My spiritual journey may have started a few years ago, with regular
chanting of prayers, visiting temples and observing fasts and other things
associated with spirituality. I had realized that God is the supreme power and
He was he only one who could bring about any change in our lives. And that He
was responsible for any incident in my life. However the ‘He’ took many forms
in my mind, including that of Goddesses, but always convincing myself that
there cannot be many Gods, and that these were all various forms of the one
Supreme Lord. From very early in my life I could never agree to the existence
of many Gods. However my whole perspective about God and prayers changed
drastically when I started listening to understanding Thiruppavai as explained
by my guru Shri Velukkudi Krishnan.
Somewhere I had read that God cannot be limited to any one form or name,
because that will mean limiting his powers to that extent. This was what
convinced me that the various forms are just how He appeared to us under
various circumstances to undertake various duties to save the world. This is
one thing that got a confirmation from my guru Shri Velukkudi Krishnan’s
discourse on Thiruppavai. That He appeared in the form of Narayana as we know
only so that we can fit Him into our imagination and thought. The thinking of
One God also crystallized into one name and its various alternates. Listening
to my guru’s discourses cleared the confusion in my mind as to which form of
God to worship for what reason. He clarified that praying Narayana in any form
will give the same result.
But this was not the main change that occurred in me. My whole perspective
about God changed with my understanding of Thiruppavai. From a powerful master
who stood at a distance, whom we waited to hear our voice and prayers, He
turned to be the most benevolent. He became the one who waited to fulfill our
wishes, to give reprieve to our sorrows, to guide us in times of crisis and to
somehow attract us to Him so that our souls get liberated. Through Thiruppavai
Aandal convinces us that as long as we don’t deny Him the opportunity to help
us, He will always be there, taking care of us.
In the 28th Paasuram of Thiruppavai, Aandal, portraying herself
as a woman from the cow-herd clan, is seen telling Krishna that she is ignorant
of any religious procedures and her only virtue is her being born in the same
clan as Krishna himself. Aandal, as the incarnation of Shree Bhoodevi and
brought up in this birth as the daughter of the pious Brahmin Periyaazhvar,
cannot be ignorant of prayers or religious procedures. But in Thiruppavai she
has assumed the role of a cow-herd woman and feigns ignorance only to show us
that the Lord doesn’t expect anything else from us except a total surrender to
Him. Aandal goes on to tell Krishna that here she is, surrendering herself at
His feet and requests that He grant His blessing for her service.
Aandal has penned Thiruppavai with the only aim of telling us that even for
the uninitiated one, the Lord is accessible and showers His kindness. He offers
salvation even if we don’t have any virtues, but surrender ourselves to Him.
His appearance in this world in various forms is in itself a kindness shown to
us earthlings. That He, the most powerful, the most sacred and the most pure,
should decide to appear on earth and live among us mortals, is proof enough of
His love for us. All his appearances have been to show us by example of how we
should lead our lives.
He gifted us the Vedas and knowing very well that we humans, due to our
karma and life on earth, will not lead the life that the Vedas prescribe,
decided to appear on earth. Not seeing the desired changes, He gifted us such
Gurus and Acharyas like Sankara, Madhva, Ramanuja and the various teachers who
followed their path. He gave us the Aazhvars who penned the Divya Prabhandams
for us to read and understand and learn to love Him. At the height of his
kindness Lord Narayana declared that the mere chanting of His names is enough
to liberate our souls. The thirty stanzas of Thiruppavai gifted so kindly to us
by our Mother Earth Shree Bhoodevi, in the form of Aandal all point to this one
fact. Love Him and Chant His Name – and you shall be liberated. Ask Him for
nothing but the opportunity to be of service to Him. Thiruppavai is written in
a style that is simple and easy to understand, and hearing it explained by my
Guru Shree Velukkudi Krishnan, cannot but bring us closer to the Lord and make
our hearts melt knowing His kindness and love for us.
Pranaams at the feet of my Guru Shree Velukkudi Krishnan, ever-so-kind
Aandal and at the feet of ever-merciful Lord Narayana.
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