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

54 Goda's Garland of Devotion
After being announced by Garuda, Vishnuchitta entered
Ranganatha's presence. The sight that greeted him is vividly
evoked in one long breathless sentence by Krishnadeva Raya.
Nammalwar and other devotees; Ranganatha reclining on Adi-
sesha; brilliances everywhere that destroy the sorrows in a devotee's
heart (bhakta jana manah tamah vidalanambun kavinchuchun); in short,
Sri Vaikuntha on earth. Vishnuchitta bowed deep to this Lord of
lords who alone could release us from the three passions (taapah
traya), this Narayana the Ancient, the Best among men, Prana-
taarthihara, Vasudeva, Hrishikesa, Creator of Cupid, the King of
Srirangam. An incandescent prayer blossomed forth from him:
I bow to you who are the wealth
Indestructible in Brahma's home;
My homage to you who was worshipped
By the Ikshvaku dynasty;
All hail to you, the family deity
In the home of Vibhishana;
You lead the hosts of gods
Including the powerful Siva.
Ranganatha is the throne-of-all, source-of-all; He is the Lord
of all creation, and yet resides within us as well, and pervades the
tiniest atom imaginable; He is the source of Light and Knowledge;
the jivatman is dependent upon Him, but He is transcendent and
beyond the dust of creation: the First, the Pure, the Power that
moves Time: unperceivable by human senses, He is yet our only
refuge.
Vishnuchitta's prayer brought out the prana svarupa as well as
the lovely archa figure of Ranganatha. The Lord looked at his devo-
tee with love and compassion and enquired about his well-being.
He then glanced at the lovely, youthful form of Āmukta Mālyada
who was offering flowers at His feet with meditative surrender, and
thought for Himself:
"The eyes of this girl must have given Cupid his flag (which
has a fish on it); her middle is so thin like a flower-creeper and
must have given Vasantha his residence (spring is famous
for its spreading creepers); her breasts no doubt gave Rati
the image of calabash for her lute; her lotus-face certainly
offered the resting-place for Saraswati's swan (which is sup-

Goda Devi 55
posed to live in the lotus); her thick tresses have certainly
brought joy to the peacock (which dances when the rain
clouds gather); her lotus-feet have become the refuge of bees”.
The Divine’s ways are inexplicable. In a moment Goda Devi
had been taken inside the inner apartments of the Lord; and a
deceptive figure like hers was left near Vishnuchitta. Vishnuchitta
received temple honours and returned home with the surrogate
figure (sambari tanu sambahavam) in the palanquin. However, when
they reached home, the figure of Goda Devi vanished. Returning
to the temple, Vishnuchitta cried out:
“Alas! Inspite of being the guardian-lord, Ranganatha
has stolen my daughter. Who will come to my aid in relieving
me of this wrong? If he had fallen in love with her, I would
myself have arranged the marriage. My body and my earn-
ings are meant for Him. Goda Devi is no exception. Why
then should He belittle me so? Just because He is worshipped
by mighty powers like Shiva, Brahma and Indra, He should
not insult poor people like me. Lakshmi Devi is my witness.
May Vaishnavas speak on my behalf! With Sri, Bhu and
Neela beside you, why have you sought to take away this girl
grown wafer-thin because of severe penance? Who can cor-
rect the zig-zag course of rivers and the path of water-ways?”
Ranganatha was seemingly taken aback by Vishnuchitta’s
passion. A smile lighting up the makara-earrings, the Lord said
that Vishnuchitta had certainly grown senile. Goda Devi was safe
in Vishnuchitta’s house! He must go back and search the place
well. Going back, the Villipputtur Brahmin found his daughter safe.
Tears streaming down his eyes, he blessed her.
Meanwhile Ranganatha sent Brahma, Rudra, Saraswati and
Parvati, along with Vishwaksena, to Vishnuchitta with a formal
proposal for Goda Devi’s hand. Vishnuchitta was delighted, but
would agree to the marriage only if Ranganatha assented to
getting married in Villipputtur. That way, he would be honoured
by the whole community. The message was communicated to
Ranganatha. The Lord agreed. Vishnuchitta returned to Villip-
puttur with Goda Devi.
Villipputtur put on a festival look for the approaching Goda
Kalyanam. Vishnuchitta’s home built by Viswakarma was deco-
rated with festoons. Ranganatha came riding the Garuda, and was

56 Goda's Garland of Devotion
accompanied by his divine retinue. He had a ceremonial bath and
was decked up with ornaments. The drums beyond resounded
and divine sages like Narada recited auspicious verses. Nectar
poured from the silver sky drenching the Lord. Wearing the Kaus-
thubha gem and other strings of pearls, and decked out in all
finery, Ranganatha the bridegroom (Pendli koduku) came sporting
garlands of tulsi and fresh blossoms.
Saraswati and Parvati sang wedding songs relating to the
marriage of Rama and Sita aeons before. Ekavali and Sragvini
fanned the bride who was given a ceremonial bath by the wives of
the sages. Scented oil was rubbed on her limbs. Goda Devi was
dressed in soft silk and her tresses were gently dried with scented
smoke. One divine damsel put rings upon the bride's toes. Another
added silver anklets. White silk with woven zari border was used
as the bridal dress. Among ornaments used to decorate the bride
were a golden belt, pearl necklaces, bangles, shoulder clips, ear-
rings, ear-studs and nose-rings. Collyrium was applied to her eyes,
musk rubbed on her limbs, the choodamani placed on her head and
red lotuses tied to her tresses.
The auspicious moment had come. The twelve Adityas glowed
as torches, the moon was the umbrella with stars as decorative
pearls, the ocean sprinkled lotus petals on the road, Mother Nature
with divine damsels added elegance to the scene, Agni raised
scented smoke, the God of Rain raised the bridal canopy, scholars
recited the Vedas, singers sent abroad waves of soulful music,
Garuda carried a golden plate heaped with jewels: and the Divine
Bridegroom (Alagiya Manavālan, Mannaru) entered the marriage
pandal.
He was received by Vishnuchitta with devotional salutations
(bhakti kalita bahupranaamapoorvakambugan) while ladies with
auspicious signs washed His feet. The Lord was seated upon a golden
stool while His feet were held on a golden plate and washed by
Vishnuchitta. Due honours were done. Then the devotee offered
madhuparka (bridal garments) to the Divine bridegroom. Vishnu-
chitta and his wife performed kanya daana, and Lord Ranganatha
received gladly Goda Devi. A white screen with pearl border
was held between the bride and the groom. At the moment of
auspicious union they offered each other jaggery and jeera seeds
(gudajeerakambulu), and the screen was removed. Ranganatha poured

Goda Devi 57
pearls on Goda Devi and she reciprocated the gesture. The Lord
was thrilled and sweat poured from His body. It appeared as if the
dark clouds were sending forth rain and hail-stones at the same
time.
Goda Devi grew shy at the Lord's watching her. Bowing her
head, she sprinkled the pearls with a short and quick gesture. The
Lord tied the auspicious thread (mangala sootramu) around the neck
of Goda Devi. Laaja Homa was followed by Sapthapadi (seven
steps together) and the watching of the Arundhati star. The Lord
received presents from the assembled gods and sent them away after
according them proper honours. Later he went to his native city
and disported with Goda Devi in the sandal-scented gardens of
Srirangam. Full of compassion, He and Goda Devi guard the devo-
tees all the time.
Thus concludes Krishnadeva Raya's Āmukta Mālyada. Goda
Devi herself has described in Nāchiyar Tirumozhi her dream in
which she married Ranganatha. This has inspired generations of
poets to dwell upon the theme, and transform the dream into rea-
lity in terms of poetry and music. It has been a fond tradition with
Vaishnavites to celebrate this wedding every year on the day preced-
ing Sankranti:
A thousand elephants marching
About, my Lord Narayana
Walks towards me; golden pots
Brimful decorate the doorways;
Festoons everywhere. This my dream.
Vedic scholars recited hymns
And spread holy grass emerald-green,
Around the sacred fire;
My Lord like a proud elephant
Held my hand as we circumambulated
Agni: This my dream.
The symbol of a wedding is vital to the spiritual history of
mankind. The jivatman should be ever ready, decked out in the
ornaments of good qualities, faith and surrender, like a bride. For
any moment the Bridegroom, the Universal Supreme, may arrive
and gather the jivatman in one sweep of bliss. The Nāyaka-Nāyaki
bhava used in devotional literature has grown out of this basic

58 Goda's Garland of Devotion
symbol to suggest the readiness of the human vessel to receive the
Divine Afflatus. Artists and poets have lavished their imagination
fondly on this union of the human and the divine in a blaze of
spiritual ecstasy. The Divya Prabhandham has some unique sec-
tions that bring out the best of this bhava, as in Tirumangai Alwar's
Peria Tirumadal and Nammalwar's Tiruviruttam.
Celebrating Goda Kalyanam in the images stationed in temples
or in poetry as in Āmukta Mālyada assures us that an answering
grace will meet our one-pointed aspiration leading to a spiritual
union. Again, celebrating the kalyana of Ranganatha with Goda
Devi ensures loka kalyana, the good of the world. The divine union
symbolises the coming together of Power and Compassion or Grace
in the adventure of human consciousness to reach the Divine. It is
for this reason, perhaps, that the Andhra Vishnu commanded the
King on a battle trail to get involved with the story of Goda Kal-
yanam. The sublime Telugu accents in Āmukta Mālyada form the
real victory for Emperor Krishnadeva Raya who reenacted in
his evocative poesy the drama divine:
The wedding of the eternal Lord and Spouse
Took place again on earth in human forms:
In a new act of the drama of the world
The united Two began a greater age.¹
1 Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, 1954 edition, p 465.

APPENDIX
GODA DEVI: A LYRIC DAWN
I
The time had come
for the spread of a new idea-force
that would thrill human existence
with the lyric dawn
of a spiritual Sunrise.
As Vishnuchitta bent low
for the scented leaves of Tulsi
in his well-tended garden
in Villipputtūr on hallowed ground,
he saw a moon-lit babe new-born,
sweet featured, soft, auspicious,
smiling mid the basil-bush.
It seemed natural, the sight
of that living icon in his garden.
Dare we question the ways
of Providence to reach out far
and respond to the aspiring soul?
Vishnuchitta took the baby home,
and Viraja felt transported.
They named her Goda of wondrous tresses,
A Vedic Hymn in human form.

60 Goda's Garland of Devotion
II
Goda's years of childhood and girlhood
were one long tune of bliss-consciousness.
Hers was a home where Father's rhapsodies
envisioned Krishna's childhood and boyhood,
and she too learned to sing, dance, praise,
weave exquisite flower-garlands,
and presently lisp in numbers
and re-live radiant Krishna's feats.
When Vishnuchitta sees maiden Goda
beautify herself with Krishna's garlands,
He has a father's joy of fulfilment:
"How well they suit her ..
but this is truly a flame-born bride!"
He tells her admonishingly: "But child,
you shouldn't wear the garland first."
"Why not?" the words leap out of her lips:
"Isn't Krishna mine, mine?"
"True, my child, yet there's custom, law..."
"Change them, then !"
Krishna smiles and abides by her wish:
"Let Goda wear the garlands first,
then offer them to me!"
Amazed Vishnuchitta bows in his dream
before the blinding Glory.
Strange the rites of self-consecration:
seeking Krishna, who had accepted
the champak-jasmine-bakul ensembles
that carried the scent of her tresses,
Vishnuchitta's beloved daughter
is certain of her destiny:

Goda Devi: A Lyric Dawn 61
"With him, with Krishna, I breathe;
without him, I cannot exist!"
III
Meet him she must, but how? Will he come?
Didn't he give the slip to the Vraja girls?
But he responded to Rukmani's call,
and he'll not fail me either:
isn't he Nandagopa's darling son,
the flute-player of Brindavan,
the indwelling universal,
the life-throb in all creation:
he'll not fail me, my lord Kirshna!
Yea, how shall I seek him?
He's the Lord supreme of all the worlds;
I'm no Garuda to reach him
in a heady canter...
Four his powers and manifestations,
yet they elude my human grasp.
Isn't he the king of the Castle within,
the Antaryāmi in my heart's cave?
I cannot dig so deep, I'm human,
and want him human too.
This is no age for an avatar,
but in his auspicious archa form
I will certainly be his bride.
Now commence Goda's austerities:
the month of godliness, Mārgasīrsa,
finds her engaged in askesis
along with other Vraja maidens:

62 Goda's Garland of Devotion
body, life-force, mind, feeling, will, soul,
all are surrendered to the Lord Divine.
A new light lit in her consciousness,
Goda plunges into the deeps of devotion
and makes herself God's true serviteur.
The cold days swiftly pass by
in music, dance, meditation and prayer.
She visits the Temple of Kāma
and with datura and palasa invokes
the elusive God of Love.
She begs the kuyil and the parrot,
other birds, flowers, and even the cloud,
to convey her message to Krishna.
As she feels self-lost remembering
how Krishna sang his way to Brindavan,
the Vision grows clear, she has seen:
she has seen the Lord in Brindavan.
IV
Holding the dear image in her heart,
her ardour giving her wings of flight,
Goda journeys to distant lands
in search of the Lord of her being.
Single-pointed her action,
and a frenzy of consecration:
but where is Krishna, where his ready Grace?
Vishnuchitta accompanies her
as she goes the round of shrines,
and seeks remedies for his ailing child!

Goda Devi: A Lyric Dawn 63
As the two walk at last the foot-path way
mid the fields of waving paddy golden-sheened,
the spires of Srirangam beckon to them,
and they enter the sacred city.
Isn't this holy spread on earth
a twin of the celestial world above?
Isn't this picturesque island formed
by the parted waters of Kaveri?
Isn't this marvellous corner Nature-blest
chosen by the cosmic Spirit
for his ineluctable Yogic trance?
Isn't this the refuge of the struggling soul
that has seen aeons of births and sorrows?
Isn't this the centre of earth-existence
for the soul caught in the noose of Bhakti?
Isn't this the elected sanctuary,
for Goda Devi's Tryst with the Divine?
V
As Vishnuchitta leads his wonder-child
towards the eternal Bridegroom,
the sum of all auspicious attributes,
Goda becomes Krishnachitta.
Her being plunges into an ocean of bliss.
Whither has reason gone? Has her ego
raced to the abyss of nothingness?
Has she still a body? Isn't she all-soul now?
And isn't this Soul the Truth of Truths?
a power of all-consciousness, all-joy?
Ah how explain this Delight of Existence!
this all-beautiful, all-blissful?

64 Goda's Garland of Dev.
Yea, this is the moment in human time
that cuts across timeless time:
this is the movement is terrestrial terms
that alchemises earth-clay into divine Light.
This is the journey's end for those
who choose the path of Divine Life.
The Lord smiles as Goda gets merged in him:
ah whither has gone the bright young bride?
Vishnuchitta grasps the secret
of the wedding of the Lord and his Spouse,
comprehending the eternities.
For the present, the colour, joy and the smile;
For all future time, Truth's self-delight.
Ah, infinite Lover! compassionate Lord!
Was it to make us see and sing
this symphony of divine Delight
grown native on our beautiful earth,
you missioned your consort Vasundhara
to take a human birth as Goda
in Villipputtur, in Pandyan land?

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