madals

"Kulam Tharum Selvam Thandhidum
Adiyaar Paduthuyar Aayinavellaam
Nilandharam Seyyum Neel Visumbarulum
Arulodu Perinilam Alikkum
Valam tharum mattrum thandhidum Petra
Thaayinum Aayina Seyyum
Nalam Tharum Sollai Naan
Kandukondaen Narayana Ennum Naamam"

Kulam - status
Tharum, Thandhidum - provides
Selvam - Wealth
Adiyaar - devotees
Paduthuyar - sorrow
Aayinavellaam - all of the sorrows
Nilandharam - ground level
Seyyum - Does
Neel - Lengthy
Visumbu - Heaven
Arulum - Blesses
Arulodu - Along with the blessings
Perunilam - A huge piece of land
Alikkum - Provide
Valam - Strength
Mattrum - Others
Petra Thaai - Mother who begets a child
Nalam - Goodness
Soll - Word,
Kandukondaen - Found and realised
Narayana - Lord Vishnu's name
Naamam - Name

Tamil ranks 17th amongst the top twenty of the world's most spoken languages.

In scriptual form, Tamil is made up of 247 scripts which comprise of 12 vowels 18 consonants and 1 aytham

The earliest literature in Tamil is the Sangam poetry - regarded by many Tamils as the voice of the Tamil nation in its origin. 

It consists of anthologies of short lyrics and longer poems. The lyrics are made into eight collections known as Ettu-thokai 

"Tolkappiyam is a book on phonolgy, grammar and poetics. Therefore it implies the prior existence of Tamil literature. There is a distinction made therein between literary language and colloquial or non literary language - ceyyul and valakku, thus implying certain literary conventions not only in grammatical forms but also in literary form and subject matter..."

He adds:

"Sangam poetry is unique as group poetry par excellence. It has a personality of its own representing the group mind and the group personality of the Sangam age. Taken as a whole it satisfies all the requirements of great poetry... The folk songs and the proverbs of an age, with their authors unknown, form a unity, as the very expression of the national personality and the language."

"Sangam poetry, though too cultured to be called folk song, consciously creates this universal personality and that is why it has been classified as a separate group in Tamil literature - the really great national poetry, not in the sense of national popularity but in the sense of being the voice of the nation in its origin.

"Very early Tamils developed the passion for classification which is noticeable in many aspects of ancient Indian learning. Poetry was divided into two main groups: 'internal' (aham) and 'external' (puram). A unique feature of Tamil poetry is the initial rhyme or assonance. This does not appear in the earliest Tamil literature but by the end of the Sangam period it was quite regular. The first syllable or syllables of each couplet must rhyme. This initial assonance, in some poems continued through four or more lines, is never to be found in the poetry of Sanskrit languages, or as far as we know, in that of any other language. Its effect, a little strange at first, rapidly becomes pleasant to the reader, and to the Tamil it is as enjoyable as the end rhyme of Western poetry."

" We know of the immense richness of Tamil classics, dating back to the pre Christian era, of the many epics, anthologies of lyrics, long poems, of the wealth and beauty of Sangam literature, all of which represent the consciousness of a community independent of the main stream of the Aryan cultural pattern, and fully aware of the difference...''

Great Epics of Tamil Literature

Great Epics of Tamil Literature

No	Name	Author	Notes
1	Cilappatikāram	Ilango Adigal	Non religious work of 1st century CE
2	Manimekalai	Sīthalai Sāttanār	Buddhist religious work of 1st or 5th century CE
3	Cīvaka Cintāmaṇi	Tirutakkatevar	Jain religious work of 10th century CE
4	Valayapathi	Unknown Jain ascetic	Jain religious work of 9th century CE
5	Kundalakēci	Naguthanar	Buddhist religious work of 5th century CE

The epic trio of Cilappatikāram, Manimēkalai and Cīvaka Cintāmani gives a full account of Tamil concept of womanhood by powerfully and poignantly delineating the character of a chaste wife Kannagi, a brave and dutiful daughter Manimekalai and an affectionate mother in Vijayai, mother of Jivakan in the three epics respectively. Cilappatikāram explains the inexorable working of fate where in spite of being innocent, the hero Kovalan gets punished and the queen of Pandya loses her life along with the king when the king realises his mistake of punishing Kovalan. Kannagi is regarded as a symbol of chastity and she is always
associated with chasteness in Tamil literature across ages. In Maniṇmēkalai, the protagonist, Manimēkalai is instructed in the various truths expounded by the teachers of different faiths. Cīvaka Cintāmani is adopted from Sanskrit Mahapurana, is predominantly sensuous, though Jain philosophy is brought to practical aspects of life.


Cilappatikāram (“The Tale of an Anklet”) depicts the life of Kannagi, a chaste woman who lead a peaceful life with Kovalan in Puhar (Poompuhar), the then-capital of the Chola dynasty. Her life later went astray by the association of Kovalan with an unchaste woman Madhavi. The duo started resurrecting their life in Madurai, the capital of Pandyas. Kovalan went on to sell the anklet of Kannagi to start a business, but was held guilty and beheaded of stealing it from the queen. Kannagi went on to prove the innocence of her husband and believed to have burnt the entire city of Madurai by her chastity. Apart from the story, it is a vast treasure of information of music and dance, both classical and folk.
Manimekalai is a 5th-century Buddhist epic created by Sithalai Sathanar during the 5th century. It is believed to be a followup of Cilappatikāram with the primary character, Maṇimēkalai being the daughter of Kovalan and Madhavi. It contains thirty cantos describing the circumstances in which Maṇimēkalai renounced the world and took the vows of Theravada sect of Buddhism, which is followed in Burma and Sri Lanka. Apart from the story of Maṇimēkalai and her Buddhist inclination, the epic deals with a great deal with Buddha's life, work and philosophy.
Cīvaka Cintāmaṇi, an epic of the 10th century CE was written by Thiruthakka Thevar, a Jain monk. It narrates the romantic exploits of Jeevaka and throws light on arts of music and dance of the era. It is reputed to have been the model for Kamba Ramayanam. The epic is based on Sanskrit original and contains the exposition of Jain doctrines and beliefs. It is a mudi-porul-thodar-nilai-seyyul, a treatise of the fourfold object of life and aim of literary work of virtue, wealth, pleasure and bliss. It is in 13 books or illambagams and contains 3147 stanzas. It is noted for its chaste diction and sublime poetry rich in religious sentiments and replete with information of arts and customs of social life. There are many commentaries on the book, the best on the work is believed to be by Naccinarkiniyar.
Kuṇṭalakēci is now lost, but quotations from it and found from references used by authors who had access to the classic. The poem demonstrated the advantage of Buddhism over Shrauta and Jainism. The Jain in reply wrote Nilakesi which has opposing views to the ideologies in Kuṇṭalakēci. Kuṇṭalakēci was a Jain nun who moved around India, expounding Jainism and challenged anyone who had alternate views. Sāriputta, a disciple of Gautama Buddha, took up the challenge one day and defeated Kuṇṭalakēci in debates. She renounced Jainism and became a Buddhist. The author is believed to be Nagaguttanar. The record of culture and Buddhist views during the era were lost with the book.
Vaḷaiyāpati is another lost work, although it is unclear whether it is a Buddhist or Jain. Some scholars believe it is a Buddhist work and base their claims on the quotations of Vaḷaiyāpati found in other literary works. The author of Vaḷaiyāpati quotes from Tirukkuṟaḷ and it is possible that he took inspiration from it.

                                           भाग्यसूक्तम्

ऊँ प्रातरग्निं प्रातरिन्द्रं हवामहे प्रातर्मित्रा वरुणा प्रातरश्विना । प्रातर्भगं पूषणं ब्रह्मणस्पतिं प्रातस्सोममुत रुद्रँ हुवेम ॥१॥

प्रातर्जितं भगमुग्रँ हुवेम वयं पुत्रमदितेर्यो विधर्ता । आद्ध्रश्चिद्यं मन्यमानस्तुरश्चिद्राजा चिद्यंभगं भक्षीत्याह॥२॥

भग प्रणेतर्भगसत्यराधो भगेमां धियमुदवददन्नः। भगप्रणो जनय गोभि-रश्वैर्भगप्रनृभि-र्नृवन्तस्स्याम ॥३॥

उतेदानीं भगवन्तस्यामोत प्रपित्व उत मध्ये अह्नाम्। उतोदिता मघवन् सूर्यस्य वयं देवानाँ सुमतौ स्याम ॥४॥

भग एव भगवाँ अस्तु देवास्तेन वयं भगवन्तस्स्याम। तं त्वा भग सर्व इज्जोहवीमि सनो भग पुर एता भवेह॥५॥

समध्वरायोषसोऽनमन्त दधिक्रावेव शुचये पदाय। अर्वाचीनं वसुविदं भगन्नो रथमिवाश्वावाजिन आवहन्तु॥६॥

अश्वावतीर्गोमतीर्नउषासो वीरवतीस्सदमुच्छन्तु भद्राः।घृतं दुहाना विश्वतः प्रपीनायूयं पात स्वस्तिभिस्सदा नः॥७॥  यो माऽग्नेभागिनँ सन्तमथाभागं चिकीर्षति। अभागमग्ने तं कुरु मामग्ने भागिनं कुरु ॥८॥

              ऊँ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

Thiruchinamale. also see a similar post by works of V D by me.

Sri-mate Nigamanta Maha Desikaya Namaha.

Athigiri arulal  perumal vandar,
Aanai pari teerinmel alaghar vandar,
Karuda Varum tarum  daiva perumal vandar,
Muthi malai poliyum mugil vanar vandar,
Moola mena Oola meda vallar vandar,
Uttara vedikule Udithar vandar,
Umbar tola kalal odayar vandar tame.

What  beautiful lines. 9th verse of thiruchinam one of which was presented to Swami Vedanta Desikar on Vardaraja perumal request.
god spoke can you believe it yet if there is faith it is possible. its magical.

parenting and family.

        At different times and stages in each of our parenting journeys decisions need to be made that fit with what is right for our family at that time. A conscious decision is made by weighing up the pros and cons and listening to yourself to see what 'feels' right. When you are being as true to yourself and your family as you can and meeting your own authentic needs you can feel yourself working more in line with the flow of life and things feel less of a struggle. You will know when you are not being authentic to your own needs because you will be feeling like you are pushing water up hill. It is essential to listen to yourself.

1.Begin With the End In Mind

2.Spending Time Wisely

3. Self Awareness: Be a proactive change agent in your family

4. Each of us has a responsibility to be in charge of ourselves.

5. Consider what keeps your love cup full.

to be continued.

karpooram fragrance.

nAcciyAr tirumozhi VII - karuppUram nARumO
pASuram 7.1 (seventh tirumozhi - pAsuram 1 karuppUram nARumO)

A. Translation from SrImAn SaDagOpan's tamizh treatise:

In the first pASruam of the seventh tirumozhi, godai asks
pAncajanyam, with great longing for kaNNan's adharAmr*tam:
"Oh, white conch, who has the blessing of getting the
sambandham of kaNNan's beautiful lips. I would like
to ask you this: please tell me how the taste of the
adhara-s (lips) of kaNNapirAn (who killed the elephant,
kuvalayApIDam, by breaking its tusks) is, since you are
the most experienced one in this regard. Does the
fragrance of bhagavAn's mouth resemble that of kaRpUram
(paccaik kaRpURam in tamizh)? Or, is it like the sugandham
emanating from blossomed lotus flower? Do the mugil vaNNan's
red lips taste sweet like rock candy? Please explain
to me clearly how His mouth tastes and how it smells, for
I am longing for the anubhavam of these."

karuppUram nARumO kamalappU nARumO
tiruppavaLa SevvAi tAn tittittu irukkumO
maruppu oSitta mAdhavan tan vAic cuvaiyum nARRamum
viruppuRRu kETkinREn Sol Azhi veN San~ge

B. Additional thoughts (from SrI PVP ):

karuppUram nARumO kamalappU nARumO: the smell of kaRppUram
(paccaik kaRpURam) is stinging and has a hotness (kAram in tamizh);
lotus flower always smells cool. kaNNan's tiruppavaLa SevvAi's
smell will not have any of the defects of these two objects,
but will have only the good aspects. He is described in the veda-s
as sarva-gandhah sarva-rasah - (chAndogya 3.14.2). These lips
and mouth that ANDAL is longing for are the part of this
great tirumEni.

tiruppavaLac-cevvAi tAn tittittu irukkumO: ANDAL gave two
alternatives when she was asking about the smell of His
tiru-adharam, but is now giving only one choice when it came
to asking about the taste of bhagavAn's mouth. It
is as if the person who is immersed in water can't think
of anything else. Now godai is already lost in His
anubhavam, and is not able to think of several things.
So she is not asking whether His mouth tastes like honey or
rock candy or etc. In fact, the minute she saw His red
lips, she has not been able to concentrate on anything else.
He is the abode of the best of the sapta sparSa rUpa rasa
ganda-s and so He is the food for all the indriya-s. (Note
that He is hr*shIkeSa or hr*shIkAnAm ISah - He controls our
indriya-s as He wishes).

maruppu oSitta mAdhavan - When rAma destroyed several rAkshasa-s
including kara and dUshNa single-handedly, sItA pirATTi could
not control her great joy, and embraced rAma and hugged Him.

"tam dhrushtvA satrujantAram maharshINam sukAvaham |
babhUva hrushtvA vaidEhI bhartAram parishasvajE ||"
(rAmAyaNam AraNya kANDam 30-40).

Here ANDAL has the same feeling and wants to embrace closely
her kaNNan for His brave act of destroying kuvalayApIDam.

viruppuRRu kETkinREn: In gItA 9.1, bhagavAn tells
arjuna that the reason He is teaching the great secret about
bhakti yoga and the knowledge to free oneself from all evil,
because he is free from asUyA - because he sees the
qualities of bhagavAn as they are meant to be seen -
as kalyANa guNa-s, and not find faults or defect in them
instead. In gItA 18.67, Lord kr*shNa tells arjuna that the
SAstra that has been taught to him should never be
revealed to anyone who is not austere, not a devotee, or
does not wish to listen to the knowledge about Him, but
certainly not to one who analyzes His qualities and finds
faults in them. This last category is a definite NO-NO
(idam te nAtapaskAya). In the case of ANDAL, she does not
need to be told that first she has to accept His guNa-s without
finding fault with them, and then only desire to know His qualities.
She does not have to first get rid of her "jealousy" and
then develop a love, thereby prolonging the time to get to
emperumAn. One doesn't have to tell her about loving Him.
godai doesn't have to be told, because she already has great
love towards Him and thus she is proceeding to the next
step viz. asking the Sa~nkam for the knowledge about bhagavAn.

Azhi veN San~ge: The veN-Sa~ngu is huge in shape; ANDAL
says that now the conch has to behave in a broad-minded way,
and respond to her questions. The Sa~ngu was born in the
Ocean which serves to support a multitude of life-forms;
ANDAL expects the conch to now tell her all about bhagavAn so
that it can continue to live listening to these. The bright
white color of the veN Sa~ngu is so striking that it registers
in ANDAL's mind; she now expects the response from the conch
such that it really registers in her mind and pleases her.

veN San~ge: SrI PVP gives another explanation also:
The Sa~ngu keeps getting whiter and whiter (i.e., paler and
paler) in spite of being constantly associated with Him (meaning
Sangam is having viraga tApam and is becoming whiter and paler
from love, even though it has the constant accompaniment of
emperumAn); so, the veN Sa~ngu should certainly understand
ANDAL's pining in love for Him.

sarvam SrIman nArAyaNAyEti samarpayAmi.

   

For ever young.

Another trip to Tirumala to see the ever youthful Lord. The look of a apprehensive bridegroom is so rewarding. I suddenly have an urge to note down the feeling one gets in seeing the lord. yes last fortnight when we saw him after the kalyanam in the oonjal sevai he looked happy contented and proud. the joy radiating is so full of contentment. where as the same idol in the Kalyana utsavam is so filled with apprehension as if waiting for the ritual to get on and once the wedding is over this is my full form so to say etc. These days they do not do sankalpa as was done earlier the people taking part has gone up 100 times I miss those days when they used to be only a hand full of couples and there were two categories of sevai. and we sat in the front row so close the ritual was elaborate and we spent almost the whole morning with the Lord what a satisfying effect the children were small but in spite of all that we enjoyed being there. even oonjal sevai some times we were only three families performing and the children got a chance to sing to the lord. one particular time they were able to sing three songs. today the full seva takes just fifteen minutes and we are ushered out of the hall. The Lord seems to have got busy he has to give his darshan to so many more people now the devotees are unending. but nothing beats the view of the lord in Kalyana utsavam. how does one explain it. the joy is so satisfying. He seems like your child yet he is the all knowing and you are so ignorant. yet he gives you the feeling that you are performing his wedding. what a wonder for times inmemorial he has been playing the same role every day going through the same experiences. getting up like a reluctant child growing up so fast that he reaches a marigable age kalyanam and then satisfied oonjal sevai by the evening he is the lion in control of everyting the merry time spent in the deepa alankaram in the evening is yet another beautiful ritual. this goes on every day life goes on only we take so very long to get aware of the play.
Tiruchanoor though we get to see the thayar so close yet I want to stand next to her to see her every move her looks her thoughts especially the basket like mookuthi she adorns. it is so beautiful only she can do it. how could anybody manage a basket of a nose ring. it looks so heavy but she adorns it with so much grace. I enjoy watching her with that nose ring but I come back so unsatisfied. just a little more time ma till I am saturated with that view. some blessing of my grandfather and mother that I am able to go there. yes only me in our family is lucky enough to have the darshan so often. unexplainable this feeling. so much excitement before the trip to tirupati and Tirumala. how does one prepare like giving an exam best method I found is to sing his praise. in the ever so many songs. others have written and rendered. pray that at every visit the devotion should grow a hundred fold.

This time the experience was unique. one I had not witnessed for so many years. not that I remember of. It seemed that the Lord after Garuda vahana  sevai on the full moon day Wednesday was very reluctant to spend much time decking himself up and decided that he would give his darshan shun the dressing and jewels. how lucky we were. I treasure this view so much. we must live in this glory itself we have no need for anything nothing to ask of him.