spread throughout the length and breadth of the country and even in far off places like Siam(present day Thailand) where the “pavai festival” was celebrated, In Thailand, it is customary to sing Thiruppavai on the coronation ceremonies of the kings
Even today, in all sri vaishnava temples, a separate shrine is for Andal, but it is not so for other alwars , and this speaks volumes about her greatness. Our Mamunigal in his Upadesa Ratinamala praises her as
Anju kudikkoru santhathiyaya aazhvaargal
thancheyalai vinchi nirkum thanmaiyalaay pinjaay
pazhuthaalai aandaalai bakthivudan naalum
vazhuthaay maname makinzhdu
In the above verses Mamunigal describes Andal as heir of 5 alwars
Swamy puts Mudal alwargal (Poigai alwar, Buddathu alwar and Pey alwar) in the first place, Thirumaishai Alwar in the 2nd place, Nammalwar in 3rd place, Kulasekara alwar in 4th place and Perialwar in 5th place, Thus Andal is the heir of all above mentioned 5 alwars and also outstanding from all of them, since alwars,( in divya prabandham) sometimes posed themselves with feminine qualities assuming Nayika bhavam,to express their love/bhakti towards Emperumaan, Nammalwar took the name of Parankusa nayaki and Thirumangai alwar took the name of Parakala nayaki & Perialwar also assumed himself as Yashodha, while enjoying Krishna Chestithangal, but in case of Andal, it is not so, since by nature she is a woman, her outpourings were more natural,& divine Of all these alwars Andal is ranked first this could be due many reasons
1 .She attained Bramhagynanam at a very early age
2 She delivered Thirupavai and Nacchiyar Thirumozhi, when she was around 5 to 7 years old
3 She herself is the avataram of Bhoomi Piratti, and could have had the necessary knowledge by nature
Thus Mamunigal salutes Andal, dedicating 4 stanzas in Upadesa Ratna Mala.
On this auspicious day, let us also pray to” Andal Nacchiyar” and “Shengan Thirumugathu Selva Thirumal” to grace all adiyars with “Neegaadha Kainkarya Selvam”
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