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

48 Goda's Garland of Devotion
wilted, suffered. The inner spaces of her being were one vast ocean
of passionate yearning to meet the Divine. Her condition naturally
brought on depression over her home.
Vishnuchitta's household had always been overflowing with
joy, for Krishna bhakti filled the home. And Krishna is Ananda-
maya. The coming of Goda Devi to the household had added
lustre to the joy. In Goda Devi's growing up, Vishnuchitta re-
lived the Gokula days when Krishna had entered Nanda's house-
hold. So much loveliness, devotion, music! And suddenly every-
thing was hushed. Goda Devi increasingly withdrew into herself and
laughter fled from the home of Vishnuchitta.
He was flabbergasted. His life had always taken a calm course.
The brief excitement of the Madura triumph had not affected his
retired life at Villipputtur. He was a stranger to violent passion,
and the condition of Goda Devi frightened him. Himself a devotee
of Krishna, he decided that his daughter was undergoing a tapas,
an askesis, a yoga for union with the Divine. As her body grew
weak, Vishnuchitta's concern also increased. One day he opened
his heart to the presiding deity of Villipputtur:
“O Lord, my daughter who is devoted to you is now observ-
ing a tapas which is strange to behold. She is my sole life's
light. I have not heard of sleepless nights when observing
Narayana's festivals. We wear garlands of lotus seeds and not
of lotus roots (which Goda Devi wears to cool her passion-
racked body). The flowers of the Lord are worn by us on the
ear and not used as a bed. We sip the charana amrita whereas
she pours it on her body! When we take food during vrata,
she gives up her meals. When we draw the breath in for prana-
yama, she lets out breath as hot sighs. We place our fingers
near our heart in chinmudra but she places her fingers on her
forehead (as she gets lost in thought). We use barks for a
tapasvin's dress; she puts on garments woven with tender
shoots. We praise the full moon but she curses it. What is
this austerity that is totally different from the ones followed
by us? Ignorant as I am, you will have to explain this strange
tapas being observed by my darling daughter”.
Vatapatrasayi smiled gently. How explain to Vishnuchitta
the strange ways of the Divine? How bring home to him the truth