Old Tamil Poetry

Kambaramayanam – 5278

Ravana pleading his love to Sita in Asoka Vanam

Many todays have passed; many tomorrows have passed;
Yet this is the mercy you offer me;
Will you become one with me
Only after I pass away
Killed by the misery you cause me?
Tell me, O’ Woman whose reddened eyes cause me grief,
Swinging back and forth to your ear rings.

இன்று இறந்தன நாளை இறந்தன
என் திறம் தரும் தன்மை இதால்; எனைக்
கொன்று இறந்தபின் கூடுதியோ? குழை
சென்று இறங்கி மறம் தரு செங்கணாய்!

After Ravana has carried Sita away to Lanka, he has her imprisoned in Asoka Vanam. Hanuman is sent by Rama to find Sita. After reaching Lanka, Hanuman searches around and finally find Sita in Asoka Vanam. While he is there, Ravana comes to plead his love to Sita. That’s where this verse appears.

Ravana tells Sita, “I have waited for many days thinking today will be the day you will accept my love. I have waited for many days thinking hopefully tomorrow will be the day you will accept me. Yet you haven’t accepted my love. This is the mercy you have shown me. Will you unite with me only after you kill me by the pain caused by your refusal? You have been shedding tears thinking of Rama. Hence your eyes are reddened. Frightened on seeing me, those eyes swing back and forth all the way to your ear rings. This is causing me further grief.”

As you can see, Kamban uses sparse words to capture this emotion. I have had to elaborate in my translation to capture all that brevity.

இறந்தன – passed away / die
திறம் – mercy
கூடு – join / unite
குழை – ear ring
மறம் – pain
செங்கணாய் – red eyed woman

Kambaramayanam – 4464

“Those who give up their vices consciously
Will be freed from cycle of rebirth”
Proclaim faultless philosophers and scriptures;
Yet, removing the wiggling worms from toddy,
I drink and find (false) solace in it,
Like those who put out fire by pouring oil in it.

“‘தெளிந்து தீவினையைச் செற்றோர்
         பிறவியின் தீர்வர் “ என்ன,
விளிந்து இலா உணர்வினோரும்,
         வேதமும், விளம்பவேயும்,
நெளிந்து உறை புழுவை நீக்கி
        நறவு உண்டு நிறைகின்றேனால்
அளிந்து அகத்து எரியும் தீயை
       நெய்யினால் அவிக்கின்றாரின்.

Rama agrees to help Sugreevan defeat his brother Vali in return for Sugreevan helping him find Sita. Rama kills Vali and Sugreeva is made King. He forgets his promise to Rama and indulges in revelry. Rama gets angry and sends Lakshmana to enquire. Seeing an angry Lakshmana marching towards the fort, Angadan goes and wakes up Sugreevan. Sugreevan lies senseless. So Angadan asks Hanuman to help out. Hanuman send Tara and other women to stop Lakshmana since he knows Lakshmana won’t fight women. As Tara explains that Sugreevan has sent spies all over in search of Sita, Lakshmanan cools down a bit. Then Hanuman comes and assuages him. Angadan goes again to wake up Sugreevan. Sugreevan wakes up this time and asks why wasn’t he informed earlier of Lakshmana’s arrival. Angadan says “You were drunk senseless when I tried to wake you up”. Sugreevan castigates himself miserably in this verse.

“Wise men have said that those who have thought through worldly matters and decided to give up their vices will be freed from cycle of rebirth. Scriptures too say the same. Yet even after knowing all this, I still gave in to this vice of drinking. See this toddy. Worms wiggle at its surface. Still I removed those worms and drank myself seeking false contentment. My action is like that of one who sees his house on fire and tries to put it out with oil. It will only burn more”

தெளிந்து – who think and decide / consciously
தீவினை – vices
செற்றோர் – those who give up
பிறவியின் தீர்வர் – escape birth cycle
விளிந்து இலா – fault less
வேதம் – Vedas / scriptures
விளம்ப – say
நெளிந்து – wiggling
உறை – reside
புழு – worm
நறவு – toddy
நிறைகின்றேன் – become content
அளிந்து – blazing
அகத்து எரியும் – burns at home
நெய் – oil
அவி – put out

Kambaramayanam – 3841

Her red painted toes
are corals in her lotus like feet;
She resides forever
in the blooming lotus that’s my heart;
Blossoms adorn her glorious dark braids;
O’ dark blue lily, you are like her eyes!
Then why do you torment me
With the poisonous spread that’s your smile.

பஞ்சு பூத்த விரல் பதுமம்
பவளம் பூத்த அடியாள் என்
நெஞ்சு பூத்த தாமரையின்
நிலையம் பூத்தாள், நிறம் பூத்த
மஞ்சு பூத்த மலர் பூத்த
குழலாள் கண்போல் மணிக் குவளாய்!
நஞ்சு பூத்தது ஆம் அன்ன
நகையால் என்னை நலிவாயோ.

Rama and Lakshmana search the forest after Sita has been kidnapped by Ravana. During their search they come to Pampa Lake in Kishkinta. The lake is full of Lotuses. They decide to stay there for the night. The lake and the lotuses remind Rama of Sita. He laments over losing her.

He looks at the blue water lily and says “O’ dark blue water Lily! You are like the eyes of my Sita. She whose red painted toes look like corals grown out of her lotus like soft feet.; she who forever resides in the blooming Lotus of my heart; she whose hair is dark like clouds and is beautifully adorned with flowers.  But her eyes would look at my pleasantly with love. But your smile (bloom) is like spreading poison that torments me by reminding of her. Why do you torment me so?”

Sita is the incarnation of Lakshmi who is depicted seated on a Lotus. So Rama says, she forever resides in the Lotus that is my heart.

The Tamil verse uses the word ‘பூத்த’ with multiple meanings – blooming, spreading, applied, growing. This gives a beautiful cadence when you read it out loud.

பஞ்சு பூத்த விரல் – செம்பஞ்சுக்குழம்பு ஊட்டிய விரல் – red painted toes
பதுமம் – Lotus
பவளம் பூத்த அடி – coral growing feet
என் நெஞ்சு பூத்த தாமரை – blooming lotus that’s my heart
நிலையம் பூத்தாள் – she who resides forever
நிறம் பூத்த – filled with (dark) colour, like clouds
மஞ்சு பூத்த – full of beauty / glorious
மலர் பூத்த குழலாள் – she whose hair is adorned with flowers
மணிக் குவளாய் – gem (dark blue) lily flower
நஞ்சு – posion
நகை – smile
நலிவாயோ – will you torment

Kambaramayanam – 3870

“Don’t his words show that there’s no skill in this world
that he hasn’t mastered, Nor Vedas he hasn’t grasped?
O’ my archer brother, Who’s this master of words?
Is he Brahma, the creator? Or the bull riding Lord*?”

*bull riding Lord – Lord Shiva

இல்லாத உலகத்து எங்கும், இங்கு இவன் இசைகள் கூரக்
கல்லாத கலையும், வேதக் கடலுமே” என்னும் காட்சி
சொல்லாலே தோன்றிற்று அன்றே? யார்கொல் இச் சொல்லின்செல்வன்? –
வில் ஆர்தோள் இளைய வீர! – விரிஞ்சனோ? விடைவலானோ?

This verse is Rama praising Hanuman at first sight. Rama and Lakshmana enter the Kishkinta forest in search of Sita. Sugreeva who is hiding from his brother in the forest, despatches Hanuman to find out who these two are. Hanuman is captivated by Rama at first sight. He introduces himself and asks Rama who they are.

Rama too is pleased with the way Hanuman spoke. He says to Lakshmana, his younger brother “O Lakshmana, carrying a bow in your shoulders! Did you hear his words? It sounds like there is no skill he has not mastered in this world, nor any Vedas he has not understood. He is such an erudite person. Who is he? Is he the four faced Brahma, the creator of all beings in this wold? Or is he Lord Siva who rides a bull?”

இல்லாத உலகத்து எங்கும் – There’s nothing in this world
இசைகள் கூர – புகழ் மிக்க – flawlessly / mastered
கல்லாத கலை – skill not learned
வேதக் கடல் –  Sea of Vedas (scriptures)
சொல்லின் செல்வன் – erudite / master of words
வில் ஆர் தோள் – carrying bow in shoulder
இளைய வீர – young warrior
விரிஞ்சன் – Brahma, the creator
விடை வலான் – Bull Master / Lord Shiva who rides a bull

Kambaramayanam – 1777

They fell down; wilted; writhed in agony;
Cried “It’s today we lost our eyes”;
Were immersed in a sea of misery;
“O’ my son! O’ my son” they sobbed;
“You broke our heart” they grieved;
“You’ve gone to live in the eternal world,
We can’t bear to live here by ourselves,
here we come, here we come” they cried.

“வீழ்ந்தார்; அயர்ந்தார்; புரண்டார்;
‘விழி போயிற்று இன்று ‘என்றார்;
ஆழ்ந்தார் துன்பக் கடலுள்;
‘ஐயா! ஐயா! ‘என்றார்;
‘போழ்ந்தாய் நெஞ்சை ‘என்றார்;
‘பொன் நாடு அதனில் போய் நீ
வாழ்ந்தே இருப்பத் தரியேம்;
வந்தேம்! வந்தேம் இனியே!‘‘

King Dasaratha killed a blind ascetic couple’s son by mistake while hunting. The boy had come to a jungle pond to take water for his thirsty parents. Dasaratha hears the noise and shoots an arrow thinking it’s a deer. Once he realises his mistake, he grieves and goes to the old couple and tells them of his mistake and apologises.

The blind couple collapse on hearing the death of their son, who was everything to them. They cry saying “Though we were blind, he never made us feel that. With his death today, we have really lost our eyes. O’ my son! O’ my son! In your death you have broken our heart. You have left us and gone to live in the eternal world (heaven). We won’t live alone here by ourselves. We will die and come along with you there” they grieved.

Death of a son is a pain that cannot be assuaged. Further to this they curse Dasaratha that he too will suffer the same fate. That curse is what causes the sequence of events leading to Rama’s exile and Dasaratha’s death.
போழ் – split / break
பொன் நாடு – golden country / heaven / eternal world
தரியேம் – can’t bear

Kambaramayanam – 2019

Her plait’s adorned with fragrant powder and pollen,
Her forehead’s curved like a slice of the moon;
He, whose lips lend colour to coral, walks with her –
like a dark cloud and a streak of lightning appearing alone,
like an adorned bull elephant and its cow walking alone.

மா கந்தமும், மகரந்தமும், அளகம் தரும் மதியின்
பாகம் தரும் நுதலாளொடு, பவளம் தரும் இதழான்,
மேகம் தனி வருகின்றது மின்னொடு என, மிளிர் பூண்
நாகம் தனி வருகின்றது பிடியோடு என, நடவா.

This verse is in கங்கைப் படலம் (Ganga chapter) when Rama and Sita enter the forest and reach the river Ganga. When Rama leaves Ayodhya, people follow him. So he sends back his chariot to Ayodhya and walks away in the night. People think he has gone back to Ayodhya and follow the chariot marks. Before they realize that they have been misled,  Rama and Sita enter the forest and walk south towards Ganga, along with Lakshmana.

Kamban describes them walking by themselves, free of the adoring populace. Sita’s hair is washed with aromatic powders and pollen from flowers and is fragrant. Rama’s lips are strikingly red, it is as if they had lent their colour to coral gemstone. As they walk together, it was like a dark cloud (Rama is dark hued in the epic) and silver lightning appearing together in the vast sky. It was like a bull elephant walking with its cow, undisturbed in the forest.

Elephant’s walk is a repeatedly used simile in Tamil literature for graceful walking. As always with Kamban’s Tamil verse, read it out loud to appreciate the cadence.

மா கந்தம் – great fragrance
மரகந்தம் – pollen of flower
அளகம் – hair / plait
மதியின் பாகம் – part of a moon
நுதல் – forehead
பவளம் – coral
இதழான் – he with lips
மின்னொடு – மின்னலோடு –
மிளிர் பூண் – shining adornments
நாகம் – male elephant (bull)
பிடி – female elephant (cow)

Kamba Ramayanam – 5178

Tormented by thick waisted Rakshasa women, she sat there*;
Like a fine herb growing by the side of a hard rock
never getting a drop of water, languishing in misery,
rest of her body too thinned down like her narrow waist.

* Asoka Vanam, where Sita was held captive by Ravana.

வல் மருங்குல் வாள் அரக்கியர்
         நெருக்க, அங்கு இருந்தாள் :
கல் மருங்கு எழுந்து, என்றும் ஓர்
         துளி வரக் காணா
நல் மருந்துபோல், நலன் அற
         உணங்கிய நங்கை,
மெல் மருங்குல்போல், வேறு உள
        அங்கமும் மெலிந்தாள்.

This verse is in the sequence where Hanuman first sees Sita in Asoka Vanam. He finds her in sorrow, surrounded by thick waisted harsh Rakshasa women, who were tormenting her to accept the proposal of Ravana. Her whole body had thinned down like her narrow waist. It was like a fine herb growing by the side of a hard rock not receiving even a drop of water and drooping down. She was languishing in misery as her captors had taken her away from Rama, who was her life.

Kamban contrasts the thick and narrow waists to differentiate harshness / daintiness of Rakshasa Women and Sita. This objectification doesn’t go well with modern sensibilities. All I can say is he was the product of his times.

வல் – thick
மருங்குல் – waist
வாள் – harsh
அரக்கியர் – Rakshasa Women
நெருக்க – tormented
கல் – பாறை – Rock
மருங்கு – side
எழுந்து – grew
நல் மருந்து – fine herb
நலன் உற – health spoiled / misery
உணங்குதல் – suffer / languish
மெல் – soft / thin
வேறு உள அங்கமும் – other parts of her body / rest of her body