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Dear friends,

In the second stanza of the "tiruppAvai" (beginning with "vaiyattu
vAzhvIr..."), Andal speaks of 'mArgazhi vrata'. 

She deals with the subject of various vows ("vrata") that God seekers
undertake. They are vows of fasting, ablution, self-denial and
charity. These are to be strictly observed throughout the course of
"mArgazhi" by the spiritual seeker who like the "aaypAdi" girls is
keen to pursue God.

The phrase "neyyunnOm, pAlunnOm" signifies abjuring "ghee and milk"
which are metaphors for renunciation and self-denial. These are
otherwise known in Vedanta as "virakti"/"vairAgya".

********************************

Next, the expression "nAt kAlE neerAdi" means ritual bathing
undertaken in the chilly hours before daybreak. Waking up in the wee
hours of a cold wintry "mArgazhi" is an ordeal by itself. One of the
reasons why 'mArgazhi' is known also as "dhanur mAsam" is because it
is the part of the year when in the mornings everyone loves to remain
curled up like a bow ("dhanus") inside their cozy beds. Greater still
is the ordeal of having to get up from a warm bed and go out, as the
'aadypAdi' girls did in the "tiruppAvai", for a ritual bath in a wild
and icy stream in the woods. 

'nAt kAlE neerAdi' is actually ANdAL's special metaphor for the many
vows of purification a God-seeker puts his soul through. It signifies
the periodical cleansing one's soul must be subjected to in order to
rid it of the taint of sins, both knowing and unwitting.

*******************************

The expression "mai-it-ezhudOm malarittu mudiyOm" literally means
abjuring from use of beauty enhancing cosmetics and aids. The term
"mai" refers to collyrium or what perhaps is called "kAjal" these
days but generically, it probably includes the entire array of
products we know rules the 'beauty industry' today -- from lip-stick
and skin-toners to eye-mascaras and hair-cream. The term "malarittu
nAm mudiyOm" signifies the resolve of the 'aaypAdi' girls to desist
from even the grooming they normally give their tresses. To a lady of
good upbringing the care of her hair is very important. The vow then
to leave it uncared and unkempt for a whole month in 'mArgazhi' is
certainly the harshest, the most terrible one inflicted upon her.

The vow of "mai-it-ezhudOm malarittu nAm mudiyOm" should not however
be mistaken to mean that the true God-seeker must go all out to make
himself/herself physically most disagreeable. The "tiruppAvai" is not
out to make a virtue of slovenliness and unhygiene. What is being
encouraged here is the hard and constant struggle needed by the
seeker of God to shed personal ego and vanity ("mamakAram" and
"ahankAram") which creeps into every aspect of our lives in whatever
we do -- in the form of our possessiveness, selfishness and mighty
self-conceit.

******************************

The next vow of 'mArgazhi' AndAl reveals to us is "aiyamUm
pichaiyUm". This refers to 'charity', 'alms-giving' and philanthropy.
The vow of "dAna" -- charity -- is a great one indeed in this world.
It is hailed by the Upanishad even -- 

dAnam iti sarvANi bhUtAni prashagUm santi; 
dAnaan nAti duscharam; tasmAd dAnE ramantE 

-- mahAnArAyaNOpanishad

"All living beings praise the act of giving as supreme good; there is
nothing more difficult to practise than charity; and so good people
delight when they can give dAna, when they can gift.."

One may wonder why AndAl includes charity in her list of
"things-to-do" in 'mArgazhi'. It strikes us as rather strange that a
certain season should be set apart for 'dAna'? Why should charity be
time-bound? There ought to be no particular season for giving, should
there? One must be willing to give at all times, right?

The reason why "tiruppAvai" singles out 'dAna' as a special
"mArgazhi" vow is this: 

Deeds of charity are not all truly 'charitable'. The charity we
engage in is often indeed deeply tainted by ego, ulterior motive,
pride and high-handedness. Such charity is not real charity as its
underlying sentiment is anything but charitable. 

This is the reason why in the Taitireeya Upanishad it is cautioned: 

"shraddhaya dEyam, asraddhayA'dEyam, sriyA dEyam, hriyA dEyam, bhiyA
dEyam..." 

i.e. "Let your charity be faithful; let it not be insincere or with
ulterior motives; let your charity be whole-hearted; let it be given
with good grace; may you always be extremely mindful of how, in what
manner and for what purpose you give in charity...".

In life when acts of charity are undertaken without heed to the above
Upanishadic caution it all quite often ends up in less than wholesome
result. Here is a little parable to illustrate the point:

Once there lived a rich man whose charity earned him fame far and
wide. People flocked daily to his house to receive his benefaction.

One day seeing a beggar at his doorstep, the rich man resolved to
donate him a handsome gift. He went to his personal stable, picked
the largest and most magnificent animal in it -- a great elephant! --
and gifted the big tusker away to the beggar. The onlookers who
watched felt nothing but scorn and ridicule for the rich man's whim
but, since they were themselves expecting to benefit from his
generosity, they roundly applauded the rich man's munificence with
effusive "ooh-s" and "a-haa-s".

The rich man began to gloat and bask. But the beggar himself, poor
man, was reduced to a trembling wreck at the very sight of the
gargantuan gift... "Here I'm scrounging around to feed myself! How
shall I feed another mouth? And an elephant's mouth, to boot? It's
not generosity this rich man is offering. It is insult he is heaping
on a beggar with everyone around watching!".

The elephant wasn't too pleased either. "This rich man is giving me
away to a beggar who is himself unsure where his next meal will come
from", the pachyderm thought to itself, "All these years I have been
fed well at the rich man's house. Now I'm being thrown to the beggars
and shall starve to death like them... and for no fault of mine. And
all because of this fool's fancy".

All that the rich man's charity earned for himself that day was
nothing but ill-will from both the recipient and the object of
charity, not to mention the all-round but secret ridicule everyone
who stood witness harboured for him. This was a clear case of
"asradhayA'dEyam".

The moral of the story therefore is that true acts of charity,
described in the "tiruppAvai" as "aiyamUm pichaiyUm", are those gifts
and alms that (a) behove both the giver and the receiver and (b)are
given wisely, even if not too well.

****** ******** *********

Next, in this 'pAsuram', we see ANdal speaking of "paraman adi pAdi".
This expression means "singing the praises of God".

This phrase leaves us in a bit of doubt as to the exact intent of the
verse. Is Andal saying here that the act of "singing the praise of
God" is another of harsh and severe "mArgazhi" vows? Is "paraman adi
pAdi" similar to the other vows of "aiyamUm pichaiyUm" or "neyyunnOm,
pAlunnOm"? 

No, never! Nothing could be farther from ANdAL's true intent in
bringing up the beautiful expression "paraman adi pAdi". The act of
singing the praises of God is not a vow but a 'vow-softner'. Now what
do we mean by "vow-softner"?

When a vow like "neyyunnOm, pAlunnOm" or "nAt kAlE neerAdi" is
undertaken it is the cause of a great deal of personal discomfort. In
taking such vows one goes through a lot of "sramam" (as it is called
in Sanskrit or "siramam" which is the Tamil equivalent). The human
resolve to carry out a vow unmindful of discomfort can be strong in
the beginning. But very often such resolve weakens rapidly once it
begins to encounter 'siramam'. Vows then will get easily broken
midway and aborted resolutions will fall by the way side.

In order to maintain strength of resolve, in order to be able to stay
the steady course of any 'vrata' or vow, the God-seeker who is wise
will resort to "paraman adi pAdi" i.e. he will be found to be
constantly "singing the praises of God" while carrying out the vow.
It is the only way he finds he can 'soften' the rigours and hardship
of observing vows. 

The success of the various other 'mArgazhi vrata' like "neyyunnOm,
pAlunnOm" or "nAt kAlE neerAdi", ANdAL seems to be telling us through
this wonderful little phrase of "paraman adi pAdi" (in this second
"tiruppAvai" stanza), the success of those other vows verily depends
upon how well and wisely one resorts to the good old reliable
expedient of "paraman adi pAdi" -- singing the praises of God!

andAl tiruvadigaLE saranam,

Regards,

dAsan,
Sudarshan














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