Thirupaavai - Song -5 

       

AANDAAL is asking us to surrender to the Lord with purity in body and mind. She asks us to chant the Lord's names, sing in praise of him or whatever else we would like to do, but with true devotion.

She asks us to offer flowers to his feet. Flowers take our prayers to the Lord. They are objects of communication.  AANDAAL has offered the beautiful garlands made by her father to the Lord, which means she has surrendered her mind to Him. Exchanging garlands is a very important ritual in Indian weddings to symbolize the exchange of minds and to feel oneness in each other.

AANDAAL's garlands are adorning the deities at THIRUPATHY AND ALAGARMALAI on annual festivals.

She has used a word ''THUU.YOOM''....meaning very pure in mind and body. As the Lord's lover she has already surrendered to him by giving up her physical ego .

She says that if we do like this he will burn our ignorance, like dust in fire.All physical and materialistic pleasures will be burnt, just by thinking of the Lord.

In this song Aandaal has addressed the Lord as lord of North Madura, near Delhi, where he was born.

Krishna released his parents from the demon Kamsa and stood as an example of an ideal son.

Many of the youngsters who are in love and married must accept the reality of caring for and respecting their parents. Personal family life comes next. If our parents are unhappy, we cannot live peacefully.

In Rama avatharam the Lord lived mainly to satisfy his parents, King, clan, and society.

But in Krishna avatharam, the Lord lived a life which made everyone happy. He made all his people, wives, Gopies, friends, parents happy. Diplomacy was the great nature of that avatharam.

The great concept of MAAYA...ILLUSION has been mentioned by AANDAAL in this song. She calls Krishna as ''Maayan''. 

Maaya: The universe is made of two facets of Truth, the absolute truth and apparent truth. When we are unable to realize and accept the absolute truth ,that state is called ''maaya''.

Example: let us see an elephant idol made of wood. We appreciate the beauty of the idol and se the real elephant in it. This is apparent truth.

When we analyse that the idol is unreal and only a piece of wood has been carved as elephant, that fact is the absolute truth.

Here the absolute truth is Paramathma...the Lord. He is omnipresent. But we are unable to realize this truth because our mind is always caught in the snare of apparent truth.

When we realize and accept these 2 truths and are able to understand we can lead a peaceful life as nithya muktha....a man without attachment but who enjoys his life. The best nithya muktha is Krishna.

Sitha, Radha and Aandaal were able to come out of maaya and lived always in absolute truth...which is the Lord.

Aachaaryas used to dedicate this song to Thondar.adi.podi.aalwaar{a great south Indian Vishnu devotee lived in 6 A.D}.He was doing service to Lord Ranganathar by maintaining gardens and offering garlands. Even today, Lord Ranganathar and Ranganayake are decorated with garlands made from the flowers cultivated in his gardens, around Sreerangam temple complex.

Imagine a mother entering the home after a shopping spree. Immediately her children will come to her, and she will give them the things which she has bought according to their wish.

In the same way, the Universal mother Aandaal is also offering each song of Thirupaavai to the Lord and telling Him about each devotee’s wish. Each song of Thirupaavai is dedicated to each Vishnu devotee based on the message of the song which reflects that particular devotee's mind.

This concept is named as ''PURU.SHAR.THAM''.Mother Mahalaxmi is called as ''PURU.SHAA.KAARA BHOO.SHANI''. In this song, Aandaal is removing our sins and ignorance before we reach Krishna.

Exercise: List out any 3 contexts in which you have identified the variation between absolute and apparent truth.

Another important exercise: for men: remember a situation where you have fulfilled your parent's wishes.

For women: remember a situation where you have made your in-law  or relations happy with your sacrifices.

 

Please click here to continue to read Thirupaavai-6