Andal takes the Gopikas along with Her and goes to wake up
Lord Krishna. Her efforts prove of no avail. So She asks Nap-
pinnai to help Her. Nappinnai, the avatara of Neela Devi, is
Lord Krishna’s favourite Consort. The Azhvars, in their
verses, have extolled the childhood days of Lord Krishna,
and Nappinnai figures prominently in their pasurams, said
M. A. Venkatakrishnan in a discourse.
Andal first wakes up Nappinnai and although She is Neela
Devi and not Sri Devi, Andal addresses Nappinnai as
‘Thiruve,” which is the Tamil for Sri Devi. So Andal shows
that Nappinnai is as important as Sri Devi Herself. But why
do the Gopikas visit Krishna? What is their request to Him?
Andal asks for ‘ukkam’ and ‘tattoli.’ In Tamil ukkam
means a fan and tattoli refers to a mirror. There is a reason
why Andal asks for these.
Samsaric life is like a fire. A jivatma needs shelter from
this heat, and the Lord is that shelter. He provides respite
from the heat of samsara and is therefore like a fan. How
does a jivatma move towards attaining liberation? Only
when a person has atma jnana and knowledge about the
nature of the Paramatma does he or she realise the tempor-
ary nature of worldly attachments. He or she then seeks
moksha.
The Lord is like a mirror that shows us the nature of the
jivatma. A mirror never lies, and it is the absolute truth
about the nature of the jivatma and about the world that the
Lord will open our eyes to. And that is why Andal asks for
the Lord, referring to Him as both a fan and a mirror.
Andal is also anxious to get close to Lord Krishna as soon
as possible. She is not prepared for delays, and hence She
also uses the word “ippode” meaning immediately. Andal
seeks Krishna’s presence at once and asks Nappinnai for this boon.
Comments
Post a Comment