"MangaLa vAdyams were being played; conches were being blown; under the canopy that was decorated with low-lying pearl strands, madhuSUdanan took my right hand into His and did pANigrahaNam; Oh dear sakhi! I saw this in my dream next."

SrI Sadagopan elaborately describes this pANIgrahaNam scene in his write-up of the vedic wedding between ANDAL and SrI ranganAthar. Please visit the following locations:

mattaLam koTTa variSa~ngam ninRu Uda: SrI PVP raises the rhetorical question: "why didn't ANDAL say that He did pANigraham to the accompaniment of vedic chantings, and instead says that maTTaLam and conch are being played? This sounds like a wedding where there are no veda mantra-s". SrI PVP's anubhavam is that may be kaNNan is marrying gOdai even before He learned vEdam from SAntIpini mahA r*shi. kaNNan lived in tiruvAyppADi for a while before going to SAntIpini to do gurukula vAsam and learn vEda-s. Thus it makes perfect sense that ANDAL who imagines herself as an AyarpADi girl, sees kaNNan marrying her before He does gurukulam and learns veda etc.

maittunan nambi: (aunt's son); just as nappinai is related to kaNNan (nappinai is said to be the daughter of yasodai's brother), ANDAL wishes to think of herself as an AyarpADi girl who is related to Him.

madhuSudan: He destroyed the demon, madhu (with his associate kaitabha), who took something that belonged to Him (the vedas). SrI PVP's anubhavam is that ANDAL chooses this name here to suggest - just like that, if anyone else claims any relationship with gOdai or in any other way lays claim for her, He will destroy him.

vandu ennaik kaittalam paRRa: she is the daughter of periyAzhvAr, whose thought is: "I am His property; so, it is only proper that He comes to get me"; so, she says: "He came and took my hand".

kaittalam paRRa: A reference similar to the above is found in SrImad rAmAyaNam - (yuddha kANDam 119-16). sitApirATTi tells hanumAN "na pramANIkr*ta: pANi: bAlyE bAlEna pIDita:" - Did He forget that He held my hand when He was only 12 years old?" pIDitah here means that He "took my hand and held it tightly". SrI embAr was asked by some as to why the word "pIDita:" was used instead of an alternate word such as "pANigrahanam"; He replied: "With the tight holding of the hand, He is showing her that she absolutely belong only to Him. This is conveyed by nammAzhvAr - 'ankaNNan uNDa en AruyirkkOdidu' (tiruvAimozhi 9-6-6) - When He owns something, He absolutely owns it, and what is left is nothing."

SrI PVP reminds us here of the much enjoyable slokam from SrImad rAmAyaNam bAla kANDam 73-26: "iyam sItA mama sutA sahadharma carI tava, pratIcca cainAm badram tE pANIm gr*hNIshva pANinA" - this sItA is my daughter; she will be your sahadharmacAriNi; hold her hand with your hand".

mattaLam koTTa vari Sa?ngam ninRu Uda - The mattaLam etc. start when the bridegroom arrives, and continue until the pANi grahaNam is completed. The word ninRu signifies that the mangaLa vAdyams continued without stopping.

maittunan: aunt's son or uncle's son; how can kaNNan be ANDAL's maittunan? Just as He was nappinnai's maittunan, gOdai desires that same relationship with Him. It could also mean that gOdai is saying to her friend: "Once I am married to Him, He becomes my husband; and since oh, sakhi, you are like a sister to me, He becomes your maittunan".

nambi: An eminent person among men. ANDAL refers to Him as nambi, because He is willing to take ANDAL as His consort even though she is not related to Him like nappinai.

kait talam paRRa - This refers to pANi grahaNam. SrI UV comments that when the bride and bridegroom are shy, they might just hold only the fingers of each other, instead of holding the palm of each other. The hands should be held fully, with the palm of the bridegroom gripping the palm of the bride, signifying that from then on, whatever dharma they perform will be jointly performed, and the benefits jointly shared. The hand is the indriya that is used for action and for consumption. "pANi grahNAt tu sahattvam karmasu tathA puNya phaleshu"; " saha dharma carI tava, pANim gRhNIshva". SrI UV points out that while mA~ngala sUtram is just a sign that the girl is married, the true vedic rite of importance in marriage is the pANi grahaNam.