SrI ANDAL samEta SrI rangamannAr tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

SrI ANDAL arulic ceyda 
nAcciyAr tirumozhi
- vAraNam Ayiram

andal1.JPG (239777 bytes)
Sri Andal

 

pASuram 6.8 (sixth tirumozhi - pAsuram 8 immaikkum EzhEzh piRavikkum)
nAn ammi midippadAgak kanAk kaNDEn

immaikkum EzhEzh piRavikkum paRRAvAn
nammai uDaiyavan nArAyaNan nambi
Semmai uDaiya tirukkaiyAl tAL paRRi
ammi midikka kanAk kaNDEn tozhI! nAn

A. Translation from SrImAn SaDagOpan's tamizh treatise:

gOdai describes the next part of her dream to her friend: "nArAyaNan, who is our protector for us in this birth and all the forthcoming births, and who is filled with kalyANa guNa-s, held my right foot with His red-hued tiruk-kai and placed it on the ammi (stone)."

B. Additional thoughts from SrI SaDagOpan:

ANDAL declared in tiruppAvai "eRRaikkum EzhEzh piRavikkum un tannODu uRROmE Avom unakkE nAm At SeyvOm maRRai nam kAma~ngaL mARRElor empAvAi", thus describing the SaraNAgati tattvam. In this tirumozhi, she declares the same in a different form: "emperumAn is having a permanent, indestructible relation with us in this birth and the next and in all His avatArams". In tiruppAvai, ANDAL declares - kuRai onRum illAda govindA! un tannODu uRavEl namakku i~ngu ozhikka ozhiyAdu". Here she does mangalASasanam to Him saying "immaikkum EzhEzh piRavikkum paRRAvAn, nammai uDaiyavan nArAyaNan nambi".

For the mantram recited during "ammi midittal", please refer to the following location:

http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/apr98/0083.html

C. Additional thoughts from SrI PVP and SrI PBA:

immaikkum EzhEzh piRavikkum paRRAvAn: In the previous pASuram, gOdai had said that because of their holding hands in front of agni as the witness, they cannot part with each other. Here she says: "even if the witness agni tries to make us leave each other, He will not let go ever, in this birth and all future births".

EzhEzh piRavikkum: There is no void in our lives, no matter how many times we will be born, as long as we get to enjoy Him. When yAgams are done for the sake of making it rain etc, the benefit would be that it will give the right fruit only once. But this not the case with Him. As seen from rAma carama slokam ("sakr*dEva prapannAya"), it is enough for us to hold on to Him once as upAyam; that anubhavam will stick to us for as long as time exists. nammAzhwAr shows us this sentiment in tiruvAimozhi 9-1-7 "kuRRamil SIr kaRRu vaigal vAzhdal kaNDIr guNamE".

nammai uDaiyavan: He is our sarva-svAmi; we belong to Him, not to our own selves. Here SrI PVP quotes "coreNa Atma apahAriNA" (mahAbhAratam udhyOga parva 42-35) - this AtmA belongs to bhagavAn; whoever thinks it belongs to himself, is really stealing the AtmA. There is no greater thievery and sin than this.

nambi - refers to He who is full of unlimited kalyANa guNa-s. [[This is the equivalent of akhila heyapratyanIka, asankhyeya kalyANa guNa ganaugha mahArNavam.]]

Semmai uDaiya tirukkaiyAl tAL paRRi: Semmai here refers to two attributes of His tiruk-kai. One is the beautiful red color of His palms. The other is His ASrita pAratantriyam - His becoming subservient to those who seek refuge in Him - or His great desire to hold His bhaktas' feet, 'Semmai".

During weddings, normally, the bridegroom's relatives will say "don't touch the bride's foot". The bride's relatives will say "you will have to hold her foot"; when the two sides are arguing like this, He came on His own and held gOdai's foot with great desire. Even though He is our svAmi, normally we don't show any interest in resorting to His Feet; unlike us, He is very eager to hold the feet of those who resort to Him. This is what is conveyed by the word "Semmai". Even though He tells us "mAm ekam SaraNam vraja", which means we should hold His Feet and surrender to Him, in truth when we go and seek His Feet, it is He who holds our feet with great zeal.

ammi midikka: This is the aSma ArohaNam ceremony - stepping over the stone - ammi midittal. The bridegroom says to the bride - "Be strong in your loyalty to me, like this stone" - "aSmEva tvam sthirA bhava". SrI PVP's anubhavam is that as He is trying to place gOdai's foot on the stone, she is worried about His foot touching the stone by accident. Why? Because, that stone might turn into a woman like ahalyai!

SrI PBA notes that there is a view that ammi midittal is done as a way of saying that the bride will not have infidelity like ahalyA, but will be a great pativratA instead.

tozhI nAn - gOdai tells her sakhi: Previously I have heard about His ASrita pAratantriyam from you; now I have myself experienced it.

C. Additional thoughts from SrI UV:

SrI UV points out that while the last pASuram involved His holding her hand, this pASuram deals with His holding her leg, and placing it on the ammi (ammi midittal). SrI UV remarks that at this time, it is common that the bride's and the bridegroom's parties have a fun exchange on the "ethics" of the husband bending down and holding the foot of the bride.

The mantra involved is "aSmeva tvam sthirA bhava" - May you live long like this stone - wishing the bridegroom a very long life.

nammai uDaiyavan: In married life, the role of the husband as the support for the wife is only true for this birth. This relationship is based on the two bodies of husband and wife; AtmA is not involved here. But, in the case of emperumAn, this relationship continues in all births. He is the One who is the Owner of all of us ("nammai uDaiyavan"). He is our swAmi. We are sEsha-s for no one else but Him. If we understand this tattvam and surrender to Him, we will have His anubhavam in all our future births, no matter what the birth is. "eRRaikkum EzhEzh piRavikkum un tannODu uRROmE AvOm, unakkE nAm AT SeyvOm".

paRRu AvAn: While I am holding (paRRu) on to His feet as His belonging; now He is holding on to my feet instead! There are no words to praise this nambi's guNam.

Semmai uDaiya tAL paRRi: Because of my searching for Him hither and thither, my feet have become hard and bony; when He touches my foot with His soft flower-like hands, His hands will become red; He does not mind that, and still holds my foot out of His love for me.

tiruk kaiyAl tAL paRRi - There are some who argue that it is inappropriate for the bridegroom to hold the feet of the bride, and that all that the bridegroom should do is say to the bride: "Touch the ammi with your foot". From ANDAL's SrI sUkti, it is clear that holding the foot of the bride is the traditional practice.

ammi midikka: This involves touching the ammi with the tip of the toe.

Abbreviations:

PVP= SrI periyavAccAn piLLai
PBA= SrI prativAdi bhayankaram aNNangarAcAriyAr
UV = SrI uttamUr vIrarAghavAcAriyAr
sarvam SrIman nArAyaNAyEti samarpayAmi.

aDiyAL,
kalyANi kRshNamAcAri


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