Sunday, December 25, 2016

Thiruppavai- A Holy Composition of 30 Verses by Andal (Goda Devi)

Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya people regard this Tiruppavai book as very auspicious. Thiruppavai is a collection of 30 stanzas or verses (known as paasurams in Tamil and Telugu languages). They were composed by Sri Goda Devi, also known as Andal who has been a great devotee and lover of Lord Krishna (who is in the form of Sri Ranganathaswamy in Srirangam Temple).

Goda Devi was the adopted child of a great priest named Vishnu Chitta of Srivilliputtur temple near Madurai. She got attracted to God since her childhood and developed pure love and attachment for Him as she grew up. She decided to marry God only and not any human being. To attain the unity with Him, she performed the ritual (a vow or penance) of Pavai.

Thiruppavai means holy or respected Pavai, a kind of penance performed especially by young women to attain some desired result. Kothai (Andal) performs this meritorious ceremony in the guise of a religious ritual. It was performed during the auspicious month of Marghazhi (December 16 to January 14) considered to be a part of the celestial dawn in heaven. Goda Devi assumes herself as a cowherdess and invites other young girls also to perform this ritual along with her in order to seek eternal bliss for them all. She performed it for all those 30 days, getting up early at Brahma muhurtam, and worshipping God each day with one verse composed by her in praise of God.

To know how to perform Dhanurmasam rituals, view this article about "Dhanurmasam".

The first five verses of Tiruppavai introduce us to the main purpose and theme of performing this ritual. Common people seek for happiness in life. But, Andal does not seek material happiness. She was after the eternal happiness and bliss (of attaining unity with God) even though other members of her group think that she is doing this for worldly happiness like them. Goda Devi tells here that people should give up their luxuries and worship God for possessing true happiness in life. One should get up early in the morning, take bath and worship God with flowers, and other offerings, and sincere faith in Him, seeking his blessings and happiness. She tells that honest prayers can bring rains and prosperity in their lives.

The next ten stanzas of Thiruppavai are about the importance of collective participation and the part of nature and surroundings in making your penance successful. She also stresses the importance of honestly performing one's daily duties without escaping them in the pretense of being busy with performing spiritual rituals. She goes around the locality waking up each friend to take part in the ritual along with her, describing the beautiful surroundings of nature, like the chirping of birds, the beautiful colors of the sky and clouds, the blossoming flowers on plants, their enchanting fragrance, the ringing of bells from the necks of cattle, the reverberating echoes of chantings from the temples, and sounds of conches, etc. All these are also a part of our daily life. So, Andal reminds that they should get up early from bed to get inspired from all these things, and perform their daily routines along with being involved in spiritual meditations and rituals. She also tells us that we should restrain ourselves from indulging in material worldly pleasures of life by curtailing our desires, ego, prestige, and pride. Then only God gets pleased and provides all blessings and happiness to us.

The verses from 16 to 22 are rendered to waking up of Lord Krishna's father, mother, brother, consort Neela, and finally Lord Krishna himself. In these verses, she praises their great virtues and at the same time reminds all that God is not limited to some particular selected people only but belongs to all his devotees. No one should forget this fact and hinder others from seeking his company and blessings.

In the next 5 stanzas from 23 to 27, Andal seeks Krishna's forgiveness for awakening him so early in the morning and glorifies him enumerating all His virtues. The 28th verse narrates the humbleness and ignorance of people either in recognizing or realizing God and, so, requests to be kind enough to grace them with His gifts in the form of eternal bliss.

Verse 29 narrates her vow, along with other devotees' determination, to perform this penance or ritual of Pavai to seek eternal happiness and relief from worldly problems.

Verse 30 is the concluding stanza describing her compilation of these 30 verses, also known as Pasurams, to the dedication of God and that whoever will recite them daily for 30 days without failure shall attain all the pleasures and blessings of God.

This is the essence, importance, and purpose of Thiruppavai which is being recited by Sri Vaishnava people, especially, during the month of Dhanurmasam which occurs during the period starting from 16th December and ending with 14th January each year.

To know more about the story of Andal or Goda Devi view this complete "article on Andal's life and her greatness".

Each one of these 30 paasurams have been provided by me with full meanings in my other posts tagged with the label "Tiruppavai".


No comments:

Post a Comment