Goddess GodaDevi. ( study the story and be happy for ever) During the seventh and eight centuries, there was a powerful theistic movement in the religious history of Hinduism in India. The period was marked by saintly activities and the divinity inspired ways of the devoted men of god called Alwars who belonged to the southern part of the land. Twelve Alwars were very famous. Their mission in life was to make men spiritually inspired and to help the aspirants to realise the beauty vision of the Lord. There was a distinguished woman saint among the Alwars and she was Andal. Srivelliputtur is a small town in the Tamilnadu. In this town lived Vishnuchittar who later came to be known as Periyalwar. He converted a piece of his land adjoing the temple of Vatapatrasayanar into a flower garden for raising flowers for the worshipping of the deity. Tulasi plants were a part of the garden. One day when Vishnuchittar was among the Tulasi plants, he saw an effulgence of light and found a beautiful child, taking the child home, he named her Goda and brought her up, as a direct gift of God. As Goda grew in age, her devotion to Lord Vishnu developed and considered herself to be the bride of the Lord. Her father became concerned with the future of the daughter. While she was growing in her age, her god-mindedness also was growing and she refused to marry any human being, when her father raised the topic with her. Goda used to string in a garland the flowers her father brought from the garden for the use of worship. Without the knowledge of her father, before handing the garlands, she would deck herself with them and look at her image in a mirror to find out was a worthy bride to the Lord. One day Periyalwar noticed that his daughter was giving to him flowers worn by her. He felt distressed and felt he had committed sin in garlanding the Lord with used flowers. He gathered fresh flowers and offered them in the temple for worship. That night while he was asleep, the Lord appeared in his dream and told him that he was pleased only with those flowers worn by Goda and he might bring such flowers. Since then Goda came to be known as Choodikoduta Nachiyar and Andal( The redeemer of the world). As Sri Goda was getting distressed with her not reaching the objective of her union with the Lord in marriage, she observed in the month of Margali a nonbu as per the custom of the country. It is this observance that is recorded in Tiruppavai which is the favourite song of the Vaishnavites. One day Lord Ranganatha ( deity in Srirangam) appeared in a vision to Vishnuchittar and assured him that his daughters wish would be fulfilled. To the temple priests there came a command that Goda be brought to him from Srivelliputur as a bride. Goda bedecked as a bride taken in a palanquin. on seeing the Lord Ranganatha in his imposing recline posture Goda was irresitably drawn towards him. She walked up to the deity and disappeared into the Lord, getting absobed in him. All were amazed at this event and Vishnuchittar wept with tears of joy and sorrow. The Voice of God was heard to say that he married Goda and Vishnuchittar was his father-in-law. Tiruppavai consists of thirty verses( Pasurams) and form part of Tamil Prabhandams which are known as Tamil Vedas. In these Pasurams, the sports of Lord Krishna, his boyhood pranks and valerous deeds are extolled. The conclusion ofvery Pasuram is that God, in his abundance of Lov not only accept the devotee but also make that one enjoy the worldly bliss that Lord has made available in this world. Sri Ramanujas conception of the supreme as a person makes the concept of Bhakti as Love. The emotion of love is universal. Human love when directed towards God is Bhakti. Every verse of Tiruppavai is illustrative of this aspect. Andals Tiruppavai is also said to be allegorical interpretation of the mystic union of the finite with the infinite and marriage of souls. Sri Goda is known as Meera Bai of South India in her devotion. These pasurams are sung daily during the month of Dhanurmasa occurring every year. It is regularly recited in Vaishnava temples every day as a part of Aradhana.
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 04:10:43 +0000
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