आमुक्तमाल्यदा (विजयनगर सम्राट् श्रीकृष्णदेवराय - गोदा देवी आण्डाल भक्ति एवं साम्राज्य-नीति)

Goda Devi 41
where He resides in the archa form. I shall walk the main streets
shouting his Sahasranāma.”
If Rukmani’s letter to Krishna was the cry of the aspirant’s
anxiety, the Tirumadal of Tirumangai Alwar and the speech of
Goda Devi in Amukta Mālyada are the outbursts of a soul tried to
the utmost. Krishnadeva Raya adds further sly barbs to the quiver
when Krishna is on the dock.
‘“In the Brindavan he gathered into his arms one cowherdess
and condemned another to the sorrow of disappointment.
His partiality towards Radha is well known. Why should he
thus torture us all the time?”
Goda Devi’s angry laughter did not deceive her friends. They
realised that she had fallen in love with Krishna and was now im-
mersed in His presence. However, they tried to make light of the
whole affair:
“It is common for women to criticise their lovers when the
latter are far away; but as soon as the beloved returns home
he is Indra and Chandra according to them. You had
praised Him before. We cannot think you to be really indiff-
erent now”.
Goda Devi bit her lips and seemed to control her anger. She
then began playing with the garland in her hands After some
desultory conversation the friends told her that it was obvious her
consciousness was full of Krishna. So hot were her sighs that the
pearls of her necklace crumbled to powder. What a torture is this
love for the Divine!
Krishnadeva Raya actually follows the autobiographical
strain in the 143 verses that make up the Nachiyar Tirumozhi, where
we go through all the stages of a mystic’s path—aspiration, waiting,
vision, dark night of the soul, longing, union—as the individual
soul journeys from the human consciousness to the Divine. Goda
Devi’s verses reflect clearly her pure heart, her utter simplicity,
her cultured upbringing, her sincere aspiration and her lovable
nature.
There was the time of childhood when innocence met the
Divine as a mischievous trouble-maker. She and her friends made