Periazhwar was a temple priest. He looked upon Lord Krishna as his child, offering his love as the fragrant soap to bathe the child Krishna. Feeling that the Child had grown thin, he used to sing ‘பல்லாண்டு பல்லாண்டு பல்லாயிரத்தாண்டு’ ‘You must live hale and healthy for thousands and thousands of years’. God honoured Periazhwar by bestowing his consort-to-be (Andal) as the Azhwar’s foster daughter, Kothai.
All that Andal did was to look upon the Lord as her Husband and wear the garlands meant for Him. She did not seclude herself in the forest or do penance. She did not learn any mantras. She did nothing, except to be immersed in God’s Love. Periazhwar had nurtured her with Love for the Lord, describing the 108 Divya Devasams to her. She shortlisted four of those 108 forms as her prospective bridegroom. One was Lord Krishna of Mathura. Second was Tirumaliruncholai Kallazhagar whom she wooed promising 100 vessels filled with அக்கார அடிசல் (Akkara Adisal a sweet thick payasam type of preparation made of jaggery and milk). Third, Venkatachalapathy ‘வேங்கடவற்கென்னை விதிக்கிற்றியே!’ ‘மானிடற்கு என்று பேச்சுப்படில் வாழகில்லேன் கண்டாய்’ I have been born to offer this human form to the Lord. She correlates, ‘A yagam is being performed for the Lord, with mantras chanted by holy persons, and offerings made in fire. Just as it is not ethical to offer the Havis of the yagam to a fox slinking by, so too, I have taken this human form to offer it to Thee, my Lord. You, the Owner of the Cosmos, standing upright in Your Fire form, should accept me, this Poornahuthi offering to You. I would rather die if any human being attempts to take on that role’. The fourth prospective bridegroom, Ranganatha, touched by her devotion, instructed King Vallabha Deva to decorate the entire stretch from Sri Villiputthur (Andal’s birthplace) to Sri Rangam Temple, transport Andal to His Temple in the royal palanquin, and when Andal stepped into the sanctum sanctorum of Ranganatha, she merged into the Lord.
Periyaazhwar was thinking of the Lord as his child, whereas his daughter Andal took to the Lord as her Husband. Periyaazhwar sings, ‘I had one daughter; the Lord stole her away from me, claiming her for His Own’.
I pointed out a synchronization of thought between Vallalar and Andal. Vallalar says, ‘There is a house with nine gates. The thieves bribe the watchman, find the way to enter, break the lock, extinguish the lamp and steal the sleeping child’. Vallalar cries, ‘O Lord! Are You deaf that You cannot hear my wails of agony, protesting against the theft? Are You not bound by any doctrines of Dharma (Justice)? Thieves(delusions of the world) have entered into the gates of my body by bribing the watchman (the mind), broke open the lock of knowledge, put out the light of Wisdom and have stolen the child called the Soul. O Lord! I am crying for You. Is it not reaching Your Ears?’ He assumed the role of a child and pleaded with Nataraja to save his soul from being stolen by the worldly temptations. His stand was: ‘The cradle is being robbed’ – ‘My soul is being burgled by the thieves called illusion’.
Andal also wept, She wept that the Lord was not stealing her bed. Vallalar cried that the cradle (தொட்டில்) was being stolen, whereas Andal protested that her bed (கட்டில்) was not being stolen. Vallalar cried that the illusions (maya) of the world were stealing the soul, Andal was in remorse that the Lord of those illusions (Mayavan) was not stealing her.
What a vast difference! One is trying to prevent the theft, whereas the other is yearning for the theft to happen.
That is the bliss inlaid in the NayakiBhava. It will not exclude anything as not required.
Take on the Lord as your Nayaka and crave for His attention like Andal did, like Meera did. Then you will very soon attain the Ultimate.
The Paramaathma is The Only Male; all others are females.
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