A fan and the mirror

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.


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