SrI:
SrI ANDAL samEta SrI rangamannAr tiruvadigaLE SaraNam

NACCIYAR TIRUMOZHI
``Sacred Sayings of our Goddess''
by Smt. Kalyani Krishnamachari

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  • Introduction
  • First taniyan (laudatory verse)

    • June 15, 1998

    Dear Friends:

    Through the enormous grace of gOdA pirAtti and perumAL, adiyEn has been blessed to translate into English and post in the Bhakti List, a wonderful treatise on nAcciyAr tirumozhi, written in Tamil by our "kainkarya SrI" SrI Sadagopan. The fluency with which he writes and the bhakti-laden words leaves one overwhelmed. With ANDAL's and perumAL's anugraham, adiyEn will attempt to post the translations little by little.

    Any bhakti bhAvam this posting may cause comes entirely from the exquisite writing of SrI Sadagopan. Any mistakes/misinterpretations/misleadings are solely mine.

    Introduction and First taniyan

    The following write-up deals with the mAhAtmyam (greatness) of SrI gOdAdEvi, who (in spite of having the great honor of sitting by the side of paramapada nAthan in SrI vaikuNTham) chose to be born under a tulasi plant in SrI vishNu cittar's garden in South India and found great pleasure in presenting poomAlai (garland of flowers) and pAmAlai (garland of verses) to rangamannAr.

    Many of our acharyas have sung the praises of ANDAL; Sri vedAnta dESikar extols Her bestowing an importance to South India by Her being born there. A whole set of verses emanate from him in the form of gOdAstuti. SrI uyyakkoNdAr, SrI rAmAnujar, SrI maNavALa mAmunigaL, SrI parASara bhattar and tirukkaNNa mangaiyANDAn have all had divine experiences with ANDAL tirunAmam (holy name).

    Two taniyans have been ascribed to nAcciyAr tirumozhi. After a brief explanation of the taniyans, we will explore the 143 pasurams in nAcciyAr tirumozhi, wherein the young heart of gOdAi pours out the love for the Lord in so many different words and styles. At the end of it all, we will summarize the various managaLASasanams done for ANDAL by different AcAryAs.

    nAcciyAr tirumozhi - taniyan 1

    tirukkaNNa mangaiyAnDAn's blissful taniyan for ANDAL's nAcciyAr tirumozhi is a great gift for us: 

    allinAttAmarai mEl AraNangin intuNaivi
malli nAdAnda mada mayil - melliyalAL
Ayar kula vEndanAgattAL ten puduvai 
vEyar payanda viLakku

    allinAttAmarai mEl AraNangin intuNaivi:

    ANDAL is the closest friend (priya sakhi) of SrI mahAlakshmI, who gives sEvai as kanakapadmAsani on fresh-bloomed lotus in the forest of red lotuses with beautiful petals. svAmi dESikan prays to SrI mahAlakshmI (in SrI stuti), as She is seated on a golden lotus, which is amidst a forest of lotuses (sthAnam yasyA: sarasijavanam).

    As ramAdevI's dearest friend, ANDAL stands by the side of emperumAn, joins forces with SrI dEvI (Aranangin tuNaivi) and both of them take turns to plead with emperumAn to salvage the sinners and save them. Like the drum which gets beaten on both sides, perumAL is stuck between SrIdevI on one side and bhUdevI on the other; when SrIdevI tries to plead with Him on behalf of her sinning children, He tries to turn His face away and what does He see? bhUdevI trying to continue the pleading! 

    malli nADAnDa maDa mayil:

    ANDAL is like a female peacock who reigned supreme over the mallinADu - land that surrounds SrI villiputtUr. 

    melliyalAL:
    ANDAL is "melliyalAL" - she is very soft-hearted; even though, as Her children, we commit a lot of sins, being patient as bhUdEvi and forgiving as kamalA (SrIdEvI), She ignores our faults and gives Her hand to save us. The reason why SrI svAmi dESikan says (in gOdAstuti): "sAkshAt kshamAm kAruNayA kamalAmivAnyAm gOdAm ananya SaraNa: SaraNam prapadyE" is that he is following tirukkaNNa mangaiyAnDAn's mArgam. 
    Ayar kula vEndanAgattAL:
    "petram mEyttuNNum kulattil" piranda ANDAL became one with rAjagOpAlan, who was also the king of Ayar kulam. 
    ten puduvai vEyar payanda viLakku:
    SrI tirukkaNNa mangaiyAnDAn states next that ANDAL is the mangaLa jyoti (auspicious lamp) that SrI vishNu cittar of SrI villiputtUr had. "ooRRamudaiyAi periyAi ulaginil tORRamAi ninRa cuDare" - ANDAL calls her nAthan thus. She prays to kAmadEvan "vittagan vEnkata vANan ennum, viLakkinil puga ennai vidikkiRRiyE" and through Her SrI sUktams, ANDAL merges into "vEnkata vANan ennum viLakku" (the lamp that is Lord vEnkatEsvaran), and shines brilliantly as a double jyoti.

    sarvam SrIman nArAyaNAyEti samarpayAmi.

    adiyen,
    Kalyani Krishnamachari
    kkrishnamachari@lucent.com

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