he dates of appearance and disappearance of Andal in
this mortal world are not known. It is known that she lived in the middle of seventh
century A.D. Periazhwar (henceforth referred here as Azhwar-he - who dives deep into the
ocean of love Divine) is known to be her father, very much as in the case of Sita, whom
king Janaka was privileged to call his own daughter. One day Azhwar was working in the
garden of tulsi when his attention was arrested by the appearance of a baby girl. The
childless Azhwar accepted the baby as divinely bestowed and named her Goda-born of Mother
Earth.She got her early spiritual instructions in the
tradition of 'Sri Vaishnava Panth' from her father who had great devotion to the Supreme
Being and achieved a state where he felt the rare bliss of divine communion on earth.
Illiterate as he was, he found himself miraculously endowed with profound knowledge of
Sanskrit and blessed with a vision of God, and he was often found absorbed in the
meditation of the Almighty in the form of child Krishna. For the rest of his life he lived
delighted in the spiritual experience of Krishna-Lila.
It is no wonder that Goda's inherent spiritual genius got a boost at
a tender age. She quickly developed an idea of spiritual marriage with Lord Ranganatha.
Realizing her pure love and identity with the Divine, she was name Andal, the supreme
devotee of God. A poem "Tiruppavali" of thirty stanzas narrated by her
represents the highest level of devotional fervor and is sung daily in every Vaishnava
shrine in south India. She expressed her divine love in her immortal lyrics glowing with
fervor. Her poems reflect the quintessence of the Upanishads. Her life was a poem of the
growth and fulfillment of that divine bridal longing, complete and absolute, for her
chosen Bridegroom. She was an example of perfection and purity. It seems that Meera was
her mirror image in every respect. She is even worshipped in some parts of South India.
