Guest guest Posted January 4, 2000 Report Share Posted January 4, 2000 Dear Sri Sampathkumar: I am surprised that your perusal of vyAkhyAnams and commentaries of pundits and Acharyas (that you constantly reference) did not unearth the reasoning for the application of 'methenra'. In fact, swami periyavAchchAn piLLai, whose vyAkhyAnam you detailed in a rather colorful manner yesterday, does mention the application of reinforced mardavatvam in kuthuviLakkeriya.. vyAkhyAnam. In the swApadeShartham (the inner meaning) provided by Suddhasatvam doDDAchAr (of the suthaprakAshika fame) about panchasayanathin refering to artha panchaka gnyAnam, there is a preceding reference to "methenra" as follows: sEshatvAdi kartrutvarAhityathAlE mrudhuvAna arthapanchakagnyAnam - shuddha sattva mayama irukkaradhu meaning, the reinforced mardavatvam refers to - the recognition of ananyArha sEshatvam, ananya sharaNatvam et al, as well as avoidance of kartrutva buddhi - as qualities that provide the underpinning for arthapanchaka gnyAnam - these qualities that provide the additional pakkvam (softness, if you will) to lead to a state of essential sattvam - hence methenra pancha sayanam. > Sri Sampathkumar wrote: > But adiyen would venture to speculate that Andal felt > the need to introduce a redundant adjective like > "metthenra" because perhaps even in those days > mattresses came in different grades of quality! In the > present day, for example, you may be familiar with > housewives exclaiming "thickku "pAl"'... As a passing thought, I do not believe that there are any words in tiruppavai that can be termed as 'redundant'. And poorvacharya vyAkhyAnams provide comprehensive and complete explanations for every phrase, every syllable, every sound, every suggestion, every unsaid response (such as those inpasurams 6-15). There are no contradictions that are retracted later on, for this is not commonplace poetry generated by fertile minds of the hoi-polloi. There is hardly a need for us to exercise our limited (I speak for yours truly and others of my ilk here) capabilities to come up with 'speculative' and often questionable interpretations. We just have to make the effort to seek guidance from the wealth of material that is already available. And our Acharya paramparai is kindness epitomized - as AnDAL celebrates in 'ninaithu mulai vazhiyE ninRu pAl sOra' and "mARRadhE pAl soriyum vALLal perum pasukkaL' - they have given us all that we need and more. We just have to make the effort to not turn away from their grace. Azhwaar Emberumaanaar Jeeyar AnDAL thiruvaDigaLE sharaNam sridhar > > Dear Anbil Swamin, > > Really very good question! And adiyen confesses he has > no weighty answer. > > But adiyen would venture to speculate that Andal felt > the need to introduce a redundant adjective like > "metthenra" because perhaps even in those days > mattresses came in different grades of quality! In the > present day, for example, you may be familiar with > housewives exclaiming "thickku "pAl"'... meaning that > milk is thick. Real milk is always thick (unless the > cow is diseased or "mad" or both!) and ordinarily, it > would be redundant to qualify it with the adjective > "thickku" that housewives are always so fond of > appending. > > Nevertheless, Sir, if 'devarir' has any further light > to throw on this matter adiyen would be delighted to > know. Our enjoyment of "tiruppAvai" will be only > enhanced by these little poetic tid-bits! > ...................................................................... > Regards, > dAsan, > Sampathkumaran > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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