All posts in category Tamil Literature

Why did a Tamil King Kill 1000 Goldsmiths? (Post No.3821)

Written by London swaminathan

 

Date: 15 APRIL 2017

 

Time uploaded in London:- 15-59

 

Post No. 3821

 

Pictures are taken from various sources; thanks.

 

contact; swami_48@yahoo.com 

 

Silappadikaram, the Tamil epic, is the story about Kannaki and Kovalan (The details of the story are given at the end of this post).

Matalan, the Brahmin, is a link in the story. He plays a key role and fills the gaps in the story. He advised the mighty king Cheran Senguttuvan about the good things in life (Dharma).

 

In the Nirpataik (Chapter) Kaathai of the epic he gives some important details:-

While King Senguttuvan was sitting on the throne, the Brahmana Matalan appeared before him and said:

“Long live the King! After going around the Potiyil Hills, sacred to the great sage (Agastya) and bathing in the famous ghat of Kumari, I was returning, when, as if impelled by fate, I went into Madura belonging to far-famed Tennavan (Pandya King) of the sharp sword.

 

There when Matari heard that beautiful (Kannaki) had defeated the Pandyan king of the mighty army with her anklet, she proclaimed in the Taateru manram (common meeting place of the cowherds and cowherdesses, and was generally under a tree):-

“O people of the cowherd community! Kovalan had done no wrong; it is the king who has erred; I have lost her to whom I gave refuge. Have the king’s umbrella and the sceptre fallen from the righteous path?”  With these words, she (Matari) threw herself into the burning flames in the dead of night.

Kavunti, distinguished for her penance, took a vow to die of starvation and thus gave up her life.

I heard in full detail all this and also of the devastation that over took the great city of Madurai ruled by the Pandyan of the golden car. Overcome by this I went back to my native place (KaveriPumpattinam, Port city of Chozas) and leant that Kovalan’s father distributed all his wealth in charity and entered Indra Viharas/Buddhist temple and practised penance. Kovalan’s mother died of pity. Kannaki’s father also gave away his wealth in religious gifts and adopted Dharma in the presence of Ajhivakas. His wife gave up her good life within a few days ( of Kovalan’s execution , followed by the death of Pandya King and Queen and Kannaki burning Madurai city).

 

The lady Matavi (courtesan), shorn of her hair with the flower wreaths therein, entered the Buddha Vihara and received the holy instruction. She told her mother that her daughter should not become a courtesan.

 

Brahmin Matalan continued………….

“These people died because, they heard this news from me, therefore I come to bathe in the holy waters of the Ganges (In order to purify myself). Long live you, O King of Kings!

 

When Matalan gave the king the tragic news about Kannaki’s parents, Kovalan’s parents, Cowherd woman Matari, Jain woman saint Kavunti and courtesan Matavi, the mighty lord of the Cheras, asked Matalan:

 

“May I hear what happened in the highly flourishing Pandya Kingdom after the king’s death?”

Matalan said,

“May you long live, King of the great world! You destroyed in a single day nine umbrellas of nine kings, who joined together in an alliance against your brother in law Killi valavan.

Human Sacrifice of 1000 people!

 

“The victorious (Pandya king) Ver Chezian residing at Korkai (Port City of the Pandyas), offered a human sacrifice of one thousand goldsmiths in a day to divine Pattini (chaste woman) who had twisted off one of her breasts (with which Kannaki burnt Madurai city).

“And when ancient Maduria lost her glory and was chafing in untold trouble owing to royal injustice, this Pandyan prince of the lunar line (Chandra vamsa) which was celebrated for the exemplary way in which it gave protection to the people of the southern regions, mounted in succession the royal throne of Madura, like the (sun) mounting in the morning, with his rays crimson, the divine chariot with the single wheel, yoked to seven horses with tiny bells attached to its necks. May the king of our land live for all time protecting the world from aeon to aeon; live he in fame.”

 

Thus, from the Brahmin Matalan we come to know the fate of cowherdess Matari, Jain woman saint Kavunti, Courtesan Matavi, Parents of Kannaki and Kovlan and the human sacrifice of 1000 goldsmiths.

 

Silappadikaram Story:–

 

Silappathikaram is the earliest among the available Tamil epics. It was written by a poet cum prince Ilango. The story of the epic is as follows:-

Kannaki and Kovalan were the daughter and son of wealthy merchants of the port city Kaveri Pumpattinam of Choza kingdom . Both of them were married  and before long Kovalan fell into the spell of courtesan Matavi. But Kannaki was a faithful wife and received Kovalan wholeheartedly when he came back to her. They wanted to start a new life away from their home town and so they travelled to the renowned city of the Pandyas, Madurai.

 

Kannaki came to Madurai along with her husband Kovalan to sell her anklet and start a new life. But, her husband was unjustly accused of stealing the anklet of the Queen by a GOLDSMITH and was killed under the orders of the Pandya King. To prove the innocence of her husband, and expose the heinous crime of the Great Pandya King, Kannaki went to his court with one of her anklets. She accused the Pandya King of having ordered the death of her husband without conducting proper trial. The Pandya Queen’s anklet had pearls whereas the anklet of Kannaki had gems inside. She broke her anklet in the presence of the king and proved that her husband Kovalan was not guilty. Immediately Pandya King and Queen died, probably of massive heart attack.

Image of Kannaki and Kovalan

Afterwards Kannaki burnt the city by twisting one off her breasts and throwing it in the streets of Madurai City , Capital of the Pandya Kingdom, sparing the elderly, invalids, children, Brahmins and women. In other words, all the bad people were burnt alive. Later she went to Chera Nadu (present Kerala in South India) and ascended to Heaven in the Pushpaka Vimana/ pilotless airplane, that came from the Heaven. When the Chera King Senguttuvan heard about it from the forest tribes who witnessed her ascension, he decided to go to Holy Himalayas to take a stone and bathe it in the holy Ganges and then carve a statue out of it for Kannaki. King Senguttuvan’s brother Ilango composed the Silappadikaram giving all the details about the chaste woman/Patni Kannaki. Though the incidents happened in the second century CE, the epic in its current form is from the fourth or fifth century CE (Post Sangam Period).

–Subham–

 

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by Tamil and Vedas on April 15, 2017  •  Permalink
Posted in சிலப்பதிகாரம், தமிழ், தமிழ் பண்பாடு, History, Tamil, Tamil Literature
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Posted by Tamil and Vedas on April 15, 2017

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Water Images in Kalidasa and Tamil Sangam Literature (Post No.3793)

Written by London swaminathan

 

Date: 6 APRIL 2017

 

Time uploaded in London:- 18-09

 

Post No. 3793

 

Pictures are taken from various sources; thanks.

 

contact; swami_48@yahoo.com

 

 

Great men think alike. Kalidasa, the most famous poet of India and a Sangam Tamil poet Sempulapeyarnirar use the water image in a beautiful way.

 

Kalidasa in Raghuvamsa says,

 

Water from the sky which is originally of one taste gains diversity of flavours in different regions. Similarly, Hari, being immutable assumes different conditions in different qualities (RV 10-17). The image gives the idea of monism.

 

Sempulap peyal nirar, Tamil poet who lived nearly 2000 years ago, says in Kuruntokai (verse 40):

 

“What are my mother and your mother to each other?

What is the relationship between my father and your father?

How did we come to know each other?

Like the (rain) water which falls on a field with red soil,

(mingle with it and becomes red)

the loving hearts have blended with each other.

 

Kalidasa used it illustrate monism; Tamil poet used it to illustrate the union of hearts.

 

(I have been emphasizing through several articles that Kalidasa lived before the Sangam age, probably around 1st century BCE. I am using 250 plus similes of Sangam poets to illustrate my point and those similes are already in Kalidasa’s seven works).

In the Kumara sambhava (2-25), he says that “the speed of the Wind Gods Maruts can be guessed from their faltering motion as is the stoppage of their current from the refulgence of waters.

 

As the sprouting of a seed requires water before it can make its appearance, similarly, the work of gods can be accomplished by the Cupid in diverting the mind of Siva from meditation towards Parvati (K.S.3-18)

 

Siva, on account of suspension of the vital airs is imagined to be a reservoir of water unruffled with ripples, a cloud not blustering up to burst into a shower, or like a lamp steady in a place free from wind (K.S.3-48)

 

Cupid who died leaving Rati whose very life depends upon him, is imagined as the torrent of water abandoning a lotus after breaking down a dam (K.S. 4-6)

 

The mind already firmly resolute and bent on its desired object cannot be diverted and is so imagined to be like downward flowing water which cannot be drawn back (K S 5-5). So Menaka’s advice to Parvati whose mind already leaned to Siva went amiss.

 

 

Seeing the moon-like face of Parvati, Siva had the water of his mind rendered clear (K S 7-74).

Water is always cool; seers are always kind!

 

In the Raghuvamsa (RV 5-54) Matanga cursed Pri yamvada to turn into an elephant. He fell at his feet and the sage relented afterwards. The hotness of water is due to its contact with the fire or the solar heat; what is coolness is but the natural property of water. This indicates that abut is the sage was kind-hearted.

 

स चानुनीतः प्रणतेन पश्चान्मया महर्षिर्मृदुतामगच्छत्|
उष्णत्वमग्न्यातपसंप्रयोगाच्छैत्यं हि यत्सा प्रकृतिर्जलस्य॥ ५-५४

sa cānunītaḥ praṇatena paścānmayā maharṣirmṛdutāmagacchat
uṣṇatvamagnyātapasaṁprayogācchaityaṁ hi yatsā prakṛtirjalasya || 5-54

“But, when I prostrated before his feet and importuned that great sage matanga relented to modify the curse as above… for the heat of water is owing to its contact with either fire or solar heat… what is coolness is but the natural property of water… isn’t it… [5-54]

 

 

The Sanskrit poets describe navel as a mark of beauty and it therefore, compared to the watery eddy (RV 6-52)

नृपम् तमावर्तमनोज्ञनाभिः सा व्यत्यगादन्यवधूर्भवित्री|
महीधरम् मार्गवशादुपेतम् स्रोतोवहा सागरगामिनीव॥ ६-५२

nṛpam tamāvartamanojñanābhiḥ sā vyatyagādanyavadhūrbhavitrī |

mahīdharam mārgavaśādupetam srotovahā sāgaragāminīva || 6-52

She who has a navel as beautiful as an eddy, and who is scheduled to become another man’s wife, that princess indumati moved past that prince susheNa of shUrasena kingdom, just as an ocean bound river moves past a mountain met by chance on its way. [6-52]

 

 

 

The family of Raghu with the child King comparable to the water with a lotus in the condition of a bud in it (RV 18-37). This indicates the tender and lovely heart of King Sudarsana.

 

नवेन्दुना तन्नभसोपमेयम्
शाबैकसिंहेन च काननेन।
रघोः कुलम् कुट्मलपुष्करेण
तोयेन चाप्रौढनरेन्द्रमासीत्॥ १८-३७

navendunā tannabhasopameyam
śābaikasiṁhena ca kānanena |
raghoḥ kulam kuṭmalapuṣkareṇa
toyena cāprauḍhanarendramāsīt || 18-37

 

That dynasty of Raghu with this young king sudarshana obtained similitude to the sky with new moon, a forest with a single lion-cub, and a lake with solitary bud of lotus. [18-37]

 

Thus Raghu’s line, whose chief was now a child,/Showed like the night while still the Moon is young,/Or like a forest where one Lion-cub/Alone doth range, or as a silent lake/Before its lilies bloom.

 

 

In the Malavikagnimitram (M.M.1-6), the skill of teacher which when communicated to a worthy student, attains greater excellence, is likened to the water of a cloud, which when dropped into a sea-shell, acquires the nature of a pearl.

 

Just as a stupid person becomes wise by association with the wise, similarly, the turbid water becomes clear by contact with the purifying fruit of the Kataka tree (M M 2—7)

 

(Rain drops falling on the day of Swati star becoming pearl in the oysters and the Kataka seed purifying water are used by Tamil poets as well; I have written about it already).

 

Source books :–Kuruntokai

Raghuvamsa.sansrit documents.com

The Imagery of Kalidasa by Dr Mrs Vinod Aggarwal

xxx

My Old articles on the same subject:

1.Kalidasa’s simile in Tamil ‘Kalitokai’ about Water Purification! (Post No.3775); posted on 31 March 2017

2. Women and Rivers in Kalidasa and Tamil literature; posted on 10 November 2014
3. Kalidasa’s age: Tamil works confirm 1st century BC. Posted on 22 January 2012
4. Nature’s Orchestra in the Forest: Sanskrit Tamil Poets’ Chorus (Post No. 3489); 27 December 2016
5. Pearls in the Vedas and Tamil Literature

Posted on Post No. 1048 ; dated 17th May 2014.

  1. Gem Stones in Kalidasa and Tamil Literature (13 February 2012)

 

–Subham–

 

 

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by Tamil and Vedas on April 6, 2017  •  Permalink
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Husband is God!!! Who will believe Valmiki, Kalidasa and Sangam Tamil Poets? (Post No.3717)

Written by London swaminathan

 

Date: 12 March 2017

 

Time uploaded in London:- 19-37

 

Post No. 3717

 

Pictures are taken from various sources; thanks.

 

contact; swami_48@yahoo.com

 

 

There is a saying in all old Sanskrit and Tamil books that ‘Husband is God’; I don’t know how many modern Hindu women would agree with this ‘old fashioned’ thought. When I was a school by there was, a film titled ‘Kanavane Kankanda Deivam’ i.e. Husband is the visible God! Now people may laugh at this idea, leave alone believing it!

 

The second idea repeated very often in 2000 year old Sangam Tamil Literature and Sanskrit literature is that the ‘same husband must come as her husband in future births’!! How many women would dare to say this to her husband in private or in public? How many women can tolerate such a thing if it happens!! Is in it horrible?

 

My mother had never said my father’s name in public! This is the third old fashioned idea that Hindu women had in the past. Now, my wife says my name loud and clear ten times in public when there was an opportunity to say it. But I myself had the difficulty of finding a gentleman’s’ name in a village, when I was working as the secretary of Madurai District RSS (Jilla Karyavah). The woman refused to say her husband’s name when I asked her and she gave me lot of tips and clues! It was like a puzzle I had to solve!

 

For instance if her husband’s name is Rama chandran, she would say her husband’s name is Sita’s husband name. If I say just Rama , then she will say ‘yes’ and add the moon with that name! Then I have to derive Rama Chandra from that! (Chandran is the Sanskrit word for moon)!

 

I don’t know how many Hindu women still believe in these ‘’old fashioned’’ views.

 

If you dare to put these views to any woman and ask her opinion, she may say ‘NO’ or a conditional YES (if my husband is like Rama, ‘YES’, if he is like Krishna ‘NO’)!

 

Let me give examples from Tamil and Sanskrit books:-

“Supressing his sobs, Rama replied to his mother, who was weeping, and said:- As long as sge lives, a woman’s god and her master is her husband; further the king is thine absolute lord as well as mine.”

 

This is a conversation between Rama and Kausalya about Kaikeyi and Dasaratha.

 

“By obedience to her husband, a woman attains the highest heaven, even if she has failed to render due homage to the Gods.”

 

–Ayodhya kanda, chapter 24, Vlmiki Ramayana

Tamil Poet supports Valmiki

Tiruvalluvar, author of Tamil Veda, Tirukkural says

“A wife who may not worship God but wakes up with worshipful devotion to her husband has the power to make rainfall at her bidding”- Kural 55

 

In fact Tiruvalluvar’s wife Vasuki is attributed with so many miracles because of her devotion to her husband.

 

Valmiki has repeated this in many places; one more instance from the same Ayodhya kanda:

“O, son of an illustrious monarch! a father, a mother, a brother, a son or a daughter-in-law enjoy the fruit of their merits and receive what is their due, a wife alone follows the destiny of her husband. For a woman it is not her father or her son nor her mother friends nor her own self, but the husband who in this world and the next is ever her sole means of salvation.”

Sita said this to her husband Rama.

In Kalidasa’s Raghuvamsa Kavya, Sita says that she would do penance to get Rama as her husband in her next birth!

साहम् तपः सूर्यनिविष्टदृष्टिः
ऊर्ध्वम् प्रसूतेश्चरितुम् यतिष्ये।
भूयो यथा मे जननान्तरेऽपि
त्वमेव भर्ता न च विप्रयोगः ॥ १४-६६

sāham tapaḥ sūryaniviṣṭadṛṣṭiḥ
ūrdhvam prasūteścaritum yatiṣye |
bhūyo yathā me jananāntare’pi
tvameva bhartā na ca viprayogaḥ  || 14-66

 

Thus situated, I shall, after the birth of the child, endeavour to practise penance with my eyes fixed on the sun in such a manner that I may gain you as my unseparated husband. [14-66]

But, once Thy son is born,/Unswerving I shall fix my weary eyes/On yon bright Sun, and by severest modes/Of penance strive that in some future life/Thou only be my Lord, my Lord for aye!

(It is called Panchagni penance, i.e. Five Fire Penance. Uma did this type of penance to get Siva s her husband in Kalidasa’s Kumara sambhava. On four sides there will be fire and one would stand in the sun which is the fifth fire. And in this heat the penance would be done).

 

Tamil Epic Silappadikaram has the following passage:

 

In a divine chariot at the side of Kovalan, Kannnaki went up to heaven.. Because it is a fact that Gods will worship her who worships not God but worships her husband, Kannaki, that jewel among women of the earth, became a goddess and the guest of the ladies of heaven (Katturai Kaathai, Silappadikaram)

Manimekalai, another Tamil epic, has a similar passage.

Sangam Poets

 

Tamil work Kuruntokai (49) of Sangam Period has a similar poem:

A man left the courtesan and returned to his lady love. Immediately the lady was over the moon and said, “ O , My Lord, even in the next birth you must be my lord and I must be your lover.—Poet Ammuvanar.

A wife cried because…………………………..

Tiruvalluvar, author of the Tamil Veda Tirukkura says,

“The moment I said we will not part IN THIS LIFE

Her eyes were filled with tears” – Kural 1315

 

the idea is that when her husband stated that they will not part in the PRESENT LIFE, she immediately held, that he was envisaging the possibility of their parting in the next life, which she did not kindly take to. Hence the tears.

 

Kalidasa says Aja and Indumati became husband and wife again in this birth. (Raghuvamsa 7-15)

 

रतिस्मरौ नूनमिमावभूताम् राज्ञाम् सहस्रेषु तथा हि बाला।
गतेयमात्मप्रतिरूपमेव मनो हि जन्मान्तरसंगतिज्ञम्॥ ७-१५

ratismarau nūnamimāvabhūtām
rājñām sahasreṣu tathā hi bālā |
gateyamātmapratirūpameva
mano hi janmāntarasaṁgatijñam || 7-15

“These two are undoubtedly Rati Devi and Manmatha in human form… that is why this maiden has chosen Prince Aja as her own match from among thousands of kings… after all, it is heart that cognises connubial tie-ups existing in all lifecycles… [ raghu vamsa 7-15]

 

Natrinai  (Verse 397 by Poet Ammuvanar) is another book in the Sangam literature. A woman laments: I am not worried about death; whoever is born must die. But if I am born as a non-human being in my next birth I may not get this man as my husband. That is what worries me much”.

There are lot of such examples in Tamil and Sanskrit literature. This is a common thought reflected in Manu Smrti and other Sanskrit works. It is amazing to see the same though from land’s southernmost end to the Northern Himalayas. The absence of such a view in other cultures explode the Aryan Dravidian divisions. India is one and there is no different culture. There is only one culture which is unique in the world.

 

–Subham–

 

 

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by Tamil and Vedas on March 12, 2017  •  Permalink
Posted in Sanskrit Literature, Tamil Literature, woman, Women
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Father in Sanskrit and Tamil Literature (Post No 3690)

Picture of Tiruvalluvar

 

Written by London swaminathan

 

Date: 4 March 2017

 

Time uploaded in London:- 15-20

 

Post No. 3690

 

Pictures are taken from various sources; thanks.

 

contact; swami_48@yahoo.com

 

In the Atharva Veda (3-30):-

“The union of hearts and minds

and freedom from hate I will bring you

Love one another as the cow

loves the calf that she has borne.

 

Let son be loyal to father

and of one mind with his mother;

let wife speak to husband words

that are honey-sweet and gentle.

 

Let not a brother hate a brother,

nor a sister hate a sister

unanimous, united in aims

speak you words with friendliness

 

I will make the prayer for that

concord among men at home

by which Devas do not separate,

nor ever hate one another”.

–Atharva Veda 3-30

 

Hindus consider Mother, Father and Teacher as Gods:

Mata, Pita, Guru (Teacher), Deivam

Linguists know that the English words Mother, Father, Teacher and Deity came from these Sanskrit words.

There is another interpretation for the above Sanskrit quote. Respect is given to in the following order; mother, father, teacher and god.

 

All the saints have praised god as Mother and Father. So they knew that no one else can excel their love and affection. I have given below some similes and verses about father in Sanskrit and Tamil literature.

 

Tamil Veda Tirukkural says:

What a father is expected to do his son is to make him fit to hold the foremost pace among the learned (Kural 67)

The duty of the son to the father is to make others exclaim “ what penance has he done to be blessed with such a worthy son.”

 

Tiruvalluvar, author of the Tamil Veda Tirukkural knew about the penance domne by the parents of Adi Shankara and Markandeya.

 

Picture of Agastya

In the Rig Veda

Several passages in the Rig Veda show father as a standard of affection. The Vedic seers implore the fire god to be of easy access as a father is to his son

sa nah pite’va suunave agne suupaayano bhava RV 1-1-9

 

Vyusitaasva protects all the castes as a father protects his own sons:apaalayat sarvavarnaan pitaa putraan ivau rasaan –Mahabharata 1-112-13;1-110-11; 3-3-5

 

Yudhisthira going into exile into the forest is described as abandoning his subjects like a father abandoning his sons:

pite’vaputraan apahaaya caa smaan. Mbh 3-24-9

 

Sometimes, paternal affection takes the shape of advice, e.g. like a father instructing his sons, Matali instructs the Pandavas and goes away:

pite’va putraan anusisya cai’naan.Mbh 3-161-25

 

Arjuna implores Lord Krishna to pardon his faults as a father pardons those of a son, a friend those of a friend, a lover those of his beloved:

pite’va putrasya sakhe’va sakhyh priyah priyaayaa rhasi deva sodhum.Mbh 6-33-44

 

as a father lifts his fallen son, so does the minister lift the fallen king Samvarana who is unable to bear his beloved Tapati’s sudden disappearance:

tam samutthaapayaam aasa .. pite’va patitam sutam.Mbh 1-162-5

 

Bhisma embraces Karna by one arm as a father embraces his son:

pite’va putram gaangeyah parisvajyai ‘kabaahunaa.6-117-7

 

Damayanti, lamenting, accuses the Himalaya of not consoling her with its voice as a father consoles his distressed daughter:

giraa naasvaasayasy adya svaam sutaam iva duhkhitaam. 3-61-52

from very childhood, Parasara, the grandson treats vasistha as his father:

janmaprabhri tasmims ca pitarii’va

vyavartata. Mbh 1-169-4; 3-24-7

Picture of Tamil Poet Tiruvalluvar

 

In Kalidasa:-

In the Raghu Vamsa by reason of his protecting and maintaining the subjects, he was virtually their father. Their real fathers were merely the source of their birth.

Raghuvamsa 1-24

Vasistha blesses Dilipa, “May you stand like your father, at the head of those who are blessed with worthy sons”. RV 1-91

 

Again, the great sage Kautsa blesses Raghu, “May you obtain a son wothy of your excellence as your father obtained yourpraiseworthy self”

Raghuvamsa 5-34

 

Just as King Pundarika was the father with an excellent son Devanika, who was ready to please his father, similarly, the son had an excellent father by reason of loving his son. The image suggests the perennial affection between the father and son. Raghuvamsa 18-11; 17-2

 

Also read my previous article:

 

Ruler is Father and Mother: Hindu Concept in Tamil … – Tamil and Vedas

https://tamilandvedas.com/…/ruler-is-father-and-mother-hindu-con…

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11 Feb 2017 – Hindus considered the Rulers as their father and mother. Generally, Guru and God are praised as father and mother by the Hindus in their …

 

–Subham–

 

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by Tamil and Vedas on March 4, 2017  •  Permalink
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Lord Shiva’s Sandals on the Head of a Tamil King! (Post No.3663)

Written by London swaminathan

 

Date: 23 FEBRUARY 2017

 

Time uploaded in London:- 9-59 am

 

Post No. 3663

 

Pictures are taken from various sources; thanks.

 

contact; swami_48@yahoo.com

 

 

Silappathikaram is the earliest among the available Tamil epics. It was written by a poet cum prince Ilango. The story of the epic is as follows:-

 

Kannaki came to Madurai along with her husband Kovalan to sell her anklet and start a new life. But, her husband was unjustly accused of stealing the anklet of the Queen and was killed under the orders of the King. To prove the innocence of her husband, and expose the heinous crime of the Great Pandya King, Kannaki went to his court with one of her anklets. She accused the Pandya King of having ordered the death of her husband without conducting proper trial. The Pandya Queen’s anklet had pearls whereas the anklet of Kannaki had gems inside. She broke her anklet in the presence of the king and proved that her husband Kovalan was not guilty. Immediately Pandya King and Queen died, probably of massive heart attack.

 

Afterwards Kannaki burnt the city by twisting one off her breasts and throwing it in the streets of  Madurai City , Capital of the Pandya Kingdom, sparing the elderly, invalids, children, Brahmins and women. In other words, all the bad people were burnt alive. Later she went to Chera Nadu (present Kerala in South India) and ascended to Heaven in the Pushpaka Vimana that came from the Heaven. When the Chera King Senguttuvan heard about it from the forest tribes who witnessed her ascension, he decided to go to Holy Himalayas to take a stone and bathe it in the holy Ganges and then carve a statue out of it for Kannaki. King Senguttuvan’s brother Ilango composed the Silappadikaram. Though the incidents happened in the second century CE, the epic in its current form is from the fourth or fifth century CE (Post Sangam Period).

Kannaki is worshipped in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka as the Goddess of Chastity. Of the five Tamil epics, Silappadikaram (Cilappadikaram) is the most popular one. Chera King Senguttuvan was very powerful and he defeated the sea pirates and the Romans in the West coast of India. He was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. Just before leaving for the Himalayan Mountains, he went around the Shiva Temple with the sandals of Lord Shiva on his head. Later when the priests from the nearby Vishnu temple brought ‘prasadam’, he placed them on his shoulders. When he completed the Himalayan journey successfully and erected a statue for Kannaki, all the powerful North Indian Kings and Gajabahu of Sri Lanka were invited to see the consecration of the statue. A Brahmin by name Madalan figured in the epic from the very beginning. At the end, he blessed the king to live for eons, i.e. his name and fame will live for thousands of years. Madalan also praised him as a great devotee of Lord Shiva.

 

Let us look at the description of his devotion to Lord Shiva in the words of great poet Ilango:–

 

“The sovereign lord of the sharp sword, decorated his crown of gems with Vanci blossoms form the unflowering Vanci when the morning drum sounded at the gate, announcing the time for other kings of the earth, to pay their tributes. With the vicorious Vanci wreath were worn THE SANDALS OF THE GREAT GOD IN WHOSE FORM THE WHOLE UNIVERSE MANIFESTS ITSELF (SIVA), AND WHO WEARS THE CESCET MOON IN HIS LONG, DARK MATTED HAIR; AND HAVING LAID THE HEAD THAT BOWED TO NONE ELSE AT HIS HOLY SHRINE, HE CIRCUMAMBUATED IT. The sweet fumes from the sacrificial fires offered by the Vedic Brahmins deprived his garlands of its luxurious colour. He then mounted the nape of his proud war elephant.

There appeared before him some persons bearing the pracaatam pf the Lord Vishnu who slumbers in a yogic trance at Aatakamaatam and addressed him with benedictory words: May success attend on Kuttuvan, the Lord of the West! Since the king already placed on his crown of gems the beautiful sandals of the Lord whose matted hair bears the Ganga, he received this pracaatam and carried on his fair, bejewelled shoulders.”

–from Kalkot Katai, Cilappatikaram, Translated by Prof.V R Ramachandra Dikshitar, 1939

This shows that Senguttuvan was a follower of orthodox religion which consisted in the worship of Siva and Vishnu.

Aatakamaatam is identified with the Padmanabhaswamy temple of Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum). Some scholars thing it was another temple at Karur, which was known as Vanchi in the olden days.

 

There are numerous references to Lord Shiva in the epic. Siva’s dances and Siva’s temples are referred to in other sections.

 

Here is what the great Brahmin Madalan said in his blessings:

“It is not strange that people who do good things attain heaven and people who have worldly minds are reborn, and that good and bad deeds have their own reward and those dead should be reborn. Those are ancient truths. You who were born through the grace of HIM WHO RIDES ON THE SACRED BULL and have won distinction as king in the wide world, saw clear as an object held in the palm of your hand, the fruits of righteous deeds and the forms of holy people. Live long from aeon to aeon protecting the earth! Live long, gracious monarch.”

 

“Please with what the Brahmin Matalan said, the king endowed grants to the temple of the very youthful Pattini (Chaste woman) who twisted off her breast and there by raised flames which enveloped the noisy Kuutal (Madurai’s other name) of the great Pantiyan Kingdom, much celebrated in poetical themes.”

 

Silapadikaram has innumerable references to Hindu customs. Commentator Adiayrkkunallar has added encyclopaedic information about ancient Tamil Nadu.

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–Subahm–

 

 

 

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Why did Mother Earth Cry? Sangam Tamils and Valmiki explain! (Post No.3627)

Written by London swaminathan

 

Date: 11 FEBRUARY 2017

 

Time uploaded in London:- 13-25

 

Post No. 3627

 

 

Pictures are taken from various sources; thanks.

 

 

contact; swami_48@yahoo.com

 

 

Sangam Tamil literature has got many poets with Sanskrit names such as Valmiki, Damodraran, Kesavan, Rudraksha, Kamakshi, Markanedyan etc. Most of the poems in Purananuru, oldest part of Sangam Tamil Literature, is full of Hindu themes, stories, similes, imageries, thoughts and views. In fact, there is no poem without one of these ideas. over 20 poets have Nagan as suffix in their names! This explodes the Aryan-Dravidian Racist theories.

 

There is a very interesting poem sung by Marakandeyanar (verse 365); when he was explaining the instability of the world, he said that the Mother Earth cried saying that she was like a courtesan; all the kings come and ‘enjoy’ her and go. one wouldn’t understand the meaning of this poem unless one reads Valamiki Ramayana.

 

The story of Mother Earth is in 36th Chapter of Bala Kanda in Ramayana:

 

Vishvamitra narrated the Story of Uma to Rama and Lakshmana. In the ancient times, Mahadeva married Uma and spent his time happily. But the Devas were worried that they had no issue for a long time. Devas wanted a powerful youth to get rid of the Asuras/demons. So they went to Shiva’s abode under the leadership of Brahma and told him their concern. Then Lord Shiva shed his semen which fell on earth. It covered the hills and forests. When the earth could bear no more, Devas asked the fire god Agni and Wind god Vayu to take it. They created a mountain called Shveta and a forest called Shara. Kartikeya was born from this Shara Vana (Vana= forest).

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Though all the Devas were happy, Uma wan’t. Since she was bypassed in this matter she cursed Devas that they would remain childless. She cursed Mother Earth for accepting Shiva’s seeds, that she would never bear a son, but would have countless masters (Kings). This is the reason for Mother Earth’s crying.

 

Earth is considered Mother in Tamil and Sanskrit literature. Greeks borrowed this idea from the Hindus. The poet in the verse used other Puranic imageries such as Sun and Moon as eyes, sky as face, Diamond tool etc.

 

–Subham–

 

 

 

 

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Ruler is Father and Mother: Hindu Concept in Tamil and Sanskrit Literature! (Post No.3626)

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Written by London swaminathan

 

Date: 11 FEBRUARY 2017

 

Time uploaded in London:- 8-22 am

 

Post No. 3626

 

 

Pictures are taken from various sources; thanks.

 

 

contact; swami_48@yahoo.com

 

 

Hindus considered the Rulers as their father and mother. Generally, Guru and God are praised as father and mother by the Hindus in their hymns. But considering a ruler as a close relative is unique to Tamil and Sanskrit literature. Such a concept existed in ancient India at least 2000 years ago! We have got evidence for this in Tamil and Sanskrit literature. Though we have numerous references I will just give some proofs from both the literatures.

 

Following slokas (couplets) are from Raghuvamsa of Kalidasa (Source:sanskritdocuments.org)

 

प्रजानां विनयाधानाद्रक्षणाद्भरणादपि।
स पिता पितरस्तासां केवलं जन्महेतवः॥ १-२४

prajānāṁ vinayādhānādrakṣaṇādbharaṇādapi |
sa pitā pitarastāsāṁ kevalaṁ janmahetavaḥ || 1-24

 

 

Orienting his subjects in good conduct, protecting them from fears or dangers, according succour with welfare facilities, king DilIpa became their de facto father while their actual parents remained parents de jure. [1-24]

 

 

भूतानुकम्पा तव चेदियं गौरेका भवेत्स्वस्तिमती त्वदन्ते।
जीवन्पुनः शश्वदुपप्लवेभ्यः प्रजाः प्रजानाथ पितेव पासि॥ २-४८

bhūtānukampā tava cediyaṁ gaurekā bhavetsvastimatī tvadante|
jīvanpunaḥ śaśvadupaplavebhyaḥ prajāḥ prajānātha piteva pāsi || 2-48

“If, however, this be thy compassion for living beings, this cow will be the single one rendered happy by your death: on the other hand if alive, oh thou refuge of the people, thou canst like a father always guard thy subjects from calamities…  [2-48]

 

तेनार्थवान् लोभपराङ्मुखेन
तेन घ्नता विघ्नभयम् क्रियावान्।
तेनास लोकः पितृमान्विनेत्रा
तेनैव शोकापनुदेव पुत्री ॥ १४-२३

tenārthavān lobhaparāṅmukhena
tena ghnatā vighnabhayam kriyāvān |
tenāsa lokaḥ pitṛmānvinetrā
tenaiva śokāpanudeva putrī  || 14-23

 

On account of his being disinclined to avarice, his subjects became rich; on account of his removing the fear of obstacles they carried on their religious ceremonies; on account of his being their leader they had a father in him; and on account of all grief being removed by him they were, as if, blessed with a good son. [14-23]

2949d-indore2bmaharaja

In Sakuntalam drama of Kalidasa:

 

Chamberlain:

“Here is His Majesty

Wearined caring for his subjects

as if they were his own children” (5-3)

 

King

On the other hand, what does it matter whether there is an heir or not;

Proclaim thus to my subjects; Whosoever

suffers the loss of one dearly loved

shall find in Dudhyanta one to take his place

in all relations deemed lawful and holy (7-25)

 

Kautilya in his Arthasastra also says the same (4-3; 7-16)

 

 

MANU SMRTI says

  1. Having ascertained his learning in the Veda and (the purity of) his conduct, the king shall provide for him means of subsistence in accordance with the sacred law, and shall protect him in every way, as a father (protects) the lawful son of his body.

 

 

TAMIL INSCRIPTIONS AND LITERATURE

 

We find the same lines in a Tamil inscription of Raja Raja II

“Father for those who have no fathers, Mother for those who lost mothers

Sons for those who have no issues, life of all the living beings”

 

SANGAM LITERATURE

 

Mankudi kizar (verse 396) says that the ruler Vataatru Eziniyaathan is the relative of every citizen who has no relations.

 

“Most quoted Tamil verse in Purananuru (192) of Kaniyan Punkundran says

Every town is my home town; everyone is my kinsman”

 

Nari Veruuththalaiyar (verse 5) praises the king as father and his subjects as his children.

 

Marudan Ilangan (Kalitokai verse 99) praises the king as Mother to everyone.

 

Mosikeeranaar of verse 186 (Purananuru) says that the world depends upon the king for everything.

 

Another strange coincidence is the word for people in Tamil and Sanskrit are Makkal and Prajaah respectively. Both meant people and children both the languages!

 

 

All these references show that Ancient India had one culture and all the arguments that Aryans and Dravidians came to India from outside are false.

 

 

 

–Subham–

 

 

 

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Who is a Poet? Hundreds of Definitions! All are beautiful! (Post No.3619)

Written by S NAGARAJAN

 

Date: 9 February 2017

 

Time uploaded in London:-  5-13 am

 

 

Post No.3619

 

 

Pictures are taken from different sources; thanks.

 

contact: swami_48@yahoo.com

 

by Santhanam Nagarajan

 

Who is a Poet? If you want to know, there are hundreds of definitions. Also you may find a number of explanations regarding their works, attitudes and poetic imaginations.

 

The great Tamil poet Kamban says a poem must have three qualities. First it must have brightness. Brightness to drive away the darkness from the heart of the reader and he must be enlightened. Second it must have a lucid style with beautiful words attracting the reciter. And by its contents and meaning it must take the reader to a new height. He must float in the seventh heaven!

Another Tamil Poet Desikavinayakam Pillai says, any poem should come from the heart. It should take a pleasurable form. And in a lucid style it must have beautiful Tamil words. G.Bottomly agrees with this view saying that poetry is founded on the hearts of man.

 

The great poet Subramanya Bharathiyar says his profession is ‘Poem’. And he wants to flood the nation with his poems without wasting even a second to elevate all the blind who are, sleeping closing their eyes, mind and heart, not able to love their Motherland.

 

According the Emerson, The poet is not any permissive potentate, but is emperor in his own right. He also says there was never poet who had not the heart in the right place.

Whatever comes from their heart that is very valuable. Plato gives the reason for this. Plato says that Poets utter great and wise things which they do not themselves understand.

 

Shelley declares that the Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.

Dillon says that True poets are the guardians of the state.

 

Thomas Carlyle opines that Poet is a heroic figure belonging to all ages. J.E.Flecker says that the poet’s business is not to save the soul of man but to make it worth saving.

Emerson gives a glorious tribute to all the poets saying that Poets are liberating Gods and the poets who have lives in cities have been hermits still.

 

When Isaak says that a poet is the painter of the soul, E.H.Charpin declares that the true poet is very near the oracle.

Great poets inspired their people by their songs. Bankim Chandra Chattobadyaya’s poem ‘Vandematharam’ echoed every nook and corner of India. All the thirty crore Indians united together opposed British rule singing this song. They got their freedom also.

 

Wordsworth did not know at first what would the poem ‘Daffodils’ bring to him. But later on he realized that ‘For oft when on my couch I lie, In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye, Which is the bliss of solitude, And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the Daffodils’.

 

Oh! The pleasure a poem brings to us is incomparable and could not be even equated to the pleasures of heaven!

****

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Number Seven in Kalidasa and Kamba Ramayana! (Post No 3615)

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Written by London swaminathan

 

Date: 7 FEBRUARY 2017

 

Time uploaded in London:- 18-51

 

Post No. 3615

 

 

Pictures are taken from different sources; thanks.

 

 

contact; swami_48@yahoo.com

 

 

I have already explained the significance of Number 7 in my two articles as given in the Vedas, Indus valley Seals and verses of Vaishnavite saints known as Alvars. Please read the details in the following two articles:

1).Mystic No.7 in Music!! posted on 13th April 2014

2).Number Seven: Rig Vedic link to Indus Culture, posted on 21 November 2014

 

Now let us look at some verses of Kalidasa and Kamban. Kamban wrote the Ramayana in Tamil.

 

Kalidasa says in the Tenth sarga (Chapter) of Raghuvamsa Kavya; it is in praise of Lord Vishnu:-

 

सप्तसामोपगीतम् त्वाम् सप्तार्णवजलेशयम्।
सप्तार्चिमुखमाचख्युः सप्तलोकैकसम्श्रयम्॥ १०-२१

saptasāmopagītam tvām saptārṇavajaleśayam।
saptārcimukhamācakhyuḥ saptalokaikasamśrayam || 10-21

 

They have praised Thee who hast been glorified by seven hymns; a recliner on the waters of seven seas; having seven-flames for thy mouth and as a Being the only support of the seven worlds… [10-21]

 

The seven hymns: gAyatra, rathantara, vAmadevya, bR^ihatsAma, vairUpa, vairAja, shakvarI.

 

Seven seas: lavaNa, ikshu, surA, sarpis, dadhi, kshIra, jala – sAgarAH.

 

Seven tongues of fire: karAli, dhUmini, shveta, lohita, nIla-lohita,

suvarNa, padma-rAga – through which offertories are received in Vedic-rituals.

Seven worlds: bhU, bhuvar, suvar, maharloka, jana, tapo, satya – lokAH.

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Valmiki’s Description of Seven Trees Test

 

Valmiki briefly describes how Rama pierced the Seven Trees:-

 

“Hearing Sugriva’s gracious speech, Rama, in order to inspire him with confidence, took up his bow and a formidable arrow, and taking him, pierced the Sala trees, filling the firmament with the sound”.

“Loosed by that mighty warrior, the arrow, decorated with gold, passed through the seven Sala trees and entering the mountain, buried itself in the earth. In the twinkling of an eye that shaft with the speed of lightening, having pierced the seven trees with extreme velocity, returned to Rama’s quiver”.

Chapter 12 of Kishkinda Kanda of Valmiki.

(I have already explained in another article that Hindus were the inventors of Boomerang. Krishna’s Sudarsana chakra and Rama’s arrows come back after hitting the target. They were scientifically designed to come back to its original position. They were angled like boomerangs of Australian aborigines.)

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Kamba Ramayana in Tamil

Kamban has some beautiful imagination in Kishkinda Kanda. His imagination runs riot:-

 

“Rama’s arrow pierced the seven trees then went through the seven worlds underneath. Since there was nothing with the suffix number seven under the earth it came back to Rama. If it sees anything with SEVEN, it will definitely pierce them; it would not leave them”

 

“Seven seas, seven ascetics (Sapta Rsis), seven worlds above the earth, seven mountains, seven horses in the Chariot of Lord Sun, Seven Virgins (sapta mata) – all these were shivering and shaking because they all had seven as a suffix in their names!”

 

“But yet they calmed themselves saying that Rama is the embodiment of Righteousness; so he wouldn’t harm us.”

 

—from Kamba Ramayana

 

Hindus believed that Seven is the most sacred number. So they have classified the seas, mountains, upper worlds, lower worlds, ascetics, virgins, clouds and many more things into  groups of seven.

Source: Valmiki Ramayana by Hariprasad Shastri

Raghuvamsa: Sanskritdocuments.org

–subham–

 

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Sirisam and Anicham flowers in Tamil and Sanskrit literature (Post No.3599)

Written by London swaminathan

 

Date: 2 FEBRUARY 2017

 

Time uploaded in London:-  6-26 am

 

Post No. 3599

 

 

Pictures are taken from different sources; thanks.

 

 

contact; swami_48@yahoo.com

 

 

Sirisham is the softest flower in Sanskrit literature. We see girls named after as Sirisha. In Tamil Sangam and post Sangam literature Anicham is the softest flower. My research shows that both the flowers are one and the same.

 

In the Kumarasambhava, Kalidasa compared the arms of Parvati to the delicate Sirisa flower. The arms of Parvati are imagined to be more delicate than even the Sirisa flower– KS 1-41

 

The soft delicate Sirisa flower can stand only the footing of a bee on it but not that of a heavy bird. Similarly the Sirisa like delicate frame can tolerate delicate handling and not the rough handling as in penances –KS 5-4

 

The image imparts grace and charm to the delicacy of Parvati’s body.

In the Raghuvamsa the body of Sudarsana is said to be as tender as the delicate Sirisa flower– RV18-45

 

What is Sirisam or Anicham?

According to Tamil books, Anicham is the softest flower. Like diamond is used to compare the hardness of any object, Sirisham or Anicham flower is used by all the Indian poets to compare the softness of any part of the body or an object.

 

Anicham flower is referred to in Sangam Tamil literature at least in two places in Kalitokai and Kurijipattu. In later works Tirukkural has got four references to Anicham flowers. They are as follows:

Anicham picture from Wikipedia

 

Even as the Anicham flower fades when smelt, so also are guests, so also are guests hurt when the host puts to a vary face. (Kural 90)

 

Blessed art thou, Anicha, tenderest of flowers; more tender than thee is my beloved (1111) (This is similar to the Kumarasambhava couplet of Kalidasa, where he says the same about Parvati)

 

Even the flower Anicha and the down of the swan are ripe nettles to the feet of this maiden (1120)

 

With stems she wears the Anicha flower. The weight may break her waists and sad drums blare (1115)

 

Reasons for my conclusion:

The flower identified as Anicham previously by some people, is not a common flower in Tamil Nadu. Moreover, that is not the softest flower where as Sirisam shown in the picture fits in all the descriptions. Anicham identified does not fade when smelt. Anicham may not be a Tamil word at all. We have no word with that sound (ani) in Sangam literature except Anicham mentioned In Kurinjipattu and Kalitokai. Sirisham is used in naming girls. But Anicham is not used in naming or Puja or decoration or making garlands. It looks very artificial. So we may conclude that Sirisham was known as Anicham in some parts of ancient Tamil Nadu.

Botanical name of both the flowers as identified in the websites:

Sirisham – Albizia lebbek (East Indian Walnut); Family-Mimosaceae

Anicham- Anagallis arvensis (Scarlet Pimpernel); Family- Primulaceae

 

 

–Subham–

 

 

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