Sanskrit and Tamil

[Guest guest]

Sri Dileepan's questions and the responses of

Sri Sridhar Srinivasan and Sri Venkatesh Elayavalli's

reesponses bring back a lot of memories . I am convinced

that in our Ubhaya VedAntha SiddhAntham , Sanskrit and Tamil

are the two eyes of one's face and we need both of them

to intrepret the world of AruLiccheyalgaLs , ApourushEyams ,

and VyAkhyAnams of purvAchAryAs in their original languages .

It is a tough call to have this dual facilitiy , but it is important to

cultivate

this study . Ohterwise , it is like the Sangeetha VidwAns from

Tamil Naadu singing Telugu Krithis of Saint ThyagarAjA and

ShyAmA SaastrigaL or Sanskrit krithis of Sri MutthuswAmi Deekshithar or

the KannadA krithis of Purandara DAsA . For a full and rich anubhavam,

their understanding of the original languages would help .

 

A whole series of disorders of the eyes , when they do not function

propely (i-e) myopia , astigmatism , tunnel vision spring in my mind as

metaphors in this anlaogy . The ability to have steroscopic vision

is another blessing of the fully functioning pair of eyes . One can

get along with one eye like General Moshe Dayan , but , it will be

a blessing to have both functioning well and both are equal

to one another in importance as pointed out by Sri Sridhar Srinivasan .

 

Great AchAryAs like Swami Desikan , MaNaVALa Maamuni ,

Thirukkacchi Nampi were fluent in both the languages and

blessed us with works in both the languages , while concentrating

on one language or the other . EmperumAnAr elected to write in

Sanskrit , but his taniyans are testaments to his skills in the

handling of Tamil . The great Agasthya Muni gave us beautiful

Yoga MeenAkshi SthOthram in Sanskrit , while he authored the

Tamizh grammar . The VaishNava ParibhAshai evolved as

a highly Sanskritized version of Tamil . So did PrAkrutham ,

which is considered as a mixture of Maratti and Sanskrit ( ? ) .

The intermingling between Veda ( Deva) Bhaashai and

" the Vernacular " rooted itself in this long tradition .

The doctrines that the AzhwArs sung in their divya prabhandhams

can be matched one on one to their Sanskritic roots in

VedAs and Upanishads . Hence , it may be futile to

establish the superiority of one over other , while conceding

the fact that Sanskrit is the older of the two languages and

that it influenced the Dramida BhaashAs deeply . No wonder ,

ANDAL's ThiruppAvai is revered as "GOdhOpanishad "

in the company of her Lord's GeethOpanishad .

 

As one reflects on the thirty " Sanga Tamizh mAlai " of GodhA

PirAtti in this month of MArghazhi and the reverence that EmperumAnAr

had for them , we gain an appreciation of their interconenction .

Thiruppaavai is known as " Godhai Tamizh " in some circles.

 

In a brilliant article entitled " Godhaiyum Sanga Tamizhum

/ VishNu Parathvam " , Sriman PutthUr KrishNaswaami Iyengar ,

the Editor of " Sri VaishNava Sudarsanam " has analyzed the

Pre-sangam , Sangam and post-Sangam works in Tamizh

and correlated them to Godhai"s " Sangat Tamizh " . He connects

the "Veda PrathipAdhyathvam " ( Veda PramaaNam Of

Sriman naarAyaNan ) in Brahma suTrams and Upanishads

with the theme of VishNu parathvam as revealed in the early

Sangam works and maps it on to ThiruppAvai and

NaacchiyAr Thirumozhi brilliantly . He quotes profusely

from KeeranthayAr ( second ParipAdal ) , Kaduvan ILaveyinAr

( third and Fourth ParipAdals ) to demonstrate the influence of Purusha

Sooktham in their works . He quotes further from Nal YezhuniyAr of

Sanga Kaalam , PerumpANARRu padai , TolkAppiyam , PuranAnUru

to map the thoughts of ANDAL with the paasage from the above

Tamizh works across centuries .

 

In the post-sanga kaalam literature , the authors veered to

Siva Parathvam on the basis of their belief that Sriman

NaarAyaNA's birth in many yOnis is not commendable

compared to the legend that Lord Sivan never incarnates.

They missed the whole point about the avathAra rahasyam

described by GeethAchAryan and the fundamentals of

Sri VaishNavism .

 

In Pre Sangam days and Sangam days , the parathvam of

Sriman NaarAyaNan was celebrated as per

the doctrines expounded in the ancient Sanskritic VedAs

and were distilled into pure Tamizh . The " AamnAyam "

of Sanskrit for Sruthis learnt by the aural tradition was

described by Sanga kAla Tamizh poets as ' Nalam

puri ee am seer nAma vAimozhi " . The emphasis is on

Vaimozhi , the one taught by oral/aural tradition from

the AchAryA's mouth and the student's ears .

The meaning of these sanskrit VedAs took

the form of Tamizh Marais .

 

ANDAL decalred with certainity that the " Sangat Tamizh

maalai " sung by her belongs to the tradition of the parama

viadhika matham celebrating Sriman NaarAyaNan

( NaaraayananE namakkE paRai tharuvAn ) in the foot steps

of her revered father ( her AchAryA ) and the other AzhwArs .

 

ANDAL's spiritual pilgrimage leading upto her union

with Sri Ranganathan ( sOsnuthE sarvAn kAmAn

sahabrahmaNAvipaschithA ) is her way of teaching

in Sangat Tamizh the profound and redeeming doctrine

of ParamaathmA -JeevAthmA samslEsham .

 

Last year , I had the privelege of writing about Artha

Panchakam and how it is woven into ANDAL's ThiruppAvai .

That is again another deep doctrine celebrated in

the Sanskritic texts and forms the corner stone of the

teachings of our PurvAchAryAs in Sanskrit and Tamizh .

It becomes difficult to track the ways in which Tamizh ,

the language that came after Sanskrit has been influenced

and how much it has borrowed from Sanskrit , especially

in the area of sacred literature .

 

The tradition going back to NammAzhwAr's pre-sanga Tamizh

was followed by ANDAL and continued onwards thru our

AchAryAs down to Natha Muni , AlavandhAr and RaamAnujA ,

ThiukkurhaippirAn and Arangatthu AmudanAr about the

four purushArthams ( aRam , poruL , inbam , veedu --

Dharmam , Artham , Kaamam and Moksham ) . AmudanAr

states this unbhaya VedAntha doctrines in Tamizh to

summarize the way shown to us by the author of

Sri Bhaashyam this way :

 

sEma nalveedum poruLum ,dharumamum seeriya naR-

kaamamum yenirivai naankenpar , naankinum KaNNanukkE

aamathu kaamam aram , poruL , veeditharkenruraitthAn,

Vamanan, seelan IrAmAnusan intha maNNmisayE

 

This KrishNa thrushNaa ( avaa in Tamizh ) led to NammAzhwAr's

aruLiccheyalgal being revered as " avAvilanthAthigaL " . NammAzhwAr

declares loud and clear to the Lord about his avaa and reminded

Him of His sworn dutirs just as ANDAL did in sundara Tamizh :

 

mAyam seyyEl yennai , unn thirumArvatthu maalai nangai

vaasam sey pUnkuzhalAL ThiruvANai ninnANai kandAi

nEsamcheythunnOdu yennai uyir vEranRiyonrAhavE

koosam seyaathu kondAi yennaik koovikkoLLAi vanthanthO

 

Om Veda PurushAyA Nama:

Tamizh Marai seythOn vAzhiyE

Sanga Tamizh muppathum tappaamE

sonna ANDAL thiruvadigaLE SaraNam

 

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan