Andal

I was found under a Tulsi plant in the gardens of Srivilliputyur Temple by Vishnucitta.
He adopted me as his daughter and named me Kodhai.
I grew up in an atmosphere of venerated love and deep and intense devotion.
My father constantly sang songs about Lord Vishnu. His daily duties included procuring flowers for the worship of the Lord at the local temple.
I grew up feeding on my father’s intense devotion, his ecstatic love for the Divine, his songs praising Lord Vishnu.
My father’s love for poetry fed me till I yearned within me that besotted yearning for my Lord Vishnu.
As I grew so did this intense longing for my divine Lord grow within me.
My passion made me resolve that I can only marry the Lord and no other mortal. My love was blind in its fervor, burning in its piety; I forgot my desire to marry the eternal Lord was not a normal desire in mere mortals.
The jubilation my heartfelt at the Lord’s name, my adoration to think of none but my Lord held me tight in rapturous embrace.
I spent my mornings collecting flowers from our huge garden. It seemed to me all the hibiscus, the roses, the gardenias, lilies, marigold, jasmines and more all bloomed and blossomed to touch the Lord’s feet.
After collecting the flowers I painstakingly wove them into garlands which my father took to the temple to wear on the Lord each day.
As I wove the beautiful flowers into a beatific garland, my heart wove itself around my Lord and I longed to become his divine consort.
Mesmerized by the flower garlands and the sweet scent from the beautiful flowers, I one day absent mindedly adorned myself with the garland made for the Lord.
Quickly realizing my folly I removed the garland from my shoulders and kept it in the basket for my father to take to the temple.
As I was able to escape detection from my father’s eye, I started to adorn myself with the garland every morning before I kept it in the basket for my father.
In my mind I wed my Lord every time I wore the garland before giving it to the temple for the Lord to be garlanded.
I knew my father would consider this act sacrilege because our religion teaches the devotees not to offer to the Lord a thing that has already been used by a human being.
One day my father caught me in the act. Being an orthodox devotee he was immensely upset by my actions.
He cried uncontrollably and I cried with him as I felt I was the reason for his unhappiness.
He rebuked me severely and told me not to repeat this sacrilegious act in the future.
I was terrified and apologized extremely for my actions that grieved my father so,
The benign Lord appeared that night in my father’s dream and asked him why he had discarded my garland that I had worn, instead of offering it to him.
The Lord told my father that he whole heartedly accepted the garland that I wore.
My father was very moved upon hearing the Lord’s words.
I could only dance with absolute bliss when I heard my Lord had accepted my garland which I wore before he accepted the same.
There are no words to describe this intense feeling of overflowing abundant love that enslaved my heart and made me ecstatic.
When my father wanted me to get married I knew with absolute certainty that I could marry no one but my divine Lord.
One night, Lord Ranganatha appeared in my father’s dream and asked that I be sent to him in all my wedding finery.
I can not begin to describe the exquisite agonizing wait I had to endure before merging in full within my Lord.
My father made all the wedding preparations and arranged for my journey in a palanquin to Srirangam.
As we entered the temple, I could not contain myself any longer.
Running into the temple sanctum I embraced Lord Ranganatha and disappeared in a blaze of glory.

 

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