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This article can be found on the Web at
http://www.best.com/~mani/new/andal-bio.html
]
Andal is one of the most extraordinary personalities in religious
history. She is known in her native tongue of Tamil as an alvar,
one who is "immersed" in the depths of enjoyment of God, the
omnipresent mysterious One. Tradition reckons 12 alvars, of which
Andal is the only female. Between the fifth and ninth century, in
the Tamil-speaking region of South India, these saints
revitalized the Indian religious milieu, sparking the renewal of
devotional worship throughout the subcontinent. Traveling from
place to place, from temple to temple, from holy site to holy
site, they composed exceedingly beautiful poetry to their Divine
Beloved, Vishnu, as an expression of their love for Him. Anyone
can see why their poetry was so attractive; at once both
impassioned and philosophical, their words cut across all
barriers of caste and class, attracting all to their faith. In
doing so, they sculpted a new religious heritage of intensely
emotional bhakti, or love of the Divine, whose impact is still
felt today in the Indian religious life. Andal, whose life and
poetry are celebrated every December-January, is the most visible
contributor to this heritage.
Life of Andal
-------------
The life of Andal is remarkable in its romantic simplicity. A
devout brahmin named Vishnucitta lived in Villiputtur, a town
near Madurai. His daily duties included procuring flowers for the
worship of the Lord at the local duties included procuring
flowers for the worship of the Lord at the local temple. One
morning, as he went about his business, he discovered a baby girl
lying under a tulasi plant in his flower garden. Having no
family of his own, Vishnucitta felt it was God's grace that gave
him this child and named her Godai, or "beautiful girl." Filled
with joy, he took her home and raised her as his own.
Godai grew up in an atmosphere of love and devotion. Vishnucitta
doted on her in every respect, singing songs to her about his
Beloved Krishna, teaching her all the stories and philosophy he
knew, and sharing with her his love of Tamil poetry. The love
Vishnucitta had for his Beloved Lord intensified further in his
daughter, and before long she was passionately in love with Lord
Krishna. Even as a child, Godai made up her mind to marry none
but the Lord of Brindavana, and refused to think of any human
being in similar terms.
She imagined what it would be like to be His bride, playing the
role of His beloved, enjoying His presence. Unknown to her
father, she adorned herself daily with the flower garland he
prepared daily for the Lord at the temple. After admiring her
reflection and thinking of herself as His ideal bride, she would
put the garland back for her father to take to the temple and
offer to the Lord.
One day, Vishnucitta noticed a strand of Godai's hair on one of
the garlands. Shocked and saddened by this desecration of what
was meant only for the Lord, he scolded Godai for her misuse of
the garland and discarded it. He carefully prepared a new one and
offered it to the Lord, begging His pardon all the while.
That night, the Lord appeared to Vishnucitta in his dream and
asked him why he discarded Godai's garland instead of offering it
to Him. He told Vishnucitta that He missed the scent of Godai's
body in the flowers, and that He preferred them that way. Would
he please continue to give the garlands once worn by Godai?
Overcome with emotion, Vishnucitta awoke and cried tears of both
joy and remorse. It dawned on him that his daughter was someone
whose love of God was so intense and pure that even he had not
comprehended its extent. Her spiritual greatness was such that
the Lord Himself wished to share her presence. From this day on,
she became known as "Andal", the girl who "ruled" over the Lord.
Andal blossomed into a beautiful young woman as she came of
marriageable age. When asked to marry, however, she stubbornly
refused, saying that she would only agree to marry Sri
Ranganatha, the Lord at the great temple town of
Srirangam. Vishnucitta despaired, wondering what was to become of
his daughter. One night, Lord Ranganatha appeared in his dream
and asked that Andal be sent to Him in all her wedding
finery. Simultaneously, the Lord appeared before the priests at
Srirangam and asked them to prepare for the coming of
Andal. Vishnucitta once again was filled with both joy and
sadness; joy that his beloved daughter would attain her goal, but
sadness at losing her at the same time. He made all the wedding
preparations and arranged for Andal's journey in a palanquin to
Srirangam.
Andal waited with excited anticipation as the wedding party
approached Lord Ranganatha's shrine. As they entered the temple,
she jumped out of the palanquin, unable to restrain herself any
longer. Running into the temple sanctum, she embraced Lord
Ranganatha and disappeared in a blaze of glory, having joined her
Lord. She was only fifteen at the time.
Andal is now one of the best loved poet-saints of the
Tamils. Pious tradition reckons her to be the veritable descent
of Bhumi Devi (Mother Earth) in bodily form to show humanity the
way to His lotus feet. She is present in all Sri Vaishnava
temples, in India and elsewhere, next to her Lord, as she always
desired.
Historicity
-----------
The hagiography of Andal as presented above is undoubtedly
true in most important respects. Today, the tulasi garden
in which she was found is preserved in Srivilliputtur.
Vishnucitta's house, adjacent to Lord Vishnu's temple,
has been converted into a temple in honor of Andal and
contains the well in which she admired her reflection
while wearing the Lord's garlands.
Most of all, however, Andal is remembered for her poetry,
in which she often strikes autobiographical notes about
her love for her Lord. She describes herself as a young
girl, as yet with immature breasts, pining away for Him.
She beseeches her friends, the god of love, and even
animals for help in her quest to attain Him. Finally,
she describes her good fortune of being the daughter of
Vishnucitta, the best of the devout, who lives in
Srivilliputtur and adores the Lord.
Andal's Poetry
--------------
Andal composed two works in her short life. Both are in Tamil and
are unique in their literary, philosophical, religious, and
artistic content. Her contribution is even more remarkable
considering that she was a teenage girl when she composed these
poems, at a time when we have no other record of Tamil women
composing poetry. Far from being the prattlings of a youngster,
Andal's verses display a literary and religious maturity far
beyond her years.
Her first work is the Tiruppavai, a poem of thirty verses in
which Andal imagines herself to be a cowherd girl during the
incarnation of Lord Krishna. She yearns to serve Him and achieve
happiness not just in this birth, but for all eternity, and
describes the religious vow (pavai) that she and her fellow
cowgirls will take for this purpose.
The second is the Nachiyar Tirumoli, a poem of 143
verses. Tirumoli, literally meaning "sacred sayings", is a Tamil
poetic style in which the work is composed. "Nachiyar" means
goddess, so the title means "sacred sayings of our Goddess." This
poem fully reveals Andal's intense longing for Vishnu, the Divine
Beloved. Utilizing classical Tamil poetic conventions and
intermixing stories from the Sanskrit Vedas and Puranas, Andal
creates imagery that is quite possibly unparalleled in the whole
gamut of Indian religious literature.
The impact of these works on the daily religious life of the
South Indian has been tremendous. Just like the Ramayana, people
are never tired of listening to the Tiruppavai. The poem itself
is recited with great religious fervor by women, men, and
children of all ages, particularly in Tamil Nadu. The daily
services in most Vaishnava temples and households include its
recitation.
Both of these works, particularly the Tiruppavai, have been
commented on extensively by innumerable scholars in a number of
languages over the centuries. Today, we are fortunate to have
many translations of the Tiruppavai in Western languages which
make these poems available to an even wider audience.
During the month of Margali (December-January), discourses on the
Tiruppavai in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi and English take
place all over India.
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1. Vishnucitta is also known as Periyalvar, or "the great alvar".
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