Thiruppavai Part 6-Pasuram 26 to30

Pasuram26- mAlE maNivaNNA

mAlE maNivaNNA mArgazineerAduvAaam

mElaiyAr seyvanagaLvEnduvanaj kEttiyEl
jnAlatthai ellAm nadunga muralvana
pAlnnavaNNatthun pAnchajanniyamE
pOlvanasangangaL pOyppASdudaiyanavE
SAlapperumparaiyE pallANdisaippArE
kOlaviLakkE kodiyE vithAnmE
Alin ilaiyay aruLElO rempAvai

O Lord, you are the beloved of your devotees, you are of the colour of sapphire, listen to
what we want from you after our sacred bath in the month of margazi following the
tradition set out by our elders.We want conches like your milk-hued panchajanya which
causes tremor for the whole world with its sound, great drums, people who sing
pallaAndu,beautiful lamps,l;ag and canopies.You who recline on the banyan leaf, please
grant us all this.

This pasuram is the 26th. It signifies te Lord, who is paramathma.There are 24 thathvas
or evolutes of prkrthi, the primordial nature and 25th is the jeevathma denoted
as purusha who is implied by the last
pasuram 'orutthimaganaippirandhu'This pasuram refers to the paramathma ,the 26th. It
also denotes the ashtakshara manthra which is 8=2+6.The number 2 stands for
the dhvaya manthra and the number 6 denotes the six padhas of the dhvaya and also the
six angas, limbs of prapatthi.

mAlE- He is having vathsalya for His creations and hence comes now and then as
incarnations to see to their welfare.

maNivaNNA-He is having the colour of a blue sapphire, indhraneelamaNi, as described by

almost all devotee-saints like Desika, Narayanabhattadri and
Thyagaraja.
mElaiyar seivanagaL- the austerities and charities as shown by the elders.

They ask for six things:

1.sangam-conch like panchajanyam of the Lord.

2.parai-drum

3.pallAndisaipAr-the group who sing pallandu, when the Lord is taken on a procession, the
composition of Preriazvar, which marks the beginning of the Nalayiradivyaprabandham.It
is a benediction for the Lord Himself.

Periazvar won the argument in the court of the Pandyan king solely due to the grace of
the Lord at whose command he went tnough he didnut know anything except to offer
garlands and sing to the Lord. Then the king mounted him on the elephant and set him on
a procession. The Lord Koodalazagar of Maduraimanifested Himself in front of Azvar
seemingly to watch His devotee honuoured thus. Not realising that the Lord appears only
to him, the azvar sang pallandu, as a protection for the Lord from evil eyes. such was the
vathsalya he felt tpowards the Lord.

4.Kola viLakku- The ornamental lamps that are carried in a temple procession.

5.kodi- the flag that is carried when the Lord comes on procession

6. vithanam- the canopy on the top.

Of these, three lines are allotted for the conch alone may be because,

1. it is equivalent to the pranava which has three mathras, a,u, and m.

2.L Panchajanya was born in the sea, grew into the body of the asurapanchajana and
finally reached the hand of the Lord.

3.Krishna also was born in Madura, grew in Gokula and migrated to Dvaraka.

pOyppAdu udaiyana- Panchajanya has a wide interior.

4.We are born from the womb of the mother and grow into a devotee through the wide
jnana given by praNava, signified by Panchajanya and finally reach Vaikunta.

5.The white coloured conch is supposed to give loud sound. The white colour also denotes
satthva which is the great sound that enters the heart (hari enra pEraravam uLLam
pugundhu-pasuram6) and drives out the rajas and thamas.

SAlapperumparai -The drum which is large and sounds loud so that no other talk will be
heard and the mind will be completely absorbed in the divyamangakla svarupa of the Lord.
Krishna might have said that his panchajanya is only one and how can he give it to them
and also they wanted many, (sangangal) and Andal replies by calling him 'Alin ilaiyay'
one who slept on a banyan leaf, meaning that nothing is imposible for him. He can create,
sustain and annihilate the world, all can be done through the sound of his conch alone, as
it is synonymous with prnava.When Krsihna blew his conch before the battle all the
kouravas were already destroyed and the actual battle was only a drama through his leela.

The banyan tree is calpable of giving shade to whole army.( aNnal yAnai aNi thEr puravi
Atperumpadaiyodu mannanrkkirum kka niZalAgummE) Similarly the Lord gives shadow
for the good,'vivAsavrkshah sAdhoonAm;vasudhevatharucchAya.' Vasudeva is the
tree in whose shadow the good are residing.

The word 'Alin ilaiyay' implies that He is capable of doing anything. He converted an
ordinarykuSa grass into brahmasthra in Ramavathara and reduced the sea to a ditch by
crossing over it easily, used monkeys as His army and vanquished the mighty Ravana as
easily as he would swat a fly,and endless miracles He did in Krishnavathara. The word
denotes His swamithvam,overlordship and the word maNivaNNa denotes His soulabhya,
easy accessibility.

The same idea we can see in the charamasloka, 'sarvadharman parithyajya mAm Ekam
SaraNam vraja, aham thvAm sarvapApEbhyah mOkshayishyAmi mA uchah.'

"Give up all dharma and surrender to Me alone and I will release you from all so ins, do
not despair."

By saying mAm SaraNam vraja the Lord denotes His soulabhya, meaning "I am here for
anyone easily available to surrender," and the word aham denotes His swamithva, hence
the power of removing our sins.

This pasuram is important not only because it is the 26th thus signifying the paramathman
but also because it outlines all the constituents of SaraNAgathi.

Prapatthi or SaraNAgathi in vaishnava tradition three levels and six limbs.

The three levels are:

1.svarupasamarpaNam

2.phalasamarpaNam

3.bharasamarpaNam

1. svarupasamarpanam means placing our svarupa , natural self at His feet as His Sesha,
property.This was indicated by 'oLindhuvaLara' in the previous pasuram which means
giving up our ego and living as His dasa.
2.Phalasamarpanam is offering the fruit of our actions at his feet and this was implied by
'selavamum sevakamum' in the previous pasuram meaning that the fruit of their
endeavour is only His kainkarya.

3.Bharasamarpanam is laying down the responsin bility of our protection at His feet. This
is denoted by the words 'arundhitthu vandhom' which means they hold Him only as the
means and end.

The six angas of Prapatthi are:

1.Anukoolya sankalpam- The resolve to do only the acts which are approved by Him.

2.prAthikoolya varjanam-Not to gdo anything that is forbidden by Him.

3.mahAviSvAsam- Absolute faith.

4.gOpthrthvavaraNam-Entreaty to Him to grant protection.

5.karpaNyam-(Akinchanyam)- Awareness of one's utter helplessness and praying for His

grace..

6.Phalathyagam-surrendering the result of action also to Him.

1.SAlapperumparai- denotes Anukoolya sankalapam.Parai is the enjoined karma which are

approved by God. Perumparai is the resolve to do the enjoined karma.

2.jnAlatthai ---pOyppAdudaiyanaveL- prthikoolya varjanam-pAnchajanyam means the

indhriyavyaApAra,born of indhriyas,that is anything done with the five
indhriyas. pAlannavaNNam- denotes the satthva- oriented action and pOippAdu implies
wide application of indhriyas in avoiding the actions that are prohibited.

3.kOlavilakku- denotes mahAviSvasam.the faith should be like the kutthuviLakku, steady

and one-pointed.

4.vithAnam-gopthrthvavaraNam.as the vithAna , canopy protects the Lord from sun and
rain He will protect us from sin

5.kodi-karpanyam.The word kodi also means creeper and the prpanna needs the support
of the Lord as the creeper needs the tree.

6.pallAndisaippar- those who have no other wish except singing the gloru yof the Lord,
indicate phalathyagam.This way of life continues till the end for a prapanna.

Pasuram-27-koodArai vellum
koodArai vellum seer gOvindhA unthannai

pAdipparai kondu yAm peru sanmAnam

nAdu pugazum parisibnAl nanrAga

chhodagamE thoLvaLaiye thodE sevippoovE

pAdagamE enranaiya palkalnum yAm aNivOm

Adai uduppOm adhan pinnE par sOru

moodanei peidhu muzangai vazi,vAra

koodiyirundhu kulirndhElOrempAvAi

Oh Govindha , who conquer those who are not favourable to you by your valour and
virtues, the reward we have by singing your glory and observing the austerities is
acclaimed by the whole country. Now that you have granted our request we will adorn
ourselves with jewels ,bangles, armbands, earrings ear drops and anklets. We will wear
new clothes and eat along with you, the rice boiled in milk with ghee that drips over our
elbows, and enjoy.

koodArai vellum seer- He conquers evn those who turn away from Him by His attributes,
seer and He is conquered by those who love Him. Vali who first despised Rama for killing
him with an arrow hiding Himself, praised Him in the end and so did Tara and MandOdhari
even though Rama killed their husbands.Ravana was defeated by His valour, Surpanakha
by His beauty and Vibheeshana by His divinity.

gOvindha -This name is supposed to be the favourite of the devotees as well as the Lord
Himself. The explanation of the various meanings of Govindanama will be elaborated in
the next pasuram.

unthannai-----sanmanam-She means to say that they have not praised Him expecting
anything in return and He should Himself give them the best, that is, Himself.

choodagam-bangle.thOLvaLai-jewelled armband. thodu,sevippoo ear

ornaments. paadagam-anklet.

pArsOru mooda nei peidhu muzangai vazi vAra-rice boiled in milk with jaggery
(sarkaraippongal or akkaravadisil as it is called in vaishnava households) with ghee
overflowing and dripping through their elbows.

Periazvar describes the gifts of the Lord to him thus in his thiruppallAndu:
neyyidai sorum (rice mixed with ghee) niyathamum atthANicchEvagamaum( the
opportunity to do service to Him daily) kaiadaikkAyum(thAmboolam-betelleaves and nuts
etc )kazutthukku pooN (neck ornament) kAdhukku kunNdalam (earrings)meyyidai
nalladhOr sandham( fragrant sandal laste to apply on the body) The meaning is that all
the bogyas, objects of enjoyment are to be considered as the gifts of the Lord. Devotees
are not expcted to lead a puritanic existence but to enjoy the Lord and His gifts with
joy.Parasara bhattar used to appear well dressed and decked with flowers ornaments
etc.when he went to do pooja to the Lord of Srirangam in order to show his joy of serving
Him.

This pasuram indicates the fulfilment of the vratha called pAvainOnbu of which it was said
in the beginning 'neyuNNOm pAluNNOm,' that they will not drink milk or eat ghee etc. till
the vrata is over.

Andal calls herself and others as 'Ayppadiselvacchirumeer'(pasuram1)the girls fortunate

in living in ayarpadi which denotes the sAlOkyam kind of mukthi, that is living in the same
world as the Lord. Reaching the abode of Krishna ,'nandhagopan koil'(pasuram16)
implies sAmeepyam, the nearness of the Lord. In the previous pasuram they asked for all
the signalia of the Lord, like pAnchjanya etc. which refers to the sAroopyam, the likeness
of the Lord.In this pasuram the union with the Lord is meant, that is sAyujayam. The
words pAlsOru moodanei pedhu and koodiyirundhu denote that the final state the
devotee aspires for, is the constant union with the Lord and enjoy the bliss along with
Him.

thOlvalai signifies for a vaishnavite,the mark of the conch and the disc on his shoulders as
the sign of haveing done prapatthi, a ritual called samAsrayaNam.

thOdu - is thirumandhiram, ashtakshara manthram, which is instructed on prapatthi

sevippoo is the dhvayamandhiram and pAdagam is the charamasloka as it means the

ornament of the feet denoting saranagathi.

palkalan means jnana, bhakthi and vairagya which are the best ornaments for a bhaktha.

Adai is Seshathvam, the sense of belonging to the Lord.

pAlsOru is kinkarya, serving the Lord which is as sweet as the rice boiled in milk with
jaggery.

mooda neipeidhu means this joy in bhagavatseva is devoid of ego but completely covered
with pArathathanthryam, the idea if being His dasa.

Counting from the 16th pasuram in which they arrive at the abode of the Lord as first,
because the beginning of real life starts only when we approach God, this pasuram is the
11th, EkAdhasa. After Ekadasi vratha is over they enjoy rich dinner with akkAravadisil etc.

Andal in Nacchiar thirumozi said

'nArunarumpozil mAlirunchOlai nambikku

nAn nooruthadAvil veNNai

vAi nErndhu parAvi vaitthEn

nooru thada niraindha

akkAravadisil sonnEn

Eru thiruvudaiyAn inru

vandhivai koLLumkolO.'

I offer to the AAzagar of thirumAliruncholai 100 vessels fup ll of butter and 100 vessels
of akaravadisil . Will He come and accept it?

What Andal offered the Lord through her pasurams Ramanuja performed in reality by
preparing the vessels of butter and akkaravadisil in Srivilliputthur for which Andal herself
appeared in front and called him 'aNNA,' her elder brother, who has fulfilled her desire like
that of a sister by her brother.That is why she is called in the thaniyan, the verse chanted
as the benediction after thiruppavai , as perupudhoor mAmunikkuppinnAnAl, the younger
sister of Ramanuja.

Pasuram28-karavaigal pin senru

karvaigaL pin senru kanam mEithunbOm

arivonrum illAdha Aikkulatthundhannai

piravipperundhanai puNNiam yAmudaiyom

kuraivonrum illAdha gOvindhA unthannOdu

uravEl namakkinru ozikka oziyAdhu

ariyAdha piLLaigalOm anbinAl unthannai

sirupEr azaitthanavum Seeri aruLAdhE

iraivA nee tharAi paraiyElOrempAvai.

We are simple folks with not much wisdom and we follow the cattle and eat in the forest
but we have done a lot of punya to have you in our midst. You have no faults and we have
no other relation than with you.We are ignorant youngsters and if we call you as though
you are one of us do not get angry but shower your grace on us.

This pasuram reflects the words of Arjuna in the Gita,'sakhEthimathvA prasabham

yadhuktham hE krishna hE yadhava hE sakhethi;ajAnathA mahimanam thavEdham,mayA
pramAdhAth pranayEna vapi,' (BG.11-41) There Arjuna asks forgiveness of Krishna on
seeing His visvaroopa, that he had been calling Krishna with familiarity, treating Him like
a friend, by names such as Krishna, Yadhava, friend etc. Here too Abndal assuming the
role of a gopi, says that they were cowherd girls , without intelligence and knew no more
than looking after the cattle and going to the forest with them and eating there etc.
arivonrum illAdha Aikkula ----puNNiam yAmudaiyOm- This is said to denote
the souseelyam and soulabhyam of the Lord. Souseelyam is moving with the ignorant folk
wirhout discrimination, 'mahathah mandhaih saha neeranDHrasamslesha svabhAvah.'
And the soulabhyam is 'labDHum suSakathvam,' easy accessibility. By being born im the
yadhavakula the Lord has displayed both the qualities.

kuraivonrum illAdha govinda- The Lord is ananthakalyaNa guNa visishta, endowed with
infinite ausoicious qualities and without a blemish.

uravEl namakkingu ozikka oziyAdhu- denotes the awareness that the permanent
relationship is only with the Lord which is undeniable.

ariyAdha piLlaigaLOm-means that we do not know the proper way of worshipping you as
we do not have any learning.

anbinAl----seeri arulAdhe- Not knowing your greatness we may have treated you as one
among us. So do not get angry.This is similar to the words of Arjuna, quoted above.

Iraiva----parai elorempavai-On the other hand you have to show your grace because we
surrender to you as our only refuge.

punniam yamudaiyOm- even though they are ignorant they had the result of past good
deeds to have Krishna among them. The Lord expects only love which at its height
becomes bhakthi more than learning or austerities. Krishna Himself says, 'nAham
vedhairh na thapasA na DhAnEna na chejyayaa----bhakthyA thu ananyayA sakyah,'To
understand Him in reality is possible only through bhakthi and not by penance, meritorious
deeds or by performing sacrifices. Due to punya alone one gets bhakthi, whiich is meant
here.

The name Govinda has great implications.:

The word 'go' has several meanings in sanskrit such as earth,

indriya,svarga,or mokshaastra Cow, veda etc. Based on that the scholars explain the name
thus:

1.Gaam(second case singular of 'go') , svargam or moksham vindhayathi,secures ithi

govindhah. He is govindha because He bestows mukthi.
2.Gaam, ishum, meaning astras vindhathi - He acquired the astras from Visvamithra in
Ramavathara.

3.Gaah(accusative plural of 'go', pasu.) vindhathi. He knew the cows, that is, He knew
them to be the rshis of dandakaaranya in His krishnavathara.Balarama is also implied by
the word cow as He went with Krishna for gorakshaNa

4.Gobhih (instrumental plural of 'go'meanind veda.) vindhyathe. He is known through the

vedas.

5Gaam, vajram, vindhayathi. He made it possible for indrato get vajrayudha by

instructing him to approach Dhadheechi and beg him to give his backbone.

6.Gavaa (instrumental singular of 'go'meaning dhrk, look) dhrsaa vindhathi. He knows all
by His dhrk or appropriate kataksha.He knows how to look at every one and when.

7.Gaah nethraaNi vindhathi- He has thrinethra, three eyes as Nrsimha, and also eyes
everywhere, 'sahasraakshassahasrapath'

8. Gaah, jwaalaah, vindhathi, has fiery form, being Suryamandala

madhya varthi.Chandhogya upanishaddescribes Brahman as 'Ya
eshahantharaadhithyehiraNmayah purushah dhrsyathe hiranyasmasru hiranya kesa
aapraNakhaath sarva Eva suvarNah'. The purusha seen inside the orb of the Sun with
golden beard, golden hair an exceedingly effulgent even to the very tips of His nails. The
purusha here is paramaathman or Narayana.This is the passage where the
famous'kapyaasam pundarikam' occurs referred to in the charitra of Ramanuja.

9.Gaam ,bhoomim vindhathi, brought the earth from the depth of the ocean,
Vatrahavathara and also Parsurama as He wandered all over the earth and Trivikrama as
He measured the earth with His feet.

10. Gaam , jalam vindhathi. resorts to the waters, Mathsya and Koorma.
11. Gaam vedam vindhathi. He alone knows the real purport of the vedas. Refers to
Hayagrivaavathara.
12. Gaam ,indhriyam vindhathi .The Lord of the indhriyas, Hrishikesah. Makes the
indhriyas enter into appropriate vishaya.
There are even more meanings mentioned by the saintly commentators but These are the
generally quoted meanings. Andal was fond of this nama is also shown by her mentioning
it in the three of her main pasurams.

Srivilliputhur is referred to as Govindhanvaazumoor.Commentators say that Andal being

the avathara of Bhudevi had more love for govindha nama as the Lord saved her in
Varahavathara..

Govindha pattabhishekam is extolled as being even superior than that of Rama because
Valmiki says 'vasavo vaasavam yathaa', of the coronation of Rama comparing it to that of
Indra but here Indra himself did the abhisheka of Krishna as Govinda.

When the Lord is called Govinda He feels indebted to the devotee as in the case of Droupadi
who screamed with grief calling Him Govinda when He immediately came to the resque.

Lord Srinivasa of Thirupathi is known as Govinda and when the devotees

sing the glory ofthe Lord they say only Govindanamasankirthanam. In VenkatesapuraNa
, Lord Srinivasa is asked as to whom the preliminary poojs to be done, because He Himself
cannot worship Himself. He was told, 'thvAmEva vEdmi Govinda,' meaning 'I know only
you.' Then He mentioned the Narasimha of Ahobilam.

There are three places where He is known as Govinda, namely, Thirupathi, Chidambaram
and srivilliputthur.

Kurai onrum illAdha govinda- the commentators say that this term is appropriate only
to Krishna because he rectified the three seemingly defective acts of Rama in this
avathara. Of course these reasons are given in light vein.

1. He redressed the wrong done to Vali, the son of Indra, by killing him and giving the
kingdom to the son of Surya, Sugreeva , by doing the reverse in this avathara. He caused
the death of Karna, the Suryaputhra and got the kingdom for Arjuna,son of Indra!

2.Hanuman said to Sita 'nahi prakrshtAh prEshyanthE preshyanthE hi ithare janah,' to

reassure her. Usually the mightiest are not sent as messengers but only others and when
he himself has been able to cross the ocean others, all of whom are mightier than him will
certainly do so. Perhaps the Lord thought that Anjaneya might have such notions and
hence considered himself to be inferior and to show the greatness of Maruti as a
messenger, He Himself went as one in Krishnavathara!

3. the name Ramayana was not the one given by Valmiki who called his composition
as 'seethAyah charitham mahath,' the great story of Seetha. In Tamil it is termed
as 'siraiirundhaval Ettram' the glory of one who was imprisoned. Perhaps the Lord also
thought that it is due to her exemplary character exhibited when she was
a prisoner in Lanka and was a bit jealous about it and in krishnavathara He was born in
Prison itself!
Pasuram-29-sitram sirukAlE

sitramsirukAlE vandhunnai sEvitthun

pottramarai adiye pottrum poruL keLAi

pettram meitthuNNum kulatthil pirandhu nee

kuttrEval engaLai koLLAmal pOgAdhu

ittraipparai koLvAn anru kAN gOvindA

ettraikkumEzEzu piravikkum unthannOdu

uttrEmE AvOm unakkE nAm AtseivOm

mattrai nam kAmangal mAttrElOrempAvAi

Hear why we have come in the early morning and worship your lotus-like feet.Being born
in th clan of cowherds you cannot refuse our service to you.We have not come here just
ask for the requisites for this vratha but to pray that we should belong to you for all the
lives to come and should serve you alone. remove all the other desires of ours.

sitram sirukAle-kAle means the time when the gopis start their work such as churningthe
milk. sirukAle is the time before that when they wake up and sitramsirukAle denotes the
brAhmamuhurtha when yogis and ages wake up and start their worship.

This word is also interpreted thus:

siru+am+siru kAl-siru kAl the small feet of young Krishnawhich is am,beautiful

and siru, seen a little outside.

The time when we go to see the Lord is the early morning.,sirukAle. In the temples even
if the gate is opened at noonthe suprbhatham is recited.It is mentioned as sitram siru kAl
because the time we see the Lord in the temple is much less than that spent in other
activities.

The time Krishna is found in Gokula is short because (i) as soon as the day breaks he will
go to the forest to tend cattle (ii) soon he will leave for Madura.

To a devotee the time he acquires the knowledge if the Lord is the early morning because
till then it was night spent in sleeping due to ignorance. From the time he leaves this body
and attain the Lord his day starts.

vandhunnai sEvitthu-Whay Andal means is this: without expecting that you will come to
us as you did in the case of Gajendhra we ourselves have come to you.
pottrAmarai adiyE- They did not want anything else like gold or worldlypleasures but
wanted only to serve the Lord an dtherefore leaving everything have come to Him as
Vibheeshana said 'thyakthva puthrAmscha dhArAmscha rAghavam SatraNam gathah' that
is, "leaving my sons and wives I have surrendered to Rama."

Petram meitthuNNum----pOgAdhu- Vedanta Desika in DayaSathakam calls the Lord a

krsheevala, farmer who is intent on His harvest of prapannas.(DayaSatakam-108) So like
a farmer who protects his crop and stays on his fileld overnight to at the harvest time to
guard against thieves and birds etc.from taking away or destroying his cp rop, the Lord
also comes down to earth in the form of His incarnations to safeguard the interests of His
devotees.Hence after having been born in the clan of cowherds Andal says that it is His
responsibility to save us.

ittrai----unnakkEnam AtseivOm- It is not their intention to get the accessories for their
vrata, Parai koLvAn anru but it was only a pretext to approach him and ask him to give
them the opportunity to do his service.

uttrOmE AvOm- The Lord is the only real relation to us for all our lives ( seven times
seven) , because others belong to one life only..'mAthA mE Laksmeedevee pithA dhEvO
janArdhanah;bAnDhavAh vishnubhakthAscha vasudhaiva kutumbakam,' is the attitude of
a prapanna.

The upanishad says, 'na vA arE pathyuh kAmAya pathih priyO

bhavathi, Athmansthu kAmAya.'(Brhd.2-4-5) Theworldly relationships are selfish-
motivated. The self is the dearest of all and the Lord is the self of all.

UnakkEnAm AtseivOm- kuttrEval means the kainkryam to the best of one's ability and
according to the will of the Lord. This denotes Anukulya sankalpam and prAthikulya
varjanam, the first two angas of prapatthi mentioned in the previous pasuram. By saying
kutrEval engalAu ikkoLlAmal pOgAdhu indicates mahavisvasam and the line uttrOmE
AvOm unakkE nAm AtseivOm implies gOpthruthva varaNam at the exclusion of others. By
saying pettram meitthuNNum kula they

mattrai nam kAmangaL mAttrElorempAvAi-While the previous lines imply svarupa

samarpaNam and phalasamarpaNam, by saying we belong to you(uttrOmE AvOm) and we
expect only the kainkarya as the phala, this line is by way of bharasamarpaNam, placing
the burden of saving us on the Lord Himself. We are incapable of controlling our mind as
Arjuna said, 'chanchalam hi manah krishna pramAThi balavaddhrDam thasyAham
nigraham manye vAyOriva sudhushkaram,' the mind is fickle and very
agitated and powerful and to control it is as difficult as controlling the wind. Hence Andal
places the responsibility on the Lord himself by saying 'mattrai nam kAmangal
mattrElorempAvai, remove all other desires from our mind ' The Lord creates vairagya in
the mind of the one who surrenders and make him completely engrossed in Himself.

Pasuram 30-Vangakkadal kadaindha

Vangakkadal kadaindha mAdhavanai kesavanai

thingaL thirumugatthu sEyizaiyAr senrirainji

angapparaikonda Attrai aNipudhuvai

PaingamaltthaNtheriyal bhattarpirAn kOdhai sonna

sangatthamizmAlai muppadhum thappAme

ingipparisuraippar eerirandu malvaraitthOL

thingaL thirumugatthu selvatthirumAla

engum thiruvaruL pettru inburuvar empavai

This work describing the entreaty of the girls with faces like moon and eyes like lotuses. to
the Lord Kesava, of lovely locks, the Madhava, Lord of Lakshmi,who helped in the churning
of the beautiful milky ocean, in order to acqouire the necessary requirements for their
pavai nonbu, is the composition of Godha of Srivlliputthur, the daughter of Vishnucchittha,
(Periazvar) who wears the garland of lotuses and thulasi.Those who recite this 30
pasurams which are equal to sangatthamiz, will get happiness through the Lord's grace.

vangakkadal-This is not the Bay of bengal, as it may appear to the superficial reader but
the word vanga means beautiful, and refers to the milky ocean. It is so
called because it is associated with the Lord, and it gave out all the precious things and
the amrtha in the end.

kadaindha Madhavan-Madhavan means the Lord (Dhava) of Lakshmi(ma) He is mentioned

here as the one who churned the ocean not only because He was instrumental in doing so
by helping the devas by carrying the manthara mountain and dropping it into the ocean
and supported it as koorma, but because he helped at every step, by churning it with them
and lastly through His mohini avathara.

yamunacharya says in his Sthothra ratna that the Lord took all the trouble to churn the
ocean in order to obtain Lakshmi as He bridged the ocean later for her sake(to retrieve
Sita )'yadharTham ambOdDHih amanTHi abanDHi cha.'

But if one starts thinking about the reason for His wish to get Lakshmi, for which the ocean
was churned as Yamuna says, it appears that He wanted her to make His hrdhaya her
abode so that it will be full of mercy. So He wanted her not for Himself but for the world
which will be benifitted by her dhaya influenced by which alone the Lord shows His grace
without minding our sins.This explanation looks appropriate especially when Andal
calls Him as Madhavan, mAyah DHavan- lord of Lakshmi.He not only churned the milky
ocean but also churned the ocean of milk and curd in Gokula by his exploits of stealing
butter, curd etc.,and causing a great furore among the gopis, perhaps as a practice to
churn the great ocean of army later the Mahabharatha war.

kEsavan-kEsa is hair and as Krishna has beautiful locks of hair he is called Kesava. It also
means the slayer of the demon Kesi. Another meaning of Kesava is that ka is Brahma
, isa means Siva and the particle va means the one who have them both in Him as Lord
Naryana synonymous with the Brahman of the Upanishads whose manifestations are the
trinity.Kesava is also the adhishtana devatha of the month of Margazi. This is the end
pasuram of Thiruppavai which started as paraman adi pAdi and ends with kesavanai which
resembles a pAdhadhikeSAntha sthothra.

paingamalatthaNtheriyal bhattarpiran-Periazvar. asVishnucchittha, the father of Godha

was known as, used to wear the garland of lotuses and thulasi leaves. The former
symbolises the Sridevi and the latter is of the Lord Narayana.

Kodhai sonna sangatthamizmalai-Kodhai in Tamil means garland and godha

in sanskrit means gAm dhdhAthi ithi- or goDHa which means gAm dhaDHathE-one who
give good words. Periazvar was proficient in both the languages and with foresight, he
must have chosen the name which became appropriate.

Her words are extolled as being equal to the ancient tamilworks at the time of Tamil
sangam and hence it is referred to as sangatthamiz mAlai. Sangam also means group,
attachment and beauty.This work has to be enjoyed togeter in a group of devotees and
without attachment to the worldly objects and also it is full of beauty.

ingipparisuraippAr- ingu is this world and the word parisu means the reward in the form
of kainkarya.

eerirandumAlvaraitthOL- eerirandu, two and two ,that is four arms like mAlvarai,
mountainous.

chengaNthirumugatthu- His eyes are like red lotuses ( not fully red but streaked with
redness)

selvatthirumAl-He is rich with His auspicious qualities and association with Sri(thiru)

engum thirivaruL pettruinburuvar -blessed with His grace always and be happy. Those who learn this
work will be happy in this world and the next till they unite with the Lord.