Throughout mArgazhi month (mid-Dec to mid-Jan), ANDAL has conducted the pAvai nOnbu through Her tiruppAvai pAsurams, to get kaNNan as Her husband. She has not yet been blessed with the anubhavam of joining Him. She becomes heart-broken. How will Her wishes come true, how can She acquire what She desires? She thinks and thinks. Then She has this idea: "Manmathan or kAman (love fairy) is said to have the power of joining lovers together by aiming his flower arrows at them; why not try praying to him? Throughout the month of tai (mid-Jan. to mid-Feb.), every day let me purify the place where I am going to worship kAmadEvan and draw beautiful kolams (drawings). Then in the first half of mAsi month (second half of Feb.), I will fill the street on which he is going to walk over to come and bless me, with smooth sand so that he will not feel any roughness on his feet. After he comes to my house and sits on the seat arranged for him, I will pray to him and to his brother, sAman, together. Both of them will be compassionate to me and bless me with the great opportunity to personally serve tiruvEnkaDamuDaiyAn, who is carrying in His hand the cakrAyudham which is emanating hot fire sparks".

In Her first pAsuram of nAcciyAr tirumozhi, Godai submits Her request to kAmadEva thus:

Thus having decided to pray to kAmadevan for the privilege of being able to do antara~nga kaimkaryam to tiruvEnkatamuDaiyAn, godA proceeds to outline her plans for her vrata anushTAna-s towards this objective in the next pASuram.

There is reference to godA involving herself in cleaning the floor and decorating the place etc. SrI tirukkaNNa mangai ANDAn, the author of the first taniyan of nAcciyAr tirumozhi that we started with, was also one who did this kaimkaryam to BhagavAn. SrI periavAccAn piLLai points out this similarity.

One could legitimately ask the question - how come godA worships kAman? Is this not improper? She is only worshiping kAman with the objective of getting BhagavAn. She has no other goal in life. It is her desperation to reach Him that is causing her to do whatever it takes to get to Him. It is as if this is her sthala- Suddhi in order to perform kaimkaryam to Him ultimately.

Her praying to kAman and sAman together reminds us of the phrase "namOstu rAmAya salakshmaNAya".

ANDAL proceeds next to describe the vratam She plans to undertake in the worship of kAmadEvan:

kAmadEva! I will spread pure, white hued silt from the river bed and decorate the path that you are going to walk on and wait for your arrival. I will bathe in the river before sunrise, gather samit (wooden sticks) that are devoid of thorns and ants, go home and offer them to agni (fire) with proper mantra-s to propitiate you. In return, you get ready with your flower arrows and sugarcane bow, write the auspicious name of kaDal vaNNan (neela mEgha SyAmaLa varNan, kaNNan) in the arrow to indicate that I am desirous of union with Him, and aim me at Him so that I reach the target.

Here, gOdai indirectly says, if you direct me to that target, kaNNan, who burst open bakAsuran's (crane's) mouth, will be very pleased with you.

SrI periyavAccAn piLLai gives an alternate explanation as well for "kaDal vaNNan enbadOr pEr ezhudi" - ANDAL is asking kAmadEvan to write in his heart (i.e., make a determination in his mind) that She is to be united with Him.

"veL varaippadan munnam tuRai paDindu" reminds us of phrases from tiruppAvai - "keezhvAnam veLLenRu" , "nAtkAlE neerADi" and "kuLLak kuLirak kuDaindu neerADi".

KAmadEvA, I worship your respected feet three times a day with white flowers that please you such as oomattam and murukkam (palASam) flowers. Please unite me with my lover. You have a reputation that you are the expert in uniting lovers together with your flower arrows; don't lose this reputation. Do not give room for anyone to be able to say that you are a powerless god and can't be trusted. Make an arrow with bunches of blossoming flowers, and, meditating on GovindA's auspicious name, please make me merge with the light called SrI vEnkaTa vANan, who is known for His soulabhyam and kalyANa guNAs.

Thus, in this pASuram ANDAL is praying that kAman should quickly aim his arrow and unite her with the Light called tiruvenkatamudaiyAn, and ensure that there is no room for being called a powerless god who can't fulfill the prayers of those who worship him. B. Some additional thoughts: PeriyavAccAn piLLai points out that godai who is used to gathering tuLasi leaves, is now going after the kinds of flowers that are consistent with the rajo guNam typical of one in love.

In the last pASuram, godai had been a bit harsh to kAman; so she tries to appease him now. So she informs kAman all the things she has done to please him. She says: I have written your name on the wall of my house; I have decorated the wall with drawings of your flags bearing the images of sharks, and have surrounded these with figures of beautiful damsels who serve you by doing cAmara kaimkaryam, horses, sugarcane bow, etc. on either side. I am doing all this with care and in detail just to please you, so that in return, you will ensure that I am united with the only one for whom I am born - the dvArakA-pati or the Lord of dvArakA. Right from my early childhood I have felt that I was only meant for Him and it is your duty and responsibility to ensure that this materializes. You are known for your skill in uniting people in deep love with each other, and it is your responsibility to ensure that this happens before I lose my feminine charm.

periyavAccAn piLLai compares ANDAL's thoughts on Lord kr*shNa with all the things she is doing for kAman. Thinking of garuDa dvaja, she is drawing the makara dvaja. Thinking of Sar~ngam (Sar~ngamennum vil ANDAn), she is drawing the sugarcane bow. In the thoughts of the horse-drawn chariot of Lord kr*shNa, she is drawing the horse for kAman. The gopikA-s are in her mind as she draws the damsels. And she is drawing all these for kAman on the wall lest she forgets worshiping kAman because her thoughts will be on kr*shNa all the time. ANDAL is used to the mentioning of vAhanams during perumAL's samArAdhanam; with that mind, she talks about horses and chariot.

nAcciyAr tirumozhi - I - kAmanai vENDudal. pASuram 5 - vAniDai vAzhum.

A. The translation from SrImAn SaDagopan's tamizh treatise.

ANDAL declares to kAman that if there is any talk of marrying her off to a human, she will not live any more. She makes her determination known to him thus: I have surrendered my body and soul to dvArakA nAthan; if any talk arises about making these belong to a human being, it would be equivalent to a forest fox smelling and licking the prasadam which has been offered to the devAs. Do not let this kind of apacAram happen anytime. If this untoward incident ever happens, I will not bear my life even for a second after that. Even you who are born to the Lord cannot tolerate this injustice. So, before anyone even so much as starts talking of marrying me off to a human without my knowledge or my Lord KaNNan's knowledge, please unite me with that Sankha-cakra dhAri.

ANDAL declares here that jeevAtmA is subservient (SEsham) and belongs to Isvaran, and it should not be dedicated to the service of humans who are revolving in the Ocean of samsAra. Doing so would be equivalent to taking the sacred and pure havis (purODASa) from a yA~jna and offering it to a dog instead of to the deva-s for whom it is intended.

Thus, ANDAL kept conversing with manmathan, and days rolled by. The month of mAsi (mid-Feb. to mid-March) was over, and the month of pa~nguni (mid-March to mid-April) had already arrived. The 45-day maNDala pUjA that she started for kAmadevan was over already and she had not yet been blessed with the union with her kaNNan by kAman. Godai suddenty gets a doubt - May be all these poojAs that I did for manmathan in my capacity as a girl, were flawed and were not done by following the proper rules. If I had done them properly, manmathan would have united me with kaNNan by now. I don't even know where kaNNan is. I might have missed certain pooja rules, because I am a small girl. I will seek the advice of those with expertise in kAma SAstrA so that they can advise me on the proper procedures as laid in the SAstra-s to achieve my ishta kAmya prApti (getting my desires fulfilled). Those experts would be young people with a beauty that even you would admire. With their blessings, I will pray to you with a clear mind on this day of uttara star in panguni month. Oh manmathA! in return for my vratam, please make the beautiful, red lotus-like eyes of my lover (whose appearance is like the dark clouds of the rainy season and whose color is like that of kAyAmpoo and who has the brilliance of kAkkaNampoo), turn towards me and bless me.

Just as those who seek bhagavt-guNa anubhavam seek the guidance of those who are sAttvic in nature, ANDAL seeks the help of the experts in kAma-SAstra to seek the blessings of kAman who is the expression of rajO-guNa. ANDAL describes His brilliance which removes the darkness from the innermost corners of our minds. She is asking kAman to ensure that kaNNan just does not just turn His eyes towards her like someone surveying a beautiful garden, but looks at her with the special katAksham - that of bhagavAn who longs to have the darSanam of His bhakta; it is not just that ANDAL wants to have His darSanam, but it is also that bhagavAn longs for the union with His devotee.

ANDAL calls for scholars well-versed in kAmaSastram, and with their help recites the mantrams meant for manmathan with proper svarams and pronunciations. She prepares the prasAdam favorite to manmathan, made out of raw rice kernels, sugarcane, jaggery, rice and aval and offers it to him. Then she prays to him: bless me to make trivikraman, who measured the three worlds with His auspicious feet once, hug me with His divine hands; let Him embrace this young body of mine, which has been protectively grown only for Him, and as a result make me attain immeasurable fame in this world. This prayer of ANDAL is conveyed in three pASurams, the first of which follows:

After asking for karum kaNNan's embrace, ANDAL proceeds to ask her nextboon:

ANDAL wants to praise and please manmathan by calling him: "teSuDait tiRaluDaik kAmadEvA". "You have the power to bring together males and females with the help of your flower arrows under the guise of manmatha prastAram. You also have the expertise to destroy all obstacles that may arise in the path of their uniting together. Oh, kAmadEvA! Please do not forget the pitiful plight I am in while I am observing this vratam to attain the karungaDal vaNNan kaNNapirAn - I appear with body smeared with dirt, unoiled, uncombed and undecorated hair, pale lips due to avoidance of tAmbUlam, and a thin body because of eating only once a day. I am thus a pitifully lean person because of the severity of my vratam, and do not decorate myself like normal women do. There is one and only one boon you can bestow upon me. Having been born a woman, I need your blessing to become the most blessed of women on this earth by having the bhAgyam to do pAda sevA for keSava".

ANDAL has been praying to kAmadEvan three times a day with all formalities and doing pushpANjali and nAma samkIrtanam. Now she doubts whether he is going to fulfill her wishes or not. She declares to him: "If my vratam for acquiring kaNNan (who has a hue like that of the sea that surrounds the earth) as my husband does not materialize, I will be heart-broken and start sobbing: ayyO, ammA, why do I have such a plight? Just worrying about your refusal to help me, I am going to cry my heart out. Oh, manmatha! You will be cursed with a lot of peN pAvam (sin) if you drive me to this condition of pathetically crying like a helpless girl. This situation wherein you ignore all my worships by not blessing me, is similar to making a buffalo toil hard in the field, not give water or food to it, and then beat it to death by smashing its neck with the big nugattaDi itself. All the sins of making me do vratams and then fooling me with promises of blessings, are going to afflict you".

kaNNan, who knows all too well the state in which His godai is, on the one hand, desires to be with godai and quench her viraha tApam. On the other hand, He can't resist the desire to hear all the SrI sUkti-s that are going to result from her mental anguish of separation from Him. He decides that He will appear before her only a little later, and instructs His son, manmathan, not to heed to ANDAL's prayers for now.B. Some additional thoughts: ANDAL implies here in an indirect way that when someone surrenders and the rakshakan fails to protect that person, he will acquire all the sins of the SaraNAgatan, and all the puNyam of the rakshakan will go to the one who sought protection. [SrI PVP]

In the last pASuram of nAcciyAr tirumozhi - I, gOdai presents all the mangaLams that will arise out of reciting the ten pASurams sung in an attempt to get kAmadEvan's help in reaching her Lord:

ANDAL declares that those who understand the meanings of, and recite, these ten pASurams wherein she appeals to manmathan to unite her with kaNNan, will reach nAyakan nArAyaNan's SrI vaikhunTham and indulge in His kaimkarya sAmrAjyam. These are the pASurams through which she worshiped manmathan who has the sugar cane bow and the flower arrows as his weapons to unite her with her Lord who slayed the big elephant named kuvalayApeeDam in front of kamsan's palace, and who tore open bakAsuran's mouth. godai, the daughter of vishNu citta, the foremost of those from SrIvilliputtUr, says that those who recite these pASuram-s will be blessed with the bhAgyam to be united with Him in SrivaikunTham and perform nitya kaimkaryam to Him for ever.

The motivation for godai to praise manmathan's bow and arrow arises from her meditation on bhagavAn's bows and arrows - "Sarngam ennum villANDAn" (tiruppallANDU-12) and "SarangaL ANDa taN tAmaraik kaNNanukku anRi en manam tAzhndu nillAdu" (periya tirumozhi 7-3-4). Unlike godai, who, though born of sAtvika periyAzhwAr, ends up falling at the feet of kAman, those who learn this prabhandam will be relieved of samsAram and get to enjoy nityAnubhavam along with nityasUris. [SrI PVP]