Margazhi and Tirupavai

Topic started by Santosh (@ sbproxy1.mystarhub.com.sg) on Sat Dec 20 19:25:41 EST 2003.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

The month of margazhi (known as Dhanur in Sanskrit) is the Tamil month of religious austerities and devotional activities. It corresponds to Dec – Jan culminating in the Bhogi festival just a day before pongal /makara shankranti which will be celebrated in 15th January.

This month long celebration is in honour of Andal. The vaisnava saints - Alvars 12 in numbers lived between 5th and 7th century and the only woman among them Andal is considered as the incarnation of Bhudevi.

Andal’s foster father, Periya Alvar (Vishnu chitta) found Andal under the Tulasi bed in his garden in SriVilliputtur. He named her initially Goda and the environment in which she grew up brought out her mystic temperament and she identified with the gopis of Vrndavan, when she listened to the glory of the Lord in His incarnation as Krishna from Periya alvar.

Even as a child of barely 5 years her spiritual maturity reached great heights. Vishnu chitta (Periya Alvar) once caught Andal red handed in the act of admiring her reflection wearing the garlands meant for the Lord and was disturbed by what he considered a sacrilege. He did not offer any garlands to the Lord that day. That night Vishnu chitta (Periya Alvar) was commanded by the Lord in his dream to offer garlands first worn by Goda and overwhelmed by this incident he addressed her as Andal – “One who has conquered the Lord”

While other Alvars had also given expression to their agony over separation from the Lord in the language unique to bridal mysticism, Andals’ outpours scores above them because the emotion comes naturally to her. She threatens that she would not live if betrothed to a mortal when her foster father Periya alvar expressed his intention to get her married

The Tirupavai verses are the expression of Andal’s desire to attain union with the Lord when she performed Pavai nombu, a vow on the lines of Kartyayini vrata performed by the gopis.

Ramanuja acarya admired the work of Andal. Though he was known by many names such as Emperumanar, Yatiraja and Bhasyakarar, he was popularly called “Tirupavai Jiyar”. The version how he earned this appellation is well known but the background is that Tirupavai’s 30 verses spell out the essence of the vedas and reflects how Andal treated Vishnu chitta (Peria Alvar) not only as her foster father but also as her acarya (preceptor)


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