SONG NO:16

‘Naayakanaai ninra nandagopanudaiya
Koyil kaappaane! Kodithonrum thorana
Vaayilkaapaane! Manickadavam thaall thiravaai!
aayar chirumiyaromukku araiparai
Maayan manivannan nennale vaiinerndaan
Tooyomaai vandom thuyilezhap paaduvaan
Vaayaal munnamunnam maatrrade amma! nee
Neya nilaikkadavam neekelorempaavai

Song :16

Introduction to Part 3:

Starting from the 6th pAsuram AnDAL went around thiruvAipADi waking up the girls till yesterday's pAsuram. Now contented that all the girls have joined Her to conduct the vow, She goes to ~Na~ndagOpar's thirumALigai to wake KrishnA and fulfill Her motive of doing kainkaryam to Him.

The Sacred Guards:

AnDAL in this pAsuram reaches the mansion of Sri ~Na~ndagOpAr and starts praying to the dwArapAlaka there. She speaks about the greatness of the thirumALigai. A question arises as to weather there were such big houses in thiruvAIpADi. It might be that AnDAL imagines such mansions there at thiruvAipADi. Cowherd settlements having massive buildings are not possible. She probably is trying to tell us the greatness of a place with such bagavath and bAgavatha sambandham.

Furthermore She worships the gaurds in front of the door and requests them to open the door for them to enter in. This is to make us understand that such people who are in uninterrupted kainkaryam of bagavAn are to be hailed and worshipped. That's exactly what we should when we eneter a temple. Their service to the Lord extends even after He retires to bed. So worshipping such people is inevitable.

What is our Profit?

Finally in this pAsuram she explains to them the reason for their arrival at that early hour. She says "thuyilezha pADi", that is to wake Him up and gettheir work done, which is none other than serving Him. She also speaks about their qualification for the service, "thUyOmAi vandhOm". That is they have reached the place with purity. Now we should ponder, what is the purity that she is talking about here. Commentators say it cannot be the physical purity as the cowherds are pretty well known for their physical purity. The purity referred to here is to perform the kainkaraym, without asking anything in return. Our preceptors insist on this service without asking anything in return because service by itself is a profit and not a means to end. This is something very important that any SrivaishnavA should understand.

"~nEya nilakkadhavam neekku"

"This message was sent by Rekha
Tamilnadu,India".