The Garland Worn First

One day, Periyāzhwār prepared the garlands of flowers and tulasī as usual, set them in a clean, safe place, and went out. Kōdhai, seeing such beautiful garlands, thought for a moment: "If I am to marry Him alone, why should I not wear these garlands before He does?" And she put them on. She wore them one by one, admiring her reflection in a mirror. Hearing footsteps, she quickly removed them and put them back.

When Periyāzhwār adorned the Lord with those garlands, the Lord looked exquisitely beautiful that day, and there was even a smile on His lips. The garlands filled the temple with a wonderful fragrance, and everyone spoke of how special they were. Periyāzhwār could not understand why that day was different, when he had done nothing out of the ordinary. They were the same flowers, the same tulasī, prepared in the same way. Why, then, such fragrance and such beauty? He did not know.

This went on day after day. Kōdhai secretly wore the garlands and admired herself in them, and the Lord wore them with great joy and contentment, and they shed a wonderful fragrance. No one knew why.

Then, one day, on Krishna Jayanti, Periyāzhwār saw Kōdhai wearing the garland. He was deeply angry and distressed, hurt and full of sorrow, and he asked her: "Kōdhai, my child, why have you committed such a great sin? Was this not meant for the Lord, Sriman Nārāyaṇa? How could you make it impure by wearing it yourself?"

Kōdhai replied with regret, and yet with conviction: "Father, Sriman Nārāyaṇa is in my heart, and I wished to see Him wearing them. Will the Lord be angry if His devotee wears them first?"

Her eyes filled with tears of guilt, and Periyāzhwār's heart melted to see his darling child cry. He held her gently and consoled her: "It is not that, Kōdhai. This is meant for our Lord. Does it not become impure when we wear it, my dear one? Never mind. Do not worry. Only do not do it again. Today I will make another garland; let this one be set aside. Do not cry."

He made a fresh garland and adorned the Lord with it, but that day there was no fragrance, no beauty and no radiance on the Lord's face, and no smile on His lips. The archakas too were puzzled.

Periyāzhwār was saddened that he had been angry with his sweet child for the first time, and that the Lord had not looked radiant in the second garland. He slept restlessly, and just before dawn, Govinda appeared in his dream. Opening His beautiful coral lips, He said: "My dearest Vishṇuchitta, Periyāzhwār, Bhaṭṭarpirān! Kōdhai was born as your daughter to sing her pāmālai, her garlands of verse, and to wear My pūmālai, My garlands of flowers, and it is the garlands she has worn that I love to wear.

She has ruled over Me with her garlands of verse and of flowers, and so from now on she shall be called Āṇḍāl, the one who rules. Do not stop her from wearing the garlands. Let her continue."

Periyāzhwār woke and understood Kōdhai's greatness. Thrilled to know that she was the one who ruled the Lord, he called her Āṇḍāl, and he told her everything. Āṇḍāl's face flushed with shyness. She came to be known far and wide as Sūḍikkoḍutta Suḍarkkoḍi, "the radiant maiden who gave to the Lord the garland she had worn."