PeriyAzhwAr and ANDAL: No account of PeriyAzhwAr would be complete without mentioning his foster daughter ANDAL (who is also in the line-up of AzhwArs). ANDAL (avatar of BhUdEvi) was found as a baby under the basil bush in the flower garden of PeriyAzhwAr. . He named her “kOdhai” in Thamizh which means “a string of flowers”. The name was Sanskritized to gOdhA which took on additional meanings such as vEdhA. PeriyAzhwAr raised kOdhai telling her the beauty, and divine exploits of Krishna (an avatar of VishNu) and how the gOpis of Gokulam pined for His love. ANDAL grew up, as days and years progressed, determined not to marry any ordinary mortal but only Lord Ranganatha (the progenitor of Krishna).
    
She used to decorate herself with the flower garlands strung by PeriyAzhwAr for the Lord’s service and wonder whether she was a fit bride for the Lord. When PeriyAzhwAr happened to see it one day he was grief-stricken but ANDAL told him that she did so always. That made him feel worse yet. However, the Lord appeared in PeriyAzhwAr’s dream and told him it gives Him great pleasure to wear the garlands which were already worn by ANDAL.  PeriyAzhwAr realized that ANDAL was none other than the Lord’s favorite. ANDAL thus gained the sobriquet, “sUDik koDutta suDarkkoDi” (the shining creeper who wore the garlands first and then gave to the Lord). In the end the Lord of Srirangam ordered PeriyAzhwAr to bring ANDAL to Srirangam where He would accept her. When ANDAL and her retinue reached Srirangam and ANDAL entered the sanctum sanctorum she merged with the Lord. PeriyAzhwAr thus had another honor designating him as the father-in-law of Lord Ranganatha. A great honor indeed!

PeriyAzhwAr Thirumozhi:
PeriyAzhwAr wrote 473 pAsurams in all-- a vast majority of them dealing with Krishna’s childhood, assuming the role of Krishna’s mother. He lived the life of YasOdhA through those pAsurams. He described the birth, the cradling, bathing, dressing, and feeding baby Krishna, and watching the baby steps. He also described Krishna’s activities during the childhood and youth periods. PeriyAzhwAr dedicated his other pAsurams to the presiding deities of the following divya dEsams: Srirangam, SrivilliputtUr, ThirumAlirunjcOlai, Mathura, ThiruveLLarai, PrayAgai, AyOdhyA, Tiruppathi, DwAraka, TirukkuRunguDi, ThirukkaNNapuram and other places. He devoted 10 pAsurams to describe how Hanuman identified himself to SItA in Asoka vanam in LankApuri. It is interesting to note that PeriyAzhwAr’s pAsurams had superior diction on top of Bhakthi oozing throughout. Swami MaNavALa MAmunigaL and PeriyavachAn.

PiLLai wrote commentaries on PeriyAzhwAr’s pAsurams.       
In one of the decads, PeriyAzhwAr described the agony of the mother of a gOpi when the gOpi joined her lover (the Lord, actually). The lines he used are: Oru magaLai uDaiyEn. ulagam niRainda pugazhAl thirumagaL pOl vaLarththEn; sengaNmAl thAn koNDupOnAn.  (I had one daughter; I raised her to be famous and splendorous like goddess Lakshmi; the crimson-eyed Lord took her away). This reflected his own personal agony when the Lord took away his daughter ANDAL at the sanctum of Srirangam.

Let us conclude by citing a tribute by PANDiya BhaTTar to PeriyAzhwAr.      
பாண்டியன் கொண்டாடப் பட்டர்பிரான் வந்தானென்று ஈண்டிய

சங்கம் எடுத்தூத--வேண்டிய வேதங்கள் ஓதி விரைந்து

கிழியறுத்தான்    பாதங்கள் யாமுடைய பற்று

PANDiyan koNDADap bhaTTarpirAn vandAnenRu
INDiya sangam eDuttUda—vENDiya
VEdangaL Odhi virAindu kizhiyaRuttAn
PAdangaL yAmuDAiya paRRu

Meaning: To the great celebration arranged by the PANDya king, BhattarpirAn (VishNucittar) came (to Madurai) to the blowing sound of conches. He narrated the essence of the scriptures and received the sac (of gold coins). Let us revere his feet.

( To be contd.)

Sethuraman Subramanian
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