saundarya laharI - 7

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The Tamizh Child

 

 

In a subsequent stanza (75) the AcArya remarks that

ambA's breast- milk creates poets of j~nAna: They

compose poetry out of the j~nAna acquired by them by

virtue of that milk and impart it [the j~nAna] to

others through their work.

 

"Mother, your breast-milk produces j~nAna, compassion,

beauty and all else that is of excellence arising from

your heart": "hR^idayataH payaH pArAvAraH parivahati",

"rising from your heart as an ocean". It is like the

essence of sarasvatI who is the goddess of learning

and the arts: "sArasvatamiva". "You suckled the tamizh

child with that milk of j~nAna". The AcArya speaks of

the "draviDa-shishu", tamizh child. What happened to

the child by its taking in ambA's breast-milk?

"kavInAm prauDhAnAm ajani kamanIyaH kavayitA": it made

the child a poet who in attracting the minds [of the

learned] became foremost among mature poets.

 

"prauDhakavi" means a poet who can compose poetry rich

in substance, pregnant with meaning. A girl who has

had her menarche is called prauDha. Like potency in

the body is potency in words and a poet who has it is

a "prauDha kavi". Such poets are likely to hold their

heads high; people who are prauDha will be proud. In

their poetry there will be much intellectual jugglery

though it may be lacking in elements that touch the

heart. From the Supreme Being's breast-milk flows an

ocean of milk: "payaH pArAvAraH parivahati". In this

saundaryalaharI so many laharIs have been mentioned

and to them is added the laharI of ambA's breast-milk,

the laharI of her motherhood, that is sweeter than

anything else. The child who takes in such milk, as

the AcArya observes, becomes a poet and his poems will

attract all hearts - "kamanIya" means that - and he

will have the distinction of being a prauDha kavi

among prauDha kavis [a mature poet among mature

poets].

 

This "draviDa-shishu", tamizh child, who drank ambA's

milk of j~nAna may seem to us to be J~nAnasaMbandhar ,

author of the tevAram. His period is the 7th century

A.D. Roughly speaking the AcArya lived between late

6th century B.C. and early 5th century. There is a gap

of more than a thousand years between the time of the

AcArya and that of SaMbandhamUrtisvAmigal [same as

J~nAnasaMbandhar].

 

Most commentators of the saundaryalaharI point out

that, when the AcArya was a child, ambA suckled him,

blessed him with her milk. They further say that he is

referring to himself, with poetic grace, in the third

person as "draviDa-shishu". That is he does not say

boastfully, "It was I who drank ambA's milk of

j~nAna", but refers to himself in all humility as

someone unknown. The language called MalayALam came

into existence only about a thousand years ago. Until

then tamizh was the language there (that is KeraLa)

and it is also part of the drAviDa land. So there is

plenty of room for the AcArya referring to himself as

draviDa-shishu and it is a matter of great pride for

us.

 

However... I spoke about humility. We saw that it was

a special trait of the AcArya's character. So would

one like him, even if he referred to himself in the

third person, speak about the child in question

becoming the most distinguished among mature poets

attracting the hearts of all with his creations? Such

a question does arise. But if you gave some thought to

it, you would realise that it is not altogether

inappropriate. The question here is the greatness of

ambA's breast-milk. When speaking about the potent

manner in which it endows one with the genius of

poesy, is it not reasonable to illustrate it with an

actual, known, example? The AcArya, we must remember,

remaining in a far-off place, prayed to ambA in all

humility for her kaTAkSa. If such a one claims that

ambA's breast-milk raised him to the position of the

universal monarch of poets, does it not mean that, at

the same time, he sings the glory of that milk?

 

There are many stories relating to the tamizh child.

Despite the efforts of commentators of the past and

researchers of the present, there is no conclusive

answer to the question of who the child referred to

is. What we need is the thirst for ambA's milk of

j~nAna. It does not matter to us, it is not a matter

of profit or gain for us, to know who the

draviDa-shishu is. We do not also need even the gift

of writing poetry. It would be enough if we keep

praying to J~nAnAmbA for j~nAna.

 

 

(Excerpted from 'saundaryalaharI: An exposition by

pUjyashrI candrashekharendra sarasvatI svAmI, 68th

sha~NkarAcArya of kA~nci kAmakoTi pITha', compiled and

edited by rA. GaNapati and translated into English by

R.G.K., Revised by BrahmashrI A. KuppusvAmI; Published

by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 2001)