And Now The Perfect Ending For The Perfect Love Story!

Sriniketan,
Take your own time. If I have time I'd give the explanation.Have already posted the paasuram here.
regards,

 

Dear Kamla,
You are most welcome. Your joining us will increase the strength by a clear third and our moral support by 100%.
All of us are learning here. I will have to thank Sriniketan for initiating this discussion and for driving me to the reference books.
And Lalitha for her active, encouraging and interesting participation.
Whenever you have time just go through the posts and replies and should you require anything please do let us know.
love,

 

Dear Lalitha,
thanks for coming in again. You are right. We don't know how many births are still left in our account. Be it one or one billion. We care a damn for it. As Manikkavasagar said,
Puzhuvai pirakkinum punniya unnadi en manathe vazhuvathirukkum varam thara vendum.
In our Hindu Religion especially in the Vaishnava tradition, the devotees hold a higer position even than God. God would tolerate the bad people hurling abuses against Him; but he wont let them do anything against His devotees.

Our prayer should be something like this:
"Oh my dear loving Lord, if I am to be born as a worm, let it be.
But please, my Lord and master, grant me this only boon.
That I should be crushed to death while I am crawling in your temple
By the lotus feet of those who come to you with real love!

And if I am good enough for that boon, O Lord
Let me take a hundred million births as an earthly worm
And crushed a hundred million times by the feet
Of those who come to you with love.

I want no more than this, My Lord!
I want no more than this, My Lord!"

Love,

 

Dear Sriniketan, Lalitha and Kamla
(This is the advantage of having a small class; can call each one of you by your first name.)
Seeing the Lord's neck the Azhwar is first reminded of His greatness. The moment he seeks the Lord's neck he is reminded of Lord Shiva. For was it not Shiva who is famous as Thiruneelakandan. For Shiva drank the Alahaala Visham, something, a hundred times more powerful than cyanide, so that Devas could taste the nectar of immortality.
Shiva once was hit by a curse and the myth says that it was Vishnu who removed it. That's why Azhwar says thunda ven piraiyaan(one who has a piece of moon over him) thuyar theerthavan (one who removed his misery).
And here lies the problem, the discordant note between Saivites and Vaishnavites. I am tempted to think that the Saiva-Vaishnava controversy is far more acrimonious than Hindu-Muslim controversy or Hindu-Christian one. Shiva, Vishnu, Ganesh, Parasakthi are all different forms of the same God who is nothing but love.
I would love to quote an example here. You see, my wife loves me with my mush. (One who is without a mush is not a man at all is her theory) My Dad wants me to be clean-shaven. A writer friend told me that she'd like to see with a beard as well. Another friend of mine wants me to shave my head off.
Now in my absence if my wife, Dad, writer friend and the other friend meet in a place and discuss.
"Clean-shaver sridhar is simply awful. Sridhar with mush is my favourite." - my wife would start the argument.
"You are absolutely wrong. Anyday clean-shaven sridhar has my vote. Sridhar with mush is ugly. You don't know,Indhu."
"Both of you are silly" would say,my writer friend. "Sridhar with a mush and a beard would be great. You two do not know the truth. Nor do you know sridhar well."
"All of you are idiots" chimes in my friend and continues,"have you ever seen him with nothing on his head?"
"Whenever he talks to me I strongy suspect that there is nothing inside his head. Oh, you are talking about his hair, you silly.... "my wife.

How silly these people would look to you. There is only one sridhar and these people want to see him in different hair-styles and appearances.
The same is the case with the Shiva-Vishnu debate, Jesus-Allah debate or whatever.
The Vedas foresaw this and roared for all us to hear.
"Ekham sath. vipra bahudha vadhanthi"
"Truth is one. Learned people say that in different ways."

Will post the next part of the meaning of this paasuram shortly.
love,

 

Hi sowpar,
welcome once again to the world of devotion,Azhwars and the Lord of love. Only after reading your detailed post do all of us here (Sriniketan, Lalitha, Kamla and I) feel what we have been missing all along.

Thanks for the nice words and thanks for the explanation.

எற்றைக்கும் ஏழேழ் பிறவிக்கும் உன்தன்னோடு
உற்றாமேயாவோம் உனக்கே நாம் ஆட்செய்வோம்

I am happy you quoted the above lines from my post. And Sowpar, Andal bowls us over with the next line in the same paasuram.
மற்றை நம் காமங்கள் மாற்று
The great devotee, the only Azhwar from the fair sex, Lord's Consort, Andal says, that it is possible that we have other desires. (other than being his slave). And oh God, only you have to change them.
We are used to asking God for fulfilment of our desires. But Andal's prayer is for changing her desires so that she can love Him for all time to come.
What a devotion!
Thanks once again, Sowpar.
love,