Sri Goda Stuti is a sweet and mellifluous lyric of 29 Verses on Sri Goda Devi(Andal).

She has a unique place in our religion and Philosophy as one of the twelve Alwars (Tamil Vaishnavaite Saints) and as a loving Consort of Bhagavan. On the day of  the star of poorva-phalguni (pooram) in the month of Aadi(kataka) in the Tamil Year Nala centuries before she appeared as a baby in the basin of a Tulasi Plant in the sacred garden of Sri Vishnu-citta(Perialwar) in Srivilliputhur in South Tamil Nadu. She was taken home by Perialwar and brought up in an atmosphere of devotion and godly love. When she heard from him the story of Sri Krishna and His divine exploits, she was drawn towards Krishna more and more. As she grew, her devotion also to Him grew and brought about a complete change in her. She
was a Gopi-girl in love with Krishna, the Gopa-lad; her girl-friends were Gopi-girls for her, Srivilliputhur became Gokula., the local temple Nandagops’s mansion d the god within Sri Krishna Himself. In short, she lived, moved and had her being in Sri Krishna.

She was happy when she felt He was with her and pined in separation. Her two poetical compositions-Tiruppavai, a lyric in 30 songs. The Naacciar Tirumozhi a ballad in 143 verses-give us a real and Soul-stirring picture of Andal in various moods of love-joy and sorrow, hope and disappointment. She observes a penance in the month of Maargazhi, she sends the cloud as a messenger to Krishna, makes an appeal to the cuckoo and the parrot to bring Him to her. The intense love lands her in a dream in which she marris Sri Krishna. She passes through the various rituals in a marriage in South India in that dream- the reception, the bridal costume, tying of the sacred thread, the exchange of garland, going round the fire holding the hand of the groom, the touching of the stone- slab by the bride’s foot, the offering of fried rice in the ceremonial fire with her hands placed right on the groom’s hands and the final procession of the happy married couple on a caparisoned elephant to the tune of music and drum.

The tradition is that under the command of Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam,Perialwar took Andal in the bridal costume in a palanquin. On reaching the City and the temple, Andal moved swiftly towards Sri Ranganatha in the Sanctorum. The Lord extended his arms to receive and embrace His long- expected bride. Andal entered into Sri Ranganatha  and became one with Him to the enjoy of Perialwar that his foster-daughter Andal’s desires were fulfilled and that the status of being the God’s father-in- law  has been conferred on him.

That is the story of Andal, the beautiful divine creeper in the Tulasi-garden of Perialwar which became entwined with the fragrant tree of Haricandan, Sri Ranganatha. Sri Vedanta Desika says that out of this
reverent reverie of his about devout life and god – love of Sri Andal rose Sri Goda Stuti, the lyric of lovely rhyme and rhythm.

Sri Andal is the incarnation of the Bhoodevi and chose Sri Ranganatha, in the Arcaavatara as her Consort, like Lakshmi who chose Bhagavan in Milk Ocean in the Vyooha form and like Bhoomi who chose Varaha in the Vibhava form. Sri Desika extols the greatness of Andal in weaving two kinds of garlands, a garland of songs and a garland of flowers (Paa-malai and Poo-malai) by both of which she was able to bind Sri Ranganatha  so that He may become inclined to pardon our sins and  redeem us. By the paa-malai (in
6 slokas from 4-9) she pleased His ear and mind, and by the poo-malai (in 11 slokas 5, 10and 14 to 20) which she wore first and then adorned His body, a gift He was longing to get. The hymns of the masculine Alwars in a bridal form may be said to be a facsimile of the songs of Andal, the real bride.
Sri Desika also describes the marriage of Andal with Sri Ranganatha in several verses. He concludes by praying that she should be pleased to dwell in our hearts and that the reciters of this Stotra will be honoured by all, including Lord Ranganatha Himself.

There is some difference of opinion about the place where the Goda Stuti was composed. A Guruparampara states that it was in Srirangam. When Sri Vedanta Desika was in Srirangam, one day as usual, he went to the Temple to worship Sri Ranganatha.  It was the day of Tiru-Aadi-Pooram,the Jayanti day of  Sri Andal. Familiar as he was with the life history of Andal and well-versed as he was in her hymns, his mind was filled with them and he had a mental vision of the Divine Couple, Sri Andal and Sri Ranganatha and the highly beautiful Goda Stuti flowed out of the devotion-full Sri Desika as he
himself says in the last sloka for our enjoyment and redemption. (“Utthitam Venkatesaat bahu-guna-ramaneeyaam Goda Stutim”)

  There is some propriety in saying that the Goda Stuti was sung in Srirangam. The poem begins and ends with a reference to Sri Ranganatha(Verses 18, 21, 24 and 26). When we read the verse
Rangapathir-Esha (This Ranganatha before us)we feel we stand before the Lord of Srirangam.

  There is a popular tale current in Srivilliputhur even today with reference to the Goda Stuti. In the course of his pilgrimage to worship Bhagavans in the various shrines in South India, Sri Vedanta Desika came to Srivilliputhur, the birth place of Sri Andal . The ever-green sacred Tulasi garden of Perialwar, and the Divine Couple, Sri Andal and Sri Rangamannar filled him with devotion and the verses of Goda Stuti flowed out of him with out his conscious effort. Sri Andal was so much pleased that she immediately commanded the temple servants and the public to commemorate the birth of Goda Stuti from Sri Vedanta Desika in a suitable manner in the form of a festival every year known as Goda Stuti Utsavam by name. It is conducted in a special pavilion even today while Goda Stuti is sung.

Srirangam or Sri Villiputhur, whatever may be the place of birth for Goda Stuti, it presents to us a beautiful picture of the queen Sri Andal attended by Sri Ranganatha standing beside her with pride and delight by the fragrant garland of flowers and the sweet worded garland of verses(poo-malai and
paa-malai).

Gopala-vimsati in twenty-one Slokas is in praise of Sri Krishna who often described as Poorna-avatara. He is not only the cow-herd boy of Brindavan  and the darling of gopa damsels, but Paramatma also often manifesting His  supreme qualities. Sri Desika revels in portraying Krishna as an infant, child, boy, lad and pre-adolescent youth. The second sloka contains the Gopala-mantra which is said to be highly efficacious.

The various pranks of Gopala are portrayed in the slokas-the infant suckling the milk of life of Pootana. The pseudo-mother, the dancing child for a handful of butter, the trembling boy before the angry mother for having stolen the butter, the crawling child dragging the mortar and passing through the two-fold trees, the water-sport in the waters of Yamuna with Gopa-girls, playing on the flute with the girls keeping rhythm with their hands the naughty boy stealing the clothes of the girls bathing in the Yamuna kept on the bank and begging them to join both their hands in anjali to get their garments instead of their beseeching him to return them.

The beauty of the dark blue cloud-like body and the auspicious nature of qualities of Sri Krishna (Gopala, the cow-herd boy) are captivating enough. The charm is enhanced by the lovely flute held by the lotus like-hands near the rosy lips and the multi coloured plumes of the peacock on his head. Even the immemorial Vedas with their infinite knowledge, fail in their attempt to describe Him fully since they are beyond the reach of the mind and words.

he poet Sri Desika is charmed by the beauty of this Gopala and with love and devotion prays that he must be in his heart always and bless him with His vision even at the time of his final departure from this mortal world.(sloka 12)

Sage Narada enters the stage in Act IX in the drama Sankalpasuryodaya, written by Sri Desika, singing this sloka. Four other slokas from Gopalavimsati have been incorporated in that drama. (Slokas 5 & 20 in Act VI and slokas 16 in Act VII).

The words of the last sloka (the colophon) are of great significance. Sri Desika himself pays a compliment to that composition that it is Stuti par excellence which defies the addition of an attribute. He says he composed it with a mind that was free from any other thought. He declares in conclusion that a mere reading of the Stotra will bless a person with the direct vision of the Flute-loving Lord who is the beloved of the young Gopa-girls in Brindavan.

    This is Hymn in thirty two slokas on Hayagriva, the Supreme God of learning in Vaishnava Sampradaya. About this incarnation of Bhagavan, the purana narrates that a demon took away all the Vedas from four-faced Brahma and Bhagavan as Hayagriva killed him and gave them back to Brahma. God Dakshina-murti, Saraswati and sages like Vyasa shine with the knowledge bestowed to them by Hayagriva and are worshipped by others for attaining knowledge. The tradition about Sri Vedanta Desika is that he meditated on Hayagriva on the Hill Oshadhadri on the banks of River Garuda repeating the
Mantra. The Lord appeared before him and blessed him with all knowledge. Thus Sri Desika became the master of all sciences and arts-“Sarva-tantra-svatantra”. All words were before him so that he could
choose and use them as he wanted. The devotion of Sri Desika to Hayagriva was so great that hayagriva-stotra is the first of his lyrics. His prayer to the Lord Hayagriva that He must always shine in his heart and take His sear on the throne of the tip of his tongue so that his words will always be
graceful, successful and pleasing.

     The penultimate sloka gives a beautiful description of Lord Hayagriva
as realized by him-

      Lord Hayagriva is seated on a full-blown white lotus (pundareeka) sparkling like a newly dissected marble-slab. He holds the discus and the conch on the higher arms. The lower right hand shines with the symbol of instruction as though He is teaching the Vedas to Brahma. There is also a garland of rosary beads in it which is compared by Sri Desika to a ghatee-yantra(seesaw) which by its movements raises the knowledge from the deep like the machine which raises water from a deep well for the benefit of
all. The lower left hand has a book as though it is an evidence for the recovery of the Vedas carried away by an Asura from the four-faced Brahma.

     The last sloka (31) Sri Desika advises all to read the Stotra with devotion for the attainment of mastery over words and their import (vaagartha-siddhi). The words ‘Vaagartha’ remind us of the words
‘Vaagathaaviva’ used by the poet Kalidasa in the opening verse of his famous Kavya ‘Raghu-vamsa’. In sloka 25, Sri Desika prayed to Sri Hayagriva to take His seat on the tip of his tongue as on a throne so that in the assembly of learned scholars, he might defeat in disputation poets and logicians who
might be great in their fields (Kavi-taarkika-indraan). In the last sloka, the same words are repeated as though Sri Hayagriva, has conferred on Sri Desika the title ‘Kavitaarkika-kesaree’ (the lion among poets and logicians.)

        Kaamaasikaashtaka is a Stotra on Sri Narasimha Bhagavan in eight verses with the ninth as a colophon.. He is described as being in a sitting posture at His will gaily on the sands in southern part of Vegavati River near Kaanchi even setting aside his usual place of honour and preference to
Sri Vaikuntha. The Upanishad (the later part of the Veda) reveals Him as the Supreme Deity having the Sun, the Moon and Fire as His three eyes and having the body of a man and the head of the lion with overhanging manes- (Nara-simha = Man-lion). The unique feature of the face of Narasimha is that
at the same time it manifests two mutually opposite sentiments-to Hiranya-kasipu. Narasimha appears with frightening blazing eyes and terrific peals of laughter; to his son Prahlada with cool and affectionate eyes and a captivating lovely smile. Sri Desika declares that so long as Sri Narasimha is for us on the sands of Vegavati, we will not think of any other Deity as our saviour. He concludes with a prayer that Sri Narasimha (the man-lion) should fulfil all our righteous desires.

  Kaamaasikaa is the translation in Sanskrit by Sri Vedanta Desika of the Tamil word Velukkai (Vel-irukkai). Two meanings are given for this word- Vel=Kama, Irukkai=sitting posture; and Vel=as He likes, Irukkai=being seated. The Alwars refer to this Shrine by this name.

Swamy mentions wonderfully:

bhagavAn is the only one who can protect us.  If He does not protect us no one else can protect us, and if He decides to protect us, we don't need anyone else's protection.  This concept is conveyed in Slokam 8 - tvayi rakshati rakshakaih kim ananyaih,
tvayi ca arakshati rakshakaih kim ananyaih.

The same idea was conveyed in SrI ashTabhujAshTakam Sloka-s 5 and 6:
bhayam kutah syAt tvayi sAnukampe,
rakshA kutah syAt tvayi jAtaroshe (Slokam 5),
and tvayi pravrtte mama kim prayAsaih,
tvayyapravr tte mama kim prayAsaih (Slokam 6).

This is the basis of goptrtva varaNam (the deliberate choice of bhagavAn as the Sole Protector) which is one of the a~nga-s of prapatti.