Andal Brindavan Nachiyar Thirumozhi

The 14^th Decad of Nachiyar Thirumozhi is in the form of a rare Conversational Q & A style

Lord has compassionate qualities and blesses the faithful with everything in life after testing them briefly- Andal presents a beautiful description of her beloved and his great qualities

Red face like a ‘Sun rising over the Eastern Mountain’, Glitters like Stars on a bright night, Sparkles like a 'lightening over dark clouds'

Through the first 13 decads of Nachiyar Thirumozhi, Andal addresses her grievances of not being able to catch her beloved’s attention. Starting with Kama Deva in Thai (Paushyam) she is seen making an earnest appeal as well as sending directions and instructions to different groups. She gives life to the beautiful dark clouds, addresses the different varieties of flowers seeking their help in reaching out to her Lord and praises the sweet swinging cuckoo. She is almost envious of the Conch that is always present with the Lord despite having been born in a not so pious family. She also presents her dream of uniting with the Lord and showcases the wedding formalities.

Finally, in the 14^th decad she is able to experience the Lord at Brindavan, the only time in the Nalayira Divya Prabhandham when the place finds a mention.

Q and A Prabhandham

It is a rare conversational decad in the Divya Prabhandham-  the only one  in the form of a Q and A exchange between Andal and her friends with enquiries about the whereabouts of her beloved and the description of his movements in Brindavan.

Through these verses she ‘anoints’ him with many friendly negative titles – Unruly Rogue, Lord of Inconsistencies, Butter Thief, Habitual Liar and ‘The Unsociable Lad’ involved in trifling disputes. 

And then swerves to the other extreme of showcasing his great childhood qualities. After testing her out repeatedly on her true devotion, the Lord finally provides darshan at Brindavan sending out the message that those who have unflinching faith in him will be able to experience him.

The Dark Majestic Bull

She refers to him as a dark majestic bull and the younger brother of Balarama that had strayed away into the wild and asks if anyone had seen him anywhere. They delighted her with the news that they saw a young handsome boy with beautiful locks at Brindavan.

பட்டி மேய்ந்தோர் காரேறு பலதேவர்க்கு ஓர் கீழ்க்கன்றாய்

இட்டீறிட்டு விளையாடி இங்கே போதக் கண்டீரே

இட்டமான பசுக்களை இனிது மறித்து நீருட்டி

விட்டுக் கொண்டு விளையாட விருந்தாவனத்தே கண்டோமே

She hits out at him for having left her unattended calling him a youthful butter thief who went into Ayarpadi.  Andal swings into the negative extreme referring to him as an unruly rogue. But in the same breath recovers and praises him as having curved eyebrows and wielding the Saranga bow.

அனுங்க என்னைப் பிரிவு செய்து ஆயர்பாடி கவர்ந்துண்ணும்

குணுங்கு நாறிக் குட்டேற்றைக் கோவர்தனனைக் கண்டீரே

The Gopi friends lighten her saying that they saw a lad at Brindavan who had a dark body and a red face that looked like a ‘Sun rising over the Eastern Mountain’

He was born a lover. Was he not the lover himself born as a bridegroom? She sways from praising him as a handsome lad to calling him an inept liar. She refers to him as one with inconsistencies.

  

தரும மறியாக் குரும்பனைத்தன் கைச் சார்ங்கமதுவே போல்

புருவ வட்ட மழகிய  பொருத்த மிலியைக் கண்டீரே

Praising the ornament on his chest- the Vanamala- as a ‘lightening over dark clouds’ they say there was one such lad playing with another bunch of boys in Brindavan. His eyes were as beautiful as a Lotus and one that captivates anyone who glances at him. He was like a chubby elephant calf that is decked with pearls.

Andal sings praise of her Lord as being invincible comparing him to a boar that escaped.  He is like the decorated temple bull calf that is taken around the temple prakara. The Lord too looks handsome in his yellow robe.

She says that he finds joy in helping cows drink water from the pool. He plays as equals with other cowherds. She praises Garuda as providing shelter to the Lord from the hot Sun and compares her beloved to a young elephant calf that plays around happily. He is always encircled with huge followers – boys and beautiful girls. He destroyed so many asuras with such ease – Dhenuka, Baka, Kuvalaya Tusker – the list is just endless. The Gopis tell her that they saw him in Brindavan returning after a game of hunting.

காட்டை நாடித் தேனுகனும் களிறும் புள்ளும் உடன் மடிய

வேட்டையாடி வருவானை விருந்தாவனத்தே கண்டோமே

Ordinary mind cannot grasp him

Andal says the ordinary mind cannot grasp him quickly. She also praises the physical features as being dark like a cloud. Her friends praise the young boy whom they saw at Brindavan as one glittering like stars on a bright night.

வெளிய சந்கோன்ருடையானைப் பீதக வாடை யுடையானை

அலி  நன்குடைய திருமாலை ஆழியானைக் கண்டீரே

Through these verses, Andal presents the message to the true devotees that the Lord seen with a white conch and chakra and sporting a yellow robe has compassionate qualities and blesses the faithful with everything in life. She also finally reconfirms that this is all just a sport for the Lord and he is a pure one who takes care of the Noble.