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