Andal’s Divine Love Annyesha Bhuniya BD/19/26
DIVINE LOVE What is Divine Love and who is a Divine lover?
ANDAL A brief background on the female mystic poet
LEGENDS Transition from a teen poet to a Goddess
ICONOGRAPHY How we see her today, symbolisms and signiďŹ cance
FEMINISM A source of inspiration against patriarchy
LITERARY WORKS Main contributions to Tamil literature, examples
WHAT IS DIVINE LOVE? ● ●
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Divine love can be described as Pure love that is freely given, standing outside of the dharmic realm of obligation, social expectation and reproduction. Rather than God-fearing, these Divine lovers in India, can be called as God-possessed. They have nothing to prove to the society, they are only answerable to their Lord. Their feelings are akin to illicit romantic love, ready to risk all to be in the presence of the beloved. It is love for love’s sake alone—a love that can take over the human lover, sweep away all distinction in the ecstasy of union, and also fill the soul with intense longing during separation. ● It can be both Spiritual and Sensual, Platonic and Erotic, Physical and Metaphysical. Some lovers find fulfillment in their unrequited relationship and by simply participating in the Leela of the Almighty, while some other lovers pine away all their life, suffer from danger and ailments, desperate to be loved in return.
ANDAL Andal or Godadevi is the only female Alvar among the 12 Alvar saints of South India. The Alvar saints are known for their affiliation to the Srivaishnava tradition of Hinduism. Active in the 8th-century, with some suggesting 7th-century, Andal is credited with the great Tamil works, Thiruppavai and Nachiar Tirumozhi, which are still recited by devotees during the winter festival season of Margazhi. ● “Andal” is an epithet, meaning “she who rules”. Pious tradition holds her to be the incarnation of Bhūmi Devi (Sri Lakshmi as Mother Earth) to show humanity the way to Lord Vishnu's lotus feet. Representations of her next to Vishnu are present in all vaishnava temples. ● In poetry, 9th-century Andal became a well known Bhakti movement poetess and historical records suggest that by 12th-century she was a major inspiration to Hindu women in south India and elsewhere. Andal continues to inspire hundreds of classical dancers in modern times choreographing and dancing Andal's songs. Andal is also called Goda, and her contributions to the arts have created Goda Mandali (circle of Andal) in the Vaishnava tradition. ● Andal’s bhakti looks very different from that of her contemporaries, the Alvar saints; and also of Meera and Kabir who came later. She talks about her sexuality and desire in a frank way — framed as a desire for God. The beautiful fusion of Sringar rasa and Bhakti rasa is what makes her poems so unique. ●
LEGENDS Andal comes from Srivilliputhur, a town in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu. Periazhwar (originally called Vishnuchittar) was an ardent devotee of Perumal and he used to string garland to god every day. He was childless and he prayed to God to save him from the longing. One day, he found a girl child under a Tulasi plant in a garden inside the temple. The child was goddess Sri Mahalakshmi herself incarnated to test the devotion of alvars. ● He and his wife named the child as Kothai, who grew up as a devotee of Lord Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu, the supreme God. She is believed to have worn the garland before dedicating it to the presiding deity of the temple. Periazhwar, who later found it, was highly upset and remonstrated her. Lord Vishnu appeared in his dream and asked him to dedicate only the garland worn by Andal to him. The practise is followed during modern times when the garland of Andal from Srivilliputhur Andal Temple is sent to Tirumala Venkateswara Temple on Garudotsavam during the Tamil month of Purattaasi (September – October). ● As Kodhai grew into a beautiful maiden, her fervor for the Lord grew to the extent that she decided to marry only the Lord himself. As time passed, her resolve strengthened and she thought constantly about marrying Ranganathar of Thiruvarangam (the reclining form of Vishnu). ● One night, Lord Ranganatha appeared in Vishnuchitta’s dream and asked that Andal be sent to Him in all her wedding finery. He made all the wedding preparations and arranged for Andal’s journey in a palanquin to Srirangam. 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. ●
ICONOGRAPHY The Iconography of Andal shows her as a young girl draped in a red or a green silk saree, wearing a garland. These traditional garlands are made of tulasi, sevanthi and sampangi flowers. She sports a hair bun on the left side indicative of the hairstyles prevalent in the Pandya kingdom then. This is similar to that of Goddess Meenakshi. ● She lovingly holds a parrot which is symbolic of the Andal’s knowledge. Srivilliputhur Andal's hand-crafted parrot is made with fresh green leaves each and every day. When the Andal idol is taken on processions in Srivilliputhur, a golden, gem studded parrot adorns Her. In dance, Andal is represented in samapāda-sthānaka with the left hand in kapittha-hasta and the right hand in dolā-hasta. ●
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FEMINISM ●
Feminist interpretations see Andal's pursuit of marrying Vishnu as rejecting the patriarchal institution of marriage. Virgins with divine marriages were often able to practice educational freedom through reading and/or writing such as Andal did. ● She’s confident, unashamed and proud of her beautiful form. She desires her god as lover openly, erotically with no holds barred. She seeks spiritual union through sensual union without shying away from the notions of abstinence that is expected from women. Through her intense and profound poetry she ensured that women’s sexual expressions would have a legitimate cultural space in our society.
LITERARY WORKS Andal composed two literary works1)
Thiruppavai: Her ďŹ rst work is the Thiruppavai, a collection of 30 verses in which Andal imagines herself to be a Gopi, one of the cowherd girls known for their unconditional devotion to Lord Krishna. In these verses, she describes her yearning to serve Lord Vishnu and achieve happiness not just in this lifetime, but for all eternity. She also describes the religious vows (pavai) that she and her fellow cowherd girls will observe for this purpose. It is said that Thiruppavai teaches philosophical values, moral values, ethical values, pure love, devotion, dedication, single-minded aim, virtues, and the ultimate goal of life. 2) Nachiar Tirumozhi: The second work by Andal is the Nachiar Tirumozhi, a poem of 143 verses. "Thirumozhi" literally means "Sacred Sayings" in a Tamil poetic style and "Nachiar" means Goddess. This poem fully reveals Andal's intense longing for Vishnu, the Divine Beloved. Utilizing classical Tamil poetic conventions and interspersing stories from the Vedas and Puranas, Andal creates imagery that is possibly unparalleled in the whole gamut of Indian religious literature. However, conservative vaishnava institutions do not encourage the propagation of Nachiar Tirumozhi as much as they encourage Thiruppavai because Nachiar Tirumozhi belongs to an erotic genre of spirituality.
You who enjoy life on earth, listen! The rituals for deity go through we duteous; Chant the foot of the Supreme who had Reposed in stealth on the ocean milky; Bathe we early; relish not ghee or milk Nor would kemp, nor adorn with flower beauteous; Grace not with kajal; nor bid deeds forbidden; Nor go around ear kiss tale or malicious gossip Help the worthy and poor utmost by gift or alms toss'd With mind pleasant, study the chores engrossed. -Thiruppavai
Interpretation In this stanza Andal, representing all the Gopis is describing the vow that they will be performing and the austerities they will undertake. They will sing the praises of the Supreme Being said to be reclining in yogic trance upon the serpent couch. The feet are the objects of worship because Andal considers herself so humble that she is unworthy to even look upon the body or the face of the Supreme Being. (This is an interesting contrast to her poems in Nachiyar Thirumozhi, wherein she openly describes her desire to be embraced by the Lord) She as the Gopi urges everyone to stop all superficial acts of beautification and try to liberate themselves by doing good deeds. The poem talks about congregational worship, shared and communal devotion. Using the plural voice of a group of girls, she makes an argument of bhakti being a quest perhaps relished in a group, where they serve the society and in turn serve their One Lord.
Clouds that spill lovely pearls what message has the dark-hued lord of Venkatam sent through you? The fire of desire has invaded my body I suffer. I lie awake here in the thick of night, a helpless target for the cool southern breeze. Rain clouds rising like great war-elephants over Venkatam what word has that one who sleeps upon the serpent sent for me? The world will say: ‘heedless that he was her only refuge he killed this young girl.’ What honour is there in this? -Nachiar Tirumozhi
Interpretation Andal is singing to the rain clouds to carry her missive of passion to the dark skinned god who lives on the high hills of Vengadam and is asking anxiously what word the Lord has sent for her. Here she is a passionate teenager, all ache and demand, restless and sleepless. The language she uses shows that she is very aware of her body. She’s wide-eyed, sharp-tongued and enraged by unfulfilled longing. At one point she even starts reprimanding the Lord because he is so ignorant of her pains. In contrast to the previous poem, here Andal sings of her individual need for spiritual and sexual congress with her Lord.
Interpretation Oh rain! You fall on Venkatam mountain Where my handsome lord stands, Can you make him ďŹ ll my heart while it melts away on His touches and tight embraces Like the wax which makes way for bronze Make him caress me and hold me tight so that my beautiful lord lodges in my Heart. -Nachiar Tirumozhi
Andal wants the Lord to completely ďŹ ll her heart, in the process melting away her own being. For this she is offering her body as the cast/mould as she believes her body is sacred and worthy of receiving the Lord. She is willing to lose her own identity and physical form just as the wax melts away and wants it to be replaced by the majestic bronze that is her Beloved. I believe that the union Andal is talking about is not just a spiritual union but also sexual union because she speaks of touch and embrace.