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Part 2
 It is surmised that Sri ANDAL wrote/sang the ThiruppAvai and
nAcciyAr thirumozhi in her teen-years and that she got
married to the Lord when she was fifteen. Since she was an
incarnation of BhUdEvi, the divine grace carried over into her human
life. The theme of ThiruppAvai is the pAvai nOnbu (vratam)
observed by young maidens who pray to the Lord for general
prosperity for all humanity and to engage in service to the Lord. In
the olden days girls used to bathe in the river before sunrise, make
a girl idol out of wet sand and observe the rituals the rest of the
day, especially in the month of mArgazhi. This is in a way
similar to the KAtyAyani vratam observed in the north praying
to the dEvi to get them good husbands. In ThiruppAvai, ANDAL
asks boons for everybody and not for herself. The predominant
request is to serve the Lord.
When ANDAL merged with the Lord in Srirangam, her foster-father
VishNucittar cried “ANDAL” and lamented thus:
Oru magaLai uDaiyEn. ulagam niRainda pugazhAl
thirumagaL pOl vaLarththEn; sengaNmAl thAn koNDupOnAn
(I had one
daughter; I raised her to be famous and splendorous like goddess
Lakshmi; the crimson-eyed Lord took her away). ANDAL’s works
were given the titles after her time perhaps by the compiler-editor
nAthamuni recognizing her status as a goddess.
 Theme of ThiruppAvai: The anthology, ThiruppAvai, stresses
bhakti and service to the Lord as the predominant theme. It is a
prescription or exhortation for the young maidens on how to observe
the rites of worship. It is also a guideline for the general
population to attain salvation. According to VEda PirAn Bhattar (12th
century CE) ThiruppAvai will “terminate crimes and sins and guide us
to the Lord’s feet ….is a seed for the entire vEdAs”. ANDAL was
advised to observe the mArgazhi bath ritual, a custom of earlier
times for nubile girls to secure choice husbands. In singing the
hymns, ANDAL imagined herself to be a cowgirl (of GOkulam) and
transported herself into the past (Krishna’s time) and called on all
the girls of AyarpADi to join her at dawn each day during the month
of mArgazhi to bathe in the (YamunA) river and perform the rituals.
She includes the details of awakening all her mates, bathing in the
river, worshipping the Lord, and requesting the boons (to be of
service to the Lord). Thus, the 30 hymns constitute a poetic
description of a sacred vow taken by a maiden. On the philosophical
front they constitute a spiritual awakening of an individual soul
seeking a divine union with the paramAtmA. To sum up, the
title ThiruppAvai means a “sacred vow” taken by a young maiden to
request boons from the Lord and be of service to Him.
Let us take a general look at what the songs convey. In the first
segment (verses 1-5) ANDAL invites all the other girls in the
village for the bath and the sacred vow. She describes the process
of observance of the vow and the guidelines. The fruit of such a
penance is adequate rain and prosperity for all. Any obstacles that
would occur would be eliminated upon worshipping the Lord. In verses
6-15 ANDAL and her few friends go about the streets and wake
up still-slumbering girls reminding them to join them and visit the
Lord. In verses 16-17 the girls go to the palace of
nandagOpAlan (foster-father of Krishna) and exhort the gatekeepers
to open the doors, and then wake up nandagOpan, YasOdhai, Krishna,
and Balaraman. In verses 18-20 they wake up the reluctant
nappinnai (also known as nILAdEvi), and Krishna by appealing to them
jointly. In verses 21-29 the gOpis submit that they have come
to Krishna to worship Him and seek boons. They narrate many of his
exploits, pride themselves that He was born and raised in their
cowherd community and request Him to let them serve Him forever. In
verse 30 ANDAL describes the benefit of reciting the hymns
and observing the rituals.
Specific Hymns: Let us examine a few songs in detail. In the
very first song, mArgazhith thingaL (மார்கழித்
திங்கள் ), the girls of gOkulam are told that
it is the full moon day in the month of mArgazhi and that they all
should go to the river to cleanse themselves, take part in the
pAvai nOnbu, and visit the Lord who will grant their wishes. The
second song, vaiyaththu vAzhvIrgAL (வையத்து
வாழ்வீர்காள்) tells everybody the details of
the nOnbu such as: bathing in the river, not eating ghee or drinking
milk, not applying collyrium to their eyes nor wearing flowers on
their tresses, not indulging in prohibited acts including gossip or
tattle-tale, and giving alms to the deserving and poor. The fifth
song, mAyanai mannu (மாயனை
மன்னு), describes the benefits that would
accrue if one offers flowers and worships the darling of the cowherd
community (Krishna) such as the elimination of the past and future
sins. In song #13, kanaiththiLang kaRReRumai (கனைத்திளங்
கற்றெறுமை), the gOpis try hard to wake up a
reluctant girl who is the sister of a prosperous cowherd. They are
at the front door of the girl’s house while mist is falling on their
heads. They tease her that everybody in her house is aware of her
deep slumber and that it would be unbecoming of her if she did not
come out and join them in singing the praise of the Lord who
conquered the king of lankA. After collecting all the girls
they all proceed to the mansion of nandagOpan.
Verses 18, 19, and 20:
உந்து மதகளிற்றன …
(undhu madhakaLiRRan),
குத்து
விளக்கெரிய
...(kuththu viLakkeriya),
and
முப்பத்து மூவர் ….(muppaththu
mUvar)
In song #18,
having arrived at nandagOpan’s mansion, the gOpis address
nappinnai, daughter-in-law of nandagOpan and spouse of Krishna,
to open the door for them since it was already dawn and the cuckoos
are singing. They said they have come to sing Krishna’s praise.
Next, they are addressing Krishna (in song # 19) who is still
lying down in an ivory-legged bed, on a soft mattress, with
nappinnai. When Krishna didn’t respond, they resort again to
persuade nappinnai to send out Krishna rebuking her that it is not
fair that she keeps Krishna all to herself. Having hit a wall, they
then resort to another joint-appeal to both Krishna and nappinnai
(in song #20) asking Krishna to come out and requesting
nappinnai to send Krishna out with a mirror (actually a polished
metallic plate) and a hand-fan (visiri in Thamizh) to enable
them to perform the rituals. Krishna is expected to accompany them
so that they take their holy dip in the river together.
The next few songs
dwell on the exploits of Krishna such as the killing of the various
demons and the agents of Kamsan and finally Kamsan himself. The
gOpis then formally invite Krishna to sit in his throne room so that
they can have his audience and submit their requests to Him.
Verses 26 and 27:
mAlE maNivaNNA (மாலே
மணிவண்ணா)
and kUDArai vellum (கூடாரை
வெல்லும்).
The events described in these two songs have been interpreted as
akin to the observance of EkAdasi and dwAdasi, two
important days in a fortnight among austere Hindu practices when
fasting and feasting, respectively, are undertaken on these two
days. In song #26, the gOpis tell Krishna what material items
they need to observe the vow after the bath on the mArgazhi day.
They mention a stentorian conch (similar to pAnchajanyam of
Krishna), a big drum, people to recite “pallANDu” (recited by
PeriyAzhwAr), a bright lamp, a flag (dwaja), and a canopy
which are needed to sing the praise of the Lord during the worship.
In song #27, the gOpis expect gifts from Krishna (as a
sanmAnam for their service). They want bracelets, shoulder
ornament, earrings and the pendants which go with them, anklets, and
nice clothes to go with the ornaments. Then they will eat sweet rice
cooked in milk (akkAra aDisil) smeared with ghee which runs
down their elbow while eating. They then declare their kinship with
Krishna since they all belong to the cowherd community.
Song #29, the
penultimate verse, (siRRanj ciRukAlE,
சிற்றஞ்
சிறுகாலே)
is the crux of the whole message that ANDAL conveys.
She describes the reason for the visit of the girls in clear terms.
There is an unbreakable bondage between the cowherd girls and
Krishna. The members of the community earn their living by tending
the cows. They request Him not to reject their services in view of
the common bondage between them and Him although they are
unlettered. In addition, they declare that they are not seeking His
grace just for that day only but forever in future births too. They
desire to be with the Lord and serve Him at all times. The material
desires are transient and they request Him to quell such desires in
them. The key phrase here is “iRRaip paRai koLvAn anRu”
— i.e., not get your grace just for today but “eRRaikkuM,
EzhEzh piRavikkum” (forever and in all future
births). They will serve only Him and no other.
Finally, song #30
(vangak kaDal kaDainda...
வங்கக் கடல்
கடைந்த),
is the signature (mudrA) song wherein ANDAL mentions that
she, the daughter of Bhattar pirAn of SrivillipuththUr, has narrated
the story of how the AyarpADi girls obtained the grace of the Lord
in the 30-hymn garland that she submits to the Lord. She also states
that those who recite these 30 hymns unremittingly will obtain the
grace of the Lord without fail.
Epilogue:
In discussing the meanings of the songs above, we have barely
scratched the surface. What we have given here is just the
superficial meaning with minimal philosophical connotation.
VaishNavaite scholars have written theses on ThiruppAvai, dwelling
on Eucharistic details of VishishTAdvaitam. ANDAL has implied all
such details in the hymns, having been instructed on VaishNavaite
philosophy by her father from her childhood onwards. We have
deliberately avoided philosophical discussion since it is beyond the
scope of this article. Besides, this writer is inadequately equipped
to treat that subject.
It is significant that
ANDAL used literary (and not colloquial) Thamizh tantamount to
sangath Thamizh. Except for certain Sanskrit words describing
Krishna, ANDAL has used a style and diction matching any classic
literary work in Thamizh. That has led many people to interpret the
meanings of the songs in different shades. For example, the words
paRai, pAvai, pAvAy, ElOr embAvAy have all been interpreted
differently by many writers — both scholarly and amateurish. The
word paRai has different
meanings such as drum, circle, desired object, blessings and grace.
Except in one hymn (#26) where paRai means a drum, in many other
hymns paRai refers to “blessings” or “grace” which is what the gOpis
seek from the Lord and not a trivial material object such as a drum.
Many interpretations have employed that meaning erroneously.
Likewise, pAvai means puppet or doll, image, picture and
maiden. But in the context used here in the title ThiruppAvai, it
means “sacred vow” or “nOnbu”. When the word is pAvAy
it indicates an address to a girl. Finally, “ElOr embAvAy” could be
taken to mean “come my dear girl, join the ritual”. On the other
hand since that expression is appended to all the 30 hymns
irrespective of the end words of the hymn, it can also be taken as
just an appendage to provide a musical sound.
ThiruvADip pUraththu segaththudhiththAL vAzhiyE
ThiruppAvai muppadhum ceppinAL vAzhiyE
PeriyAzhwAr peRReDuththa peN piLLai vAzhiyE
PerumpudhUr mAmunikkup pinnAnAL vAzhiyE
oru
nURRu nARpaththu mUnRuraiththAL vAzhiyE
uyararangaRkE kaNNiyugandharuLiththAL vAzhiyE
MaruvArum thirumalli vaLa nADi vAzhiyE
VaNpudhuvai nagark kOdhai malarp padhangaL vAzhiyE
திருவாடிப் பூரத்து
செகத்துதித்தாள் வாழியே
திருப்பாவை முப்பதும் செப்பினாள்
வாழியே
பெரியாழ்வார் பெற்றெடுத்த பெண்
பிள்ளை வாழியே
பெரும்புதூர் மாமுனிக்குப்
பின்னானாள் வாழியே
ஒரு நூற்று நாற்பத்து
மூன்றுரைத்தாள் வாழியே
உயரரங்கற்கே கண்ணியுகந்தருளிதாள்
வாழியே
மருவாரும் திருமல்லி வள நாடி
வாழியே
வண்புதுவை நகர்க் கோதை மலர்ப்
பதங்கள் வாழியே
General References:
For Thamizh text:
http://tiruppavai.net/hymn.html
For English transliteration and overall meaning:
http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/3030/tpavai.htm
http://www.geocities.com/bhaaradwaj/prayer/tiruppaavai.html
(To be continued)
Sethuraman Subramanian
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