In the month of May 2007 I was invited to speak at the Mahidol University of Bangkok during the SSEASR Conference. I gave a talk on Yogachara Buddhism there. During this occasion, I had the opportunity to visit various Buddhist temples at Bangkok. They include the magnificent ones like Emerald Buddha, Golden Buddha, Buddha in his Maha nirvana time etc. It is very interesting to note that in the Sanctum Sanctorum of all Buddha temples, while the right side wall is covered with pictures depicting instances in Buddha’s life, the left side has paintings exclusively from Ramayana. For a Thai devotee, Hinduism is as important as Mahayana Buddhism.
During the visit of one of the temple, I learnt this great truth about ignorance obscuring Reality.
One of these famous temples has a Buddha icon nearly 17 feet tall, which is known till the beginning of 20th century as “Terracotta Buddha temple” . The temple was established in the 13th century with its huge icon of Buddha, for several centuries it was worshipped by the devotees as “Terracotta Buddha”. One day the authorities decided to shift the Terracotta Buddha image to a place several kilometers away, probably to do some repairs to the temple. They put the Terracotta Buddha on a truck and were moving it. When they were half way through, a heavy downpour started. The rain was so heavy that the clay image of Buddha started dissolving. They tried to protect the image with tarpaulins and umbrellas, but to no effect. There was a very heavy wind which blew away the tarpaulins and umbrellas. Due to the heavy rain, the Buddha icon in clay was dissolving fast. The devotees were grief-stricken. They were wondering whether it would have been wiser to have left the temple un-repaired rather than allowing the centuries old terracotta Buddha icon to get dissolved in the heavy downpour.
Presto! A wonderful thing was happening. As the clay was dissolving, from within the clay was emerging a golden Buddha idol! as the idol there was of clay. After a short while all the clay, which was covering the idol got completely dissolved. The people were witnessing the presence of a resplendent “Golden Buddha” appearing before them in all its grandeur.
What really happened? It was really a golden Buddha at the time of its installation in the 13th century. After some time Thailand was experiencing foreign invasions. Fearing that the invaders would take away the golden image, which was 5.5 tons of solid gold, the devotees covered the image with clay. Thinking that it was only a Terracotta Buddha, the invaders left it untouched. That generation knowing that it was a golden Buddha inside the clay, worshipped Buddha in that form. As many years passed by, the subsequent generations were not aware of this fact. They truly believed in what they saw externally and worshipped it as a Terracotta Buddha only. Thus their minds were conditioned by externalities. Once the clay dissolved what is truly inside came out with all its effulgence. It is today worshipped as the golden Buddha in Bangkok.
It is happening to all of us everyday, we assume ourselves to be only a body-mind-intellect complex and nothing beyond it. We are conditioned by our awareness of our body, our thinking process and our analysis of the phenomena. These are only externalities within each one of us. It is only a clay that surrounds the wonderful Immanence within us. Within each one of us is the golden Buddha, the great immanent Lord who is also transcendent, he is the great Shiva, who is constantly performing his cosmic dance. In our hearts we not aware of it as our minds are conditioned by what we see, do and think. It is like the Thais seeing only the clay image and concluding it as only terracotta Buddha. As the rain dissolved the clay, the golden icon which is the true-one inside is revealed. Likewise when the spiritual sadhaha and devotion dissolves our mental conditioning, the Lord within ourselves is also revealed. This is the lesson we learn from the Golden Buddha temple.
The same idea is beautifully explained in Thirumoolar’s Thirumantiram. A sculptor has carved out a beautiful elephant from a block of wood. When you see it as an elephant, you do not see the underlying reality of the wood. When you will be able to see the substratum, the underlying reality of the wood, with which all the objects of carving are made, you do not see the carved elephant; you see the substratum of the wood. Likewise, the ignorance enveloping our minds obscure the ultimate reality within us, when we are graded by the body-mind-intellect complex. When the revelation comes to us through god’s grace and gurus’ teachings coupled with our devotion to Him, the conditioning disappears. The phenomena abide in the ultimate. We experience the Divinity within us.
Even in the area of management, the story of Golden Buddha has a great relevance. A competent Manager, with a penetrating mind, should be able to see what is the reality hidden in the numerous external information. The external covering only obscures the truth, which you will be able to get through. Once you see the substratum, the ultimate truth is revealed.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
AKKA MAHADEVI
AKKA MAHADEVI
Bhakti movement, which preached that the patch to God is through utter devotion without any distinction of caste, creed or status, produced some great poets and spiritualists. Akka Mahadevi, the Kannada poet devotee was one such personality. She was born in the 12th century in Udutadi village in Sivamoga area. She was initiated into Shiva worship at the age of 10, and became an ardent devotee of Chenna Mallikarjuna, which literally meant “beautiful Lord, white as jasmine”. This description of Lord Shiva became her ‘Ankita’ or ‘Signature’ in her poetry.
When she grew into a beautiful girl, the king of that area chanced to see her and fell in love with her. Soon after, she was married to him against her wishes. Since she had accepted Chena Mallikarjuna as the Lord of her body and soul, she had no time or inclination for the worldly pleasures. The misery of being wife of a mortal found its expression in poetry. In her poems, she even described Shiva as her paramount. Akka Mahadevi was the very first devotee who claimed that illicit love towards God was greater than most lawful wedded life on this earth. In the later centuries, Vaishnava movement of Bengal gave great importance to this concept. The culmination point came when Akka’s husband tried to force himself on her as matter of right as a husband. It is also mentioned that her wrathful husband demanded from her the return of all her jewels and dresses which he gave to her, she returned them to him including the clothes she was wearing. Immediately, she left home and became a wanderer.
This poem is a reflection of her physical and mental conditions all through her life. She discarded her clothes and covered herself only with long tresses. Akka Mahadevi created a revolution, first, by refusing to live a normal married life with a husband and second, roaming around in the streets naked, singing devotional songs in the name of Lord Shiva. Her poems were called ‘Vachanas’.
Her poetry exhibits her love for Chenna Mallikarjuna and harmony with nature and simple living.
She Sang:
For hunger, there is the village rice in the begging bowl,
For thirst, there are tanks and streams and wells
For sleep temple ruins do well
For the company of the soul l have you, Chenna Mallikarjuna
In the latter part of her life, she reached the congregation of the renowned devotees of Lord Shiva or Veera Shaiva Allama and Basavanna. She was tested by Allama, who had to bow down to her unflagging devotion and highly intellectual spiritually. She was then accepted by the Veera Shaivas. She later wandered off to Sri Sailam where she merged with the Lord she loved and worshipped so much. She lived for not more than thirty years.
Akka Mahadevi’s contribution to both the spiritual and cultural facets of society is remarkable. She is the fore-runner of frenzied Bhakti movement. She anticipated the Bhakti movement, that would pervade the whole country a few centuries later, by her concept of complete, unconditional devotion to God, to the extent of accepting him as her husband and life long companion. She also paved the way for an independent, thinking woman by announcing that she would live her life as she chose and not according to the tradition of the man made society. Her poetry is rich in content and form, with its sincerity and simplicity and continues to enchant all types of readers.
Bhakti movement, which preached that the patch to God is through utter devotion without any distinction of caste, creed or status, produced some great poets and spiritualists. Akka Mahadevi, the Kannada poet devotee was one such personality. She was born in the 12th century in Udutadi village in Sivamoga area. She was initiated into Shiva worship at the age of 10, and became an ardent devotee of Chenna Mallikarjuna, which literally meant “beautiful Lord, white as jasmine”. This description of Lord Shiva became her ‘Ankita’ or ‘Signature’ in her poetry.
When she grew into a beautiful girl, the king of that area chanced to see her and fell in love with her. Soon after, she was married to him against her wishes. Since she had accepted Chena Mallikarjuna as the Lord of her body and soul, she had no time or inclination for the worldly pleasures. The misery of being wife of a mortal found its expression in poetry. In her poems, she even described Shiva as her paramount. Akka Mahadevi was the very first devotee who claimed that illicit love towards God was greater than most lawful wedded life on this earth. In the later centuries, Vaishnava movement of Bengal gave great importance to this concept. The culmination point came when Akka’s husband tried to force himself on her as matter of right as a husband. It is also mentioned that her wrathful husband demanded from her the return of all her jewels and dresses which he gave to her, she returned them to him including the clothes she was wearing. Immediately, she left home and became a wanderer.
This poem is a reflection of her physical and mental conditions all through her life. She discarded her clothes and covered herself only with long tresses. Akka Mahadevi created a revolution, first, by refusing to live a normal married life with a husband and second, roaming around in the streets naked, singing devotional songs in the name of Lord Shiva. Her poems were called ‘Vachanas’.
Her poetry exhibits her love for Chenna Mallikarjuna and harmony with nature and simple living.
She Sang:
For hunger, there is the village rice in the begging bowl,
For thirst, there are tanks and streams and wells
For sleep temple ruins do well
For the company of the soul l have you, Chenna Mallikarjuna
In the latter part of her life, she reached the congregation of the renowned devotees of Lord Shiva or Veera Shaiva Allama and Basavanna. She was tested by Allama, who had to bow down to her unflagging devotion and highly intellectual spiritually. She was then accepted by the Veera Shaivas. She later wandered off to Sri Sailam where she merged with the Lord she loved and worshipped so much. She lived for not more than thirty years.
Akka Mahadevi’s contribution to both the spiritual and cultural facets of society is remarkable. She is the fore-runner of frenzied Bhakti movement. She anticipated the Bhakti movement, that would pervade the whole country a few centuries later, by her concept of complete, unconditional devotion to God, to the extent of accepting him as her husband and life long companion. She also paved the way for an independent, thinking woman by announcing that she would live her life as she chose and not according to the tradition of the man made society. Her poetry is rich in content and form, with its sincerity and simplicity and continues to enchant all types of readers.
The Golden Buddha
The Golden Buddha
In the month of May 2007 I was invited to speak at the Mahidol University of Bangkok during the SSEASR Conference. I gave a talk on Yogachara Buddhism there. During this occasion, I had the opportunity to visit various Buddhist temples at Bangkok. They include the magnificent ones like Emerald Buddha, Golden Buddha, Buddha in his Maha nirvana time etc. It is very interesting to note that in the Sanctum Sanctorum of all Buddha temples, while the right side wall is covered with pictures depicting instances in Buddha’s life, the left side has paintings exclusively from Ramayana. For a Thai devotee, Hinduism is as important as Mahayana Buddhism.
During the visit of one of the temple, I learnt this great truth about ignorance obscuring Reality.
One of these famous temples has a Buddha icon nearly 17 feet tall, which is known till the beginning of 20th century as “Terracotta Buddha temple” . The temple was established in the 13th century with its huge icon of Buddha, for several centuries it was worshipped by the devotees as “Terracotta Buddha”. One day the authorities decided to shift the Terracotta Buddha image to a place several kilometers away, probably to do some repairs to the temple. They put the Terracotta Buddha on a truck and were moving it. When they were half way through, a heavy downpour started. The rain was so heavy that the clay image of Buddha started dissolving. They tried to protect the image with tarpaulins and umbrellas, but to no effect. There was a very heavy wind which blew away the tarpaulins and umbrellas. Due to the heavy rain, the Buddha icon in clay was dissolving fast. The devotees were grief-stricken. They were wondering whether it would have been wiser to have left the temple un-repaired rather than allowing the centuries old terracotta Buddha icon to get dissolved in the heavy downpour.
Presto! A wonderful thing was happening. As the clay was dissolving, from within the clay was emerging a golden Buddha idol! as the idol there was of clay. After a short while all the clay, which was covering the idol got completely dissolved. The people were witnessing the presence of a resplendent “Golden Buddha” appearing before them in all its grandeur.
What really happened? It was really a golden Buddha at the time of its installation in the 13th century. After some time Thailand was experiencing foreign invasions. Fearing that the invaders would take away the golden image, which was 5.5 tons of solid gold, the devotees covered the image with clay. Thinking that it was only a Terracotta Buddha, the invaders left it untouched. That generation knowing that it was a golden Buddha inside the clay, worshipped Buddha in that form. As many years passed by, the subsequent generations were not aware of this fact. They truly believed in what they saw externally and worshipped it as a Terracotta Buddha only. Thus their minds were conditioned by externalities. Once the clay dissolved what is truly inside came out with all its effulgence. It is today worshipped as the golden Buddha in Bangkok.
It is happening to all of us everyday, we assume ourselves to be only a body-mind-intellect complex and nothing beyond it. We are conditioned by our awareness of our body, our thinking process and our analysis of the phenomena. These are only externalities within each one of us. It is only a clay that surrounds the wonderful Immanence within us. Within each one of us is the golden Buddha, the great immanent Lord who is also transcendent, he is the great Shiva, who is constantly performing his cosmic dance. In our hearts we not aware of it as our minds are conditioned by what we see, do and think. It is like the Thais seeing only the clay image and concluding it as only terracotta Buddha. As the rain dissolved the clay, the golden icon which is the true-one inside is revealed. Likewise when the spiritual sadhaha and devotion dissolves our mental conditioning, the Lord within ourselves is also revealed. This is the lesson we learn from the Golden Buddha temple.
The same idea is beautifully explained in Thirumoolar’s Thirumantiram. A sculptor has carved out a beautiful elephant from a block of wood. When you see it as an elephant, you do not see the underlying reality of the wood. When you will be able to see the substratum, the underlying reality of the wood, with which all the objects of carving are made, you do not see the carved elephant; you see the substratum of the wood. Likewise, the ignorance enveloping our minds obscure the ultimate reality within us, when we are graded by the body-mind-intellect complex. When the revelation comes to us through god’s grace and gurus’ teachings coupled with our devotion to Him, the conditioning disappears. The phenomena abide in the ultimate. We experience the Divinity within us.
Even in the area of management, the story of Golden Buddha has a great relevance. A competent Manager, with a penetrating mind, should be able to see what is the reality hidden in the numerous external information. The external covering only obscures the truth, which you will be able to get through. Once you see the substratum, the ultimate truth is revealed.
In the month of May 2007 I was invited to speak at the Mahidol University of Bangkok during the SSEASR Conference. I gave a talk on Yogachara Buddhism there. During this occasion, I had the opportunity to visit various Buddhist temples at Bangkok. They include the magnificent ones like Emerald Buddha, Golden Buddha, Buddha in his Maha nirvana time etc. It is very interesting to note that in the Sanctum Sanctorum of all Buddha temples, while the right side wall is covered with pictures depicting instances in Buddha’s life, the left side has paintings exclusively from Ramayana. For a Thai devotee, Hinduism is as important as Mahayana Buddhism.
During the visit of one of the temple, I learnt this great truth about ignorance obscuring Reality.
One of these famous temples has a Buddha icon nearly 17 feet tall, which is known till the beginning of 20th century as “Terracotta Buddha temple” . The temple was established in the 13th century with its huge icon of Buddha, for several centuries it was worshipped by the devotees as “Terracotta Buddha”. One day the authorities decided to shift the Terracotta Buddha image to a place several kilometers away, probably to do some repairs to the temple. They put the Terracotta Buddha on a truck and were moving it. When they were half way through, a heavy downpour started. The rain was so heavy that the clay image of Buddha started dissolving. They tried to protect the image with tarpaulins and umbrellas, but to no effect. There was a very heavy wind which blew away the tarpaulins and umbrellas. Due to the heavy rain, the Buddha icon in clay was dissolving fast. The devotees were grief-stricken. They were wondering whether it would have been wiser to have left the temple un-repaired rather than allowing the centuries old terracotta Buddha icon to get dissolved in the heavy downpour.
Presto! A wonderful thing was happening. As the clay was dissolving, from within the clay was emerging a golden Buddha idol! as the idol there was of clay. After a short while all the clay, which was covering the idol got completely dissolved. The people were witnessing the presence of a resplendent “Golden Buddha” appearing before them in all its grandeur.
What really happened? It was really a golden Buddha at the time of its installation in the 13th century. After some time Thailand was experiencing foreign invasions. Fearing that the invaders would take away the golden image, which was 5.5 tons of solid gold, the devotees covered the image with clay. Thinking that it was only a Terracotta Buddha, the invaders left it untouched. That generation knowing that it was a golden Buddha inside the clay, worshipped Buddha in that form. As many years passed by, the subsequent generations were not aware of this fact. They truly believed in what they saw externally and worshipped it as a Terracotta Buddha only. Thus their minds were conditioned by externalities. Once the clay dissolved what is truly inside came out with all its effulgence. It is today worshipped as the golden Buddha in Bangkok.
It is happening to all of us everyday, we assume ourselves to be only a body-mind-intellect complex and nothing beyond it. We are conditioned by our awareness of our body, our thinking process and our analysis of the phenomena. These are only externalities within each one of us. It is only a clay that surrounds the wonderful Immanence within us. Within each one of us is the golden Buddha, the great immanent Lord who is also transcendent, he is the great Shiva, who is constantly performing his cosmic dance. In our hearts we not aware of it as our minds are conditioned by what we see, do and think. It is like the Thais seeing only the clay image and concluding it as only terracotta Buddha. As the rain dissolved the clay, the golden icon which is the true-one inside is revealed. Likewise when the spiritual sadhaha and devotion dissolves our mental conditioning, the Lord within ourselves is also revealed. This is the lesson we learn from the Golden Buddha temple.
The same idea is beautifully explained in Thirumoolar’s Thirumantiram. A sculptor has carved out a beautiful elephant from a block of wood. When you see it as an elephant, you do not see the underlying reality of the wood. When you will be able to see the substratum, the underlying reality of the wood, with which all the objects of carving are made, you do not see the carved elephant; you see the substratum of the wood. Likewise, the ignorance enveloping our minds obscure the ultimate reality within us, when we are graded by the body-mind-intellect complex. When the revelation comes to us through god’s grace and gurus’ teachings coupled with our devotion to Him, the conditioning disappears. The phenomena abide in the ultimate. We experience the Divinity within us.
Even in the area of management, the story of Golden Buddha has a great relevance. A competent Manager, with a penetrating mind, should be able to see what is the reality hidden in the numerous external information. The external covering only obscures the truth, which you will be able to get through. Once you see the substratum, the ultimate truth is revealed.
Lost land of Lemuria
The concept of lost land of Lemuria hither to a talking point of in the west finds a new set of things in the Tamil origin of colonial India in the beginning of the 20th century. This was direct result of a new consciousness of the ethane and linguistic identity emerged in Tamil speaking regions of South India. By the Tamil enthuse Lemuria came to be recast as the birth place of the Tamil civilization. It cam to be identified as Kumari kandam, the ancestral home land of Tamil lost to the ravaging ocean in the distant past, due to what is called as “Kadal Koal” in tamil. In fact, Tamil Nadu Government, during January 1981 at the Fifth Intrnal Conference of Tamil studies held in Madurai screened a documentary named “Kumari Kandam” both in Tamil and English. The documentary was produced with the financial support of the Tamil Nadu Government traced the roots of Tamil, its literature and culture, to the very beginning of time in Lemuria otherwise known as Kumari Kandam in Tamil. In this documentary the Paleo history of the world is anchored around tamil land and language. Thus Sclater’s lost land of Lemuria was re-established in the timeless collective consciousness as a catastrophic loss of prelapasarian tamil past. Even earlier to this in 1879 Geological Survey of India brought out in the manual of GRGl, a discussion on the Mesozoic land bridge between Southern India and Africa. Dr.D.N. Wadia, a famed Professor of Geology, mentioned in 1990 “The evidence from which the above conclusion regarding an Indo-African land connection is drawn, is so weight and so many sided that the differences of opinion that exist among geologist appertain the main conclusion being accepted as one of the settled facts in the geography of this part of the world. [Wadia D.N. 1919, Geology of India for students, London: Macmillan – 1939, Geology of India, 2nd ed. London: Macmillan.
E.M. Forster in his famed novel ” A Passage to India “ (1984) begins his stunning stanza lie “The Ganges, though flowing from the foot of Vishnu through, Siva’s hair, is not an ancient stream. Geology, looking further than religion, knows of a time when neither the river nor the Himalayas that nourished it existed, and an ocean flowed over the holy places of Hindustan. The mountains rose, their debris silted up the ocean , the gods took their seats on them and contrived the river, and the India we call immemorial came into being. But India is really far older than anything in the world”.
[Ref: E.M.Forster’s “A passage to India” 1984, pp 135-136, Harcourt Brace, New York.]
Thus the fabled Kumari Kandam, which was based on Tamil Literary tradition so far can receive immediate credibility through the western studies. The foundation for this claim was laid by Charles D. Maclean Book “The Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency” published in 1835” Mr. Maclean is an Officer of Indian Civil Services. In the ethnology chapter of the Manual Maclean brought the findings of Ernest Haeckel about Lemuria as a primeval home of man. Maclean also draws further conclusion from the German Biologist’s theory of the origin of various traces of mankind on the submerged Lemuria continent and reiterated that it was the primeval home of the ancestors of India and Ceylon. [Ref: Maclean Charles. D. ‘s “The Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency”, Vol.I, Asian Educational Publication (pp-33-43), He suggested that Southern India was once the passage ground by which the ancient progenitors of northern and Mediterranean races proceeded to the parts of the globe which they now inhabit from Lemuria. [Ref: ibid 111].
However, there is a distinct difference in perception of the Lemuria inhabitants on the point of view of Western Scholars and the Tamil enthuse. According to the Western Scholars the primitive inhabitants of Lemuria are barely human and do not represent the trace of civilization. However, the Tamil scholars hold Lemuria or Kumari Kantam as the birth place of Tamil Language and cradle of Tamil Civilisation. The antiquity of Tamil language got a boos with the publication of Canbell’s Book “The competitive grammar of Dravidian Langauge”. J. Nellai swami Pillai wrote in the journal “The Light of Truth” or “Siddantha Deepika” that if you can believe in the tradition of there having been a vast continent south of Cape Comorin, all humanity and civilization flowed east and west and north, then there can be nothing strange in our regarding the Tamilans as the remnants of a pre-diluvian race. Even the existing works in Tamil sepak of three separate floods which completely swamped the extreme southern shores and carried off with them all its literary treasures of ages. (Ref: Nella swami pillai. J.’s “Ancient Tamil Civilisation in the light of truth” or Siddhanta Deepika. No. 5 –pp 109-113].
Nella Swami Pillai gives a cautious conclusion that his theory stands on no serious historical or scientific evidence. The same was enthusiastically taken up fully by a well-known Tamil scholar Marimalai Adigal.
Though the name Lemuria came into the Tamil world only in 1903, it started gaining significance among the tamil populous. Shri V.G.Suryanarayana Sastri started using the name Kumarinadu in his book “Tamilmoliyin varalaru. Thiru T.V.Kalyanasundaram the famous Congress Nationlist, and a noted Tamil scholar wrote emphatically that the Lemuria of “Western Scholars” like Ernst Haeckel and Scott Elliot was none other than the Kumarinadu of Tamil literature” . {Ref: Thiru T.V.Kalyanasundaram’s “Indiyavum viduthalaiyum” Charu Printing Press, Madras –Pp 106.].
The very name Kumari is suggestive of the prestine chastity and ever lasting youth of the tamil land. Later the legends linked the Devi Temple at Kanyakumari to Kumari Kantam or Kumar Nadu. The Kumari Kanta as mentioned in the old tamil classics, has no reference to the Mesozoic continent of the Indian ocean. There is no reference to the old boundaries of Asiatic table lands. The tamil literature speaks of them as the original inhabitants of the great territory opened by two seas on the East and West, by Venkata hills and submerged rivers Pakruli and Kumari on the South. )(Ref: Sesha Iyengar K.G. Chera King of the Sangam Period, 1937-pp 658] Scholars like Somasundara Bharathi and also invented hackers concept of Lemuria being a cradle of mankind mean that the tamil place is the birth of human beings and the tamils were the first humans.
The features of Kumari Kantam were referred by Adiyarku Nallar, the commenter of Silapathikaram. Kumari Kantam was having a breadth of 700 kavatam south of Cape Kumari containing 49 principalities, 2 rivers called Pakurli and Kumari flowed there and it also had a bill called Kumari Koodu. The major cities in Kumari Kantam were Thenmadurai and Kapatipuram. This was also referred to in Tholkappia Orrai of Ilam Pooranar Nachinarkku Iniyan Payrasiriyar.
The Tamil Scholar V.G. Suryanaryana Sastri, Abrham Pandithar, lament about the loss of works such as Mudunarai, Mudukurugu, etc, which had been swalloed by the ocean. These are derived from the fact that several poems in the Sangam anthology of later age refer to oceanic threat and consequent loss of lands and lives.
The Tamil Scholar K.Anna poorni delineates the extent of Kumari Kantan as she concludes as Tamilagham “ Today, the Tamilnadu that we inhabit consists of 12 districts within its limits. A few centuries aga. Ceranatu and a part of the Telugu land were part of Tamilnadu. Some thousands of years ago, the northern limit of Tamilnadu extended to the Vindhya mountain and the southern limit extened 700 Kavatam to the south of Cape Kumari which included regions such as Panainatu, mountains such as Kumarik Kotu and Mani Malia, cities such as Muttur and Kapatapuram and rivers such as Pahruli. All these were seized by the ocean, so say scholar. That today’s Indian Ocean was once upon a time a vast landmass and that that is where the man first appears has been stated by several scholars such as Ernst Haeckel and Scott Elliot in their books History of Creation and Lost Lemuria. The landmass called Lemuria is what Tamilians call Kumarinadu. That which is remaining after this ancient landmass was seized by the ocean is the Tamil Mother land in which we reside today with pride.
E.M. Forster in his famed novel ” A Passage to India “ (1984) begins his stunning stanza lie “The Ganges, though flowing from the foot of Vishnu through, Siva’s hair, is not an ancient stream. Geology, looking further than religion, knows of a time when neither the river nor the Himalayas that nourished it existed, and an ocean flowed over the holy places of Hindustan. The mountains rose, their debris silted up the ocean , the gods took their seats on them and contrived the river, and the India we call immemorial came into being. But India is really far older than anything in the world”.
[Ref: E.M.Forster’s “A passage to India” 1984, pp 135-136, Harcourt Brace, New York.]
Thus the fabled Kumari Kandam, which was based on Tamil Literary tradition so far can receive immediate credibility through the western studies. The foundation for this claim was laid by Charles D. Maclean Book “The Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency” published in 1835” Mr. Maclean is an Officer of Indian Civil Services. In the ethnology chapter of the Manual Maclean brought the findings of Ernest Haeckel about Lemuria as a primeval home of man. Maclean also draws further conclusion from the German Biologist’s theory of the origin of various traces of mankind on the submerged Lemuria continent and reiterated that it was the primeval home of the ancestors of India and Ceylon. [Ref: Maclean Charles. D. ‘s “The Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency”, Vol.I, Asian Educational Publication (pp-33-43), He suggested that Southern India was once the passage ground by which the ancient progenitors of northern and Mediterranean races proceeded to the parts of the globe which they now inhabit from Lemuria. [Ref: ibid 111].
However, there is a distinct difference in perception of the Lemuria inhabitants on the point of view of Western Scholars and the Tamil enthuse. According to the Western Scholars the primitive inhabitants of Lemuria are barely human and do not represent the trace of civilization. However, the Tamil scholars hold Lemuria or Kumari Kantam as the birth place of Tamil Language and cradle of Tamil Civilisation. The antiquity of Tamil language got a boos with the publication of Canbell’s Book “The competitive grammar of Dravidian Langauge”. J. Nellai swami Pillai wrote in the journal “The Light of Truth” or “Siddantha Deepika” that if you can believe in the tradition of there having been a vast continent south of Cape Comorin, all humanity and civilization flowed east and west and north, then there can be nothing strange in our regarding the Tamilans as the remnants of a pre-diluvian race. Even the existing works in Tamil sepak of three separate floods which completely swamped the extreme southern shores and carried off with them all its literary treasures of ages. (Ref: Nella swami pillai. J.’s “Ancient Tamil Civilisation in the light of truth” or Siddhanta Deepika. No. 5 –pp 109-113].
Nella Swami Pillai gives a cautious conclusion that his theory stands on no serious historical or scientific evidence. The same was enthusiastically taken up fully by a well-known Tamil scholar Marimalai Adigal.
Though the name Lemuria came into the Tamil world only in 1903, it started gaining significance among the tamil populous. Shri V.G.Suryanarayana Sastri started using the name Kumarinadu in his book “Tamilmoliyin varalaru. Thiru T.V.Kalyanasundaram the famous Congress Nationlist, and a noted Tamil scholar wrote emphatically that the Lemuria of “Western Scholars” like Ernst Haeckel and Scott Elliot was none other than the Kumarinadu of Tamil literature” . {Ref: Thiru T.V.Kalyanasundaram’s “Indiyavum viduthalaiyum” Charu Printing Press, Madras –Pp 106.].
The very name Kumari is suggestive of the prestine chastity and ever lasting youth of the tamil land. Later the legends linked the Devi Temple at Kanyakumari to Kumari Kantam or Kumar Nadu. The Kumari Kanta as mentioned in the old tamil classics, has no reference to the Mesozoic continent of the Indian ocean. There is no reference to the old boundaries of Asiatic table lands. The tamil literature speaks of them as the original inhabitants of the great territory opened by two seas on the East and West, by Venkata hills and submerged rivers Pakruli and Kumari on the South. )(Ref: Sesha Iyengar K.G. Chera King of the Sangam Period, 1937-pp 658] Scholars like Somasundara Bharathi and also invented hackers concept of Lemuria being a cradle of mankind mean that the tamil place is the birth of human beings and the tamils were the first humans.
The features of Kumari Kantam were referred by Adiyarku Nallar, the commenter of Silapathikaram. Kumari Kantam was having a breadth of 700 kavatam south of Cape Kumari containing 49 principalities, 2 rivers called Pakurli and Kumari flowed there and it also had a bill called Kumari Koodu. The major cities in Kumari Kantam were Thenmadurai and Kapatipuram. This was also referred to in Tholkappia Orrai of Ilam Pooranar Nachinarkku Iniyan Payrasiriyar.
The Tamil Scholar V.G. Suryanaryana Sastri, Abrham Pandithar, lament about the loss of works such as Mudunarai, Mudukurugu, etc, which had been swalloed by the ocean. These are derived from the fact that several poems in the Sangam anthology of later age refer to oceanic threat and consequent loss of lands and lives.
The Tamil Scholar K.Anna poorni delineates the extent of Kumari Kantan as she concludes as Tamilagham “ Today, the Tamilnadu that we inhabit consists of 12 districts within its limits. A few centuries aga. Ceranatu and a part of the Telugu land were part of Tamilnadu. Some thousands of years ago, the northern limit of Tamilnadu extended to the Vindhya mountain and the southern limit extened 700 Kavatam to the south of Cape Kumari which included regions such as Panainatu, mountains such as Kumarik Kotu and Mani Malia, cities such as Muttur and Kapatapuram and rivers such as Pahruli. All these were seized by the ocean, so say scholar. That today’s Indian Ocean was once upon a time a vast landmass and that that is where the man first appears has been stated by several scholars such as Ernst Haeckel and Scott Elliot in their books History of Creation and Lost Lemuria. The landmass called Lemuria is what Tamilians call Kumarinadu. That which is remaining after this ancient landmass was seized by the ocean is the Tamil Mother land in which we reside today with pride.
THE CONCEPT OF RELICISM IN INDIAN POETICS.
THE CONCEPT OF RELICISM IN INDIAN POETICS.
--- S. RAM MOHAN
Creative writers on all languages employ a number of devices to embellish their poetry and to convey subtle concepts and sublime feeling to the readers. Symbolism is a device that has been used to great advantage in all great creative works. It is of the most fundamental importance in Tamil Sangam poetry. While its importance is admittedly overwhelming, the present writer has noticed a tendency casually to club other things with symbolism. Thus good instances of a subtle concept that can be termed Relicism too get associated with those of symbolism though it can be shown that these two are really different entities. We shall first explain briefly the nature of symbolism with some examples and then examine Relicism deeply in order that we can grasp the inner import of this device.
A poet needs to refer to Entity A but rightly concludes that a direct reference to it will not be pleasing; he picks up Entity B which has some relationship with Entity A and by referring adroitly to the former in his work he makes the reader connect it mentally with Entity A which he relishes. As Entity B acts as a symbol for Entity A, the process gets the appellation symbolism. The poet will have to guard in utlising this device, against certain possibilities. One is that Entity B should not, in symbolising A, bring up any emotions associated with the relationship that run counter to the one the poet is attempting to arouse; for this will cause inner conflict and eddying of emotions which take away from the delight that might otherwise be produced. A second point, of course, is that the association of A with B should be fairly widely known as otherwise many readers may fail to make the connection and obtain the benefit of symbolism.
There are many kinds of symbolism. Many of them are discussed in seminal works like Sri A.V.Subramanian's Tamil book on it entitled "Symbolism in Sangam poetry", a pioneering work on the subject. One that is most widely known and is of fundamental importance in Sangam love literature is that in which a distinct part of the landscape is referred to (being Entity B) so that a stage of love which it represents may strike the mind of the reader (being Entity A). The hills with their slopes densely afforested can prove excellent cover for lovers to meet in secrecy and hence are used to symbolise the earliest stage of love, i.e., meetings of lovers in total secrecy.
Let us study a poem to illustrate how symbolism is used effectively by great poets.
Poem No.95 (Ref: 1) of Kuruntokai was composed by Kapilar, one of the greatest Sangam Poets. This represents the early stage of love between a mountain Chieftain and a girl of the hunter-farmer tribe; the friend of the Chief has noticed how his friend who was widely admired earlier for his reckless courage was becoming distinctly unsure of himself, even timid and apprehensive and queried him on this. The poem constitutes the hero's reply to his friend. The hero admits he was brave in the past but since meeting the girl, her cool, water-like personality has quite quenched the raging fires in him. This secret love between them has put many fears and apprehension in the hero's heart, making him timid. His new timidity is a measure of his great love for the girl, as this love has made him fear many obstacles, even positive threats from parents and others.
The poem starts with brief references to the mountain, its slopes, the waterfall and the may blooming flowers; these serve to link up previous aesthetic references to mountain slopes and the love drama described in earlier poems read and enjoyed by the reader; when the essential message of the poem is read, it enters a mind that is already filled with memories of secret love meetings reported in the earlier poems and is hence accorded a warm reception and its love sentiment gets much augmented and reinforced. If Entities A and B are associated in the minds of a very large number of readers, the symbolism making use of them is bound to succeed.
1. We now turn to the yet unrecognised category of Relicism. If one character recognises some material as something used by another in love with it or connected by some strong emotional relationship like mother and child and that material stirs up deep emotional springs in the first, we have a case of Relicism. For the emotional springs to be really opened up, the two characters should be separated and in anguish. In the case of Relicism, the relationship between the material and the other need not be widely known, as in the case of Symbolism. It is enough if the character observing it tells other characters and the reader about its emotional significance for oneself. While Relicism deals with one-to-one relationship, symbolism deals with one-to-many or two-to-many relationship.
2. Cases of Relicism will be found to be fewer than those of Symbolism. However, the emotional significance of a relic is far greater and deeper than that of an object symbolised. It is thus a potent weapon in the hands of an adroit poet who can get all the emotional reaction he needs for his poem naturally from Relicism without running the risk of being dubbed over-sentimental. Let us study some examples to get a clearer idea of this device.
3. Another girl, very much love with a young man who has left the village to acquire wealth is not as lucky as this. She very much misses him, spending the time going over in her mind all those meetings between them, even all those periods of anxious waiting for the loved one to arrive. The meetings had to be clandestine as the girl's parents should not come to know of them. They were fixed to take place at dead of night near the tree one ride of the girl's house. The boy would have arrived earlier, in his anxiety not to be late. The girl had to be careful in coming out of the house without waking up her mother or the others in the house and naturally was a little late to arrive at the rendezvous. The boy therefore had had to spend a long time very night near the tree.
4. The girl, in poem 266 (Ref: 2) of Kuruntokai tells her girl companion, "He has not bothered to send me a message all these long months. But this tree was his only companion for long periods on many nights during that period when we were meeting secretly. Could he not have sent a message through a bird to the tree to which he had got attached-so many birds are coming to perch on the tree!"
5. Here the tree growing on the side of the house serves as a relic to the girl reminding her of the ardour of her lover who used to walk through the jungle where tigers and bears lurk every night so as to be with her. Even though the separation was very painful she could alleviate the pain through the recollections of those ecstatic moments she had spent with him - recollections spurred by the tree standing as a relic of those happy nights.
6. Perhaps the best example of Relicism is presented in verse 193 of the Tamil love anthology Kuruntokai. A girl, very much in love with a boy was expected to look emaciated as her lover had left the village to earn wealth and had not returned to her yet. But her girl companion finds her looking healthy and in good spirits, and so she asks her in considerable surprise how she was able to main her health and spirits during this long period of separation. The poem constitutes the reply of the girl.
She says, " In the night before he left he came to me and spent some time with me in the moon light. He had come adorned with mullai buds and we had a great time together. He left the Village, it is true and it is quite some time but my shoulders still give off that mullai smell and feel that he is present near her all the time. The aroma abides in the heart and it is this relic that has sustained her all through these dreary months of separation. Relicism is by its nature subtle; but in this example there is no physical relic, it is the ardently loving mind that has kept the relic of the mullai aroma all through; this reinforces the natural subtlety of the device and generates greater pleasure to the reader, for that reason.
7. Perhaps the best example of Relicism is presented in verse 193 (Ref: 3) of the Tamil love anthology Kuruntokai. A girl, very much in love with a boy was expected to look emaciated as her lover had left the village to earn wealth and had not returned to her yet. But her girl companion finds her looking healthy and in good spirits, and so she asks her in considerable surprise how she was able to main her health and spirits during this long period of separation. The poem constitutes the reply of the girl.
8. Relics turn up not merely in the lives of lovers but wherever there is true and deep emotion. Sangam poets have sung a number of poems on the emotional state of the members of the family of the girl who has eloped with her young lover. In Natrinai 143 (Ref 3A) the mother, unable to bear the separation from the daughter points to the bevy of small girls who bevy of small girls who used to play with her in the rand-spread front portion of the house and to the fence of orai trees around it, emphasising how they all are unhappy reminders, had relics of happier days when the girl was with them. Apart from these, the parrot petted so avidly by the girl, cries out in anguish, "O, my mother! wake up from your slumber!" and is not to be comforted.
The living articulate relic, the parrot is able to bring out the sorrow of the family more sharply then the now empty rand-spread playing field or the silent tress. It cries not in its agony and being a parrot, it is able to mouth it in discernible words. More importantly, the parrot is in the position of a child whom its foster-mother, the eloping girl is certain to miss; she would thus be in the same position as her mother who, she should have realised, would suffer torments as a result of the separation. "How I miss my pet the darling parrot! My mother back home will obviously be missing me badly! " would be the girl; train of emotion. Thus the relic here clearly provides a parallel of a suffering mother and is thus eloquently able to bring the emotional state of the sorrowing family on the morning after the elopement.
In Akananooru 165, (Ref: 4) the mother of the girl who has left the house the previous night with her lover finds the doll lying in the randy courtyard, neglected- the doll that was dear to her daughter. This relic brings to her mind the many incidents where her daughter had been seen tending to it lovingly as if it were her own daughter. The mother embraces the doll lamenting; she quite realizes that her daughter must have felt had to leave the doll behind; she must be missing her the same way as she herself, the mother was missing her daughter.
In the literature of later days, too, this concept of Relicism has been fully exploited by poets to bring out the sorrow caused by separation. Goda, known better as Andal in Tamil imagines herself to be a cowherd lass in deep love with Lord Krishna. But Krishna has other engagements and does not come to her to fulfil her passion. So, in desperation she cries out to her kinsmen to take her to various places frequented by Krishna earlier and leave her there as the very places would serve her as relics reminding her intensely of her lover. Among the places selected by her are the bank of the pond where the dreaded serpent Kaliyan was worsted by the Lord dancing on its hoods, the place in the woods, where, on the instructions of Krishna, his playmates stood waiting for the food to be brought by the Brahmin women every day and finally the courtyard of Nandagopan's house. These places have been selected for their special and close association with the lover who must have left his stamp of individuality on them, thus enhancing their relic value. Nammalvar beautifully brings out the concept of relicism in Thiruvaimozhi verse No.2447 (Ref: 5) . Here the mother torments the mental state of her daughter. The daughter is so much in love with the Lord that she finds the relic of Him in all the objects surrounding her, in every creation of the Universe. She puts her hand in the dust of the ground and says “this is the mud on the holy feet of Vamana had walked”. Thus the very insignificant mud itself serves as the relic which triggers the image of her beloved in her mind. She looks at the sky and essays that this is the direction where his abode of Vaikuntam exists. The very blue colour of the ocean reminds her of Him. The same idea is also expressed in the Upanishad where the beautiful expression of earth being shampooed with the holy dust of his feet is mentioned. (Ref 6)
Relicism is not an idea confined to Tamil literature. There are many places where poets have made adroit use of this to enhance the emotional appeal of passages. Valmiki, the first of poets has made use of it in the Kishkindha kanda, 6th sarga (Ref 7) where he shows the monkeys bringing the jewels of Sita had tied up in an upper cloth, and thrown down from Ravana's chariot in which she was being carried away. These jewels with their intense physical association with Sita possessed great relic value for Rama whose love for her was unique, overwhelming. He is so moved by the light of the jewels, he is unable to identify them and so has the job done by Lakshmana. And, on his confirming that at least the leg ornaments were definitely hers, Rama goes into a trauma of lamentation, swearing terrible vengeance against the king of the rakshasas who took her away from him.
There are several more such instances in Valmiki Ramayanam. Let us savour one more instance of relicism from the Adi Kavya. Here, Sri Rama after the death of Sita and one the onset of spring season remarks on the happy state of all animals. Rama remarks that all animals are playing with their mates whom no demon had taken away. There is a trace of jealousy evident here. This verse is about a peacock.
In the verses 68-70, of the same sarga describe Rama's great anguish at the return of spring season by which nature reminds him of the earlier (previous) spring seas when he and Sita were so happy together. So here, the spring season is the relic which reminds him of the happiness with Sita during the previous spring season. This is a very subtle relic again more or like the Tamil Verse we have seen " ".
This is a clear statement of the spring as a memory relic comparing the unpahh7 present with the happy part, the other conditions remaining unchanged.
In the famous Kaya Svapnavasavvadattam there is a very beautiful reference to the relic.
King believes Vasavadatta to be dead. His men discover her favourite Siva Ghoshasvata in the forests much encrusted with birds emissions and bring it to him. He deplores its cruel fate; how having enjoyed an intimate association with the queen is now discovered neglected, lying in the forest. He likes it and it bring back powerful memories of the queeen playing on it earlier. At the same time he recalls enjoying it for the close association it had had with her lying on her lap and touching her bosom.
Similarly Periazhvar Thirumozhi verses 325 and 326 (Ref 7A) portray Relicism when they describe the occasion when Hanuman hands out the signet ring of Rama to Sita in Asoka Vana. The signet ring, which is the relic here, immediately sends Sita to raptures.
Similar relic-effect is also described by Kamban in verses 63,64 & 65 of Urukkattu Patalam (Ref 8) . Earlier in Kishkintha Kandam, the relic of Sita’s jewels, dropped by her during her airborne abduction by Ravana trigger a powerful emotional reaction in Rama. Kamban say that the very signet of these relics made the entire person of Rama melt away, as described in verses 5 & 6 of Kalan Kaan Patalam (Ref 9).
We have seen that the Relicism is not an idea confined to Tamil literature. There are many places where poets have made adroit use of this to enhance the emotional appeal of passages. Valmiki, the first of poets has made use of it in the Kishkindha kanda, 6th sarga where he shows the monkeys bringing the jewels of Sita had tied up in an upper cloth, and thrown down from Ravana's chariot in which she was being carried away. These jewels with their intense physical association with Sita possessed great relic value for Rama whose love for her was unique, overwhelming. He is so moved by the light of the jewels, he is unable to identify them and so has the job done by Lakshmana. And, on his confirming that at least the leg ornaments were defsinitely hers, Rama goes into a trauma of lamentation, swearing terrible vengeance against the king of the rakshasas who took her away from him.
Kalidasa in his celebrated play Sakuntalam makes adroit use of relicism, as he only can do it, in the III Act of the play. King Dushyanta had been in the company of Sakuntala for some time when she is called away by her foster-mother Gautami. The King misses her very much and seeking some substitute satisfaction, he happens to notice the flower-bower where she had been spending much of the time, waiting to meet him. He sees the flowery bed crushed by her lying on it; the letter she was writing to him on a lotus leaf with her nail as the pen was lying on the floor, faded; he could see the bangle-like ornament she had made of lotus stems and worn by her for some time now fallen on the floor. His eager eyes drank in these relics preventing him from leaving the bower, though now empty, bereft of her.
The fact that the king was unable to leave the bower though Sakuntala had left it earlier is a clear indication of the power of relicism, as he was able to derive some satisfaction contemplating the objects used by her, especially the love-letter expressing her emotional state, remaining undelivered.
In Sanskrit dramaturgy this situation is broadly termed bindu which helps to keep up the love intact when there is a threat to it - which is a very general description of relicism as we have discussed here. The definition given in the Dasarupaka is as follows:
It may be seen that it makes bindu a major category in which not only relicism but many other an readily fit in with space for more. Relicism itself has not been identified as a device and described with examples in the works on aesthetics in Sanskrit or Tamil in the past.
In conclusion we may analyse the main features of relicism which are characteristic of the device: in this we may refer to the creator of the relic as A and the person utilising its relic value as B:-
a) An effective relic should have powerful personal emotional association with A for it to affect B and be valued by B as a relic.
b) Relic value is heightened if, in addition to the emotional association which the relic has with A, it has some association with B too. Thus the tree under which the hero stood awaiting his girl and which therefore is emotionally associated with him is clearly important to the girl as it was their rendezvous.
c) The value of a relic arises on account of its unique association with A and of the fact that only B recognises this. Its relic value is reduced, may be wholly lost, if it is used, loved or respected by a number of persons besides A. Here, it can be seen that relicism is diametrically opposed to symbolism where the symbol can be of value only if it is recognizable by many.
d) The relic itself need not be intrinsically valuable; it may be of no value to other; its value arises only because of its unique emotional association with A.
e) Contrary to the common standards of valuation, the relic value of an object is much heightened if it reveals neglect or Lack of attention and care bestowed on it by other after A leaves it, if it is faded and not likely to survive, as in the case of the plants nurtured by the girl prior to elopement, if it is totally useless and fit to be thrown away as in the case of the lotus stalk ornaments worn by Sakuntala. An extreme case is that of the physically non-existent mullai smell which lives on in the girl's heart months after the lover leaves; the relic here is a physical non-entity; but despite that or perhaps because of that, it possesses a high relic value for the girl.
f) An elementary condition for an object to possess relic value is that its user A is away and is not using it now. Its relic value is heightened if the chances of reunion between A and B are not high or do not appear high in B's estimation.
g) Another basic condition for an object to come to possess relic value is that it should be left behind by A and B is able to come by it. An object does not get the relic status, unless it is left behind by the user; and it does not come to possess value unless B finds it.
h) And, finally a relic comes to possess value only if there is deep emotional attachment between A and B, as otherwise in most cases it has not intrinsic value and may be regarded as rubbish fit to be thrown out.
i) An effective relic should have powerful personal emotional association with A for it to affect B and be valued by B as a relic.
j) Relic value is heightened if, in addition to the emotional association which the relic has with A, it has some association with B too. Thus the tree under which the hero stood awaiting his girl and which therefore is emotionally associated with him is clearly important to the girl as it was their rendezvous.
k) The value of a relic arises on account of its unique association with A and of the fact that only B recognises this. Its relic value is reduced, may be wholly lost, if it is used, loved or respected by a number of persons besides A. Here, it can be seen that relicism is diametrically opposed to symbolism where the symbol can be of value only if it is recognizable by many.
l) The relic itself need not be intrinsically valuable; it may be of no value to other; its value arises only because of its unique emotional association with A.
m) Contrary to the common standards of valuation, the relic value of an object is much heightened if it reveals neglect or Lack of attention and care bestowed on it by other after A leaves it, if it is faded and not likely to survive, as in the case of the plants nurtured by the girl prior to elopement, if it is totally useless and fit to be thrown away as in the case of the lotus stalk ornaments worn by Sakuntala. An extreme case is that of the physically non-existent mullai smell which lives on in the girl's heart months after the lover leaves; the relic here is a physical non-entity; but despite that or perhaps because of that, it possesses a high relic value for the girl.
n) An elementary condition for an object to possess relic value is that its user A is away and is not using it now. Its relic value is heightened if the chances of reunion between A and B are not high or do not appear high in B's estimation.
o) Another basic condition for an object to come to possess relic value is that it should be left behind by A and B is able to come by it. An object does not get the relic status, unless it is left behind by the user; and it does not come to possess value unless B finds it.
p) And, finally a relic comes to possess value only if there is deep emotional attachment between A and B, as otherwise in most cases it has not intrinsic value and may be regarded as rubbish fit to be thrown out.
King believes Vasavadatta to be dead. His men discover her favourite Siva Ghoshasvata in the forests much encrusted with birds emissions and bring it to him. He deplores its cruel fate; how having enjoyed an intimate association with the queen is now discovered neglected, lying in the forest. He likes it and it bring back powerful memories of the queen playing on it earlier. At the same time he recalls enjoying it for the close association it had had with her lying on her lap and touching her bosom.
--- S. RAM MOHAN
Creative writers on all languages employ a number of devices to embellish their poetry and to convey subtle concepts and sublime feeling to the readers. Symbolism is a device that has been used to great advantage in all great creative works. It is of the most fundamental importance in Tamil Sangam poetry. While its importance is admittedly overwhelming, the present writer has noticed a tendency casually to club other things with symbolism. Thus good instances of a subtle concept that can be termed Relicism too get associated with those of symbolism though it can be shown that these two are really different entities. We shall first explain briefly the nature of symbolism with some examples and then examine Relicism deeply in order that we can grasp the inner import of this device.
A poet needs to refer to Entity A but rightly concludes that a direct reference to it will not be pleasing; he picks up Entity B which has some relationship with Entity A and by referring adroitly to the former in his work he makes the reader connect it mentally with Entity A which he relishes. As Entity B acts as a symbol for Entity A, the process gets the appellation symbolism. The poet will have to guard in utlising this device, against certain possibilities. One is that Entity B should not, in symbolising A, bring up any emotions associated with the relationship that run counter to the one the poet is attempting to arouse; for this will cause inner conflict and eddying of emotions which take away from the delight that might otherwise be produced. A second point, of course, is that the association of A with B should be fairly widely known as otherwise many readers may fail to make the connection and obtain the benefit of symbolism.
There are many kinds of symbolism. Many of them are discussed in seminal works like Sri A.V.Subramanian's Tamil book on it entitled "Symbolism in Sangam poetry", a pioneering work on the subject. One that is most widely known and is of fundamental importance in Sangam love literature is that in which a distinct part of the landscape is referred to (being Entity B) so that a stage of love which it represents may strike the mind of the reader (being Entity A). The hills with their slopes densely afforested can prove excellent cover for lovers to meet in secrecy and hence are used to symbolise the earliest stage of love, i.e., meetings of lovers in total secrecy.
Let us study a poem to illustrate how symbolism is used effectively by great poets.
Poem No.95 (Ref: 1) of Kuruntokai was composed by Kapilar, one of the greatest Sangam Poets. This represents the early stage of love between a mountain Chieftain and a girl of the hunter-farmer tribe; the friend of the Chief has noticed how his friend who was widely admired earlier for his reckless courage was becoming distinctly unsure of himself, even timid and apprehensive and queried him on this. The poem constitutes the hero's reply to his friend. The hero admits he was brave in the past but since meeting the girl, her cool, water-like personality has quite quenched the raging fires in him. This secret love between them has put many fears and apprehension in the hero's heart, making him timid. His new timidity is a measure of his great love for the girl, as this love has made him fear many obstacles, even positive threats from parents and others.
The poem starts with brief references to the mountain, its slopes, the waterfall and the may blooming flowers; these serve to link up previous aesthetic references to mountain slopes and the love drama described in earlier poems read and enjoyed by the reader; when the essential message of the poem is read, it enters a mind that is already filled with memories of secret love meetings reported in the earlier poems and is hence accorded a warm reception and its love sentiment gets much augmented and reinforced. If Entities A and B are associated in the minds of a very large number of readers, the symbolism making use of them is bound to succeed.
1. We now turn to the yet unrecognised category of Relicism. If one character recognises some material as something used by another in love with it or connected by some strong emotional relationship like mother and child and that material stirs up deep emotional springs in the first, we have a case of Relicism. For the emotional springs to be really opened up, the two characters should be separated and in anguish. In the case of Relicism, the relationship between the material and the other need not be widely known, as in the case of Symbolism. It is enough if the character observing it tells other characters and the reader about its emotional significance for oneself. While Relicism deals with one-to-one relationship, symbolism deals with one-to-many or two-to-many relationship.
2. Cases of Relicism will be found to be fewer than those of Symbolism. However, the emotional significance of a relic is far greater and deeper than that of an object symbolised. It is thus a potent weapon in the hands of an adroit poet who can get all the emotional reaction he needs for his poem naturally from Relicism without running the risk of being dubbed over-sentimental. Let us study some examples to get a clearer idea of this device.
3. Another girl, very much love with a young man who has left the village to acquire wealth is not as lucky as this. She very much misses him, spending the time going over in her mind all those meetings between them, even all those periods of anxious waiting for the loved one to arrive. The meetings had to be clandestine as the girl's parents should not come to know of them. They were fixed to take place at dead of night near the tree one ride of the girl's house. The boy would have arrived earlier, in his anxiety not to be late. The girl had to be careful in coming out of the house without waking up her mother or the others in the house and naturally was a little late to arrive at the rendezvous. The boy therefore had had to spend a long time very night near the tree.
4. The girl, in poem 266 (Ref: 2) of Kuruntokai tells her girl companion, "He has not bothered to send me a message all these long months. But this tree was his only companion for long periods on many nights during that period when we were meeting secretly. Could he not have sent a message through a bird to the tree to which he had got attached-so many birds are coming to perch on the tree!"
5. Here the tree growing on the side of the house serves as a relic to the girl reminding her of the ardour of her lover who used to walk through the jungle where tigers and bears lurk every night so as to be with her. Even though the separation was very painful she could alleviate the pain through the recollections of those ecstatic moments she had spent with him - recollections spurred by the tree standing as a relic of those happy nights.
6. Perhaps the best example of Relicism is presented in verse 193 of the Tamil love anthology Kuruntokai. A girl, very much in love with a boy was expected to look emaciated as her lover had left the village to earn wealth and had not returned to her yet. But her girl companion finds her looking healthy and in good spirits, and so she asks her in considerable surprise how she was able to main her health and spirits during this long period of separation. The poem constitutes the reply of the girl.
She says, " In the night before he left he came to me and spent some time with me in the moon light. He had come adorned with mullai buds and we had a great time together. He left the Village, it is true and it is quite some time but my shoulders still give off that mullai smell and feel that he is present near her all the time. The aroma abides in the heart and it is this relic that has sustained her all through these dreary months of separation. Relicism is by its nature subtle; but in this example there is no physical relic, it is the ardently loving mind that has kept the relic of the mullai aroma all through; this reinforces the natural subtlety of the device and generates greater pleasure to the reader, for that reason.
7. Perhaps the best example of Relicism is presented in verse 193 (Ref: 3) of the Tamil love anthology Kuruntokai. A girl, very much in love with a boy was expected to look emaciated as her lover had left the village to earn wealth and had not returned to her yet. But her girl companion finds her looking healthy and in good spirits, and so she asks her in considerable surprise how she was able to main her health and spirits during this long period of separation. The poem constitutes the reply of the girl.
8. Relics turn up not merely in the lives of lovers but wherever there is true and deep emotion. Sangam poets have sung a number of poems on the emotional state of the members of the family of the girl who has eloped with her young lover. In Natrinai 143 (Ref 3A) the mother, unable to bear the separation from the daughter points to the bevy of small girls who bevy of small girls who used to play with her in the rand-spread front portion of the house and to the fence of orai trees around it, emphasising how they all are unhappy reminders, had relics of happier days when the girl was with them. Apart from these, the parrot petted so avidly by the girl, cries out in anguish, "O, my mother! wake up from your slumber!" and is not to be comforted.
The living articulate relic, the parrot is able to bring out the sorrow of the family more sharply then the now empty rand-spread playing field or the silent tress. It cries not in its agony and being a parrot, it is able to mouth it in discernible words. More importantly, the parrot is in the position of a child whom its foster-mother, the eloping girl is certain to miss; she would thus be in the same position as her mother who, she should have realised, would suffer torments as a result of the separation. "How I miss my pet the darling parrot! My mother back home will obviously be missing me badly! " would be the girl; train of emotion. Thus the relic here clearly provides a parallel of a suffering mother and is thus eloquently able to bring the emotional state of the sorrowing family on the morning after the elopement.
In Akananooru 165, (Ref: 4) the mother of the girl who has left the house the previous night with her lover finds the doll lying in the randy courtyard, neglected- the doll that was dear to her daughter. This relic brings to her mind the many incidents where her daughter had been seen tending to it lovingly as if it were her own daughter. The mother embraces the doll lamenting; she quite realizes that her daughter must have felt had to leave the doll behind; she must be missing her the same way as she herself, the mother was missing her daughter.
In the literature of later days, too, this concept of Relicism has been fully exploited by poets to bring out the sorrow caused by separation. Goda, known better as Andal in Tamil imagines herself to be a cowherd lass in deep love with Lord Krishna. But Krishna has other engagements and does not come to her to fulfil her passion. So, in desperation she cries out to her kinsmen to take her to various places frequented by Krishna earlier and leave her there as the very places would serve her as relics reminding her intensely of her lover. Among the places selected by her are the bank of the pond where the dreaded serpent Kaliyan was worsted by the Lord dancing on its hoods, the place in the woods, where, on the instructions of Krishna, his playmates stood waiting for the food to be brought by the Brahmin women every day and finally the courtyard of Nandagopan's house. These places have been selected for their special and close association with the lover who must have left his stamp of individuality on them, thus enhancing their relic value. Nammalvar beautifully brings out the concept of relicism in Thiruvaimozhi verse No.2447 (Ref: 5) . Here the mother torments the mental state of her daughter. The daughter is so much in love with the Lord that she finds the relic of Him in all the objects surrounding her, in every creation of the Universe. She puts her hand in the dust of the ground and says “this is the mud on the holy feet of Vamana had walked”. Thus the very insignificant mud itself serves as the relic which triggers the image of her beloved in her mind. She looks at the sky and essays that this is the direction where his abode of Vaikuntam exists. The very blue colour of the ocean reminds her of Him. The same idea is also expressed in the Upanishad where the beautiful expression of earth being shampooed with the holy dust of his feet is mentioned. (Ref 6)
Relicism is not an idea confined to Tamil literature. There are many places where poets have made adroit use of this to enhance the emotional appeal of passages. Valmiki, the first of poets has made use of it in the Kishkindha kanda, 6th sarga (Ref 7) where he shows the monkeys bringing the jewels of Sita had tied up in an upper cloth, and thrown down from Ravana's chariot in which she was being carried away. These jewels with their intense physical association with Sita possessed great relic value for Rama whose love for her was unique, overwhelming. He is so moved by the light of the jewels, he is unable to identify them and so has the job done by Lakshmana. And, on his confirming that at least the leg ornaments were definitely hers, Rama goes into a trauma of lamentation, swearing terrible vengeance against the king of the rakshasas who took her away from him.
There are several more such instances in Valmiki Ramayanam. Let us savour one more instance of relicism from the Adi Kavya. Here, Sri Rama after the death of Sita and one the onset of spring season remarks on the happy state of all animals. Rama remarks that all animals are playing with their mates whom no demon had taken away. There is a trace of jealousy evident here. This verse is about a peacock.
In the verses 68-70, of the same sarga describe Rama's great anguish at the return of spring season by which nature reminds him of the earlier (previous) spring seas when he and Sita were so happy together. So here, the spring season is the relic which reminds him of the happiness with Sita during the previous spring season. This is a very subtle relic again more or like the Tamil Verse we have seen " ".
This is a clear statement of the spring as a memory relic comparing the unpahh7 present with the happy part, the other conditions remaining unchanged.
In the famous Kaya Svapnavasavvadattam there is a very beautiful reference to the relic.
King believes Vasavadatta to be dead. His men discover her favourite Siva Ghoshasvata in the forests much encrusted with birds emissions and bring it to him. He deplores its cruel fate; how having enjoyed an intimate association with the queen is now discovered neglected, lying in the forest. He likes it and it bring back powerful memories of the queeen playing on it earlier. At the same time he recalls enjoying it for the close association it had had with her lying on her lap and touching her bosom.
Similarly Periazhvar Thirumozhi verses 325 and 326 (Ref 7A) portray Relicism when they describe the occasion when Hanuman hands out the signet ring of Rama to Sita in Asoka Vana. The signet ring, which is the relic here, immediately sends Sita to raptures.
Similar relic-effect is also described by Kamban in verses 63,64 & 65 of Urukkattu Patalam (Ref 8) . Earlier in Kishkintha Kandam, the relic of Sita’s jewels, dropped by her during her airborne abduction by Ravana trigger a powerful emotional reaction in Rama. Kamban say that the very signet of these relics made the entire person of Rama melt away, as described in verses 5 & 6 of Kalan Kaan Patalam (Ref 9).
We have seen that the Relicism is not an idea confined to Tamil literature. There are many places where poets have made adroit use of this to enhance the emotional appeal of passages. Valmiki, the first of poets has made use of it in the Kishkindha kanda, 6th sarga where he shows the monkeys bringing the jewels of Sita had tied up in an upper cloth, and thrown down from Ravana's chariot in which she was being carried away. These jewels with their intense physical association with Sita possessed great relic value for Rama whose love for her was unique, overwhelming. He is so moved by the light of the jewels, he is unable to identify them and so has the job done by Lakshmana. And, on his confirming that at least the leg ornaments were defsinitely hers, Rama goes into a trauma of lamentation, swearing terrible vengeance against the king of the rakshasas who took her away from him.
Kalidasa in his celebrated play Sakuntalam makes adroit use of relicism, as he only can do it, in the III Act of the play. King Dushyanta had been in the company of Sakuntala for some time when she is called away by her foster-mother Gautami. The King misses her very much and seeking some substitute satisfaction, he happens to notice the flower-bower where she had been spending much of the time, waiting to meet him. He sees the flowery bed crushed by her lying on it; the letter she was writing to him on a lotus leaf with her nail as the pen was lying on the floor, faded; he could see the bangle-like ornament she had made of lotus stems and worn by her for some time now fallen on the floor. His eager eyes drank in these relics preventing him from leaving the bower, though now empty, bereft of her.
The fact that the king was unable to leave the bower though Sakuntala had left it earlier is a clear indication of the power of relicism, as he was able to derive some satisfaction contemplating the objects used by her, especially the love-letter expressing her emotional state, remaining undelivered.
In Sanskrit dramaturgy this situation is broadly termed bindu which helps to keep up the love intact when there is a threat to it - which is a very general description of relicism as we have discussed here. The definition given in the Dasarupaka is as follows:
It may be seen that it makes bindu a major category in which not only relicism but many other an readily fit in with space for more. Relicism itself has not been identified as a device and described with examples in the works on aesthetics in Sanskrit or Tamil in the past.
In conclusion we may analyse the main features of relicism which are characteristic of the device: in this we may refer to the creator of the relic as A and the person utilising its relic value as B:-
a) An effective relic should have powerful personal emotional association with A for it to affect B and be valued by B as a relic.
b) Relic value is heightened if, in addition to the emotional association which the relic has with A, it has some association with B too. Thus the tree under which the hero stood awaiting his girl and which therefore is emotionally associated with him is clearly important to the girl as it was their rendezvous.
c) The value of a relic arises on account of its unique association with A and of the fact that only B recognises this. Its relic value is reduced, may be wholly lost, if it is used, loved or respected by a number of persons besides A. Here, it can be seen that relicism is diametrically opposed to symbolism where the symbol can be of value only if it is recognizable by many.
d) The relic itself need not be intrinsically valuable; it may be of no value to other; its value arises only because of its unique emotional association with A.
e) Contrary to the common standards of valuation, the relic value of an object is much heightened if it reveals neglect or Lack of attention and care bestowed on it by other after A leaves it, if it is faded and not likely to survive, as in the case of the plants nurtured by the girl prior to elopement, if it is totally useless and fit to be thrown away as in the case of the lotus stalk ornaments worn by Sakuntala. An extreme case is that of the physically non-existent mullai smell which lives on in the girl's heart months after the lover leaves; the relic here is a physical non-entity; but despite that or perhaps because of that, it possesses a high relic value for the girl.
f) An elementary condition for an object to possess relic value is that its user A is away and is not using it now. Its relic value is heightened if the chances of reunion between A and B are not high or do not appear high in B's estimation.
g) Another basic condition for an object to come to possess relic value is that it should be left behind by A and B is able to come by it. An object does not get the relic status, unless it is left behind by the user; and it does not come to possess value unless B finds it.
h) And, finally a relic comes to possess value only if there is deep emotional attachment between A and B, as otherwise in most cases it has not intrinsic value and may be regarded as rubbish fit to be thrown out.
i) An effective relic should have powerful personal emotional association with A for it to affect B and be valued by B as a relic.
j) Relic value is heightened if, in addition to the emotional association which the relic has with A, it has some association with B too. Thus the tree under which the hero stood awaiting his girl and which therefore is emotionally associated with him is clearly important to the girl as it was their rendezvous.
k) The value of a relic arises on account of its unique association with A and of the fact that only B recognises this. Its relic value is reduced, may be wholly lost, if it is used, loved or respected by a number of persons besides A. Here, it can be seen that relicism is diametrically opposed to symbolism where the symbol can be of value only if it is recognizable by many.
l) The relic itself need not be intrinsically valuable; it may be of no value to other; its value arises only because of its unique emotional association with A.
m) Contrary to the common standards of valuation, the relic value of an object is much heightened if it reveals neglect or Lack of attention and care bestowed on it by other after A leaves it, if it is faded and not likely to survive, as in the case of the plants nurtured by the girl prior to elopement, if it is totally useless and fit to be thrown away as in the case of the lotus stalk ornaments worn by Sakuntala. An extreme case is that of the physically non-existent mullai smell which lives on in the girl's heart months after the lover leaves; the relic here is a physical non-entity; but despite that or perhaps because of that, it possesses a high relic value for the girl.
n) An elementary condition for an object to possess relic value is that its user A is away and is not using it now. Its relic value is heightened if the chances of reunion between A and B are not high or do not appear high in B's estimation.
o) Another basic condition for an object to come to possess relic value is that it should be left behind by A and B is able to come by it. An object does not get the relic status, unless it is left behind by the user; and it does not come to possess value unless B finds it.
p) And, finally a relic comes to possess value only if there is deep emotional attachment between A and B, as otherwise in most cases it has not intrinsic value and may be regarded as rubbish fit to be thrown out.
King believes Vasavadatta to be dead. His men discover her favourite Siva Ghoshasvata in the forests much encrusted with birds emissions and bring it to him. He deplores its cruel fate; how having enjoyed an intimate association with the queen is now discovered neglected, lying in the forest. He likes it and it bring back powerful memories of the queen playing on it earlier. At the same time he recalls enjoying it for the close association it had had with her lying on her lap and touching her bosom.
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