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Dear friends,

The third perspective of Rain in the TiruppAvai is a deeply
individual and spiritual one. 

The 5th stanza speaks of Rain not as rain itself but in the
life-giving, life-sustaining form it takes when it flows as the great
rivers of the land. AndAl speaks here of the River Yamuna calling it
"tUya perU-neer" -- a beautiful phrase that fits, in fact, all the
great rain-fed rivers and streams of the world. 

***************************************

The Tamil word "tUya" means "purity", "pristinity", "sanctity". The
word "peru", or rather "perUmai", denotes the quality of "greatness",
"grandeur", "majesty" or "glory". God Almighty is addressed for this
reason as "perumAL", the Great One, by SriVaishnavas.

In the TiruppAvai, the River Yamuna is hailed as "tUya perU-neer"
i.e. both the river's Greatness and Sanctity are celebrated in the
5th stanza. There are reasons why the Yamuna is said to be both
"peru-neer" and "tUya-neer".

The reason why the Yamuna is hailed as "tUya-neer" is found in a
story of the "purAnA". One, dark stormy night, the child Krishna was
borne aloft on shoulders by his father, Vasudeva, in a little
wicker-basket and secretly ferried across the Yamuna. Vasudeva was
escaping from Kamsan's prison in order to reach Krishna to the safety
of Nandagopan's foster-care in Gokulam. As Vasudeva waded across the
waters, the placid Yamuna sudddenly began to rise causing great
hardship. As the waters slowly rose above Vasudeva's neck, Krishna
suddenly stuck His baby feet out of the wicker-basket and "kicked"
the waters. The Yamuna immediately subsided and Vasudeva thereafter
could easily cross the stream without further ado! 

The story goes that River Yamuna behaved in the manner narrated only
because she was keen not to miss the opportunity of a lifetime... the
oppportunity to secure "pAda-sparsha" of the Almighty! So, once the
child, Krishna obliged Yamuna with a gentle "kick" of His Divine
Feet, she felt herself instantly sanctified by the contact.
Thereafter, she quickly subsided and gave way to Vasudeva! Alluding
to that special moment in "purAnic" history, when Yamuna attained the
sanctity ("tUymai") of God, AndAl hails the river as "tUya-neer"! 

The reason why the Yamuna is hailed as "peru-neer" is be found in the
TiruppAvai itself. 

Yamuna is a perennial river copiously fed by Rain. And Rain, as AndAl
vividly describes it in the 4th stanza, is truly God-like in many
ways. Rain has its Home up in the clouds that are as dark in
complexion as Vishnu ("Uzhi-mUdalvan pOl meyy-karuttu"); it appears
with lightning that closely resembles Vishnu's weapon ("Azhi pOl
minni etc.."); it is accompanied by thunder that sounds very much
like Vishnu's war-bugle ("valampuri pOl ninradhIrndhu"); and when
Rain pours down upon earth, it behaves exactly like arrows fired from
Vishnu's bow, the "sArnga" ("sara-mazhai"). Rain, according to AndAl,
is thus truly God-like ("mudalvan-pOl", she says) and resembles
"perumAl" so much in appearance, speech and behaviour that, later on,
when it flows as the River Yamuna, it is no exaggeration at all to
call it "peru-neer"! (It is delightful to see how the poetess 
converts the "sara-mazhai" that is "perumAL-pOl" in "pAsuram" 4 into
"peru-neer" immediately in "pAsuram" 5). 

********************************************

"tUyOmaay vandOm nAm tU-malar tU-vi tOzhudhu... 
vAyinAl pAdi, manathinAl sindikka..." 

Through the above lines of Stanza 5, the 'AaypAdi' girls say, "We are
not like the Yamuna that got sanctified by contact with the baby Feet
of Lord Krishna! We have not had the privilege of
"bhagavath-pAda-sparsha"! We have not even bathed in the
'tUya-peru-neer' of the Yamuna! We are humble girls from the
"aaypAdi" and we have no "perumai" but yet we regard ourselves as
pure of spirit --"tUyOmaay vandOm"... 

The word "tUymai" gets repeated in an extrordinarily beautiful
alliteration: (a)"tUyOmaay vandOm" (b) "tu malar tOzhudu" and
(c)"tU-vi tOzhudhu vaayAl pAdi, manathinnAl sindikka".

Each of the expressions above has a "svArasyam" (delight) and a
significance of its own. It is what is sought to be savoured below,
even if only very briefly:

The expression "tUyOmaay vandOm" means: "We come with purity in our
hearts". This is a reference to Vedic "atma-shUddhi" i.e. purity of
inner spirit. Attaining "tUymai" is one of the most important goals
sought by Vedantic seekers engaged in the pursuit of God. 

Vedanta recognizes that just as the Body is naturally prone to
gathering daily grime, the Soul too tends to gather the grime of sins
('pApam'), petty and major, of omission and commission, that are
daily committed by Man in the course of life. Just as this world 
does not accept bodily un-hygiene in Man, so too in the heavenly
spheres, spiritual impurity is never accepted. The Vedantic Man knows
well that it is only after he attains a state of absolute Purity
("shuddha-sattvam") can he ascend to the Kingdom of God. In the
Upanishad this is well expressed:

"sO'hamapApO virajO nirmUktO mUkta-kilbisha: I
nAkasya prushTa-mArUhya gacchEth brahmasa-lOkatAm" II
("mahA-nArAyana-upanishad")

"I, whose Sins have been washed away, and freed of all impurities and
defects, shall now climb the regions of Heaven to the state of God!".

The Body is inherently gross and unclean. So it is easy enough to
accept that it needs frequent cleansing. The Soul ("atmA"), on the
other hand, is ever pure in its original state and really needs no
cleansing. But its association with the Body ("prakruthi-sambandham"
it is called in Vedantic parlance) exposes the Soul to all manner of
worldly impurities known as 'pApam' -- sins of Thought, Speech and
Deed, sins of "kAma, krOdha, mOha and lObha" -- lust, anger, greed, 
ignorance etc.. Therefore, just as the Body needs frequent washing or
tending in order to prevent it from accumulating a load of earthly
filth, Vedanta says the Atma too similarly needs to be kept regularly
cleansed. Otherwise it begins to get rapidly overburdened by earthly
Sin. 

Bodily filth is removed by timely and proper bathing. The Vedas say
that what bathing is to the Body, Ritual is to the Atma. Such ritual
is called "samskAra". And the cleansing-agent used in both is the
very same -- i.e. Water, without which neither bath for the Body nor
Ritual for the Soul is possible. 

For instance, one of the daily ("nitya") "samskArA" prescribed by the
Vedas for cleansing the Atma is the "trikAla-gAyatri-sandhyAvandanam"
rite. This rite is to be performed early in the morning, at noon and
at dusk in order to wash off the sins of the night, forenoon and
afternoon respectively. In this rite, we see that the role of Water
is paramount. It is to the ritual-Water cupped within one's hands
during the "mAdhyAnika-sandhyA" (mid-noon rite) that one addresses
the famous Vedic prayer:

"Apah: pUnantu pruthvIm pruthivI pUtA pUnAtu mAm I
pUnAntu BrahmaNaspatir-BrahmA pUtA pUnAtu mAm II"

"May the Waters purify this Earth, and Earth purify me!
May Brahman purify this Earth, and Earth purify me!"

For the purpose of various Vedic 'samskAra', therefore, Water
('Apah') becomes very, very essential. Which is why the Upanishad
says that Man must always look upon Water as his "good and constant
friend" -- "sUmitran", as in:

"sUmitrAna Apa Oshadhayah santu..." 
('mahA-nArAyaNa-upanishad')

When we want to bathe our bodies, we look for clean water. The very
purpose of a bath would be defeated if the water used is impure. 
Similarly, it is said the purpose of Vedic "samskAra" (viz.
"atma-shuddhi") would get defeated if the Water used in Ritual is
impure or otherwise unsuitable. The Water needed to cleanse both the
Body and Soul of Man has to be Pure not only in the physical sense
but in a profoundly spiritual sense as well. It must be sanctified...
It must possess the quality of "tUymai" --- the same quality of
Purity possessed by the Waters of the Yamuna and which AndAl, in the
TiruppAvai, was moved to hail as "tUya-peru-neer".

If one is privileged in life to have easy access to the
"tUya-peru-neer" of the Yamuna, then the Vedic goal of "atmA-shuddhi"
becomes relatively easy of attainment. Like the "aaypAdi" girls one
can then rightly claim, "tUyOmaay vandOm...". But what is one to do
if the Yamuna (or other such great and sanctified rivers of the land)
unfortunately, is out of one's reach or proximity? Does the goal of
"atma-shuddhi" become then unattainable? 

To that question, the answer given by AndAl's TiruppAvai is simple:
Take heart! Purity is achieved by other means too. How? Through what
she calls, "malar tu-vi tOzhudhu vAyinAl pAdi, manathinnAl sindikka"!


The expression "malar tu-vi tOzhudhu vAyinAl pAdi, manathinnAl
sindikka" is a brilliant metaphor for Bhakti. "Out of devotion we
offer flowers, so fresh and pure, to Thee! And out of devotion we
sing your praises and meditate upon You". Through Bhakti, says
ANdAL, one can attain the same purity of spririt possessed by the
"tUya-peru-neer" of the Yamuna. This would require dedicating what,
in Vedantic parlance, is called "karaNa-traya" -- the 3 "karaNa-s" or
primal instruments of Man called Thought, Word and Deed -- entirely
unto the service of God. 

In three simple but superb metaphors AndAL covers all aspects of
'bhakti-bhAva' as manifested in Thought ("manathinnAl sindikka"),
Word or Speech ("vAyAl pAdi") and Deed ("tu-malar tOzhudu"). 

The first includes "smaraNam" and "sravanam". The second includes
"kirtanam" and the third refers to "archanam", "vandanam", "dAsyam",
"sakyam" and "pAda-sEvanam". When Man engages in them ceaselessly,
they all work together to bring about his "atma-shuddhi", his inner
purity, and render him as pristine as the waters of Yamuna, fit for
offering as final "atma-nIvEdanam" to the Almighty.

**************************************

If there is one single message this Stanza, with its unique and
wonderful perspective on "tUya-peru-neer", holds out for all of us,
it is surely this:

God-like souls become Great not so much because the world
acknowledges their "perumai" but because they have attained "tUymai"
-- Purity and Sanctity of inner spirit. 

andAL tiruvadigaLE saranam,

dAsan,
Sudarshan 



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