The ordinary ways of enjoying TiruppAvai - 4

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Dear friends,

 

The TiruppAvai I am sure will bear just one more round of comparison with the

idea of the modern " box-office hit " cinema  if only to serve my main purpose in

penning  this series of postings: viz. to drive home the point that this ancient

and exquisite Tamil hymn always arouses a variety of " ordinary " interests in a

variety of " ordinary people " in a variety of " ordinary ways " .

 

What makes a Bollywood/Hollywood movie a " smash-hit " ? An avid movie-goer will

tell you (I am not one, by the way) that it is not only the overall

entertainment value it has for the  audience; it is also, and perhaps more

importantly, in certain " frames " , in certain " sequences " or in particular

" scenes " in it that are memorable or " unforgettable " . Long after one has watched

the movie, once or perhaps even several times, one may feel over time that its

original vividity is beginning to pale. But what will remain, however, forever

stuck in one's memory, as fresh and unwaning as the matinee show in which it was

first witnessed, are particular " scenes " or " sequences " in the movie. They are

of a certain " gripping " quality and they remain indelibly etched in the viewer's

memory for several long years and eventually become a permanent store-house of

personal joy to him/her as he/she recollects, re-enacts them at will within the

mind and enjoys them at leisure

---- not unlike the famous English poet who while describing the same

experience in a different context wrote these immortal lines:

 

              " When oft upon the couch I lie

               In vacant or in pensive mood,

              They flash upon the inward eye

               Which is the bliss of solitude "

                                  (W.Wordsworth " The Daffodils " ) 

 

                         ****************

 

Now, in the TiruppAvai, once again, it is the individual phrases or particular

set of expressions in it that are to the hymn what individual " scenes " or

particualr " sequences " are to the " box-office smash-hit " . Collectively, or in

combined effect, they make the TiruppAvai what it truly is: a work non-pareil of

art, literature, philosophy and theology all seamlessly and excellently created.

But individually, in no less a measure, they stand out as " unforgettably "

brilliant gems of classic, epigrammatic thought. They stand out in their own

right quite apart from the poem as a whole and in this  aspect a movie-buff

might be tempted to characterize them as is his/her wont in terms such as " a

super-scene " , a " humdinger of a sequence " , a " dazzling flash-point " , " a

consummative masterstroke in the narrative flow of creative inspiration " etc... 

 

 

There are several such special individual " phrases " or expressions in the

TiruppAvai that can be quoted as examples. In fact, the traditional TiruppAvai

commentators, the great " vyAkhyAna-kartAs " all invariably weave their splendid

" vyAkhyAnam-s " principally around " individual expressions/phrases " . Their

methodology is pretty standard: they will take up a stanza, first give a " word

by word " literal analysis, then proceed to give a summary of the meaning  of

the  stanza against the  dramatic context of the TiruppAvai; then will follow a

brief dissertation on some fine nuance regarding  the poetic merit, grammatical

or prosodic quality of the passage; if there are any " paurAnic " or mythological

allusion to be highlighted they will by duly covered; and then finally, will

come the " svApadEsam " which is the culling out of " esoteric essence " contained 

in the particular stanza, the " essence " being either latent Vedantic philosophy

or some fine theological

doctrine disguised in allegory.

 

And it is while elaborating the " svApadEsam " , that the commentators will be seen

to be building their case quite predominantly on the strength of " individual

expressions " or " particular phrases " . They will pick a single " phrase " in the

stanza and then subject it to such intense analysis as to derive layer upon

layer upon layer of " interpretative significance " from out of it.

 

One very popular example of how traditional " vyAkhyAnam " is built  up around a

mere phrase or expression in the TiruppAvai is the line from Stanza

19 containing the words

 

        " .. metthenra pancha-sayanattin mEl eri " ...

 

The literal meaning of this phrase is " cotton bedding or bedding of any fabric

that has 5  essential features ( " pancha-sayanam " ) of " beauty, coolness,

whiteness, softness and fragrance " . But when this phrase is taken up by

the commentators for exegesis in the " svApadEsam " section of their dissertation,

they show how in the simple phrase lies hidden the profound 5-fold doctrine of

" artha-panchaka " in SriVaishnava theology, the " 5 principles of spiritual

awareness " essential for Man to ascend to Godhead. They are enumerated in rather

technical terms:

 

         (1) " paramAtma svarUpa " - the nature of the Supreme Being or

                                   Reality

         (2) " jIvAma svarUpa " - the nature of human existence

         (3) " upAya svarUpa " - the nature of means to transcend human

                              condition

         (4) " virOdhi svarUpa " - the nature of impediments to or the

                                struggle involved in transcending the

                                human condition

         (5) " purushArtha svarUpa " : the nature of spiritual liberation

 

                         **********************

 

More in the next posting.

   

Best Regards,

Sudarshan MK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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