Research Article Written by London Swaminathan
swami_48@yahoo.com
Date: 12 October 2018

 

Time uploaded in London – 20-31 (British Summer Time)

 

Post No. 5533

 

 

Pictures shown here are taken from various sources including google, Wikipedia, Facebook friends and newspapers. This is a non- commercial blog.

 

SHAKEPEARE,KALIDASA AND TAMIL POETS DIFFER FROM DOCTORS

Eye twitching is common according to doctors. They call it myokymia. When we say eye twitching, we mean eyelid twitching. Most eye twitches come and go, but some can last for weeks or months. They are harmless. If it lasts for months then it may be due to some nerve problem. The causes for the twitching may be fatigue, lack of sleep, eye strain, caffeine, alcohol, allergies, nutrition problems according to medical encyclopedia. But Shakespeare , 2000 year old Tamil poets and Kalidasa differ with the modern biologists.

 

In Hindu scriptures, the left eye twitching for women is good and right eye twitching for men is good.  Some may differ in it. But all agree that twitching eye means something good or bad. Science don’t agree with them.

In china left eye twitching is a lucky sign of getting wealth. in India, right eye twitching is good (if you are men).

In African countries, it differs from country to country.

 

In Western countries, the talk about itching eyes and not twitching eyes.

Theocritus (275 BCE) says

My right eye itches now, and shall I see my love? (Idylls III)

Shakespeare (1604) says,

Mine eyes do itch; doth that bode weeping? (Othello IV)

(Is that an omen I will be crying soon?)

 

N.Homes (1650)

If their right eye itcheth, it betokens sorrowful weeping;

if the left eye itcheth, …… joyful laughter. (Daemonologie)

 

Jonathan Swift (1738)

My right eye itches; I shall cry (political Conversation III)

 

The book on Superstitions published in 1780 also confirms,

Itching right eye is a bad omen. It will make people cry, weep etc.

 

Twitching in oriental literature is replaced with Itching in Western literature.

Now Let us look at the World famous Indian poet Kalidasa (First Century BCE)

Meghadutam verse 94

the doe eyed lady’s left eye

would throb at your coming, I guess

and match the charm of blue lotuses

quivering as fishes dart among them.

Kalidasa means that the left eye twitching for women is good.

In his world famous drama Sakuntalam Kalidasa says,

Sakuntala (feeling a bad omen)

O You Gods! What means this throbbing of my right eye?

 

In Raghuvamsa Kavya (14-49) Sita’s right eyes are throbbing and the she gets scared. She knew that something bad is going to happen.

 

In Other places Kalidasa shows that the throbbing or twitching of right shoulder or right eye is good for men (Raghu vamsa  6-68, 12-90 and Vikrama Urvasiya III-9)

 

We see such things in Valmiki Ramayana, Kamba Ramayana (Tamil) and several other Sanskrit books.

Sangam Tamil Literature

Since more than 200 similes of Kalidasa were used by Sangam Tamil pets I have providing my umpteen articles in this blog that Kalidasa lived before Sangam age; may be in first century or 2^nd century BCE. Kapilar, the Brahmin poets used more similes than any one else.

 

Here in Kurinji section (Ainkurunuru) he used the twitching or throbbing of eye: In verse 218 the servant maid says that her eyes are throbbing which is a good sign. But the commentators say that her left eye throbbed which is a good sign.

 

So the Tamils and people in North India believed that left eye throbbing is good for women; right eye throbbing is bad.

 

Kapilar was one of the oldest poets of Sangam period.  Whatever he used was used again by other poets.

In the Kalitokai, which forms the last group of books, two poets use this eye twitching.

Palai Padiya Perum Kadunko (10), Chozan Nalluruthiran(106) used the same image. Left eye throbbing would  bring good message.

 

This is one more proof to establish the age of Kalidasa. This is another proof for unity in Indian culture from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. There is one culture in India with minor regional differences in food, clothing, manners and customs.

 

SCIENCE AND RELIGION

FOLLOWING EXCERPT IS FROM SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN (SEE MY COMMENTS BELOW)

Men aren’t from Mars and women aren’t from Venus, but their brains really are wired differently, a new study suggests.

The research, which involved imaging the brains of nearly 1,000 adolescents, found that male brains had more connections within hemispheres, whereas female brains were more connected between hemispheres. The results, which apply to the population as a whole and not individuals, suggest that male brains may be optimized for motor skills, and female brains may be optimized for combining analytical and intuitive thinking.

“On average, men connect front to back [parts of the brain] more strongly than women,” whereas “women have stronger connections left to right,” said study leader Ragini Verma, an associate professor of radiology at the University of Pennsylvania medical school. But Verma cautioned against making sweeping generalizations about men and women based on the results.

 

 

MY COMMENTS

Sanskrit and Tamil literature have a point. They knew by intuition or through scientific study that men are egoistic and more aggressive. We see it how they react in the battle field (see the remarks that their right-side body parts are throbbing or reacting in men). 2000 year old Tamil books repeat umpteen times that the tiger won’t eat its prey if it falls on its left side- so egoistic.

We know now that the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body. The left side stands for conscious actions, positive actions and calculations. The right side brain stands for music, arts, negative emotions and intuitions.

 

We must do deeper studies in this area and then only should come to conclusions. But a preliminary study shows that their reporting of reaction in the eyes or body parts has a scientific basis.

 

–subham-