In days of yore Arjuna ordered Sri Krishna,on the holy
battlefield of Kurukshetra,to park his chariot in between
the array of the two armies and the charioteer did so.
So also now the Gopis earnestly solicited Him to walk
out and embellish the royal throne by occupying it.He
did it.When He stirred out all the Gopis with Nappinnai
followed Him with prayers for His safety (Mangalaasaa-
sanam)and when He sat on the throne held His feet with
their very tender hands and pressed them to their heart
and eyes with veneration.They beheld quickly the change
in hue (i.e., the feet became very red owing to the strain of
walking and being pressed by their soft hands gently).
This reminded them of Sri Krishna's former heroic feat
of measuring the whole universe with His very delicate
feet.They thought they were also as cruel-hearted as
Indra and the devas who never thought about His tender-
ness (Saukumaarya).
That Andal is the very worthy daughter of Periyaazhwar
is proved in this verse.She says: " O Lord! you measured
this universe for the sake of Indra,who was intent on
getting back his kingdom;while Bali was after fame.No one
gave a thought to your tenderness;so we have come to
pray that you must be free from all evils.
Ravana was worse; he had neither the generosity nor the
aesthetic sense of Bali.Just like entering a cave and
waking up and fighting a wild beast you walked to Lanka
and fought with him.Hence we are afraid for you.
That was when you were 37 years of age.What about the
asura who entered the cart which was there to protect
you,at the time when you were an infant and unable to
distinguish between friend and foe? So we fear all the
more for that.
Then two asuras assuming the guise of a calf and fruit
tried to put an end to your life.They were hidden enemies.
We fear that all the more.
These were evil acts by your foes; but what about Indra for
whom you strained every nerve ? He suddenly became an
adversary, for the flimsy reason that you consumed his
food, and rained stony rain for seven days.You lifted up
the mountain and saved the entire Gokulam. Mangalam etc.."
UN SEVAKAME - only your (Krishna's) heroic feat.But it
may be remarked that in this paasuram Andal has sung
the glory of Vamana,Rama and Krishna.However there is
no contradiction here because they were all His own
previous births.Similarly her father Sri Vishnuchitta
sings of them all - "Varuga varuga inge Vamana nambi..
kariya kuzhal..Kaakutta nambi etc." As Sri Nanjeeyar
delectably puts it, "Both father and daughter had the
habit of building dams after all the water had flown
through to the sea."