Sri Parthasarathi thunai
Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha
Srimad Vara Vara MunayE
namaha
Sri Vanachala mahA munayE
namaha
We all go to temple to
worship the divine lord. What is
the procedure that has to be followed while visiting a temple? “seiyyAdhana seiyOm” says andal. First of all we have to follow our
elders and act accordingly. We
have to keep in mind that we are not going to do anything they haven’t
done. Then what should we do? We
have to go to the temple as a ghosti.
We have to collect all interested bhagavatas and along with them go to
the temple. “vEdham vallArgalai kondu vinnOr perumAn thiruppAdham
panindhu” says Swamy Nammazhvar (we will follow those well
versed in sastras (in this world and outside) and surrender to the divine feet
of the lord.) Even the
pAncharatra sAstram says that before entering a temple it is necessary to get
the permission of the kshetra/dvara palakas. That is what andal shows in anushtAnam
(practice) in her sixteenth paasuram ("nAyakanAi
nindra nandagOpanudaiya kOil kAppAnE"). Now that she has awakened all the
gopis and everyone have joined them, they all proceeded towards the
thirumaligai of Sri Nandagopar to sing thirupalliyezhuchi to Kannapiran.
Though andal and her mates
who were basically ignorant and illiterate small girls didn’t know the sastras
but since their ancestors were vaishnavas they have inherited the practices by
nature. So before waking up
krishna they first requested permission from the koil kAppAn (security to the
temple), then after pacifying him they proceeded inside. Then they got the permission of the
vAsal kAppan (open who guards the entrance.) Getting permission was not that easy
since not only the chetanas (koil kAppan and vAsal kAppan) but also the
achetanas (doors) were very cautious so that no harm occurs to their dear
krishna. After all interrogations
they were allowed inside.
Here andal doesn’t name the
security guards but says ‘koil kAppAn’ and ‘vAsal kAppan’ since for
Srivaishnavas, importance is only for the kainkaryam they do, no matter who
they are. In this paasuram,
andal shows one another important concept of Srivaishnavism. Brahmins give a lot of importance to
AchAram whereas deha AchAram is totally different from anushtanam. To attain the divine lord bhAva
shuddhi is only important deha shuddhi is not necessary. Our poorvacharyas quote
vibheeshanAzhvan, drowpathi and arjuna for those who surrendered to emperuman
without deha shuddhi but with bhAva shuddhi. So it is said that if you are
physically pure, no problem if you are nor pure then too no problem. Just with pure mind surrender to the
divine feet of emperuman as it is.
(To be continued)
Azhvar emperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE
sharaNam
Adiyen ramanuja dAsee
Sumithra Varadarajan