Post No. 13,548
Date uploaded in London – 15 August 2024
Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com
Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge.
this is a non- commercial blog. Thanks for your great pictures.
tamilandvedas.com, swamiindology.blogspot.com
https://www.pustaka.co.in/home/author/london-swaminathan
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लक्ष्यच्युतं चेद्यदि चित्तमीषद्
बहिर्मुखं सन्निपतेत्ततस्ततः ।
प्रमादतः प्रच्युतकेलिकन्दुकः
सोपानपङ्क्तौ पतितो यथा तथा ॥ ३२५ ॥
This is from Viveka Chudamani (VC) of Sankara
lakṣyacyutaṃ cedyadi cittamīṣad
bahirmukhaṃ sannipatettatastataḥ |
pramādataḥ pracyutakelikandukaḥ
sopānapaṅktau patito yathā tathā || 325 ||
325. If the mind ever so slightly strays from the Ideal and becomes outgoing, then it goes down and down, just as a play-ball inadvertently dropped on the staircase bounds down from one step to another.
Notes:
[Ideal—Brahman. Cf. Mundaka II. ii. 3-4.
What a terrible and graphic warning to happy-go-lucky aspirants! ]
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Adi Sankara was down to earth in explaining the greatest Hindu philosophy Advaita (Monism). Man is God is the ultimate truth. But the strangest thing is that he used even ball game in his hymn.
Hindu literature is full of ball games. But it is not the foot- ball that was invented by the ancient South American civilizations. Tamil and Sanskrit poems described the flower balls that were used as Volley Balls.
There is a genre in Tamil called அம்மானை Ammaanai, where women sit or stand in circles and play ‘throw and catch’ ball game. Another version is, they sit one against another and throw the pebbles or flower balls or big and light seeds skyward like a juggler.
Depending upon the skill of the person, the number of balls or round objects are used.
2000 year old Sangam literature has several references to flower balls used in games. It was a woman’s game in ancient India
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Here is a story from my old article:
There is another mystery in Indian literature. But I don’t think anyone can do it today. This art has disappeared long ago. The Brhatkatha translated into Tamil as Perunkatai has an anecdote. A person tells the features of a beautiful woman from her finger prints. Finger prints are used now in forensic investigation. Ancient Indians used it to identify people, draw pictures etc. if it is revived the criminal investigation will be much more easier. Following anecdote is in Perunkatai, Tamil adaptation of Bruhat Katha:–
A beautiful lady by name Madana Manjika was playing ball game on the terrace of her highly raised building. The ball jumped out and fell on Naravanan who was riding an elephant at that time. Naravanan looked at the girl and the ball and fell in love with her. Madana also looked at Naravanan and fell in love with him. But she did not collect he ball. Naravanan called his friend Gomukhan and asked him to find the owner of the ball.
Gomukhan simply looked at the ball and found out her finger prints in the sandal paste on the ball. He started giving the description of every part of her body . Then told him it must be Madana manjika. It may sound like fiction today. But in those days there were people who could draw the picture of a person by simply looking at the hand or the finger prints.
Even the finger print technology used in the modern criminal investigation had its beginning in India.
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செப்பும் பந்தும் போல.
Like a box and a bal- is a proverb in Tamil. Both are children’s toys.
In Sangam Tamil literature ball game was also called கழங்கு Kazangu. Following are few references to ball games in Sangam corpus:-
Perumpaanaatruppadai- line 335
Nattrinai – 47, 79,
Pathitruppaththu – 15-5
Paripaatal- 8-106/7
Akanaanuuru – 17, 49, 66
Puranaanuuru – 36
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From Tamil Dictionary
ammāṉai n. அம்மானை [K.ammāle, M. ammāna.] 1. Girls’ game of keeping a number of balls in the air, some rising while others are falling; அம்மானையாட்டம்.
—SUBHAM—
TAGS- ball game, Sankara, Viveka Chudamani, Sangam Tamil poems, Brhad katha, Madana manjika story Research Article on VC-42
Tamil and Vedas 
