Episode 01 - Chapter 14 - Sporting in Water.
CHAPTER 14 - CANTO ON “SPORTING IN WATER” நீர் விளையாட்டுப் படலம்
மை அவாம் குவளை எல்லாம். மாதர் கண்மலர்கள் பூத்த;
கை அவாம் உருவத்தார்தம் கண்மலர்க் குவளை பூத்த;
செய்ய தாமரைகள் எல்லாம். தெரிவையர் முகங்கள் பூத்த;
தையலார் முகங்கள். செய்ய தாமரை பூத்த அன்றே.
The lilies that desire darkness (they blossom after the sun sets), resembled the wide eyes of the women (who were bathing in the ponds filled with lilies); and the wide eyes of those women resembled the blossoming lilies. The pink-tinted lotuses resembled the faces of the (bathing) women; and the faces of the (bathing) women resembled the pink-tinted lotuses.
This ‘technique’ of comparing the compared with the compared is known as புகழ் பொருள் உவமை
மருங்கு இலாக் கரும்பின் அன்னார்,
உள் நிறை கயலை நோக்கி, ‘ஓடும் நீர்த் தடங்கட்கு எல்லாம்
கண் உள ஆம் கொல் ‘என்று, கணவரை வினவுவாரும்.
Lovely maidens (ones apparently no waists – so slender-waisted), frolicking in the water with their husbands, point to the shoals of fish swirling around them in the water and warn them in mock – lest the husbands go further beyond frolicking – look the water has eyes (look at our mischief).
செங் கயல் அனைய நாட்டம் சிவப்பு உறச் சீறிப் போன
மங்கை. ஓர் கமலச் சூழல் மறைந்தனள்; மறைய. மைந்தன்.
‘பங்கயம்’. ‘முகம்’. என்று ஓராது. ஐயுற்றுப் பார்க்கின்றானும்;
One man’s lady love suddenly gets upset with him (as the frolic in the pond and with reddened eyes eludes him and gets into a swathe of lotuses; the man, already nonplussed by this sudden distress of his loved one, is further confounded by her face indistinguishable amongst the cluster of lotuses.
We are hastening towards the wedding celebrations.
’Dear Parthasarathy:
This is the best of your series....beyond compare....can't contain my admiration...
Affectionately
BS Raghavan 20th Octr. 2017”
“உண்டாட்டுப் படலம்”(Canto on Feasting and Revelry)
Kamban presents in this final canto before the mammoth entourage moves on to Mithila, the whole huge congregation being feted in the moonlight in the Chandra Sila camp. The splurge extends to drinking and feasting and a near abandon in love-play. The poet, while reaching the fringes of reckless abandon in his narration, takes care to see that his presentation of this intoxicated pleasure-play is still within the perimeters of licence and does not spill over the lakshman rekha of “கற்பு” (chastity) – the love-play, in particular, is carefully orchestrated between spouses and lovers committed to each other. His describing the ecstatic and comical effect of wine on the women, who take to it uninhibitedly, is of exceptional poetic beauty.
He heralds the rise of the (full, silvery) moon, as the most appropriate platform for the ensuing drama of ecstasy, thus:
கலந்தவர்க்கு இனியது ஓர் கள்ளும் ஆய். பிரிந்து
உலர்ந்தவர்க்கு உயிர் சுடு விடமும் ஆய். உடன்
புலந்தவர்க்கு உதவி செய் புதிய தூதும் ஆய்.
மலர்ந்தது. நெடு நிலா - மதனன் வேண்டவே.
The full moon blossomed, as if on cue from the God of Love: as a nourishing intoxicant for the lovers deeply engrossed in love, as a scorching tormentor for those suffering from the heat and pain of separation (either through circumstance or through a love-spat), and as a medicating soother bringing two love-torn together again acting as an reliever of angst
எள்ள அருந் திசைகளோடு யாரும். யாவையும்.
கொள்ளை வெண் நிலவினால் கோலம் கோடலால்.
வள் உறை வயிர வாள் மகர கேதனன்
வெள்ளணி ஒத்தது - வேலை ஞாலமே.
Enveloping all the directions of this seemingly fringeless planet surrounded by the seas – not at all to be sneered at (awesome, that is) – and drenching every animate and inanimate therein, the captivating silvery moon engulfed and sprayed silver everywhere and presented itself as a befitting birthday gift to the God of Love, who wears a glittering sword of diamond and who rides under a flag of the “Makara” fish. (Note the poetic lilt in the term: கொள்ளை வெண் நிலவினால் கோலம் கோடலால்)
பூக்கமழ் ஓதியர். ……ஆக்கிய அமிழ்து என. அம் பொன் வள்ளத்து
வாக்கிய பசு நறா. மாந்தல் மேயினார்
Kamban presents young women in search of love-play in the already intoxicating moonlight, seeking further to bolster their craving for love, drank freshly brewed wine from very pretty cups of glittering gold.
வாள் நுதல் ஒருத்தி, காணாத் தடன் ஒக்கும் நிழலைப் பொன் செய் தண் நறும் தேறல் வள்ளத்து உடன் ஒக்க உவந்து ‘ நீயே உண்ணுதி தோழி! ‘ என்றாள்.
Here is a young woman with a lovely forehead, already losing her mind in intoxication, seeing her own mirrored reflection in the gold-cup filled with the intoxicant, (mis)placing her reflection as her close friend, invites her to join in the drinking.
‘யாழ்க்கும் இன் குழற்கும் இன்பம் அளித்தன இவையாம் ‘என்னக்
கேட்கும் மென் மழலைச் சொல் ஓர் கிஞ்சுகம் கிடந்த வாயாள்,
தாள் கருங்குவளை தோய்ந்த தண் நறைச் சாடியுள் தன்
வாள் கணின் நிழலைக் கண்டாள், ‘வண்டு ‘என ஓச்சுகின்றாள்.
The lovely one that seemingly lent her rapturous musical voice to the lilting music embedded in the string instrument “yaazh” and to the mellifluence of the flute, seeing her dark, large, fluttering eyes in the wine-filled gold cup, calls out “bumblebees”! , ( ‘வண்டு! ‘ and tries to drive them off.
Kamban invests scores of verses on the intoxicated pleasure-play between loved ones – the physical love, the pangs of separation, the inborn bashfulness (and jealousy) of women, and a “whole lot else.”
We would leave this ground of crazy love-making and pleasure-seeking, the emotional fallouts, in order to move on. The poet, unwillingly it seems, brings down the curtain on this rapture-filled canto, bringing the crimson sun out to wind up this love-filled, moonlit, night.
கடை உற நல் நெறி காண்கிலாதவர்க்கு
இடை உறு திரு என. இந்து நந்தினான்.
படர் திரைக் கருங் கடல் பரமன் மார்பிடைச்
சுடர் மணிக்கு அரசு என. இரவி தோன்றினான்.
The silvery full moon disappeared. How? let us savour Kamban’s metaphor here:”Even as the Goddess of Wealth, who graces her presence with those who undertake good meritorious deeds, leaves them when they do not persevere with those good deeds”. And the Sun rose, like the dazzling “kousthubam” adorning the broad chest of Lord Maha Vishnu.
We would move on to the celebrated “எதிர்கொள் படலம்” “Welcoming Canto” – the extraordinary welcome that awaits this humoungous invasion of the Emperor’s entourage in Mithila, for participating in the divine “Sita Kalyanam.”
REACTION TO ‘UNDAATTUPPADALAM’ – CANTO ON FEASTING AND REVELRY:
We had a stirring reaction – thought-provoking – ‘storm in a tea cup’: Mr.Raghavan pointing out the evident lack of classical “Kamban” in some of the verses discussed in the “Undaattup padalam” *(Feasting and Revelry) presenting a nearly reckless abandon by women in Dasaratha’s entourage, in verses that were of questionable taste and unworthy of Kamban and the great epic. His suggestion was that the mischief could really belong to interpolations in Kamban’s epic. There was a discussion of how the late T.K.Chidambaranatha Mudaliar of Tirunelveli (TKC) spent a spirited life-time in researching on these interpolations and systematically culling them out, out of his near maniacal love of Kamban. The discussion ended with a poor wishy-washy defence from your narrator.
My response to Sri B.S. Raghavan’s comment, that this ‘Undaattuppadalam’ did not seem to be Kamban at all and we could have done without it:
I salute you, Sir!
I had a creepy feeling while going through the four cantos following the எழுச்சிப் படலம்; That feeling heightened when I was putting through Selection 58. I persuaded myself to skip through most of the உண்டாட்டுப் படலம். But some verses held poetic grace and finesse that could be attributed to typical Kamban and I presented those to the Group. I had summed up my inhibition in concluding that the canto offers ä Lot Else".
I had, though, contrived an apology in the opening statement, that the drunken revelry (by women in particular) presented in the canto did not cross the Lakshman Rekha of கற்பு.
I was a keen onlooker when TKC engaged himself with a fierce fervour in identifying what in his judgement were interpolations in this epic. He had a highly knowledgeable and learned audience including Rajaji and "Kalki" Krishnamurthi. I recall, though, that TKC's judgements on the interpolations were not wholly endorsed by a good chunk of Tamil literateurs in his time. I also recall "Kalki" himself criticising TKC, half in jest, in the former's use of an unrealistically fine sieve in his encounters with these ïnterpolations.
I have been unable to place my hands on that edition of the epic that incorporates all of TKC's culling effort.
I find, though, that the Kamban Kazhagam (1939 vintage, still going strong) took a parallel initiative in the early seventies; it entrusted the task of looking at பாட பேதங்கள் in the versions that were considered as authentic, identify clear interpolations, cull them and reedit the epic. The task force was headed by the renowned Thamizh scholar, T.P.Meenakshi Sundara(m)naar. This version, I find, was edited and published in 1976.
Prof.C.R.Krishnamurthi, who writes and speaks extensively on Thamizh literature from the Sangam era forwards with a lot of researched knowledge, documents this initiative thus, in a treatise on Kamba Ramayanam:
Quote: The compilation of any ancient literary work has always been confronted with the problem of weeding out interpolations (இடைச்செருகல்) and addenda. The existence of different versions (பாடபேதங்கள்) add further to the difficulties.
Thanks to the efforts of Kampan Academy (கம்பன் கழகம்), Chennai, a committee of scholars was set up who were able to complete this difficult job under the chairmanship of Professor T.P.MInAtchi sun^tharan (தெ.பொ.மீனாட்சிசுந்தரன்). The result is the publication of "Kampa rAmAyaNam" in 1976 which serves as the standard authority commonly used at present Unquote.
The one edition that I frequently refer to in the current exercise is one with commentary by V.M.Krishnamachariar, published by the U.Ve.Swaminatha Iyer Library.
I also find that more recently, the Kovai Kamban Kazhagam had come out with an edition that is based on the VMK commentary but incorporates the culling etc. made by the T.P.Meenakshi Sundaranaar-led task force. The editor was AA.Saa.Gnaanasambandan.
I find that the offensive verses in the உண்டாட்டுப் படலம் are found in both the editions - VMKs which I usually refer to and the Kovai Kamban Kazhagam edition.
It has been a challenge for me to skip through verses that are not presentable in this group, even where Kamban's authorship is not subject to any doubt or equivocation.
Interpolation has been a curse afflicting Indian literature from time immemorial, it would seem. Critics of Mahabharatha's versions in circulation point out to a strong medieval bent in some of the fables, anecdotes and instructions incorporated in the "Shanti Parva" and the Änusasan Parva" of this epic.
Quote:
scholars have questioned the chronology and content of many chapters in Shanti Parva and its companion book the Anushasana Parva. These scholars ask whether these two books represent wisdom from ancient India, or were these chapters smuggled in to spread social and moral theories during India's medieval era or during second millennium AD.
Iyer, in 1923, compared different versions of Shanti Parva manuscripts found in east, west and south India, in Sanskrit and in different Indian languages. The comparison showed that while some chapters and verses on moral and ethical theories are found in all manuscripts, there are major inconsistencies between many parts of the manuscripts. Not only is the order of chapters different, large numbers of verses were missing, entirely different or somewhat inconsistent between the manuscripts. The most inconsistent sections were those relating to social customs, castes, and certain duties of kings. Iyer claims[8] these chapters were smuggled and interpolated into the Mahabharata, or the answers rewritten to suit regional agenda or views. Alf Hiltebeitel similarly has questioned the chronology and authenticity of some sections in Shanti and Anushasana Parvas. Kisari Mohan Ganguli also considers Shanti Parva as a later interpolation in the Mahabharata
Unquote. Courtesy: Wikipedia.
Lay followers like ourselves would need to rest content with what is on offer, popularly; if logic and rational thought so dictate, dig a bit deeper and find a resolution of lingering doubts. That would be added opportunity in the seek of knowledge and literary pleasure.
Thank you once again for a very perceptive and highly thought-provoking and enriching interaction.)