Abhirami Bhattar, in his Abhirami Andadi , speaks of how the Goddess resides in the hearts of Her devotees. He says that She only resides in pure hearts. The koel will rest only on fruit-laden trees, not on thorny ones. Likewise, the Goddess will only be happy to take up residence in the hearts of those with pure thoughts. She will not reside in impure hearts. Lying, scheming people can never hope to have the Goddess in their hearts. She resides in the hearts of true devotees, and in the hearts of gnanis, said M.A. Manickavelu.
Abhirami Bhattar poses a series of questions about the possible places of residence for the Goddess? Does She reside in temples only, he wonders. Or does She only reside in the Vedas, as the Pranava Mantra? Or does She reside in the Upanishads? Or does She reside in the Moon? Is She to be seen in the lotus flowers? Or is She in his heart? While the Goddess does reside in the Vedas and in temples, and indeed, in everything in this world, She is happiest to be in the hearts of devotees like Abhirami Bhattar.
If we think of the Goddess, we do not have to fear anything. Even the most devout could be afraid at the moment of death. When life is slowly ebbing away from our bodies, an inexplicable fear takes hold of us. Bhattar prays to Goddess Abhirami that when it is time for him to die and when the God of death Yama arrives with his fearsome appearance, the Goddess rid him of fear. In Her presence, he will fear nothing.
When the Goddess in Her kindness is ready to forgive us our sins and shower Her mercy on us, we, in our ignorance, seek favours of human beings. The poor seek alms from the rich, only to be insulted and turned away by them. We seek the company of those who have not performed any tapas and who are themselves caught up in worldly life. If we seek the mercy of Goddess Abhirami and refrain from seeking favours of human beings, and from keeping the company of those who indulge in frivolous pursuits, we will be afraid of nothing, not even death. And this is what Bhattar points out to us through Abhirami Andadi .
