Translation of the Prabandham (From Hindu Newspaper)

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs:

Sriman Sataluri kindly forwarded this information to me.

This might be of interest to number of you , who wanted to

know such sources( English translation of the entrie

sacred Collect of 4,000 by our AzhwArs ).

 

Thank you Sri sataluri,

V.Sadagopan

>

>THE SACRED BOOK OF FOUR THOUSAND - Nalariya Divya Prabandham -

>English translation with Tamil Original: Srirama Bharati; Published

>by Sri Sadagopan Tirunarayanaswami Divya Prabandha Pathasala,

>Jaladampet, Chennai-601302.

>

>THE SUDDEN demise of Srirama Bharati (51) in Chennai in November last

>year was a great loss to the South Indian Vaishnava community in

>general and to the propagation of Prabandha literature in particular.

>Within a span of 25 years after his return from the U.S. in 1975,

>Bharati rendered monumental service to the revival of the Araiyar

>tradition and has left behind a precious legacy.

>

>Srirama Bharati was the son of the late K. S. Srinivasan, noted

>litterateur and Ramayana scholar of New Delhi, whose Tamil classic

>``Kavya Ramayanam'' (1971), a comparative study of the Ramayanas of

>Valmiki and Kamban, is yet to be excelled for its literary merit.

>

>While studying science at the University of Chicago, Bharati

>interacted with T. Visvanathan and Balasaraswati. One day in an

>antique shop in Seattle he bought the bronze idol of a Hindu Acharya

>and soon started having mystical experiences with it. He suddenly

>returned to India and joined the mission of Prof. V. V. Sadagopan who

>was editing the Indian Music Journal and also trying to recreate the

>music of the Divya Prabandham. But Sadagopan mysteriously disappeared

>in 1980 and has never been seen since.

>Assisted by his scholarly wife, Sowbhagya Lakshmi, a student of

>Sadagopan, Srirama Bharati continued Sadagopan's work. The couple

>resided at Melkote and Azhvartirunagari for some years and studied

>the Araiyar tradition with a view to setting the Pasurams to that

>style of music. Bharati called it Deva Gana, the name given by

>Nathamuni in the 9th century. The first volume of Deva Gana with

>notation was published in 1985. An enlarged version of 500 pages was

>brought out in 1995.

>

>Simultaneously they embarked upon translating the Prabandham into

>English and published the entire Tiruvaimozhi of Nammalvar in 1987.

>Another magnificent volume entitled ``Araiyar Sevai'' was published

>in 1999 by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan as a release of its Book

>University. Although he did not belong to an Araiyar lineage, Srirama

>Bharati did more than anyone else for the interpretation and

>propagation of the Araiyar tradition for the benefit of the Vaishnava

>community as a whole. The book under review is the magnum opus of

>Srirama Bharati and also, tragically, his swan song. For over 12

>centuries the poetic beauties and devotional appeal of the lyrics of

>the Azhwars have been fascinating the Tamil world.

>

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>They have been commented upon by eminent scholars and translated into

>several languages. For the benefit of the English reading public some

>Indian and European scholars have translated selected portions into

>English prose and verse. But, strangely enough, no scholar has so far

>attempted to translate the entire 4000 verses into English. The

>author has now achieved this stupendous task and has placed the world

>of scholarship in debt to him.

>

>The massive work is the fruition of 25 years of his delving into the

>experiences of the Azhwars with the help of commentaries by Vaishnava

>Acharyas. The language is lucid and shows the author's mastery over

>English and his insight into the mystic psyche of the Azhwars. The

>appendices contain copious notes of great value.

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