A 'mArgazhi" diary: some reflections- 5

[Guest guest]

Dear bhakti-list friends,

 

adiyEn is not a Tamil scholar (adiyen is no scholar of

anything, for that matter!) but many years ago he

learnt the following from a true 'tiruppAvai' pundit

which adiyEn remembered today and is hence putting it

down in his "mArgazhi' diary. ("Scholarly" ones

amongst you all may have perhaps already learnt about

this.)

 

In Tamil poetry (classical 'sangha-tamizh' variety,

not the modern pidgin one) there are clear yard-sticks

by which the true quality of a poem is judged. The

'quality standards' are of very high order and in

those ancient days Tamil poets could not easily pass

muster as they do by the 'dime-a-dozen' today.

 

There were 7 "quality-benchmarks" that the great Tamil

poet, Kamban, laid down for judging Tamil poetry.

 

As Vyasa, Kalidasa and Swami Vedanta Desikan were to

Sanskrit poetry we can easily say that Kamban too was

to Tamil and hence he was known as "kavi-chakravarti",

the Emperor of Poets. (Desikan as you all know was

known as "kavi- sArvabouman" meaning the same.)

 

Kamban's '7 Standards of Excellence' for Tamil poetry

are put down by him in his great Ramayana, known in

India as 'Kamba-Ramayana', a Tamil immortal classic.

In that Ramayana, in the chapter relating to the

"aranyakAndam" at the beginning of

"surpanakaip-paDalam" Kamban wrote:

 

"puviyinak-kaNiyAy Anra porul tandhu pulatti~trAgi

avi-ahatturaigal tAngi aiyntinai neri azhAvi

savi-urat=tezhindhu tannenrozhukkamum tazhuvic-cAnrOr

kavi yenak kidanta godAvariyinai virar kandAr."

 

In the aboe stanza the Kamban gave us the following '7

Standards of Poetic Excellence' viz:

 

(1) "puviyinuk-aNi-Adal, meaning, the poetry must turn

out to be a real ornament to the world. The poetry

must embellish the world in such a way that every man

must sincerely feel in his heart "how poor this world

would be without that piece of poetry having been

written!". We do feel like that, don't we, whenever we

talk of the great poets like Shakespeare ? We feel

similarly when we talk of Valmiki or Kalidasa too,

isn't it?

 

(2) "Anra porul taral" : meaning, the poetry must be

rich in meaning and signifcance. It must have "layers

and layers" meaning that can be ceaselessly plumbed

again and again by us. When so plumbed it must yield

proper understanding of the 4 fold "purushArtA-s" or

ultimate ends of human existence viz. (a) "aram" or

the virtue of human charity (b) "poruL" or temporal

and spiritual wealth © "inbam" or pure pleasure,

both sensual and ultra-sensual and (d) "viDu" or human

transcendence, liberation or "mOksha".

 

(3) "pullatti~trAdal": meaning, the poetry must induce

in its readers a thirst for knowledge and kindle

research. After reading the poem the reader must be

genuinely inspired to pursue further study into its

subject and into allied fields. If one reads

Kamba-ramayanam one will be simply mesmerised by it

and would want to do further extensive research into

it. No doubt about that.

 

(4) "avi-ahatturaigal tAngal": meaning, the poetry

must contain and expand on the grand themes of love in

both its erotic amd esoteric forms.

 

(5) "aintinai neri azhAval": meaning, the poem must

deal with the 5 aspects of terrestrial reality in a

convincing and forceful way. I.e. it must contain

portrayals of "kurinji" (mountains), "pAlai" (desert),

"mullai" (jungle), "marutham" (fields) and "neydal"

(beaches). All these should find a place in it.

 

(6) "savi-urat-tezhidal": meaning, the poetry must

possess the highest standards of literary and

grammatical expression and composition.

 

(6) "tannenrozhukkamum tazhuvudal": meaning, the

poetry must not seem contrived but must have a gentle,

smooth, spontaneous and sonorous flow of its own.

 

How does Andal's tiruppAvai measure up to Kamban's

"Seven Standards of Tamil Excellence"?

 

adiyen will reflect in the next few pages of the

"mArgazhi" diary.

 

dAsanu dAsa-bhutan,

Sampathkumaran

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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