WOMEN SAINTS OF EAST AND WEST WOMEN SAINTS OF EAST AND WEST Sri sarada dev! (the holy mother) BIRTH CENTENARY MEMORIAL Foreword, by VI JAY A LAKSHMI PANDIT Introduction by KENNETH WALKER, M.A., F.R.C.S., O.B.E. Editorial Advisers SWAMI GHANANANDA SIR JOHN STEWART-WALLACE, C.B. THE RAMAKRISHNA VEDANTA CENTRE 65 DUKES AVENUE MUSWELL HILL, LONDON, N.IO PUBLISHED BY THE RAMAKRISHNA .VEDANTA CENTRE OF LONDON 6 S‘ DUKES AVENUE I'lUSWELL HILL, LONDON, N.IO FIRST EDITION I955 All rights reserved ,2 ST S' Printed in Great Britain BY UNWIN BROTHERS LIMITED WOKING AND LONDON PUBLISHERS’ PREFACE C'P^HIS volume is published in honour of the sacred memory Jl of Sr! Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother, the consort and first disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, on the occasion of her first birth centenary. She was bom on December 22, 1853, and the centen- ary was celebrated between December, 1953, and December, 1954, h}' all the centres of the Ramakrishna Order in the East and the West. The Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre of London formed a centenary committee which celebrated the event during 1954 by holding a public meeting in January and an inter-religious conference of women in June. The publication of this volume thus forms a fitting conclusion to the centenary celebrations. The volume brings together essays on great saints and mystics among women of different religions and countries, prepared at our invitation by earnest and devoted writers. In spite of prolonged efforts we did not succeed in obtaining essays on Chinese and Japanese women saints of the major religions of the Far East. It was one of our aims, and the writers were accordingly requested, to describe as far as possible the struggles and difficulties, the spiritual disciplines and realizations, of the women saints portrayed, so that the reader might feel drawn to the divine ideal which they attained, and glimpse their fervour of soul. The life of the Holy Mother, who like Ramakrishna taught that all religions are paths to God, is the inspiration behind this volume. A sketch of her life, work and teachings has been given in the penultimate chapter of the section dealing with women saints of Hinduism. The Note on Pronunciation on pages xvii and xviii explains the diacritical marks used over Oriental words. Diacritical marks have been omitted from the titles of chapters, and as a rule from names of well-known institutions and names of living authors. They havq been used in the names of places in their Indian form. The Western reader may ignore the marks if he wishes, and read the words as if there were no such marks. We offer our sincere and heartfelt thanks to all the writers of essays appearing here, who have done the work as a labour of love, and to all others who have helped us in one way or another to publish this volume. The execution of this piece of dedicated work was to us a source of spiritual joy. v WOMEN SAINTS OF EAST AND WEST We offer our warm thanks to Mrs. Vi jay a Lakshmi Pandit for having kindly written the, Foreword in the midst of her various official duties and responsibilities, to Mr. Kenneth Walker for having promptly sent his Introduction, and to our Editorial Advisers for their constant help and advice in the preparation of this volume. Romakrishna Vedanta. Centre London December, J955 FOREWORD A S the lamps of Divali brighten the darkness of the Indian sky, so the lives of the women saints of East and West illuminate a world too often shadowed by disillusionment and doubt. Their message has taken its place as a part of the earth’s spiritual heritage, reminding us of the greatest common bond between all peoples: the belief in God and the yearning to worship Him. It is particularly appropriate that on this, the birth centenary of the Holy Mother, the examples of women saints alone should have been selected to commemorate the occasion. Woman in every land and in every era of history has been the guardian of her family’s faith. However far afield modem times may have taken us from ancient values, one ideal still endures — that of the anonymou s woman, one of many millions, who in her own limited sphere daily achieves a harmony of relationships, nurturing her religious beliefs in the same simple, unosten- tatious manner in which she cherishes her husband and children. Religion, for a man and his children, is, more often than not, embodied in the calm guiding spirit of the woman of the house. The Holy Mother was herself such a woman and so her life has a universal appeal. Bom in a typical Indian village in lowly circumstances, married at an early age to the saintly Ramakrishna, she became the ideal Hindu wife, selflessly serving her husband and giving him her whole-hearted co-opera- tion in his search for God. Despite her absorption in this lofty pursuit, the most humble and menial tasks of her home con- tinued to receive her thoughtful attention. Side by side with her husband she strove for and achieved great mystical heights, yet she never neglected the constant demands material life made on her. As she served £ri Ramakrishna, looking after his ever}' comfort, so she cared for the devotees who flocked to him, tending them as though they had been her own children. Her life symbolizes the essence of Hindu womanhood, fulfilling its twin aspirations: dedication to duty, and through its per- formance the attainment of spiritual glory. Like Sarada Devi, these women saints of different countries and eras represent the full flowering of the feminine spirit in its efiorts to worship the divine. Here woman is shown in all vii FOREWORD her gentle dignity, with all the tenderness of her being concen- trated on her infinite capacity for devotion and sen-ice. This book tells of the search for godliness, but in recording the various saints’ experiences of it, it pays tribute to human character at its highest level — character which is not a divine gift but a human achievement, attained through human effort, through prayer and meditation, self-discipline and suffering. Self-realization, the goal of all religions, is what the saints sought, and their lives illustrate that the path to Self-realization is, strangely, the one which leads away from the self. Only in forgetting ourselves, our own struggles and sorrows in those of others do we begin to approach a measure of Self-realization, and through it come nearer to God. These women did not teach through words. The radiance of their message is borne on the wings of their unwavering faith, bringing vision and under- standing to their fellow's for all time to come. Ultimate realization is given to few', but the lesson of endea- vour is within reach of all w r ho care to learn it. Therein lies the value of w r hat the saints teach us. The poet Kabir has pointed this out: Behold: before me stand both my gum and the Lord of Creation; At whose feet shall I prostrate myself? At the feet of thy guru, 0 disciple, For was it not he w'ho lighted thy w-ay to the Lord? May she u r ho lighted the path for so many pilgrims during her lifetime continue to provide inspiration for all who seek the spirit’s soaring horizons. May this volume, dedicated to her memory, serve the purpose of placing her precept and those of all the women represented in these pages, once more before the world. Vijaya Laksiimi Pandit 1JN I KUDUCTION I REALIZE from the start how poorly qualified I am to write an Introduction to a book on the subject of the women saints of the East and of the West. I am not a woman and I am almost as far from being a saint as I am from being a woman . I am no scholar and am completely unversed in the science of hagiology, yet, despite all these handicaps, I find one small redeeming trait in myself which perhaps justifies me in doing what I have been asked to do — write an Introduction to this book. It is my great veneration for the ancient culture of India, a culture in which, to my way of thinking, human thought and feeling have attained the highest level they have ever reached. So brilliant have India’s past attainments been in the realms of religion and philosophy that I am convinced that she has a great contribution to make to present world thought and to the growth of world peace. Readers of this book will agree with me that the preservation of peace is much more than a political problem, for no harmony between nations can be maintained for long by means of external organizations alone. It can come only from a much better understanding between the individuals of the different national groups and from a deeper realization by all of the brotherhood of man. And this sense of brotherhood will be deepened when we appre- ciate more fully than we do at present the universality of the truths proclaimed by all the great world faiths. As Rama- krishna’s greatest disciple Vivekananda long ago wrote: “Each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his own individuality, and grow according to his own law of growth. . . . The whole universe is a play of unity in variety and of variety in unity.” Consequently, whether equipped or not to wrote an Intro- duction to a book on women saints, I have accepted it as both my duty and my privilege to do so. No one can read the accounts given in this book of the lives and teachings of the great saints of both the East and the West without sensing the existence of a "play of unity in variety and of variety in unity”. Although Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother to whose memory this book is dedicated, did not directly expound the metaphysical doctrines of the Vedanta to her disciples, they ix WOMEN SAINTS OF EAST AND WEST formed the background of all her teachings. And being a practical woman — in the way that most women are practical — she demonstrated the unity of mankind and of man's religions in her own life. When she was weak and ill and about to die, a disciple came to see her, and in a low voice the Hofy Mother managed to give her the personal guidance she was obviously needing. “If you want peace of mind,” she said, “do not find fault with others. Learn rather to see your own faults. Learn to make the whole world your own; no one is a stranger, my child, the whole world is 3'our own.” In these few simple words she was warning her visitor against that superficial egoism which separates us one from another and was stressing to her the underlying unity of all mankind, a unity in which there is no room for such words as “yours” and “mine”, and no place for strangers. The means of attaining sainthood are the same in all the great religions, as Ramakrishna has clearly shown. To become a saint entails a long struggle to a higher level of being and to another state of consciousness, and the various steps along this difficult path are described with exactitude and precision in the world's sacred literature. It is true that in some religious books this science of saintship is so overlaid with dogmas and theological theories that it is difficult to discover it, but it is there nevertheless. Reduced to its elements the philosophy of the Vedanta, which may be regarded as being the very essence of all religions, consists of three propositions. The first is that man’s real nature is divine, the second that the aim of a man’s life should be to discover the spark of the divine within him, and the third that the great fundamental religious truths are the same, even though their expression differs. With these three working hypotheses and entirely unencumbered by theological doctrines, catechisms and creeds, the devotee sets out on his spiritual journey in search of truth and of Self-realization. It is not surprising that many young people in the West, tired of religious quarrels and of the wiseacreing of theologians and religious instructors, are looking to the ancient knowledge of India for help, and are finding what they needed in the simple yet profound teaching of the Vedanta. And what makes this spiritual venture of theirs still more exciting and satisfactory is that, instead of finding as they had expected a gulf fixed x INTRODUCTION between science and religion, they are discovering in the Vedas, ideas which seem to have anticipated by thousands of years some of the most modem discoveries of the physicists. East and West have much to give each other and the closer the partnership we form in a stupendous effort to build a new and nobler world the better for us all. Although he wrote the words many years ago, Vivekananda described the position in which we find ourselves at the present moment so aptly that I am compelled to quote him again. “It is not that we Indians ought to learn everything from the West, or that they have to learn everything from us, but each wall have to supply and hand down to future generations what it possesses for that dream of ages, the harmony of nations, an ideal world.” East and West both have their respective parts to play in this work of world construction and it is because I regard it of such paramount importance that we should get to understand each other better and better that I commend this little book on Eastern and Western saints to its many future readers. Kenneth Walker CONTENTS publishers' preeace FOREWORD Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit Leader, Indian Delegation to U.N. (1046, i<)47. 194S); Ambassador of India in Moscow (19 47- 19 49); Ambassa- dor of India in Washington ( 1949-1931 ); President, U.N. Genera! Assembly (1953-1954); High Commis- sioner for India in U.K. and Eire (1955): London, England INTRODUCTION Kenneth Walker, M.A., F.K.C.S., O.B.E. Surgeon and author of philosophical and medical books: London, England NOTE ON THE PRONUNCIATION OF TRANS- LITERATED WORDS IN SANSKRIT AND OTHER ORIENTAL LANGUAGES Part I WOMEN SAINTS OF HINDUISM CHAPTER I. SPIRITUAL TRADITION AMONG HINDU WOMEN! INTRODUCTORY Swami Ghanananda (of the Ramakrishna Order of India) Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre, London, England II. AVVAIYAR T. S. Avinashilingam, B.A., B.L. Politician, Educationist and Author: Coimbatore, India III. KARAIKKAL AMMAIYAR S. Satchidanandam Pillai, B.A., L.T. Retd. Registrar, Annamalai University; President, Saiva Siddhanla Mahasamajam: Madras, India IV. ANDAL Swami Paramatmananda Editor, Ramakrishna Vijayam; Author and Translator of Hindu religious books: Sri Ramakrishna Math, Madras, India V. AKKA MAHADEVI T. N. Sreekantaiya, M.A. Professor of Kannada, Karnalak University, Dharwar, India xiii PAGE v vii ix xvii 1 9 15 23 30 WOMEN SAINTS OF EAST AND WEST VI. LALLESWARI OR LAL DIDDI OF KASHMIR 41 j\Irs. Chandra Kumari Handoo, M.A. Author of religious books and articles in English and Hindi: Calcutta, India VII. MIRA BAI 51 Mrs. Lajwanti Madan, M.A., Ph.D. (London), Docteur de l'Universite de Paris Author: Delhi, India VIII. MAHARASHTRA WOMEN SAINTS B. G. Kber ’ High Commissioner for India in Great Britain and Ireland (recently retired): Bombay, India IX. bahinaba! 64 Piroj Anandkar, B.A., B.T., Dip.H.Ed. Author of school textbooks; Novelist and Essayist: Bombay, India X: GAURlBAI 73 i\Irs. Sarojini Mehta, M.A. Author; Honorary Joint Editor, Bhagini Samaj Patrika (Gujarati) and National Council of Women in India Bulletin (English): Bombay, India XI. SOME WOMEN SAINTS OF KERALA 80 P. Seshadri, B.A., M.L. Author and Translator; Curator, S.C.C.H.R. Library, Trivandrum: Travancore-Cochin, India, and Mahopadhyava K. S. Nilakantan Unni Malay am Pandit, M.D.S. High School, Kottayam, Travan- core-Cochin, India XII. TARIGONDA VENKAMAMBA 86 Swami Chirantanananda Tenali, Guntur, India XIII. SRI SARADA DEVI, THE HOLY MOTHER 94 Swami Ghanananda XIV. SOME HOLY WOMEN FIGURING IN THE LIFE OF SRl RAMAKRISHNA 122 Swami Ghanananda XIV CONTENTS Part II WOMEN SAINTS OF BUDDHISM AND JAINISM XV. IMPROVED STATUS OF WOMEN IN JAINISM: AND BUDDHISM: INTRODUCTORY I39 Swami Ghanananda • XVI. WOMEN SAINTS OF BUDDHISM IN INDIA I44 Mrs. Chandra Kumari Handoo, M.A. WOMEN SAINTS OF JAINISM Swami Ghanananda XVII. MI CAO BU, A HOLY WOMAN OF BURMA I59 Mrs. Chit Thoung Welfare Worker on Ramakrishna Mission Hospital and Society Management Committees : Rangoon, Burma Part III WOMEN SAINTS OF CHRISTIANITY XVIII. POSITION OF WOMEN IN CHRISTIANITY: INTRO- DUCTORY 169 John Trinick Author of books on Christian mysticism; Artist and Crafts- man in stained glass, and Recorder of ancient stained glass: Cliftonville, Kent, England XIX. MACRINA 175 A. N. Marlow, M.A. Author; Reader in Classics, University of Manchester: Manchester, England XX. BRIGIT OF KILDARE 184 E. Pauline Quigly Member of the Society of Authors, and of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland: Limpsfield , Surrey, England XXI. MECHTHILD OF MAGDEBURG I92 Kurt Friedrichs Writer and Translator: Hamburg, Germany XV WOMEN SAINTS OF EAST AND WEST XXII. JULIAN OF NORWICH 201 John Trinick XXIII. CATHERINE OF SIENA 209 Sylvia Carmen London, England XXIV. TERESA OF AVILA 2ig Marcel Sauton ( since deceased) Writer; Translator of several classical Indian texts: Gretz, France XXV. LA MERE ANGELIQUE 229 Wolfram Koch Writer and Translator: St. Moritz, Switzerland XXVI. MOTHER CABRINI 240 Stuart Grayson Author and Poet: New York, TJ.S.A. Part IV WOMEN SAINTS OF JUDAISM AND SUFISM XXVII. HENRIETTA SZOLD 253 Isaac Chait, M.A.(Oxon) Rabbi: Sheffield, England XXVIII. RABI A 260 Mrs. Roma Chaudhuri, M.A., D.Phil.(Oxon) Principal and Professor of Philosophy , Lady Brabourne College, Calcutta ; Author; Founder-Secretary, Prachyavani Mandira, Calcutta, India INDEX 27I XVI NOTE ON THE PRONUNCIATION OF TRANSLITERATED WORDS IN SANSKRIT. AND OTHER ORIENTAL LANGUAGES a sounds like o in conic. a sounds like a in far, i sounds like i in kin. I sounds like ee in feel. u sounds like u in full. u sounds like oo in cool. ri may be pronounced as ri. e sounds like e in bed, only longer; e is always long in Sanskrit. 0 sounds like o in note, o is always long in Sanskrit, s may be pronounced like s (e.g. Sufi). ch sounds like ch in church. n (guttural) may be pronounced like n. n (palatal) is like French gn and may be pronounced like n. n (lingual) may be pronounced like n. t and d are hard like t and d in English, t and d are soft as in French th and dh. § (palatal sibilant) may be pronounced almost like sh. sh (lingual sibilant) sounds like sh in shine. Such of the remaining consonants as appear in the trans- literation sound as in English: kh, ch, chh, jh, th, dh, th, dh, ph, bh, are the simple sounds plus an aspiration. m stands for : ( anuswdra ) and sounds like ng in ring. h stands for : ( visarga ) in Sanskrit, w has been used for v after consonants. 1 stands for the letter of the Dravidian alphabet which sounds like l in all. zh stands for the letter of the Dravidian alphabet explained below. Sanskrit does not use zh. This occurs, for instance, in pazliain, the Tamil equivalent of Sanskrit phalanx, meaning “fruit”. “Tamilnad” has come into vogue and has been used in the book. Strictly speaking, it should be written “Tamizhnad”. XVll WOMEN SAINTS OF EAST AND WEST Diacritical marks over e, which is always long in Sanskrit, the basis of North Indian languages, have not been used in the essays dealing with women saints of North India, but in essays on women saints of South India, where the languages belong to the Dravidian group and distinguish between short e and long e, such distinction has been retained in those essays (Chapters II, III, IV, V, XI and XII). In the other essays as well as in the Contents and the Index all the e’s are from Sanskrit words and have been left unmarked, though long: an exception has been pointed out in a Note on the last page of the Index. When a place-name is pronounced and written in two ways, e.g. "Vrindavan” and "Vrindavana”, "Madurai” and "Madura”, both the fprms have been used in this book. “Punidavati” in Tamil for "Punitavat!” in Sanskrit has been retained. Will PART I WOMEN SAINTS OF HINDUISM CHAPTER I SPIRITUAL TRADITION AMONG HINDU WOMEN INTRODUCTORY I I N the words of Louis Jaccoliot, the French writer, India of the Vedas entertained a respect for women amounting to worship. He exclaimed: "What! Here is a civilization, which you cannot deny to be older than your own, which places the woman on a level with the man and gives her an equal place in the family and in society.” Manu the lawgiver, "whose laws are related to the digest of Justinian and the Mosaic laws of the Old Testament as a father to his child”, accepted the teachings of the Vedas and gave equal rights to men and women by saying: "Before the creation of this phenomenal universe the first-born Lord of all creatures divided his own self into two halves, so that one half should be male and the other half female.” In one of His aspects God is regarded even today as half man and half woman. This and other instances have always kept before the Hindu mind the idea of the fundamental equality of men and women. Indeed it was the corner-stone of the massive structure of Hindu religion and ethics which has stood the ravages of time. According to the ethical, moral and religious standard of the Hindus, no partiality was to be shown for either man or woman. It is eloquently expressed in the words: "The wife and husband being the equal halves of one substance are equal in every respect; therefore both should join and take equal parts in all work, religious and secular .” 1 In Vedic times equal opportunities were afforded to men and women, boys and girls, for education and work. Girls like boys were given the upanayana or initiation into Gayatri, and brahmacharya (celibacy and study). No other scriptures of the world have ever given to woman such equality with man as the Vedas of the Hindus. 1 Rig-Veda, 5. 61. 8. Cf. Brihadaraiiyaka Upanishad, 1. 4. 3. B I WOMEN SAINTS OF EAST AND WEST II Even in later Vedic times there were two classes of educated women: (i) sadyodwdhds, who studied till they married, and (ii) brahmavadims, who did not care to marry and studied throughout their lives. The list of great Vedic teachers whose memory was honoured at the time of Brahmayajna includes the names of three great women, Gargi Vachaknavi, Varava Pratltheyi and Sulabha Maitreyi. 1 Thus the highest education, including the study of the Vedas, was open to both men and women alike. Many women became Vedic scholars, and also great philosophers, keen debaters and brilliant teachers. Furthermore, Vedic sacrifices were usually to be offered jointly by a man and his wife. In the early Vedic period the father usually taught the children. In the Brahmana-Upanishadic age girls’ education was usually attended to at home by their fathers, brothers and uncles. Some, however, received instruction from outside teachers; and a few of them lived in boarding-houses called chhatn&alas . Some women of this period continued the tradition of the earlier age by taking part in discussions in learned assemblies. There were women scholars who specialized in the Mrmamsa school of Kaiakritsna, and philosophical studies became increasingly popular. Sulabha, Gargi and Vacjava were deeply interested in them. Some of these women gave up the pleasures and prospects of married life and took to a life of asceticism. There were nuns in Indian society even before Buddhism, though in small numbers. Slowly the spirit of asceticism became more and more appreciated, and normal married life and the life of the spirit came to be considered incompatible. It was in such an atmosphere of equality that women acquired knowledge and spirituality in ancient India. That saints, sages and seers arose among both men and women was largely due to the high standards of Hindu married life. So deeply have the spiritual traditions of the country sunk into the minds of the people that marriage and family life have always been viewed as stages in the growth of the soul towards perfection, and not as means to self -gratification. Hinduism has consistently refused to accept the romantic view of marriage. 1 Aiwalayana Gfihya-sutras, 3. 4. 4. 2 SPIRITUAL TRADITION AMONG HINDU WOMEN The couple are spiritual partners, each of whom supplements the other, and both proceed towards a spiritual goal. Marriage is fulfilled in discipline and service, and not in pleasure. All individuals, young and old, grew up in families and village communities in which all the activities of life, even the humblest, were given a spiritual direction. It is therefore not surprising that through the ages and in such a vast country men and women should have been produced in large numbers who were fit for the final stage of spiritual evolution — the life of renunciation — and became saints. In the Rig-Veda we find names of so many women who realized the highest spiritual truths. They are recognized as seers of Truth, as spiritual teachers, divine speakers and revealers. In the Rig-Veda alone there are a large number of inspiring hymns called suktas ascribed to as many as twenty- seven women seers or rishis or brahma-vadinis. The one hundred and twenty-sixth hymn of the first book of the Rig-Veda was revealed by the Hindu woman, RomaSa, and the one hundred and seventy-ninth hymn of the same book by Lopamudra. It is remarkable that several of them rose to great heights of spiritual experience. One of the seers, called Vach, who was the daughter of the sage Ambhrina, realized her oneness with the Absolute, and cried out in spiritual joy: "I am the sovereign queen. ... He who eats does so through me ; he who sees, breathes or hears does so through me. Creating all things, I blow forth like the wind. Beyond heaven, beyond the earth am I — so vast is my greatness .” 1 There were also other women revealers of the Vedic wisdom, such as Viswavara, ^aswatl, Apala, Ghosha and Aditi, every one of whom lived the ideal life of spirituality, being untouched by the things of this world. They devoutly performed religious rites, sang holy hymns and discussed with great philosophers the subtle and difficult problems of life and death, of soul and God, and sometimes defeated the most advanced contemporary thinkers. Even in early Vedic times spiritual tradition amongst Hindu women had been well established. We see the working of this tradition in the days of the virgin philosopher Gargi who boldly challenged the great sage Yajnavalkya in open court in abstruse philosophical argument . 1 > Rig-Veda, 10. 125. 1 BrihadSranyaha Upanishai, 3. 6. 3 WOMEN SAINTS OF EAST AND WEST That the eternal problem of how to attain peace and immor- tality 'agitated the minds not only of the unmarried women but also of the married is revealed by the dialogue 1 between Maitreyi and her husband Yajnavalkya, who wanted to settle her share of the property on her, and take leave of her before renouncing the world and embracing the monastic ideal. But Maitreyi asked him: “If, indeed, venerable sir, this entire earth filled with wealth were mine, would I become immortal through it?” Yajnavalkya: “No, like the life of the rich even so would your life be. Of immortality, however, there is no hope through wealth.” Maitreyi: “Then what shall I do with that by which I cannot become immortal? Tell me, venerable sir, of. that alone which you know to be the only means to immortality.” Yajnavalkya: “You have been truly dear to me even before. Now you have increased what is dear to me in you. If you wish, my dear, to know the means to immortality, I will explain them to you. While I explain them please meditate upon their meaning: Verily the husband is dear not for the sake of the husband, Maitreyi; but it is for the sake of the Self that he is dear. Verily the wife is dear not for the sake of the wife, Maitreyi; but it is for the sake of the Self that she is dear. Verily the sons are dear not for the sake of the sons, Maitreyi; but it is for the sake of the Self that they are dear. Verily wealth is dear not for the sake of wealth, Maitreyi; but it is for the sake of the Self that it is dear. . . . The Self, my dear, should be realized — by being first heard of from teachers and scriptures, then reflected on through reasoning, and lastly meditated upon. When the Self, my dear, is known by being heard of, reflected on and meditated upon, all this that is other than the Self is known, for there is nothing other than the Self.” When philosophical discussions took place, women often acted as arbiters, and won the appreciation of one and all for their profound learning and strict impartiality. In later times, when Sri Sahkaracharya was discussing the Vedanta philosophy with Mandana Misra, the great exponent of the school of ritualism, it was the latter’s wife, Bharati, a learned Hindu lady well versed in all the Hindu scriptures, who acted as umpire. Though her dear husband was Sarikaracharya’s 1 Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, 2. 4. 3. 4 SPIRITUAL TRADITION AMONG HINDU WOMEN opponent in the debate which lasted seven days, she declared Sankaracharya the winner! That 3 ankaracharya held her in great respect is clear from his appending the name "Bharati” to his monastic name after the momentous discussion. In the post-Vedic period some women teachers were called upadhydyd or upadhydyd or achdryd, to distinguish them from the wives of teachers, who were known as updihydynnl or dchdrydnd. Ill Coming down to the times when the Puranas and Epics were written, we find great saints, ascetics and yogis among women. The Rdmdyana speaks of the woman ascetic Sramanl and of Tabari. The latter was a disciple of a great sage called Matanga, and of high spiritual attainments. She was engaged in hard penances and used to wear the bark of trees and matted locks. In the M ahabhdrata we read the account of Sulabha, a wandering nun and great yogini (a woman yogi). She went to the court of King Janaka and exhibited great powers and wisdom which she had acquired by the practice of yoga. Another woman ascetic, known as Siva, was learned in the Vedas and attained spiritual perfection. The daughter of Sanclilya also, embraced a life of celibacy and became a perfected soul. Sometimes, too, married women became ascetics. The wife of Prabhasa became a bralima-vadim and embraced the life of the wandering nun and practised yoga. Even today there are many yoginis living in India, who are highly advanced souls. Many of them became spiritual teachers of men and women. Sri Ramakrishna had such a yogini as one of his gurus. He had also several women disciples who lived the life of nuns and who themselves became teachers. The nuns and women ascetics of Jainism and Buddhism form the subject of chapters of a subsequent section. The Smriti-Purdna period (500 b.c.-a.d. 600) of Indian history may be called the dark age in which educational opportunities for girls were lacking. Early marriage became a custom and marriage of girls became obligatory. Sufficient facilities were not afforded for their full mental and spiritual development. Early during this period the upanayana of girls became something formal and was not followed by study of 5 WOMEN SAINTS OF EAST AMD WEST the Vedas. It was even advocated that the upanayana might be performed in the case of girls without their reciting the Vedic mantras. Social leaders gradually felt that as it had become a mere formality, it might be abolished. Yajnavalkya, therefore, does not permit upanayana for girls, nor do the later Smriti writers. Though there were a few nuns amongst the Hindus, they were not prominent in the Hindu religious life. A vanaprasthin (recluse) could retire to the forest along with his wife to devote his life exclusively to spiritual disciplines, but such cases were few. Hinduism later withdrew this permission for the wife to retire, and declared that monastic life was not permissible to women in the Iron Age. This withdrawal of permission became all the more strict when corruption crept into the Buddhist order of monks and of nuns. IV In the period A.d. 600-1800 the religion of the Epics and Puranas became popular. Classical Sanskrit, in which the Puranas and Smritis were written, ceased to be intelligible to the people in general by about the eleventh century a.d. Women were completely denied Vedic privileges. It was in this period that the cult of bhakti arose, and women became its ardent followers. All Hindu women saints were followers of one school or another of the cult of bhakti. Such saints were bom in all the provinces of India. Vrata (fasting with or without vigil), worship, recital of sacred hymns, hearing readings of sacred books, and other spiritual disciplines, were practised by them. Several of the prominent women saints of this period have been included in this volume. It may seem strange that there was no order of nuns in such a vast country as India which produced so many women saints and women devotees of deep spirituality. The absence of such an order was due to various causes. First, the country was passing through a period of national decline and social disin- tegration, brought about by internal forces of disruption in the Hindu fold and by handicaps arising from Muslim rule. Secondly, there was not one single personality in Hinduism who could appeal to the masses and to the intelligentsia, though £ri Saiikaracharya dominated the intellectual and spiritual section 6 SPIRITUAL TRADITION AMONG HINDU WOMEN of society by his profound learning and exalted spirituality. Thirdly, the women saints of the period were followers of one or other of a variety of cults — of Siva, or of Sakti (the Divine Mother), or of Vishnu or any of His Incarnations such as Rama and Krishna, Gane4a or Surya — and so there was a definite lack of cohesive power needed for the establishment of an order oi nuns. Fourthly, woman’s position in family and society was one of complete economic dependence on man, and she had not the freedom to act, which is the first condition of growth, mental or spiritual. Fifthly, the spiritual women of the different provinces had no opportunities of contact, nor a common language for purposes of intercourse. Thus, largely for these reasons, after the extinction of the order of Buddhist nuns, there was not a strong enough urge among the women of India to establish an order of Hindu nuns, which could demand and receive recognition by the leaders of Hinduism in those times. Emphasis was laid only on individual spiritual attainments and not on the institution of any formal order. V Modem India, which may be said to have been bom in the first quarter of the nineteenth century, has witnessed a great national renaissance. Hindu culture and religion, which had been slumbering for a time, received a quickening impulse with the introduction of modem thought and the imparting of modem education. The awakening that followed benefited both men and women. The spiritual tradition among the women, which had been kept alive as a glowing ember during the cen- turies, was soon to be kindled into flame in the succeeding generations. The inspiration came from renascent Hinduism. Its pioneers attempted to revive Sanskrit learning and ancient Indian wisdom. All this helped woman to recover her lost status. She soon began to acquire a certain degree of social freedom, and receive equality of opportunity in education, and in civic and social life. All the religious movements that came in the wake of renascent Hinduism contributed their share in helping woman to rise. Not a little was achieved by the Ramakrishna Movement under the dynamic inspiration and enlightened guidance of Swam! Vivekananda and his fellow monks, as well as by the 7 WOMEN SAINTS OF EAST AND WEST nation-wide work of Mahatma Gandhi. Today women in India breathe an atmosphere of greater social equality and greater mental and spiritual freedom. Big strides have been taken by them in their onward march, notably in Bengal, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil nad and other provinces of India. The lives and teachings of Ramakrishna and Sarada Devi, and of Vivekananda and other disciples of Ramakrishna, have helped to produce not only noble-minded and all-renouncing men, but also self-sacrificing and spiritual-minded women. So far-flung has been their inspiration that it has drawn to the service of India even a few women of the West, such as Sister Nivedita (Miss Margaret Noble) and Sister Christine, who lived as nuns and conducted work for Indian women. The call of renunciation and service has already received response from hundreds of women and girls in the different provinces of India, who have dedicated themselves to the ideal of Self-realization and all-round service throughout the country, and it is not unreasonable to expect the more earnest among them to form themselves into an order of nuns similar to the one established with the permission of the Buddha nearly two thousand five hundred years ago. An informal beginning in this direction without the help of any organization had been already made by Sri Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother, and her associates, v r ho were all women disciples of Ramakrishna. The women of the last rivo generations have received a powerful spiritual impetus from the lives of these women saints. May their inspiration mould and guide generations of women yet unborn! S CHAPTER II AVVAIYAR AWAIYAR is one of the greatest literary figures in ancient X^Ajndia. She was one of the many distinguished women saints whose names have lived through the ages up to modem times. Many do not know that Tamil is perhaps the oldest living language in the world. The beginning of Tamil dates back more than 4,000 years. We have old Tamil literature which has been assigned to 500 B.c. and even 1000 b.c. That literature is as profound, varied and interesting as the most highly developed modem literature of any country. It can therefore be inferred that the language must have been in existence many centuries previously. It is said that the then land of the Tamils extended beyond the present borders of South India. A whole sub- continent which existed then has gone under the sea, according to the references in the most ancient Tamil literature available today. This is supported by recent geological observations that, many thousands of years back, India was connected by land with Africa and the land extended far south of the present Cape Comorin. Many languages have existed in various parts of the world and flourished in their own times, but disappeared after many centuries. There were the Sumerian, the Assyrian and other civilizations which each developed a rich language, but decayed later. Sanskrit, itself one of the most ancient and mother of many of the modem languages, while it possesses some of the highest literature in the world, is not now a spoken language except among the pandits. The case of Tamil is peculiar: bom many thousands of years back and possessing one of the richest literatures from ancient times, Tamil has con- tinued in use till today. In that ancient literature we see a civilization and culture rich in ideas and expounding the highest view of life. Many personalities occur in this ancient literature, and one of the most famous of these is Awaiyar. There seem to have been two Awaiyars, one a contemporary of the great Tiru- valluvar, the author of the famous Tirukkural — one of the greatest ethical books of all times — dating a few centuries before 9 WOMEN SAINTS OF EAST AND WEST Christ, and another belonging to the seventh century a.d. The earlier Awaiyar, who is the subject of this essay, seems to~ have been the more outstanding personality, the later one having taken the name of her distinguished predecessor. It is natural that the life of this great saint coming from many centuries back is shrouded amid legends; but it is not difficult to see through the legends and find the real Awaiyar, a great woman, full of wisdom, great in her human sympathy and a friend of all people from mighty kings to the humblest men and women. It is said that she became an orphan while yet a child and was found and brought up by a man, himself a poet. At the age of sixteen, when she became famous for her beauty, many kings vied with one another to secure her hand in marriage; but she was deeply devoted to religion and literary pursuits and wanted to serve the people. With that end in view she refused to become bound in marriage. The pressure of her foster- parents was great: they could not resist the handsome offers emanating from such high personages, and they at last decided to give her in marriage to a neighbouring prince. Faced with this pressure, Awaiyar wept and prayed before her chosen deity, VighneSwara, 1 to save her from this predicament. She said: "Oh! my lord, these people are only after my youth and my beauty; but I want to dedicate myself to the Goddess of learn- ing and to the spread of learning. Please take away my youth and my beauty so that I can have peace and follow my chosen way of life.” It is said that God heard her request and she immediately became an old woman with a common appearance. This relieved her from further proposals of marriage and she then went round the Tamil world of those days, preaching words of wisdom to everyone she met. This may be a legend; but the truth is not far to seek. It is a truism to say that one can reach the highest knowledge only by undivided consecration to that cause. The joys of youth and beauty have to be dis- carded when one seeks the highest. This is what Awaiyar seems to have done, and in the course of a few years it became a legend. 1 Sanskrit e, which is always long, is not usually marked as such, but if left unmarked in chapters containing Dravidian words, it is liable to be mistaken for the short e of Dravidian languages which, unlike Sanskrit, use both short e and long e (e). For this reason Sanskrit e in this chapter and chapters III, IV, V, XI and XII had to be marked long. It has not been marked long in other chapters. 10 AWAIYAR She went round imparting her wisdom to whomsoever she met, from the humblest to the highest. During her wanderings she met a certain couple: the wife was a termagant and the husband was ill-treated by her in the worst possible manner. He found Awaiyar in a starving condition and, taking pity on her, invited her to his house; but he dared not suggest to his wife to feed Awaiyar. In order to persuade his wife he caressed her, combed her hair, spoke sweet things to her, and at last mentioned that he had brought a poor, starving old woman to the house to be fed. The wife flew into a rage and belaboured him. Awaiyar observed it and walked away; when the man came apologizing, she sympathized with him and said : “Married life is a joy and pleasure only when you get an affectionate and suitable wife; but when that is not possible it is hell, and the proper thing is to give up the household and take to sannyasa ”. 1 Similarly on another occasion during her perambulations she met a rustic doing agricultural work. His wife — this time they were an affectionate couple — was persuading him to leave his occupation and become a servant under a neighbouring chieftain. They consulted Awaiyar and she advised them as follows: “The tree on the bank of a river and a life of depend- ence on a king — both these have an insecure existence and will crash some time. There is no more dignified profession than tilling the land. No other profession is as independent and dignified as agriculture.” She was highly respected by the many kings who were ruling in various parts of the Tamil land of those days. They vied with one another in inviting her to their courts. When there was danger of war on one or two occasions, she acted as a successful mediator between them. She pointed out to them that it was the ambition of the kings that created wars; but the people who suffered were the common men and women on both sides. She explained the evils of war and persuaded them to lead peaceful lives. Though very much sought after by kings for her wisdom, she avoided them and liked to lead a simple life amongst the poor and unsophisticated people, who flocked to her wherever she went. She lived in their humble dwellings, ate their simple food, wore their plain clothes and guided them in their sorrows and worries. She was so loved by everyone that she was called 1 The life of a monk, usually a wandering one. II WOMEN SAINTS OF EAST AND WEST the Universal Grandmother. She lived to a ripe old age, a blessing to all the people in the many years that she lived. Awaiyar wrote many ethical works. Some of them are studied even today by children in schools. The most famous of them are Atti Chiidi, Konrai Ventan, Ulaka Niti, Muturai, Nalvazlii, Nanneri, Ntti-neri-vilakkain, Niti Venbd and Ara- nerichdram. Some of these are pithy sayings consisting of a few words, and the others are quartets in the usual venbd form. All of them are words of wisdom addressed to the young or to grown-ups. A few examples of these are given below: i. Speak not to provoke. — Atti Chiidi 2. Love to give gifts. — Atti Chiidi 3. Ponder ere you act. — Atti Chiidi 4. Boast not your parts. — Atti Chiidi 5. Though it is really rice that sprouts out of the husk, yet if the husk be gone paddy will not grow; likewise even unto men of great energy, nothing will be possible except with suitable instruments. — Muturai 6. Big is the frond of the palm but scentless; sweet scented is the tiny magizha 1 flower. Judge not men therefore from size merely. The vast ocean has water not fit for a bath ; the tiny spring by its side has good drinking water. — Muturai 7. Harsh words do not conquer soft ones; the arrow that strikes down elephants harms not a piece of cotton ; the rock that is not split with the long iron crowbar, splits when the roots of a tender shrub enter it. — Nalvazhi 8. However virtuous one may be, the low always speak of one’s faults; even as in a fruitful garden, full of flowers and haunted by the bees, the crow seeks only the margossa fruit. — Nanneri 9. The irrigation tank needs bunds. The sea has need of none. So too of those who seek esteem; the low need to protect them- selves; not so the very wise. — Nanneri xo. Youth is a bubble on water; abundant riches are the long rolling waves of the ocean, and the body lasts no longer than letters traced on water. Why then, my friends, do you not worship in the Court of the Lord ? — Niti-neri-vilakkam 1 A small flower with sweet scent. 12 AVVAIYAR xx. The justice of the king 1 consists in not being content with the information of spies but endeavouring to ascertain the truth in person, concealed and unattended in certain places; and in hesitating to act before mature deliberation, knowing that justice may fail by hasty action based on mere discover}' of facts. — Niii-neri-vilakkam 12. True ministers fail not to approach the king and rouse him to the call of reason, assailing his ears with their good counsels undeterred by fear of his anger. The lusty elephant is guided by its driver and even so is the king by his ministers. — Niii-neri-vilakkam 13. With the mother's death, one loses delicacy of taste in food; with the father's death, education suffers; with a brother’s death, the might of one's arm is gone; alas! when a wife dies everything goes with her ! — Niti V cnba 14. The gem that adoms an assembly is a man of learning; that which adoms the sky is the sun ; . . . that which adoms the house is the son. — Niti Vcnba 15. At the time of marriage of a girl, the father desires learning; the mother desires wealth; the kinsmen look to caste; and the girl herself looks to the beauty of the bridegroom. — Niti Vcnba 16. The very noble are as the lofty palmyra in giving. They take very little and give much. Next below are those who, like the arecanut and plantain, yield much less than they take. — Niti Vcnba 17. Cool are the rays of the moon; cooler still is sandal paste; coolest are the pleasant words of the gracious who have love, learning and patience. — Niti Vcnba 18. 0 King of cool mountains! A man’s accumulations stay behind in the house. His weeping kinsmen leave him at the crema- torium. Tire consumes his body. If well thought of, only his virtues keep him company. — Arancricharam 19. The days that are gone may be counted on the little fingers; the days before us none can compute. Great is the harm of letting the days pass without doing good. — Arancricharam 1 This refers to the old practice of Tamil kings who used to disguise them- selves and go amongst the people to know for themselves the real state of affairs. 13 WOMEN SAINTS OF EAST AND WEST 20. It is not possible to calm down the waves before bathing. Even so it is no use waiting to do good after one has grown rich, for riches may not then stand one in good stead. A man should do good then and there according to his means. To him alone riches prove useful. — Aranerichdram 21. There is no virtue higher than philanthropy; no companion better than one’s own wisdom ; no conduct worthier than living with self-respect. These are the ways to be trodden by those who want to be free from blame. — Aranerichdram 22. Too much eating results in the revolt of the senses, in the increase of desires and in ultimate ruin. To eat just enough to keep alive and to get the best out of this life is the duty of every wise man. — Aranerichdram CHAPTER III KARAIKKAL AMMAIYAR S AINT KARAIKKAL AMMAIYAR is one of the three women saints included in the list of the sixty-three canonized Saiva saints of Tamilnad furnished by Saint Sundara, one of the four Acharyas of Saivism. Saint Mangaiyarkara^iyar, the queen of a Pandyan king and Saint Rai Jnaniyar, the mother of Saint Sundara, are the other two Saiva women saints. Saint Karaikkal Ammaiyar is so called because Karaikkal 1 was her birthplace. No precise information is available about the century in which she lived ; but there is evidence that she lived much earlier than Saint Tirujnana Sambanda, another of the four Saiva Acharyas whose age is definitely known to be the earlier half of the seventh century a.d. The date of Karaikkal Ammaiyar must have been somewhere between a.d. 400 and a.d. 600. The primary source of our information about the life of this saint is Tirutondar Purdna — popularly know as Peria Pur ana — by Sekkizhar, 1 the Prime Minister of the Chola Emperor Kulottunga II (a.d. 1133-1146). Her own poetical works give us an insight into her convictions, aspirations and spiritual attainments. An account of the life of the saint will now be given, following fairly closely the narration in Peria Purdna. Karaikkal had been a busy and prosperous seaport for several centuries, carrying on a large import and export trade. Its rich merchant community adhered to the principles of honesty and righteousness in all its activities. One Danadatta was the head- man of this community during the time of Ammaiyar. She was bom as his daughter, of extraordinary beauty, and she was named Punidavati, meaning “she who is pure”. Even in her early childhood, Punidavati lisped the holy names of Lord Siva with love and delight. In one of her hymns sung in later life she exclaims thus : Oh Thou Lord of the celestials with Thy shining blue throat! From the time that I learnt to speak, I approached Thy Holy Feet 1 This seaport on the Coromandel coast vras one of the French possessions in India. It is an enclave in the Tanjore District of Madras State. 3 See the first footnote under Chapter II, page 10. 15 WOMEN SAINTS OF EAST AND WEST with ever-increasing love. When wilt Thou be pleased to remove my suffering? Needless to say, the only daughter of the chief of the mer- chants was brought up in the best possible surroundings. Her natural beauty grew with age. But it was noticed that all her play as a little girl was associated with the worship of Siva. Her love and regard for the devotees of the Lord and her eagerness to serve them also developed likewise. In due course she attained the age of maturity — the time when a Hindu girl is not allowed to move out of her house, and when talk of marriage begins. At that time there lived at Nagapattinam, another big seaport, one Nidhipati, a rich merchant. He had a son, Paramadatta, and he sent elders to Karaikkal to seek the hand of Punidavati for his son. This pro- posal of marriage was accepted by Danadatta. The marriage was celebrated at the bride’s place with great pomp. As Puni- davati was his only daughter, Danadatta persuaded his son-in- law to live at Karaikkal itself, and provided him with a palatial residence. He also gave him plenty of wealth to carry on trade independently. The married life of Punidavati thus commenced under apparently good auspices. She loved her husband and served him to keep him happy, as all dutiful wives of cultured families do. But her deep-rooted and incessant love for Lord £iva, which manifested itself even in her early childhood, also grew with age. So, whenever devotees of Siva called at her house, she would feed them well, with deep devotion, and offer them gold and good clothing as presents ; and in this way her love for God grew more and more intense. Her husband did not have any such inclination, though he did not prevent her from doing these devotional acts. One day when Paramadatta w'as at his place of business a small band of visitors called on him and presented him with two delicious mangoes. After concluding his business talk with the visitors, he sent the fruit to his wife through a servant. Punidavati received them and kept them safe. Then there called on her an aged devotee of £iva. He looked very hungry and famished. The lady felt that she should feed him at once. She gave him water to wash his feet, and spread a leaf for serving food. But at that time only the rice had been cooked, 16 KARAIKKAL AMMAIYAR and no vegetable dishes were ready. So Punidavati sensed first the boiled rice, and then one of the two nice mangoes which her husband had sent to her for safe custody. The aged visitor was fully satisfied with the food served to him, and the love and respect with which it was served. He left the house after thank- ing and blessing the lady. Then, at noon, Paramadatta came home for his meal. After a bath he sat for his food. His dutiful wife first served him rice and a number of delicate dishes, and then placed on the leaf the remaining mango. Finding the fruit extraordinarily sweet, he asked her to give him the second mango as well. The lady felt stunned and confused for a moment; but in obedience to the command of her husband, she moved, more or less involun- tarily, to the place where she had first kept the two fruits. Then she concentrated all her mind on Lord Siva, and prayed that a mango might be sent to her. And lo 1 an exceptionally delicious mango came to her hand. She quietly served it to her husband with pleasure. But after tasting it and finding it to be exceed- ingly delicious, Paramadatta said that this fruit could not be the one he had sent, and then bluntly asked her whence she got it. Punidavati found herself in a terrible dilemma, and her body shivered: on the one hand, she felt that it was improper as a devotee to divulge to others the divine grace shown to her; on the other, she felt that, as a dutiful wife, she had to obey the command of her husband and give him the informa- tion he had asked for. She finally decided that her higher duty was to report to her husband what had really occurred. Then, after lifting up her heart to God in worship, she narrated to him what had really happened. Paramadatta felt astounded on hearing this, and promptly ordered that if the fruit had really been given by Lord Siva, she should obtain another such fruit from Him. Punidavati had no option left but to beseech the Lord for another fruit, as otherwise her husband might think that she had spoken an untruth. She moved a little from the presence of her husband and prayed. She got another splendid mango, and gave it to her husband, to his great wonder. But as he took it in his hand it disappeared. Paramadatta got confused and frightened. He soon concluded that his wife was not an ordinary woman, but some goddess in human form, and decided to leave her. He ceased to treat her *7 c WOMEN SAINTS OF EAST AND WEST as his wife, though he continued to live with her in the same house, and bided his time for departure from Karaikkal. In ancient Tamilagam several merchants used to cross the seas in sailing-ships laden with merchandise for purposes of trade. Paramadatta also built some merchant vessels, and sailed with goods to far-off lands. He made ample profits and returned to his homeland, Tamilnad, but not to Karaikkal or Nagapattinam. He reached Madurai, the famous capital of the Pandyan kingdom, and settled there, carrying on his business without revealing his identity as the husband of Punidavati. Not only that, he married a maiden of Madurai — all without the knowledge of his first wife and her relatives. In due course his second wife gave birth to a beautiful girl. Paramadatta, who never failed to pay his daily homage to Punidavati as a goddess, gave this very name to his daughter. Unaware of all these developments, Punidavati was just carrying on her household duties as best a model Hindu wife could do in the absence of her husband. In due course jiews reached her relatives about Paramadatta’s second marriage at Madurai. After verification, they took her in a beautifully decorated palanquin to the fairly distant city of Madurai, and sent word to her husband about her arrival. On hearing this he felt nervous at first, and then took with him his second -wife and their little daughter, and prostrated himself at the feet of his bewildered wife. His new wife also made her obeisance. He said: "By thy grace I am living here, and this little child has duly been given thy name.” Punidavati, with a tremor of fright, moved aside. The relatives asked him why he had done the unusual act of prostrating before his own wife. Paramadatta said firmly and clearly: "The lady Punidavati is not just a human being, but a great and gracious god. I left her only on realizing this truth, and I have also named my child after her. Therefore I prostrated myself before her in worship. You may all do likewise.” The relations stood wondering at this behaviour. On hearing her husband’s words, Punidavati fixed her mind on Lord £iva and prayed with deep and transforming emotion thus: "My Supreme Lord! This is the man’s attitude towards me. So I pray to Thee that the flesh of my body, which has been sustain- ing beauty for his sake, may now be removed from my physical frame, and I may be granted the form of the ghosts which 18 KARAIKKAL AMMAIYAR dance round Thee with devotion." As she stood, with a sense of transforming emotion the Lord’s grace descended upon her; and loi all the beauty of her body, through which her soul's beauty had been shining, was shed, and she took the form of a worshipful ghost of skin and bone, a form loathsome to the mortal eye. The angels showered on her celestial flowers, and the strange music of the spheres filled the earth. The hosts of heaven danced with joy. But the assembled relatives, who became frightened at this transformation, left her after offering their salutations. Karaikkal Ammaiyar now began a new life. She broke forth in song and praised Lord Siva, feeling supremely blessed in her new ghost-body. In this mood she composed one hundred and one verses in Tamil, known as Arpuda Tiruvantadi 1 and another garland of twenty verses, known as Tim Irafiai Mani- malai. The casting away of her bodily flesh was thoroughly sym- bolic of the severance of all connection with her earthly life. One supreme passion got possession of her now, and that was to have a sight of Lord Siva seated in glory on Mount Kailasa on this planet. She turned her footsteps northwards, and pressed on with her pilgrimage to Mount Kailasa. People who happened to meet her on the way were scared at the sight of her and fled. She said to herself: "What does it matter to me what form I present to the people from the eight comers of the world who are ignorant of the Truth, if only the Supreme Lord of all knows me as one of His devotees!” Some inexplicable feeling came over her that she should not ascend the Holy Mount on her feet, but with her head down- wards! Some scholars have interpreted this to mean only that she had taken to a mode of life and thought which -was just the opposite of what we see in this world. Others take it that this may also be literally true, as all things are possible to devotees who have surrendered their all to God, and u’hose body, mind and soul have been possessed by Him. Whatever the truth of this phenomenon might be, Ammaiyar reached the Abode of the Lord on the summit of Mount Kailasa. The eyes of Uma, the gracious consort of Siva, fell on the 1 This literally means “miraculous verse in the antadi form”, a form o{ verse in which the last word of each stanza wholly or in part begins the follow- ing stanza. 19 WOMEN SAINTS OF EAST AND WEST ghostly form of the Karaikkal saint coming up with head downwards. She observed to her Lord: “How wonderful is this Love for Thee, which is manifested through this skeleton body!” The Lord replied: "Uma! Realize that She who is approaching us is My Mother. Her present worshipful frame was obtained from Me in response to her earnest prayer.” When Ammaiyar stood in the immediate presence of the Lord, He greeted her with the word “Mother!” Choked with emotion, she addressed Him as Father and fell at His feet. Lord £iva then asked her what her wishes were. Her reply is conveyed in a soul-stirring verse of the poet Sekkizhar: She asked first for never-fading blissful love for Him, and then prayed thus: ‘Grant unto me freedom from birth. But if it is Thy wish that I should be bom again, grant me the boon that I should always be conscious of Thee. One more boon I ask of Thee, 0 Lord of Dharma: it is that when Thou performest Thy cosmic dance, I may witness it standing near Thy Feet.’ Lord £iva thereupon told her that she might witness in bliss His Eternal Dance at Tiruvalangadu, 1 and sing His praise. Ammaiyar felt supremely happy and blessed. She returned from Mount Kailasa to Tamijnad in South India, and pro- ceeded straight to Tiruvalangadu into which she moved with her head downwards. She remains there for ever, witnessing the never-ceasing cosmic dance 2 of the Lord £iva as Nataraja. After reaching this sacred shrine and witnessing the dance, the saint composed two garlands of eleven hymns each, in praise of the weird aspect of the Lord's dance at Tiruvalangadu. It will be obvious from the above account that the husband of the Ammaiyar was not as advanced as his wife in education, culture or spiritual enlightenment. The biographer naively hints at this when he compares the husband to a fine and youthful bull, and the wife to a delicate peacock which can display or hold back the beauty of its feathers. Still, she honoured and served him as an obedient and dutiful wife. It is 1 This shrine is situated at a distance of two miles from the railway station of the same name, some thirty-seven miles west of Madras, on the way to Arkonam. * This Eternal Dance takes place in the atoms and in the souls. Its five objects are Creation, Preservation and Growth, Dissolution, Concealment and Revelation. The first three relate to the material universe, and the remaining two to the universe of souls. 20 KARAIKKAL AMMAIYAR clear also that she was a well-educated lady who could com- pose fine verses of deep devotion and insight, which have been considered worthy of inclusion in the £aiva scriptures in Tamil. She has since been venerated by Saint Sambanda and other saints up to this day. We can still find her image in all the Saiva temples where the images of the sixty- three Nayanmars are kept. As specimens, a few verses from the saint’s Arpnda Tiru- vantadi are translated below: I x. Even if my Lord who dances with fire in hand and a garland of bones does not remove my sufferings, does not show com- passion, and does not even show the path I should follow, my heart will never give up its love for Him. 2. Some may say that God is high up in the heavens; others may say that He is seated as the Lord of the celestials. But I will say that He who is the Lord of jiiana (wisdom) and whose shining throat is black with the poison He has swallowed, is the dweller in my heart. 3. I alone have reaped the fruits of tapas (austerities) ; my heart alone is a good one; I alone have firmly resolved to sever the bonds of birth (and death); because I alone have become the servant of the three-eyed Lord whose covering is the elephant skin and who wears the sacred ashes. 4. It is only the Lord’s grace that rules all the worlds. It is the same grace that removes the bondage of births for souls. As my rule of life is to see the Supreme Reality through the eyes of His grace, all things are ever within my reach. 5. Of only one thing have I been thinking; only one thing am I determined to do ; only one thing I have treasured in my heart ; and that single thing is to become the servant of the Lord who bears the Ganges and the crescent moon on His braided head, and carries the sparkling fire in one hand. 6. Shall I call Him Hara, or Brahma, or the one beyond them? I know not His nature. . . . 7. It is He who knows. It is He who teaches. It is He who knows as Knowledge. He is the Supreme Reality to be known. He is the shining fight, and earth and ether as well. 8. They who are incapable of understanding His real nature make fun of Him. They see only His fine form besmeared with ashes and bedecked with a garland of bones like a ghost. 9. Let those mangle who have only book-knowledge, but no 21 WOMEN SAINTS OF EAST AND WEST capacity to see through the scriptures and catch sight of the Truth embedded in them. The nature of the blue-throated Lord is for Him to appear before His seekers in the very form and with the appurtenances that they assign to Him in their devotion. 10. Father! This is my one ardent and never-fading desire; wilt Thou not reveal that to me one day? That is the region where, during the night of samhara (dissolution of all things). Thou dancest with fire. 11. When Thy feet move, the nether worlds give way. When Thy head is lifted, the dome of the heavens cracks. When Thy crossed hands with bracelets move, the very cardinal points shiver. The platform of the universe cannot well bear the vigour of Thy dance. 12. We have conquered death and avoided hell. We have uprooted the bonds of good and evil karma — all this has been achieved by uniting ourselves with the sacred Feet of the Lord who has burnt to ashes the fortresses of the Tripurasuras with the fire of His eye. 22 CHAPTER IV ANDAL 0 Saintess, basil-bom, God-married nun. Bodied Piety, Devotion incarnate! A BOUT fifty miles south-west of the historic city of Madurai TAdn South India, rich with spiritual and cultural traditions of hoary antiquity, there lies the fair tow of Srivilliputtur, evergreen in the memory of Sri Vaishnava devotees. Srivilli- puttur, which means the new tow of Villi, owes its existence to the piety of two valorous hunter-chieftains, the brothers Villi and Kantan, who in obedience to divine mandate trans- formed the nearby dreadful jungles and dense forests infested with wild beasts and poisonous reptiles, into the celebrated homes of two of the greatest of Sri Vaishnava saints and their devoted followers. Such a transformation in the material realm was not only a necessary prelude to, but also a true symbol of, the glorious metamorphosis in the spiritual realm that was to be brought about in this world by Andal, the eternal Divine Queen of previa 1 (selfless pure devotion to God), and the subject of our sketch. The supreme devotees of God, who are in a state of perpetual soul-communion and union with God, are patterns of divine love. In Sri Vaishnavism they are called Azhwdrs. The Tamil term Azhwar signifies “he who dives deep into the ocean of countless auspicious attributes of God”, and the corresponding feminine term is Aiidal — “she who dives deep into the ocean of love divine”. That this generic term Andal, unlike the term Azhwar which is applied only to eleven saints, has become the distinctive appellation of a single saint, itself speaks volumes of the spiritual eminence of that Divine Maiden, shining as a star of bridal mysticism. As is the case rvith so many of the great saints, the entrance of Andal into the arena of the world and her exit hence are shrouded in mystery: none the less she was an historical per- sonage, who lived in the middle of the seventh century a.d. She claimed Periazhwar of Srivilliputtur as her earthly father, very much as in the case of Sita, whom Janaka was privileged to 1 See the first footnote under Chapter II, page 10, 23 WOMEN SAINTS OF EAST AND WEST call his own daughter. Tradition says that the saint Periazhwar was engaged one day in digging and turning the soil in his garden of tulasl plants (sacred to Vishnu), when suddenly his attention was arrested by the mysterious appearance of a fair young girl, bigger than a baby, lying under a plant. The child- less Periazhwar looked upon the girl as a daughter divinely bestowed upon him and named her Goda ('she who was bom of Mother Earth'). Like the miser coming in sight of his treasure trove, the saint appreciated her worth, brought her up in the lap of extreme affection, made her undergo the customary purification rites current among the £ri Vaishnavas of the period, and in time performed the duty of imparting the spiritual instructions suited to her age and capacity. Vishnuchitta (‘he whose consciousness was ever centred in Vishnu’), as Periazhwar was called in his early days, was a bom mystic. With his instinctive devotion to the Supreme Being in the attitude of a sworn vassal to his liege-lord, he effaced himself in doing deeds of loving service to Him without the least taint of egoism and with the sole desire of pleasing Him only. His special interest lay in cultivating flower gardens and making garlands of choice flowers with which he would adorn the local Deity both morning and evening. In his eyes the Deity in the temple was the concrete manifestation of divine grace, the voluntary self-limitation of the Infinite Being out of love for the devotees with a view to making them feel and enjoy the rare bliss of divine communion on earth. Illiterate as he was, suddenly in response to the call of God to establish the truths of religion, he found himself miraculously endowed with a pro- found knowledge of Sanskrit and skill in dialectics. Once he was blessed with the vision of God of entrancing beauty before his physical eyes, and such was the flood of parental affection that it awakened in his heart that instantly he composed hymns in Tamil attributing to the Lord perpetual life. After this his devo- tion took a new turn and assumed the form of a deep and abiding motherly solicitude for the divine child Krishna, as in the case of Ya£oda of Vrindavana. For the rest of his life he lived, mentally and spiritually, in the land of Vrindavana with the cowherds and milkmaids, and delighted in the spiritual experience of Krishna-LUd, the divine sport of Krishna. It is no wonder that such a blessed parentage and spiritual heritage should have quickened the unfoldment of AndaTs 24 ANDAL inherent spiritual genius even at a tender age. Andal was bom with prema, like the tulasT with its sweet aroma, and was brought up in an atmosphere surcharged with the fervid love of Krishna. Her pure feminine nature, sensitive to the most delicate shades of conjugal love, easily responded to the gopT ideal of a spiritual marriage with Krishna. Even from her childhood she began to look upon herself as the destined bride of the Divine Enchanter of Vrindavana, and revelled in cease- less contemplation of the charms of His love and glory. One day, to test her own fitness to be His bride of beauty, she surreptitiously decked herself with the garlands intended by her father for the local Deity, gazed at her own reflection, and then replaced them. Since then, day after day, she played the same game in the strictest privacy, and her father was un- knowingly offering the used garlands to the Lord. But one day the Azhwar, happening to see her standing with the garlands on, reprimanded her for her profanity and forbade her to repeat the irreverent act. That evening he could not decide whether to offer the garlands, but to his astonishment the Lord appeared before him in a vision and commanded him to offer thenceforth only those garlands that were enriched in their perfume by their contact with the pure prema form of Andal. Next morning the Azhwar apprised his daughter of the Lord’s behest and requested her to wear the garlands herself before offering them to the Lord. Realizing now her identity with the Divine Mother and Ruler of the universe, he named her ‘‘Andal”. As Andal grew in age her wisdom and devotion began to ripen day by day until it took the form of a passionate and irrepressible longing to marry God. Unable to bear the agony of separation from her beloved and the pangs of unrequited love, • she was driven to the necessity . of resorting to the measures taken by the gopTs of Vrindavana, the love-stricken milkmaids, who were in the selfsame plight with regard to Sri Krishna. Her rich and powerful imagination transported her to the pleasant woods of Vrindavana and the sweet streams of the Yamuna. There, fancying herself to be a gopi pining for the presence of Sri Krishna, she rose early in the morning in the auspicious winter month of Margasirsha (December-January) : after bathing and decorating herself she went with the ostensible purpose of fulfilling a vow "in a congregational procession with her own companions, aroused from sleep, to the palace of the 25 WOMEN SAINTS OF EAST AND WEST sleeping Beauty, to wake Him up and pray for the boon of parai ” £ri Krishna is roused and takes His seat in the audience hall, ready to listen to their petitions. But Andal, the leader of the party, prays for nothing earthly and craves only the privilege of eternal loving service to Him alone and for His sake alone, bound as they were to Him by inseparable soul-ties for ever. The whole scene is portrayed vividly in her immortal lyric, Tiruppavai ("The Song Divine"), a poem of thirty stanzas, wherein we see a marvellous blending of artistic excellence, metaphysical symbolism and devotional fervour. This poem is sung daily in every Vaishnava shrine. But the outpourings of Andal’s divine frenzy for spiritual communion with Sri Krishna, as it develops spontaneously from being a fancy to a consuming passion, are depicted auto- biographically in her Tirumozhi ("Sacred Utterance”), a work of greater length. Herein is a frank and free expression of the varying moods of her profound bridal love — her tender hopes and grave fears; her earnest entreaties and fervent prayers to Cupid, the God of Love, to prepare her for God alone; her con- fidence and triumph; her keen anguish; her paroxysm of joy when her Beloved married her in a dream; her all-consuming love and utter dejection; her messages to her Lover that would melt even stony hearts; her mild rebukes of her Sweetheart’s extreme callousness ; her indignation at the refusal of her rela- tives to carry her openly to the immediate presence of her Divine Lover; and lastly the intense burning sensation in her body that could only be mitigated by contact with the articles that adorned the person of £ri Krishna. Notwithstanding the consoling, mysterious and rapid growth of Andal’s pure devotion to God, her attainment of marriage- able age cannot but have filled even her saintly father’s mind with anxiety regarding the choice of a suitable human bride- groom for his precocious daughter, the gem of his entire child- less family. One day, to sound her own feelings in the matter, he gently queried: “Daughter, whom dost thou choose to wed?” Andal responded sternly: "If I heard I had to wed a mortal, I could not bear to live.” "How then should I proceed?” the father inquired. "I intend to marry the Lord alone” was the bold reply. Periazhwar then recounted to his darling the _ 1 Parai is a kind of dram by which the Deity is roused from sleep. Here Ap