Fw: maal marugan & Iyer / Iyengar

[Guest guest]

Dear Members :

 

Srimathy Saranathan is well versed in Tamil Literature

and VaishNavite Source books .

 

I always enjoy her well prepared essays on these subject areas .

I would like to share with you her recent mail with her permission .

 

I am sure you will enjoy this posting for its insights .

 

V.Sadagopan

SrI:

 

Dear Sri Dhivakar,

 

As I was going through different texts in connection with your mail, I

chanced upon some interesting information which I will share here.Let

me first convey some specific obseravtion with reference to

'maalmagan' from Silappadhikaaram and the probable connection of this

with maal marugan.

 

Maal magan is another name for manmadhan or Kaaman. He is also known

as ThirumagaL maindhan. As per Choodamani nigandu, manmadhan is

'maal magan' or 'maan magan' (la-gara, na-gara thiribu) born to

Thirumal and Lakshmi. The reference to Kovalan as mall magan, is

Kaaman (from madhavi's point of view -the reason is obvious). Nowhere

manmadhan is associated with God of beauty. Instead he is god of

kaamam / desire / love. He is 'mohan' who is 'mayakkam seibhavan' or

'angasan' who creates desires ( viruppam undaakkuvOn), as per

choodamani nigandu.

 

But beauty is associated with murugan. But here again murugan means '

the one having divine qualities' or 'the one who is youthful' and not

beauty. Kuzhagan which is another name for murugan means beauty.

(rememeber kuzhagar koil of Ponniyin selvan at Kodi-k-karai? This

temple is still there today. The recent escavation of Murugan temple

at Mahabalipuram exposed by tsunami, and temples for murugan at sea

shore like in Kodi-k-karai Kuzhagar temple and at Thiruchchendur -

he is Chenduuraan, that is why he is also known as sEndhan - must be

to do with hill tracks / eastern ghats and not about neidhal nilam ).

 

That murugan does not mean beauty can be vouchsafed by a reference

from Purananooru. In verse 259, which is the only vesre in

Purananooru where murugu is used ( at other palces there is reference

to muruga-k-kadavul or murugan kOttam etc, with obvious reference to

Murugan), the term murugu is ued to mean god (deivam). In this verse

( yErudai-p-peru nirai.. by kOdai paadiya Perum Bhoothanaar), is is

said 'murugu mei-p-patta pulaiththi pOla' where murugu means god or

deivam.

 

That murugan is not maal magan can be established in another way too.

Murugan is alos known as 'aran magan' - a clear reference to Shivan.

Where is he is 'maayOn marugan'. This term exists in the nigandu.

Here again mayOn does not mean what we usually think in the present

day awareness of of tamil language.

 

Verse 57 of Puranaanuru begins with the definition of MaayOn as this:

'vallaar aayinum, vallunar aayinum, pughazhthal-uttrOrkku maayOn

anna' (by kaari kannanaar). Dr Vu.VE. sA.'s explanation is two fold.

He is mAyOn because He can not be known by (both types of people)

people who are not capable of praising Him and who are capable of

praising Him. He is mAyOn, because irrespective of whether they know

Him or praise Him or not, He is one who treats them alike and blesses

all of them. MAyOn is one such that and Murugan is one coming in his

lineage, therefore capable of or extension of what mayOn does. That

is why he is 'guhan' - ' who protects' like his maaman . (guhan means

'kaapavan'). He is a protector like Thirumaal. The blend of Kurunji

(hill tracks) to which he is the Lord and Mullai (forest) to which

Thirumaal is the Lord gives this dimension to their connection.

 

Thus Maalmagan is not Maal-marugan. Maal marugan is MaayOn marugan. (

many verses can be quoted to establish that marugn means marabin

vazhiyil vandhavan. At another level, marugan and marugi mean son in

law and daughter in law - the olden dictionaries do conatin these.

The root of this to mean the son & daughter in law is in

'maruvuthal', connected with 'kalavi' or matrimonial connection,

which is extended to marudha nilam whose aga vozhukkam is

'punarthal'.. In contrast maNaatti and maNaaLan are the bride and the

groom.)

 

As you said, 'maal' means mayakkam among the other meanings and in

MaalE manivanna pasuram it is used in this meaning only (vyamOham).

 

The 'Thiru'maal' siir kELAtha sevi enna seviyE' in Silappadhikaaram

coming under 'Aaichchiyar kuravai', in my opinion is not written by

IllangO. He has just given the then existant kuravai -p-paattu in

Silappadhikaaram. Reason (1) :-.The specific scene in

silappadhikaaram is that of what is happening in the street. Ilango

captures aaichchiyar singing in the street. It is not possible to

think that he composed those verses sung by aachchiyar.

 

Reason(2) :- Every line of that kuravai is impregnated with high

philosophical import and even depicting the progression of

manvanthras and avatharas and more strikingly the comparison of

'moondradi' of Vaamanan with ''nadai' in vana vaasam of Raman and

'Thoodu nadai' of Krishna, that they must have only been conceived

by wise people in their deep contemplatory mood. It must have been

regularly recited or sung by people of Mullai (aayarpaadi of Tamil

Mullai nilam) and become common place song of aachchiyar. A Buddhist

like IllangO could not have captured the nuances of Thirumaal

avathaars as depicted in the song.

 

Next let me take up Iyer or aiyya.

 

The root word is 'I' or 'Ai'

In Tamil texts of yore, this word is found at places to refer to

leader or chief in II person (munnilai). That is when they call their

leader or chief standing in front of them, they used to say 'Ai' or en

ai, meaning ' en thalaiva' or 'oh, my chief'. You will find this in

verses 78 and 262 in Puranaanuru.

 

Aiyan means 'poojaikka-th-thagundhavan' or 'vaNanga-th-thagundhavan'.

(the one who deserves to be worshipped).

The common usage in times of yore had been to refer to Aiyyappan

originally known as Aiyyan or Harihara kumaran (born to Vishnu as

Mohini and Shivan).

Then anyone who deserves to be worshipped by their potential, came to

be addressed as Aiyyan or Aiyyar. (Note that this term was not used

for Kings, but only to those who rose to respectable positions by

virtue of their actions and knowledge)

Therefore, the Vediks or Brahmins or paarpanaas (paarpaar is one

'vedangalai-p-paarpavar') came to be called as ( also note that the

usage is while addressing as in 'ai' in olden days) aiyyar or Iyer.

 

As per choodamani nigandu, the eldest brother is also known as Aaiyan,

in his being the most resepcted person of the family.

The others called as Aaiyyan by Choodamani nigandu are God (swami,

EEshan, iRai, pathi), father, royals (kOmaan), adigaL, kuravan etc.

 

In common usage all brahmins were addressed to as iyer only.

The formation of Iyengar, in my opinion, is when Telugus came to be

associated with these iyers of Tamilnadu. This could have happened

when Ramanuja migrated to Hoysala region though a kannada populated

area, came to have association with many Telugus only. The addition

of term of respect, kaaru, to Iyer could have resulted in Iyeru kaaru

and Iyengar. The explanation of 5 attributes to Iyengar is

intelelctual and can not have evolved in colloquial usage. Whereas

Ai, Aiyyan and Iyer had been in vogue from time immemorial, as an

address to respectable, worshippable and learned people. It is

possible to think that usage came first and additional attributes

came be added later by intelligentia.

 

Another reason to justify is that it is customary in Madayam iyengar

families to call their father as Aiyya. These families, settled in

Melkote region during Ramanuja's times must have continued the usage

of Aiyya (for father or for the vediks). Aaiyya or iyer must have

been in usage when Ramanuja settled there and they must have been

addressed as such. The habit could have continued in calling the

father as aiyya and for commoners / public to call them as iyeru

kaaru.

 

Madhavi's address to Kovalan in 'vandhir Aaiyya' is in the meaning of

'kOmaganE' or 'kOmaanE' --'vandhIr KOmaanE' (komaan is called as

Aaiyya or Aaiyyan or Iyer)

 

Any corrections to this mail are welcome.

 

Jayasree saranathan

 

 

----- Original Message ---

venkataraman dhivakar

jayasartn

Cc: rasa (AT) thehindu (DOT) co.in ; sat (AT) thehindu (DOT) co.in ; mano (AT) thehindu (DOT) co.in

Saturday, September 24, 2005 11:19 AM

Re: Fwd: Maattu-p-peN again

Dear Jayasree Saranathan avargaL:

 

Your explanation on 'NAttuppeN' is quite agreeable and also very

interesting. I would like to add some notes for the meaning of

'Maalmaruga' which I have traced it from the great

'Silappathigaaram'.

 

'Thiru'maal' siir kELAtha sevi enna seviyO? ILangO wrote.

 

The same ILango wrote in 'kaanal vari' where maadhavi was praising

Kaaviri (nadanthaai vaazhi kAviri songs) in one such song, she

mentioned kovalan as 'maalmagan pOla varudhir Ayya'. ILango mention

this 'maal' as manmadhan

(God of Beauty) (as per meaning of eminent Tamil vidhwaans like Durai Rajaram and others).

 

Marugan means 'marabu vazhi vandhavan' has to be accepted.

 

Murugu means azhagu - beauty and every one knows this

 

maalmarugan means manmadhan marabu vazhi vandhavan means azhagan means murugan

 

One more interesting note from Silappathigaaram

Ayyar or Iyer means Elder Brother or Thamaiyan.

 

Thank you for making us to think really in different way.

 

V. Dhivakar.

 

I am copying this to Sri Sampath for explaining more on 'mallmarugan'.

 

 

 

jayasartn <jayasree_saranathan (AT) sancharnet (DOT) in> wrote:

Sri:Dear sir,Please find here the further correspondance by me on

Nattupenn postedin Oppiliappan list.RegardsJayasree saranathan--- In

Oppiliappan, saranathanwrote:Sri:>>>I am attaching a

Word file showing that a daughter-in-law was refdto by Kamban as

Marugi. In the Home

Page(http://www.tamilnation.org/index.htm..<<<<Respected Sri

Krishnaswamy swamin and fellow devotees,Pranams.Sir, you have given a

very valuable information.This helps us to go further into the usage

of other words too.As I wrote in an earlier mail, the word marugan is

a derivativeof 'marabil vandavan' - the one who has come in one's

lineage (asgiven by Dr Vu-vE-sa, in his urai to Pura nAnooru)And the

words, marumaan, marumaaL, marumaatti, marumagan, marumagaLand maru

makkaL (all these denote one's brother's and sister's son ordaughter,

as we use today) also are derived from 'marabu vazhi',according to

dictionary meaning.But somewhere down the generations, the marugan

-marugi terminologyseems to have been replaced by marumaan - marumaaL

/ marumaatti (inBrahmin families) and marumagan -marumagaL with

others.Looking at the possibility of marumaan -marumaaL, another

explanationalso seems plausible. This explanation appears as a result

of lookingat another term for daughter-in-law, namely

'naattu-p-peN'There is enough scope to believe that in those days of

joint familysystem and seeking alliances within close family circles,

themarumaaL or marumaan living within close quarters of uncle's house

oratthai's children too living with close proximity with

otherrelatives, this marumaan, marumaaL bonding with uncles and

auntiesmust have been very strong and this explains how they too have

beenconsidered as 'marabil vandavar', though by gothra they may belong

toanother lineage. (Murugan is maal marugan, (in the lineage

ofThirumaal) though he belonged to the lineage of Shiva.)When the

same marumaaL or marumaan was bonded with the family

asdaughter-in-law or son-in-law, they would have been continued to

becalled as marumaaL and marumaan only. This could have happened

asmarumagaL and marumagan in other sects.But when the daughter-in-law

was received from other places (normallythe same family groups of

daayathis and pangaLis lived in closerproximity in the same /

close-by village), say, from outside thefamily circle, which could

have happened with people belonging toother 'naadu' like chOzha

naadu, malai naadu, Thondai naadu ( thedivya desaas belong to 6 such

naadus and all the Brahmin familieswere settled in any one of these

divya desams only), the girl soreceived might have been called as

naattu-p-pen, like malai nattu-p-pen, vada nattu-p-pen (note this

usage is usually heard soon afterthe marriage " enna, naattu-p-pen

vandhaachchaa')We find the expression 'naattu-p-pen' in the early

translations donea 100 years ago, of Valmiki Ramayana into Tamil. In

Sundhara khandam,Sita introduces herself as Dhasharatha's

naattu-p-peN (not as maattu-p-peN) to Hanuman in the translations.

This shows that this term hadbeen in popular usage at that time (or

until) though the elders onour families still use the term

naattu-p-pen.And the above reasoning on naattu -p-peN on the basis of

her place oforigin being some naadu and also in her being from outside

thefamily, may be one explanation for naattu-p-peN.Whereas it is

possible to think that 'maNaattu-p-peN' transformedinto maattu-p-peN,

it could have also transformed into 'naattu-p-peN.But I think

maaRRu-p-peN can not be the main (root) term, for onereason -which I

am sure of. If we observe the way words haveundergone transformation,

we find that 'Ra'-gara edugai has generallytransformed into 'tha'-gara

edugai and not 'ta'-gara edugai.LikeØ ChiRRam chirukaale into -

chiththam chirukaale -but notchiTTam chirukaaleØ KuRRam into kuththam

- but not kuTTamØ PeRRu into peththu -but not peTTuØ KaRRu-k-kodu into

kaththu-k-kodu -but not kaTTu-k-koduØ VettRRu vEttu into veththu

vEttu- but not veTTu vEttuØ VettRilai into veththalai - but not

veTTalaiØ MaaRRu into maaththu -but not maaTTuAnd so on.I stand to be

corrected for mistakes and mis-interpretations.Regards to all,Jayasree

saranathanMandayam Kumar Krishnaswamy wrote:I am attaching a Word file

showing that a daughter-in-law was refd toby Kamban as Marugi.In the

Home Page (http://www.tamilnation.org/index.htm ) of the

sameweb-site, I found the following quote which is quite apt for

theoccasion:"...The problem with telling the truth is that much of

what happensin the world is made possible by lies. We might respond

to this withthe great 'So what!' of modern culture: maybe the world

doesn't needtruth , maybe the world is just fine as it is.... (But)

It is noteven amoral, to remain silent while terrible crimes are

perpetratedin our name - sometimes to be silent is to lie .." David

Edwards onThe Difficult Art of Telling the TruthHow strange that I

happened on this quote just by chance to supportyour affirmation on

Truth! When we need assistance in thinking, itjust seems to appear

from nowhere!krishnaswamy m k--- End forwarded message ---

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