godā catuśślokī

Four verses in praise of Goda, the Alvar poetess of Srivilliputtur whom Tamil knows as Andal, with two mangala verses appended. The first calls her the standing ornament of the crest of the Vedas and says the earth wakes to a fair dawn through her sweet utterance, which is how the Tiruppavai is remembered. The second asks how she can be an ordinary Shri when Tulasi is her mother, Vishnuchitta her father, the crest-jewel of ascetics her brother and the Lord of Srirangam her beloved. The closing salutations are to the daughter of Vishnuchitta who binds the Lord with the garland she has already worn herself, and whose hand carries the bracelet of a vow to protect the destitute.