Andal on Krishna
India has a rich legacy of female saints who were also amazing poets. One of the shining jewels among them was Andal. She was born in Srivilliputhur and brought up by Periyar. Her maiden name was Kothai, and she proclaimed as a child that she would only marry Lord Ranganatha or Vishnu. Her purity and devotion got her the name Andal, the girl who ruled over the divine lord.
A prankster who knows no dharma,
He whose eyebrows arch
like the bow Saranga in his hand,
handsome one without equal,
have you seen him? He whose form is dark,
whose face glows bright like the sun that fans
on the peaks of the rising hills,
we have seen him here, in Vrindavanam.
This description of Krishna reminds me of how my guru Om Swami talks about Krishna in various talks. When Swami talks about Krishna or explains the Srimad Bhagavad Gita, he does that with immediacy and intimacy, like he is living in the moment that he is describing to us. He often says we should not read too much into his smile because you never know what’s causing Vishnu to smile. We experience this daily as we do Sri Sukhtam Sadhana with him. He calls Sadhana a Manthan, where your inner world is churned like a buttermilk, and you breathlessly wait to reach the other side in one piece.
Source of Poem: https://www.himalayanacademy.com/media/books/south-india-bhakti-saints_ei/web/ch01.html
