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SRI ANDAL AND ALWARS ? A STUDY
By Sri U.Ve., Elayavilli Sriraman Swami, Bangalore
 
Today is Tiruvadippooram. All Srivaishnavas in the world are sure to 
celebrate this festival. We have also celebrated at Bangalore by 
chanting Tiruppavai, Nacchiyar Tirumozhi, etc followed by my 
discourse. I hereby wish to join you all by writing this essay which 
is the essence of my discourse. 
The subject matter of the lecture is that Sri Andal excels all other 
Alwars in so many respects. Let us examine them all one by one.
 
1.     Alwars were ordinary souls just like any on of us. Sri 
Nammalwar has made a solemn declaration and testifies to this fact. 
He says in his Tiruvoimozhi, "Mari Mari pala pirappum pirandu". The 
Lord finally in one of his (Nammalwar's) birth, bestowed on him 
knowledge and devotion, dispelling his entire ignorance. So he 
became equal to Nitya Suris, even while he was living in this world. 
This is the case with all the other Alwars. But in the case of Andal 
there was no need for the lord to bless her with supreme knowledge 
and devotion and also to dispel ignorance as it was non-existing 
always.
Alwars were woken up (ignorance) by the lord. The lord thought that 
thereafter all the Alwars would take care of all the souls in this 
world. Hence he reposed with confidence. Then the Alwars woke Him up 
by singing Suprabhata. In this context I am reminded of a funny 
tale. A couple attended a discourse. The discourser gave the 
definition for a chaste lady, "she who sleeps after her husband 
sleeps and gets up before he rises from his bed". The couple 
returned home. The husband was reading a book on our Sampradayam.  
The lady shouted at him, "Who can I become a chaste woman, if you do 
not go to bed early?" the staggered husband blinked at her unable to 
understand her. "What do you mean?" he asked her in a feeble voice. 
The lady replied, "If you retire to bed early, I can sleep after 
you. I am already half asleep. If a woman should become chaste she 
must sleep after her husband goes to sleep. Did the discourser say 
so or not? So go to bed quickly, so that I may fulfill the first 
condition". The helpless and hapless husband had no other choice 
except obeying his spouse as she had determined to become a chaste 
lady. Later on while he was half asleep the wife woke him up 
suddenly and commanded him, "look here, and even if you get up early 
in the morning do not get out of the bed. Lying on the bed, wake me 
up and go to sleep again, so that I may wake you up to become 
chaste". The husband now totally lost his sleep throughout the 
night. 
All the Alwars are almost equal to this woman. They were woken up 
from the slumber and then they woke Him up. This is the case with 
Periyalwar and Thondaradipodi Alwar. But Sri Andal does not belong 
to this category. She herself went to lord Krishna, who was enjoying 
the company of Nappinai even as a lion would relax embracing tightly 
the lioness woke and taught Him the lesson that He should recruit 
all the souls for his service without which they would be useless. 
This is a glaring contrast between Sri Andal and Alwars.
 
To be continued?..
 
Pray for Sri Andal and Rangamannar's blessings on you all, 
celebrating Tiruvadippooram festival.
Sri Ramanuja Dasa, Elayavilli Sriraman   









Azhvar EmberumAnAr JeeyAr ThiruvadigalE Saranam 
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