Similarly bharatAzhvAn considers it a result of his sins that Lord rAma had to go to the forest - "mat pApam Eva nimittamAsIt vana praveSe raghunandanasya" (ayodhyAkANDam ). pAmbaNaiyArkkum: "Or maybe emperumAn is not by nature a double-talker; it may be all because of His sahavAsa dOsham with AdiSeshan. This sahavAsam is two-fold: They both went to school together (as rAma and lakshmaNa, or kRshNa and balarAma); He also has now AdiSeshan as His bed".

tam pAmbu pOl: godai's anger with emperumAn is now flowing past Him to anantAzhvAn; even though he is a bed for godai (bhUdEvi) - phaNipatih SayyAsanam for pirATTi (catuh Sloki 1), she cuts off her relationship with him and associates him with only emperumAn (tam pAmbu"). It is only because of this bhogam (which has two meanings - pleasure or snake) of "tam pAmbu) that He just ignores godai and still continues to live.

So also godai associates pA'ncajanyam with padmanAbhan and indirectly disassociates his association with her in nAcciyAr tirumozhi 7-10 - "pAncajanniyattaip paRpanAbhanODum vAinda perum cuRRam Akkiya godai"); she disassociated pAncajanyan with her and associated him with paRpanAbhan. In pAsuram 10 of this tirumozhi, she will be calling Him as "tangaL dEvar" - periAzhvAr's perumAL! Why is godai consistently disassociating herself like this? SrI kRshNasvAmi aiye'ngAr's anubhavam is that she is overwhelmed with anger and frustration.) nAvum iraNDu uLavAittu: "He is talking contradictorily like a person having two tongues. No one else can do this kind of double-talking except one having two tongues". All the words such as: rAma doesn't indulge in double-talk ("rAmO dvir nAbhibhAshatE"); "na me mOgham vAco bhavEt" ("The sky may fall, the Ocean may become dry, but my words will never be false"); etc. have not been true in ANDAL's case. On the one hand He says "I cannot live without you - unnaip piriyEn, pirindAl tariyEn", and then He makes it all a lie and separates Himself from her. Godai says He is double-tongued, especially because the rest of the world still believes and respects this double-talker's words as true.

nAN iliyEnukkE: "On the one hand, periAzhvAr, my father, selflessly devoted himself to His service, and without caring for any self interest such as bhagavad anubhavam, was only concerned about the welfare of emperumAn and sang pallANDu for Him to overcome the fear of any harm to Him. On the other hand, I am bearing the name of periAzhvAr's daughter, but shamelessly publicize His deficiencies and am only worried about getting Him. Oh! What a contradiction it is that I who was born to periAzhvAr should shamelessly indulge in this act. Just because His nature has changed from One who speaks the truth always to One who is now a double-talker, I need not have changed my nature as periAzhvAr's daughter. This is cause for shame".

C. Additional thoughts from SrI UV:

It is interesting to note that SrI UV has yet another anubhavam of this pASuram:

maNATTi: SrI UV interprets the term maNATTi as one who has greatness (mATcimai). He is following the line of thought he presented for the previous pASuram viz. that godai is taking extreme care now not to antoganize anything or anyone. She is giving up her antagonistic attitude and is trying to treat everything with respect. kOvaik koDi becomes maNATTi and mullaik koDi (next pASuram) is going to be mullaip pirATTi. So also, she is changing her treatment of emperumAn from now on - whereas she addressed Him in singular earlier as "enguRRAn", is now addressing Him with respect as "vAi azhagar" and "pAmbaNaiyAr".

SrI UV also gives a new anubhavam for ANDAL calling emperumAn as double-tongued. He is known for His adherence to truth always, as evidenced by "rAmo dvir nAbhibhAshate", and also as declared by His intimate devotee SrI periAzhvAr. ANDAL now feels that He is not keeping up His word to her only because she started having the feeling that He can't live without her and there is nothing He can do to her. So it is the same tongue with which He is now telling her something different because of her sin of having been hot-headed. If ANDAL does not tell this to kOvai maNATTi because of her shyness, then of course kovai maNATTI won't know the truth; so she is giving up all her shyness and declaring the truth. The reference to "His having two tongues" is thus not meant as an insult to Him or to make fun of Him.

While SrI PVP interprets the pASuram as meaning that He ended up with two tongues because of His association with AdiSeshan and ANDAL, even being periAzhvAr's daughter, instead of forgetting her selfish need for Him, is shamelessly calling Him names such as a double-tongued person, SrI UV gives an alternate interpretation. SrI UV's interpretation is that He ended up with two tongues only to make her get rid of her shameful conduct of not admitting that she is subservient to Him: nAvu iraNDu uLavAga Anadu nAN iliyEnukkAgavE) - He assumed the double tongue only to make her give up her shame and admit that she is subservient to Him etc. emmai: the plural is to include her tOzhi also - if her Avi is gone i.e., if she passes away pining for Him, her friend will also loose her life as a result.

D. Additional thoughts from SrI PBA:

SrI PBA gives yet another interpretation - that she feels she is shameless because in spite of all his double-talk she is still shamelessly pining for Him.

E. Additional thoughts from SrI kRshNasvAmi aiye'ngAr:

"I am kulakkoDi of vEyar kulam; you are the kOvaikkoDi; are you trying to pick up a cakkaLatti (another wife) fight with me?". The interpretation here is that godai is using the word 'mANATTi' as emperumAn's dEvi.


[Abbreviations: SrI PVP=Sri periyavAccAn piLLai; SrI PBA=SrI prativAti bhayankaram aNNangarAcAriyAr; SrI UV=SrI uttamUr vIrarAghavAcAriyAr]


pASuram 10.4 (tenth tirumozhi - pAsuram 4 mullaip pirATTi mullaik koDiyE! avar Sol poyyO?

mullaip pirATTi! nI un muRuvalgaL koNDu emmai
allal viLaiviyEl Azhi na'ngAi! un aDaikkalam
kollai arakkiyai mUkku arindiTTa kumaranAr
Sollum poi AnAl nAnum pirandamai poi anrE


A. Meaning from SrImAn SaDagOpan's tamizh treatise:

Oh mullaip pirATTi! Do not torture me with your blossoms which remind me of emperumAn's beautiful white teeth! Please spare me this torture, and for this, I fall at your feet! The words of kOdaNDapANi who disfigured the nose of SurpaNakai when she exceeded her limits have become false in my case. He has declared that He will never forsake anyone who has even made the pretense of approaching Him in a spirit of friendship, and this has not become true to be true that my association with the great periAzhvAr as His daughter is going to help me in realizing Him either.

B. Additional thoughts from SrI PVP :

mullaip pirATTi: just as one might be tempted to praise a wayside burglar in high terms just to escape from trouble, godai is praying to mullai, which is torturing her by reminding her of His beautiful teeth.

ANDAL had just been tortured by the kOvai by being reminded of His beautiful red lips, and now the mullai is following suit. She appeals to the mullaip pirATTi: "Instead of protecting me who just barely escaped from the kOvai, is it fair that you take your turn in torturing me?" SrI kRshNasvAmi aiye'ngAr svAmi interprets kOvai alternately as referring to a string of torturers, viz. kArkkODal flowers, mEl tOnRi flowers, kOvai fruits, etc.

emmai: "I have already been totally depleted by all the previous encounters with the kArkkoDal, mEl tOnri, kOvai, etc. Do you need to further drain me by torturing me even more?" allal viLaiviyEl: allal is translated as distress; this is the stage where she is now feeling helpless and uncoordinated. "vAyum Sivandu kanindu uLLe vENpal ilagu"- tiruvAimozhi 8-8-1; the beautiful, white mullai flowers remind godai of the white teeth of emperumAn inside His pavaLac cevvAi and this is pushing her to a state of total helplessness and she is becoming uncoordinated.

Azhi na'ngAi: godai is going to refer to the ocean in the ninth pASuram; so here Azhi should not be taken as a direct reference to the ocean, but as an adjective for the mullai being majestic like the ocean. "Since you have the gAmbhIryam or majesty resembling that of the ocean, shouldn't you be helping those like me who beseech you for your help?"

Azhi also means a wheel or a circle; mullaik koDi's flowers blossom in a circle, and Azhi na'ngAi can be also interpreted to refer to this beautiful formation when the mullai grows.

un aDaikkalam: It is said that anyone who is of good character should protect even with his life an enemy who has surrendered out of fear for his life or otherwise - "ari: prANan parityajya rakshitavya: kritAtmanA" (yuddha.18-28).

Will the mullaik koDi, which has no brain to understand godai's pleas and which is anyway torturing her, be able to protect her? When the rAkshasis requested protection from sItA pirATTi, She offered them abhayam even though they were still full of enmity towards her, just because they uttered the word 'SaraNam'. So Godai thinks that her mere mention of the word 'aDaikkalam' is sufficient to make the recipient of this request, whether endowed with brain or otherwise, listen to her plea.

kollai arakkiyai: The rAkshasi who violated the norms. Instead of trying to reach perumAL through the purushakAratvam of pirATTi, SurpaNakA tried to reach Him on her own by opposing pirATTi; thus she violated the norm, and this is what led to her being meted out the punishment by Lord rAma.

mUkkarindiTTa: "He punished SUrpaNakA who stood in the way of His embracing sItA who knew none but Him; but now, He is sending several things to destroy me, who knows none but Him".

kumaranAr: His yauvanam or youth is such that even though SUrpaNakA got insulted by Him, she praised rAma's yauvanam when she described her sorrowful encounter with Him ("taruNau rUpasampannau" rAmAyaNam AraNya KaNDam 19-14). It is as though she was considering the blood marks on her nose in par with the nail marks that the nAyaki may have on her body after being with her beloved.

Sollum poi AnAl: "He is known to remove all obstacles that may arise when a devotee wants to reach Him; in my case He is not removing the obstacles for some reason. Even if He is not removing the obstacles, at least He need not have given me His word, and reneged on them. Now it looks like even His words are not coming true".

poi AnAl: godai does not really suspect that His words can become untrue; but in her case, because of her misfortune, she suspects that they may become false just in her case.

nAnum pirandamai poi anrE: In our sampradAyam, AcArya sambandham, bhAgavata sambandham etc., are sure to lead to the realization of bhagavAn. Godai has the great sambandham of periAzhvAr. So she had expected that she was sure to attain Him. However, she has now seen for herself that the words of emperumAn Himself have not come true. Having seen this herself in her case, she is beginning to wonder if her association with periAzhvAr may not also lead to the expected result.

C. Additional thoughts from SrI UV:

SrI UV continues to present his anubhavam of godai becoming more and more humble as time passes. Earlier, she said she was afraid and then she felt she had shamelessly thought He could not live without her. Now she is declaring she needs aDaikkalam. She looks at everything that emperumAn has created, with great respect.

un mURuval allal viLaiviyEl: "Your smile reminds me of emperumAn's smile; this causes great pain; please don't cause this pain, but instead, unite me with my emperumAn and remove this pain of mine".

Azhi na'ngAi: "Instead of taking loud or laughing loud, you are showing your sweet smile majestically, which is commendable. The whole vine is covered with lots and lots of your flowers and you look like a nangai, who is clothed with flower fabric".

kollai arakki: There are good rAkshasi-s who stay within the constraints of their house, and then there are those who are just out of control like SurpaNakA who roam around wherever they want as they wish. She is "kollai arakki" in this sense.

SrI UV gives another explanation: kol arakki - kollum arakki (rAkshashi who kills), or kollappaDa vENDiya arakki - rAkshashi who deserved to be killed.

ANDAL is wondering aloud: He did not kill even this "kol arakki", and spared her because she was a woman; but in my case, even this does not seem to matter!

Note that the chain of thought SrI U.V. is developing is that ANDAL who was antagonistic to whatever she saw earlier, is now turning around and is being friendly with everything that is His creation. For those who are devoted to His service, including pirATTi, when they get angry with Him for whatever reason, it does not last too long. Also, it is only natural that when too many obstacles are encountered in achieving something, we tend to become submissive to get what we want.

pASuram 10.5 (tenth tirumozhi - pAsuram 5 pADum kuyilgAL

pADum kuyilgAL! Idenna pADal? nal vEnkaTa
nADar namakkoru vAzhvu tandAl vandu pADumin
Adum garuLak koDi uDaiyAr vandu aruL Seidu
kUduvarAyiDil kUvi num pATTugaL kETTume

A. Meaning from SrImAn SaDagOpan's tamizh treatise:

In the fifth pASuram, ANDAL looks at a cuckoo singing happily on top a tree in tirumAlirum cOlai malai. The cuckoo s song sounds horrible to godai because of her state of mind. So, she gets mad at the cuckoo and says: Why do you make such a noise? What kind of song are you singing? Is this a song? If emperumAn, who is the Lord of tiruvEnkaTam comes and gives me a life, then, you can come and sing. If my tiruvEnkaTamuDaiyAn, who is having garuDan in His flag, comes and unites with me out of compassion, then I shall call you and both of us will listen to your melodious music together and thus honor you.

B. Additional thoughts from SrI PVP :

pADum kuyilgAL! Idenna pADal?: You sang when He and I were together once. You have been singing ever since. But, from where did you choose this song today that falls in my ears like fire?

kuyilgAL: The plural here suggests that every one of the cuckoos is singing without exception. Even in rAvaNa s goshThi, there was one exception who was a dharmAtmA viz. vibhIshaNa - vibhIshaNastu dharmAtma na tu rAkshasa ceshTita: (rAmAyaNam AryaNya kANDam 17-24). But in the goshThi of the cuckoos, there is not a single cuckoo which is good, and takes pity on godai by not singing while she is suffering.

Idenna pADal: Why are you singing the same song that you sang when I was together with Him earlier? Is this for torturing me even more intensely by reminding me of the time when I was united with Him? This is like applying sandalwood paste after setting fire on either side. In the previous pASuram, the sight of the mullai flowers was like fire being setting on one side of godai. In the next pASUram, she will be tortured by the sight of the beautiful peacocks which will be like setting fire on the other side of godai. The song of the cuckoos in this pASuram is like trying to apply sandalwood on her body to appease her after setting fire on both sides of her.

Idenna pADAl: Am I in a position to hear this song now? I am suffering from the pangs of separation from my beloved emperumAn. Just as fire will destroy the place it is in, in addition to anything else that is in that place, your song will destroy you also in addition to destroying me. You wicked birds! The fact that you are not yet destroyed suggests that you are short of hearing .

nal vEnkaTa nADar namakku oru vAzhvu tandAl vandu pADumin: If they cannot sing this song now, when can they sing? Godai gives the answer: Just as small streamlets appear before full-fledged flooding occurs in a river, there are good signs that suggest that He is going to come; He has already left the hard-to-reach paramapadam and arrived at the easy-to-access tiruvE nkaTam with His flying garuDakkoDi. This must be just a stop-over before He arrives at SrIvilliputtUr to bless ANDAL. So, when He comes and gives me the life with Him that I seek, then you can come and sing .

namakku oru vAzhvu tandAl: My indriya-s are not in a position to enjoy music or any such entertainment at this time - (en aimpulanum ezhilum koNDu - periya tirumozhi 7.5.9 He has taken away the power of my indriya-s). If He gives me a life such that my ears can bear to hear music, then you can sing at that time.

vandu pADumin: I cannot even stand your presence now; just get out of here. You can come back later when needed . Remember how godai threatened to drive the cuckoo out of her grove earlier if the kuyil does not get Her vEnkaTavan (mannu perum pugazh pASuram 5.9.]

ADum garuLak koDi uDaiyAr: ADum refers to both a joyous mood and motion. GaruDa is moving with emperumAn all the time, and is happy to be united with Him all the time in his nitya vibhUti. Unlike this, godai feels that all His other creations around her and including her are His leelA vibhUti-s, which are meant to suffer because of separation from Him.

SrI kRshNasvAmi aiye ngAr observes that this is similar to nammAzhvAr s feeling that all the other things in this world (like the nArai etc.)., are also pining for Him and suffering like Him vAyuntiraiyugaL (tiruvAimozhi 2.1.1).

ADum garuLak koDi: In places where water is kept for public drinking, sometimes there will be a device (SAi karam) which brings water within the range of the mouth of the thirsty person. Similarly emperumAn has His garuDan who brings Him to those who thirst for Him.

vandu aruL Seidu kUDuvarAyil:

Even though godai is longing for Him passionately, in godai s case the only appropriate event is that He should bless her by coming to her Himself, not the other way. Consistent with her paratantra svarUpam, she cannot be the one to initiate this union. He has to come out of great love and unite with godai. [Compare nammAzhvAr s tiruvAimozhi 8-8-3 en uNarvin uLLE iruttinEn aduvum avanadu innaruLE ] If she initiates this union against His will, it is bound to not materialize anyway. Her initiating a union with Him against His Will is like someone who accepts a dAnam of gold whose purpose is to reduce the recipient s lifetime, and then making a gold ring out of it and enjoying this while the person is going to die soon anyway.

The proper way to reach Him is by performing kainkaryam to Him no matter what state we are in. This is what bhagavad rAmAnuja prays to Lord in SaraNAgati gadyam that ultimately He wants the bhAgyam to do nitya kainkaryam to Him after doing prapatti and reaching paramapadam. Kainkaryam to perumAL is like the sweet sugarcane juice for a prapanna. Some may argue that SiSupAla committed lot of sins, and still ended up in paramapadam. But our AcAryas have clearly pointed out that this is not the way to get to paramapadam. SrI AlavandAr s aruLicceyal is that SiSupAlan was thrown to the gates of paramapadam with His cakrAyudham just so SiSupAlan will be removed forever from this world and would not have the chance to ruin others by making them kRshNa-dveshi s. This is not the way to reach paramapadam; it should be because of our genuine and intense desire to reach Him and for Him to cause it by His Will and His Blessing.

Here SrI PVP gives another episode to show that our AcArya-s have indirectly blessed their Sishya-s sometimes to just avoid their causing harm to others. SrI bhaTTar had a student named periya dEvap piLLai , who was constantly chiding everyone in his house. Once SrI bhaTTar sent him to a nearby village on an errand. SrI nanjIyar remarked: Now that he has left the house for some time, the people in his house do not have to listen to his chidings any more for a while . SrI bhaTTar s aruLic ceyal was: On second thoughts, rather than letting him loose and giving him a chance to chide everyone in the town under the guise of being our Sishyan and thus bringing dishonor to us, it is better to keep him with us here even though he belittles us through his actions . From then on, he kept this Sishya with him permanently.

kUvi: ANDAL says she will call these cuckoos when she needs them viz. when she is together with emperumAn.

C. Additional thoughts from SrI PBA:

Wherever ANDAL turned, she saw the flowers or fruits (kArrkoDal, mEl tOnRi,kOvai, mullai); so, she closed her eyes to avoid their himsai. But, now, she is hearing the sound of the cuckoos and she is asking them to stop singing because she cannot close her ears.

ADum garuLak koDi uDaiyAr vandu kUDuvar Agil: The cuckoos may ask how they will know when vEnkaTanAthan will come and give her life and when they can come and sing. For this godai s response is that they can know that just by looking at the dancing garuLak koDi indicating His arrival.

kUvi num pATTugaL kETTumE: Even if they do not recognize it, she will invite them and listen to their music.

D. Additional thoughts from SrI UV:

ANDAL had encountered flowers and fruits so far in this tirumozhi. She could not ask them to cease existing, nor could she tell them not to flower or grow. But she could tell these cuckoos to stop singing, and so this is what she is doing.

pADal: SrI UV continues to develop the anubhavam that ANDAL is becoming more and more friendly with everything around her. By the use of the word pADal, she is praising the cuckoos for their melodious voice.

Idenna pADal: Even though the cuckoo is singing, in ANDAL s state of mind, it does not appeal to her, and so she is asking What kind of song is this?

SrI UV paints a beautiful picture here, playing with the word ADum . My emperumAN, vEnkaTanAthan is a very good Lord; His abode, vEnkaTam is also a good place. He has acknowledged me somehow and I am sure to get some good life because of His grace. Then, you can come here and sing for us. For now, you can go there and sing for Him. He has come to vEnkaTam only to come to me in SrIvilliputUr; He will listen to your song and start dancing and faltering. garuDan will also be surprised at that and start dancing; he will make Him get on top of him and happily bring Him here; when He comes, He will definitely bless me and unite with me; then, you can come here to sing; you can try to make Him come faster by your singing when He is coming. Even if you don t come, I will invite you to come and sing for us. We will listen to your song, enjoy and dance with delight .


Abbreviations: PVP= SrI periyavAccAn piLLai PBA= SrI prativAdi bhayankaram aNNangarAcAriyAr UV= SrI uttamUr vIra rAghavAcAriyAr


pASuram 10.6 (tenth tirumozhi - pAsuram 6 gaNa mAmayilgAL)

gaNa mA-mayilgAL! kaNNapirAn triukkOlam pOnRu
aNimA naDam payinRu ADuginrIrkku aDi vIzhginREn
paNam ADu aravu aNaip paRpala kAlamum paLLi koL
maNavALar nammai vaitta pariSu idu kANminE

A. Meaning from SrImAn SaDagOpan's tamizh treatise:

ANDAL next looks at a collection of peacocks, which are enjoying the water-laden clouds and dancing in the forests of tirumAlirum SOlai. She tells the peacocks: You have the vaDivazhagu that reminds me of kaNNapirAN both because of your beautiful appearance and your blue complexion. Here you are, dancing beautifully as if you have learned dancing for a long time and practiced for a long time. But because it only reminds of my separation from Him, it is unbearable for me to watch you and your dance. I fall at your feet and beg you to stop this merry-making. How sad it is that I have been blessed with this gift of having to fall at your feet by the Grace of my azhagiya maNavALap perumAL who is forever resting on tiru anantAzhvAn.

B. Additional thoughts from SrImAn SaDagOpan:

SrImad bhAgavatam describes kaNNan s beautiful dance on the heads of kALeeyan. ANDAL is surmising that these peacocks must have learned their dancing from Him as He danced on the heads of kAleeyan, and that these peacocks are now paying their homage to their teacher by showing their dancing skills. But since ANDAL is in no position to enjoy their dancing, she is telling them that their great teacher is the one who has now caused her to fall at their feet - such is the blessing that her AdiSesha Sayana nAyakan has given her. godai is making fun of kaNNan by doing a nindAstuti here.

C. Additional thoughts from SrI PVP :

gaNa mA-mayilgAL: godai really wanted to join mARROlai paTTavar kUTTam (kArkkODal 2), namely the kUTTam or gathering that consists of only good souls, but now she is in a kUTTam that is totally fully of her enemies kArkkODal, kOvai, mullai, kuyil and mayil (peacock). Why are these peacocks her enemies? periyAzhvAr says (in periyAzhvAr tirumozhi 4-8-9), ninRADu kaNa mayil pOl niRam uDaiya neDumAl ; these peacocks remind her of His hue and make her suffer.

kaNNapirAn tirukkOlam pOnRu: mangala nal vana mAlai mArbil ila nga mayil tazhaip pIli SUDi, po ngiLa ADai araiyil Satti, pUm kottuk kAdil puNarap peidu (perumAL tirumozhi 6-9) kaNNan decorated Himself with vana mAlai, peacock feather, beautiful garments around His waist and colorful flowers in His ears. These peacocks look well decorated and this reminds one of kaNNapirAn decorating Himself well.

aNi mA naDam payinRu - bharata Sastra deals with the complete set of all dances that are known to mankind. These peacocks seem to have exhausted all those, seem to have surpassed all that is known, and seem to now be dancing dances that are special and unknown hitherto to anyone.

aDi vIzhginREn: ANDAL is telling these peacocks that she is falling at their feet and requesting them to stop their dancing. But the peacocks can tell her in return: We are the ones who should be falling at our pirATTi s (your) feet; it is not appropriate that you fall at our feet instead . She responds to this in the latter half of the pASuram: Everyone has to follow His wishes. Normally He protects those who surrender to Him. He gave the pleasure of the contact with His Body to anantAzhvAn, but refuses to give me the same privilege. In my case, it is His wish that I fall at your feet, and so it shall be .

nammai vaitta pariSu: In the name of being with me, He held my foot first (and then left me; now He has made me hold your feet. What can I do? This is what He has done: you, who is supposed to be subservient to me, has to give your feet to me and I, who am your svAmini, have to hold your feet .

The peacocks, which are in Sishya sthAnam to godai, have to give their feet for her to hold because of their pAratantriyam (lack of independence) because it is His Will.

SrIvaikuNTha stavam 77 talks about the kind of company one should desire:
kaimkarya nitya niratair bhavadEka bhOgair
nityairanukshaNa navIna rasArdra bhAvai: |
nityAbhivAnchita paraspara nIcabhAvair
maddaivatai: parijanais tava sangasIya ||

Please bless me with the company of those nitya-s who are worthy of being worshipped by me and who are in constant association with you and doing constant kaimkaryam to You, consider You as their only object of enjoyment, enjoy You through ever-new bhagavad-anubhavams, and consider themselves always subservient to each other (paraspara nIca bhAvaih) .

It is SrIvaishNava svarUpam that all SrIvaishNava s feel mutually subservient to all SrIvaishNava s. If a cetana gives oneself to the paramacetanan (emperumAn) unconditionally, then His aDiyar-s can use that cetana anyway they like. It is not uncommon for an AcAryan to hold the foot of his Sishyan. ammaNi AzhvAn used to prostrate at his Sishyan s feet. His triuvuLLam was: I prostrate to him because he is a SrIvaishNavan; he is one who knows my heart exactly . The bhAvam here is that the Sishya understands that he is just to be used by his guru as the guru pleases, and if this is what the guru wants to do, it is the Sishya s duty to accept it.

An instance where tiruma ngai AzhvAr worshipped the parrot he created in his pASuram is comparable to ANDAL falling at the feet of her peacocks. vehkAvil tirumAlaip pADakkETTu vaLarttadanAl payan peRRen varuga enRu maDak kiLiyaik kai kUppi vaNanginAL (tiruneDumtAnDagam 14), because he felt that the parrot had grown listening to the praise of emperumAn all its life, and was devoid of any ahamkAram.

Yet another illustration of this concept that SrIvaishNava-s consider themselves to be the aDiyAr s of other SrIvaishNava-s irrespective of age etc., is given by SrI PVP. Once SrI BhaTTar was discussing sat vishayam with SrI tirunaRaiyUr araiyar who was his elder by age, and quoted some of the above instances to araiyar. araiyar in turn parised him saying he had never heard such kind of words from any AcAryan before. bhaTTar was feeling uncomfortable with the praise coming from a great man like tirunaRaiyUr araiyar. The latter comforted him saying that it was quite acceptable in our tradition for anyone to praise another SrIvaishNava irrespective of age etc., and quoted the instance of tiruma ngai AzhvAr (parakAla nAyaki) who first taught his parrot the nAmam of emperumAn, and then fell at its feet when it uttered the name of emperumAn that he himself had taught.

D. Additional thoughts from SrI UV:

It is unique for kaNNan that He decorates Himself with the peacock feathers; so no wonder that He resembles the peacock in beauty.

paRpala kAlamum: always, that is, irrespective of whether He is in yOga nidrA, or when He is with His periya pirATTi or when He is with His other consorts or during His avatAram-s.

How can godai fall at the feet of the peacocks? It is her maNALan s (Semmai uDaiya tirukkaiyAl tAL piDittavan) present to her. When He is away from her, He makes them look exactly like Him in appearance and is now testing if she is paying respects to Him by falling at their feet. periya pirATTi drove Him to a state where He had to surrender to SugrIva. godai is not doing any such thing to Him, but still He is still showing her that He is capable of the same thing that sItA pirATTi did to Him .

nammai: Instead of showing His skills to sIta pirATTi, He is showing them to godai instead.
If it is proper for Him to touch godai s feet (tirukkaiyAl tAL paRRi), then there is nothing wrong with godai falling at the peacock s feet. It is true that there are Sastric injunctions against who can prostrate to whom etc. But no harm can come to the peacocks by ANDAL falling at their feet, since: a) the birds are not subject to these Sastra-s; b) emperumAn, ANDAL, pirATTi etc. are not bound by these injunctions; c) she is falling at their feet for her benefit, and d) He is the one who forced it to happen this way. So in all ways, ANDAL does not see anything wrong with this.

E. Additional thoughts from SrI PBA:

parpala kAlamum: SrI PBA gives the reference to SenrAl kuDaiyAm, irunDal SingAsanamAm ninRal maravADiyAm mudal tiruvantAdi (53), in this context.

Both SrI UV and SrI PBA give an alternate version phaNa vAL aravaNai in place of phaNam ADaravaNai . In this case, the meaning becomes The dancing Adi Seshan with his hoods shining and spread instead of just The dancing Adi Seshan with his hoods spread .

F. Additional thoughts from SrI T. S. rAjagopAlan:

SrI T. S. rAjagopAlan gives yet another anubhavam of phaNam ADu aravu Adi Seshan is dancing with joy with his hoods spread, because he has been blessed with the sparSam of bhagavAn.

Abbreviations: PVP= SrI periyavAccAn piLLai PBA= SrI prativAdi bhayankaram aNNangarAcAriyAr UV= SrI uttamUr vIra rAghavAcAriyAr

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