Andal – Goda Devi

Mar-24-2012             (Saturday)

Early life

Andal is believed to have been discovered under a Tulsi(Basil) plant in the temple garden of Srivilliputtur, by a person named Vishnuchitta who later became one of the most revered saints in Hinduism, Periyalvar. The child was named Kodhai. This is popularly thought to mean "a beautiful garland" in Tamil^[2] .  The name Kodhai is often Sanskritized as Goda. Kodhai was raised by Vishnuchitta. Kodhai grew up in an atmosphere of love and devotion. Vishnuchitta doted on her in every respect, singing songs to her about Bhagavan Sri Maha Vishnu; teaching her all the stories and philosophy he knew; and sharing with her his love for Tamil poetry. As Kodhai grew into a beautiful maiden, her love and devotion for the Bhagavan Sri Maha Vishnu grew to the extent that she decided to marry none but the Bhagavan Sri Maha Vishnu Himself only. As days progressed, her resolve strengthened and she started to live in a dream world with her beloved Bhagavan Sri Maha Vishnu and was constantly fantasizing about marrying Him. ^[3]

Vishnuchitta had the responsibility of delivering flower garlands to the Bhagavan Sri Maha Vishnu's temple, everyday. Kodhai made these garlands and sent it to her beloved Bhagavan Sri Maha Vishnu through her father. Eventually she started acting unusual by wearing the flower garland which was meant to be offered to the Bhagavan Sri Maha Vishnu. This is generally considered sacrilege in Hinduism because the scriptures teach the devotees not to offer to the Bhagavan Sri Maha Vishnu, a thing that has already been used by a human being. However, Kodhai felt she should test to see how the garland suited her and only if it did, she should offer it to the Bhagavan Sri Maha Vishnu. One day, she was caught red-handed by her father in this strange act, and as an orthodox devotee he was extremely upset. He rebuked her and told her not to repeat the sacrilegious act in the future. Frightened and apologetic, Kodhai made a new garland for the offering that day. Legend says that that very night the Bhagavan Sri Maha Vishnu appeared to Vishnuchitta in his dream and asked him why he had discarded Kodhai's garland instead of offering it to Him. The Bhagavan Sri Maha Vishnu is believed to have told Vishnuchitta that He had whole-heartedly accepted Kodhai's offering all this time. This moved Vishnuchitta so much even as he started to realize the Divine Love that existed between the Bhagavan Sri Maha Vishnu and his daughter. From this day on, Kodhai is believed to have been respected by the devotees and came to be known as "Andal", the girl who "ruled" over the Bhagavan Sri Maha Vishnu. She is also known by a phrase Soodi kodutha Sudarkodi which means "The bright creeper-like woman who gave her garlands after wearing them".

Marrying the Bhagavan Sri Maha Vishnu

As Andal blossomed into a fifteen-year-old beautiful young woman of marriageable age (girls were married at a much younger age in those days), her father prepared to get her married to a suitable groom. Andal, however, was stubborn and insisted that she would marry only the Bhagavan Sri Maha Vishnu at Srirangam. This perplexed and worried her father. Legend has it that he had a vision give by the Bhagavan Sri Maha Vishnu, once again, and was instructed to send Andal to Srirangam; the Bhagavan Sri Maha Vishnu simultaneously commanded the priests at Srirangam, in their dreams, to prepare for the wedding. Andal who was anxious to reach Srirangam was unable to control herself in her urgency to meet her beloved Bhagavan Sri Maha Vishnu. She ran into the sanctum sanctorum of the Bhagavan Sri Maha Vishnu and is believed to have merged with Him completely at that point.^[4]

Literary works

Andal composed two works in her short life of fifteen years. Both these works are in Tamil verse form and are exceptional in their literary, philosophical, religious, and aesthetic content. Her contribution is even more remarkable considering that she was a girl of fifteen when she composed these verses and her prodigiousness amazes readers till date.

Her first work is the Thiruppavai, a collection of thirty verses in which Andal imagines herself to be a Gopi or cowherd girl during the incarnation of Bhagavan Sri Maha Vishnu Krishna. She yearns to serve Him and achieve happiness not just in this birth, but for all eternity, and describes the religious vows (pavai) that she and her fellow cowherd girls will observe for this purpose. ^[5]

^[The second is the Nachiar Tirumozhi, a poem of 143 verses. Tirumozhi, literally meaning "Sacred Sayings", is a Tamil poetic style. "Nachiar" means Goddess, so the title means "Sacred Sayings of the Goddess." This poem fully reveals Andal's intense longing for Vishnu, the Divine Beloved. Utilizing classical Tamil poetic conventions and interspersing stories from the Sanskrit Vedas and Puranas, Andal creates imagery that is possibly unparalleled in the whole gamut of Indian religious literature. However, conservative Vaishnavite institutions do not encourage the propagation of Nachiar Tirumozhi as much as they encourage Tiruppavai. This is because Nachiar Tirumozhi is belongs to an erotic genre of spirituality that is similar to Jayadeva's Gita Govinda.

The impact of these works on the daily religious life of the South Indian has been tremendous. Just like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the Thiruppavai is recited with great religious fervor by women, men, and children of all ages, particularly in Tamil Nadu. The daily services in most Vaishnava temples and households include this recitation. Both of these works, particularly the Thiruppavai, has been studied extensively by innumerable scholars. It has also been translated into a number of languages over the centuries.

Status in the Society

Andal is now one of the best-loved poet-saints of the Tamils. Pious tradition reckons her to be the veritable descent of Bhumi Devi (Mother Earth) in bodily form to show humanity the way to His lotus feet. She is present in all Sri Vaishnava temples, in India and elsewhere, next to her Bhagavan Sri Maha Vishnu, as she always desired. During the month of Margazhi, discourses on the Tiruppavai in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi and English take place all over India. ^[7]

Compiler : Prof. Komaragiri Venkata Ramana Rao. Ph.D., (Retired Professor; Andhra University College of Engineering); Astrologer-Scienitst. Durham. NC; U.S.A.: (Tatayya = Grand-father). My e-mail address : pandit@jyothishi.com----------I am not the author of these stories. I only presented them here free for benefit of all readers. -------  I dedicate all these stories in the blog with utmost devotion to Sri Parama  Paalakas (Supreme Rulers of this entire Universe): Bhagavan Sri Siddhi Vinayaka,  Sri Lakshmi Narayana and Sri Gouri Sankara and Sri Saraswathi and Bhagavan Sri Venkateswara !  Aum tat sath !