15-7-2006
Andal Thiruvadigale Saranam ! ? A humble tribute to Kothai -on her
Thirunakshatram day falling on 28-7-2006 .
Dear Bhagavathas !
Adiyen is sure ,that the articles submitted regularly in this site, by
the writer , in line with our sampradayam are found by you as
meaningful , interesting to read and beneficial for life . Please
note that these are submitted for the benefit of the
Srivaishnava modern youth, some of whom , are probably
are not lucky enough so far , to have an exposure to these
subjects .
The writer is a retired executive , settled in Chennai , India and enjoys
the reputation of being a Senior citizen of India , having served the
Indian Industry in multinationals , both within and outside the country
for nearly 40 years . Above all , an Ahobila Mutt disciple , now trying
to spend most of the time , in finding out ways to expose the modern
youth to the greatness of our Srivaishnava community , as a sort of
Kainkaryam to the community .
The articles are written based on the details collected during the
various lectures and Upanyasams attended by the writer and also
reading some of the relevant books on the subject.
May Sriyapathi bless us all . Regards .
yours- Ramanuja Dasan G.Sampath.
Quote
Andal Thiruvadigale Saranam ! ? A humble tribute to Kothai
Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha !
Srimathe Vedhantha Desikaya Namaha !!
Srimate Sri Lakshminrisimha Divyapadukasevaka Srivan Satakopa Sri
Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya namaha !!!
Sriyapathi , Sriman Narayanan , due to His kaarunyam on these
?Jeevathmas ?,( created by Him to fulfill His leelas ) , wants the souls
to come back to Him after leading a meaningful life on this earth , only
to enjoy His Thirukalyanagunas in the ?Samyapathi Moksham ? state
in Srivaikuntam . ( This is our Srivaishnava philosophy . ) For this He
took nine different Avatars , mostly in the Northern part of India , in
the? Kritha Yugam ?, ?Thretha Yugam ? and ? Dwapara Yugam? . He
also gave the ?Jeevathmas ?, the Vedas , the Sruthis , the Smirithis ,
the Puranas and the Bhagavad Gita . They were gifted to us in
Sanskrit language.
Unfortunately , we the ? Jeevathmas ? continued to find comfort
only in the maya of this materialistic world and never understood the
noble objective of the Lord . As and when He came nearer to us ,
we were pulling away from him , due to our own karma .
But ? Paramathma ?, never gave up in His attempts to save all of us .
Hence in Kaliyugam , he decided to send ten Alwars to be born in
South India to preach His philosophy in simple Dravidian language
through the? Naalaayira Divya Prabandham ?. He probably could
have felt that ?Jeevathma ? , being a different category from Him ,
is not accepting the ? Paramathma ? and also His teachings . May be ,
if some one in the same category of the ?Jeevathma ? , either a male
or a female , could preach the same doctrines , then it could create
the desired result .
In that context , the births of ? Vishnuchittar ? ( alias Perialwar - meaning
an ardent devotee of MahaVishnu ) and his foster daughter, Sri Andal , who is
none other than the ?Bhoomi Piratti Herself , are quite significant .
During Pandya Dynasty , in Kaliyug 98 , in the month of Aadi
( Aashaada month ) , sukla chathurthi , Tuesday ,on the day of Pooram ,
Andal ( her real name was Kothai - meaning garland or a person who
has conquered all the sense organs ) , was supposed to have been
found in Srivilliputtur (a small town in the Virdunagar district of Tamil
Nadu), under the Tulsi plant , in the flower garden of Perialwar .
Accordingly, her date of birth is supposed to be , 8th of June 3004 B.C.
But the modern historians fix the date as the first half of the 8th century
A.D. For a Srivaishnavan , this day of every year ( Thiru Aadi-pooram) ,
is supposed to be , a very auspicious day , because Bhoomi Piratti
took the Avatar of Andal only for the salvation of ? Jeevathmas ? like us.
Andal spent all her youth , as an ardent Shishya of Perialwar , in Godly
surroundings , learning from him , the glories of Vatapathrasayee . Even
though , Andal was the incarnation of ? Bhoomadevi ? , she played
her role of a ? Shishya ? to her father very well . Perialwar was her
? Guru ?. This pair is a classic example of a ? Guru ? Shishya Lakshanam ?.
Right from her childhood Kothai developed a strong love and passion
for Sri Krishna. Perialwar , during leisure time , always narrated the
Avatars of Lord Sriman Narayanan and the Thirukalyanagunas of Sri
Krishna to the child . Andal , on her part , listened to them very
attentively and developed a strong devotion and love for the Lord
Himself. After hearing the leelas of Sri krishna in Vrindavan during
Dwapara Yugam , constantly from her father , the child started
enacting the same scenes in Kaliyug in Srivilliputtur itself at that young
age of five or so . She considered herself as one of the Gopikas ,
Vatapathrasayee as Lord Krishna , Vatapathrasayee temple as the
palace of Krishna in Dwaraka and Srivilliputtur as Vrindavan . She
enjoyed and immersed herself in such dramatic scenes and actions and
felt that she is one with Lord Krishna Himself . She developed a true
devotion to the Lord .
Vishnuchittar was doing regularly the pushpa kainkaryam to
Vatapathrasayee . He would weave a garland of Tulsi leaves and other
flowers in his garden and then keep it sacredly rolled in a basket. When
he went to temple he used to take that garland and offer it to
Vatapathrasayee. One day , the child Kothai , out of her true
devotion and love to the Lord , took out the garland from the basket
without her father?s knowledge , adorned herself and looked at the
mirror ( her reflection in the well water ) to make herself sure that she is
the right match for the Lord Vatapathrasayee . The Lord Himself
accepted her act and from then on she was called "Choodi
Kodutha Sudarkodi ".
When Kothai attained her marriageable age, her father was trying to
find a suitable match for her. But, Kothai being a divine child was
adamant and said that she would not marry anyone else , except
lord Krishna Or Lord Ranganatha Himself. Due to the ordain of the
Lord in the dream of Vishnuchitter , Andal was married to Lord
Ranganatha in Srirangam.
Andal sung many verses in praise of Lord Krishna and Ranganatha, the
deity at Srivilliputhur. Among them the Thiruppavai is very popular with
its 30 verses . Andal also gave us the Nachiyar Thirumozhi in 143 verses.
She attained the status of an Alwar because of her total devotion to
the Lord Ranganatha. Her works narrate to us the easiest way to
reach Almighty . All her works are considered to be equivalent to the
? Vedas ?and the Bhagavad Gita , both given by the Lord Himself to
the ?Jeevathmas? .
Both Perialwar and Andal attained their self realization stage due to
their implicit faith and strong conviction that Sriman Narayanan alone
is the saviour and can offer Moksha to a mumukshoo . They never gave
importance to the worldly material pleasures and understood that
these were all induced by ? Maya ? . They both concentrated in
developing ? Saathvik Gunas? in them through Bakthi and devotion
to the Lord . They were keen in attaining ? Mokshaprapthi ? and
attained it.
Reading the lives of the above two , we would learn the following
basic lessons .
Sriman Narayanan is the only Lord , who could give ?Mokshaprapthi ?
to a mumukshoo.
If we do , even a simple kainkaryam to the Lord , which is approved
by Him in the scriptures and His teachings , in a very sincere manner ,
then we would be blessed with children , with all good and noble
?Saathvik ? qualities. Perialwar could attain the enviable position of
the father - in - law of Paramathma Himself. Even though Andal is
only his foster child , he attained that status , due to his ardent
devotion to Vatapathrasayee.
It we teach our young children all the good things in life as laid down
in our scriptures and the teachings of Sri Krsihna , with all sincerity ,
only after ourselves observing them in toto , then such children would
grow in this world , as very noble ones and lead a healthy and happy
meaningful life . The world then would become , a place to live
peacefully and do the Kainkaryam to the Almighty with a calm mind.
In this ? Kaliyugam ? , Naama Sankeerthanam and Saranagathi to
Sriman Narayanan are the only solace , for the ? Mumukshoo ? to
attain sallvation . Hence , on this Thirunakshatram day of Sri Andal ,
let us all invoke her choicest blessings to help us , to do our meaningful
? Saranagathi ? to Sriman Narayanan.
Sarve Jana Sukhino Bhavanthu !
? Thiruvadipoorathu Jagathuthithal Vazhiye ! Perialwar petru
edutha pennpillai Vazhiye ! Andal Thiruvadigale saranam ! ? .
Adiyen , Ramanuja dasan ? G.Sampath. Unquote.
---------------------------------
Find out what India is talking about on Yahoo! Answers India.
So, what?s NEW about the NEW Yahoo! Messenger? Find out.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SriRangaSri/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
SriRangaSri-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
|
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia |
srirangasri-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To subscribe to the list |