DEIVATHIN KURAL #164 (Vol #4) Dated 21 Mar 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL #164 (Vol #4) Dated 21 Mar 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. Today we are proceeding from the page number 912 of Vol 4 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)
19. We were looking at Vruttam and Jaati as two different Chandas. In Vruttam each Vowel with or without a consonant is measured as one Aksharam. In Jaati, each Vowel could be one or two Aksharam depending on whether it is ‘Kuril’ (short) or ‘Nedil’ (long). They are given different values known as ‘Maatra’ based on the fact as to how short or long they are being pronounced. In Sanskrit, this Kuril is known as ‘Hraswam’ and Nedil is known as ‘Deergam’. The same two words are also known as ‘Laghu’ and ‘Guru’ respectively as per grammer. Each Lagu letter is one Maatra and Guru letter (which could be single or combined), is treated as two Maatras. When a Lagu letter of one maatra ends in ‘m’ known as Anuswaaram, it gets two maatraas. So also, a Lagu letter ending in Visargam, indicated by two vertical dots, also gets two maatraas. Like ‘Raama:’, which is to be pronounced as ‘Raamaha’ would be calculated as; Raa = two maatraas and ma: = two maatraas so also ‘Raama:’, add up to four maatraas.
20. Like in Vruttam, in Jaati too, there could be many Chandas. In each Chandas, in the four lines, there are rules as to how many maatraas they will add up to in each line or paadam. Not necessarily will all the lines, (that is paadams), will be equal, depending on different Chandas. In some Chandas, first two lines may be equal and third and fourth equal; or 1st & 3rd ; 2nd & 4th lines may be equal; or they may all be unique.
21. In ‘Suklaam’, we had earlier calculated that ‘su’ was one aksharam and ‘klaam’ was one more in the vruttam style, is it not so? Here the same ‘suklaam’ is calculated as four maatraas. There is another peculiarity. These chandas in Jaati may be having their own names. But, by tradition those individual names of the chandas are also called as ‘so and so’ vruttam, for example ‘Aryaa Vruttam’ is a name of a chandas in the Jaati. On Kamaakshi AmbaaL there is a famous poem by the name of Mooka Panchasati, having 500 poems, which I have mentioned in my earlier talks. The first 100 poems are in the Aryaa Vruttam. That portion of the Sloka is called Arya Sadakam. As highly beloved, honoured and respected deity AmbaaL has a name as Aryaa. Using her name as well as the name of the Chandas, that portion of the 100 Slokas has been named Arya Sadakam.
22. As I said a few minutes back, in Jaati all the four lines may not have equal number of maatraas in each line (paadam) of the song. Even in Vruttam there are such Chandas in which the number of aksharaas in each line are not all equal. If the lines 1&2 and 3&4 or 1&3 and 2&4 are matching, it is known as ‘ardha sama vruttam’. If each line has different number of letters, it is known as ‘visama vruttam’! This possibly led to the commonly used word in Tamil where ‘Vishamam’ has come to mean mischief, though its real meaning is only ‘vi + samam = visamam’ that is, unequal. Where all the lines in a poem are not composed of equal number of letters, it is known as ‘vishama vruttam’! Instead of being unbiased, if you are talking one thing, with a shade of another meaning while giving scope for a third interpretation it is called, ‘trisamam’.
23. Even numbers are ‘samam’ and odd numbers are called ‘vishamam’. As Manmata has five arrows, he is referred as ‘vishama saran’ and Siva with three eyes is called, ‘vishma netran’! As we see that in English too, the word odd has a meaning other than just, in usages such as, ‘odd behaviour’ and ‘odd explanantion’. Normally the vruttams are equal only. Ardha sama and vishama vruttams are rare indeed. But among Jaati, oddness is common, like in Arya Vruttam (which is not really a vruttam but only a Jaati), the first and third paadam are of 12 maatraas, second paadam is of 18 maatraas and the last line has 15 maatraas!
24. This Shat padi Stotram we are discussing is in Arya Jati. In its first sloka, the first paadam or line is, “avinaya mabaniya vishno”. If we count the maatraas, ‘a-vi-na-ya-ma-bi-na-ya’ contains all eight lagu aksharaas without any anuswaaram or visargam. That adds up to eight maatraas. Next word is ‘vishno’ in which ‘vi’ though being a lagu, being followed by a conjunct consonant, gets two maatraas and ‘shno’ having two maatraas. So, the total of the first line is 12 maatraas.
25. The second line is ‘damaya mana: samaya vishaya mruga trushNaam’. ‘da ma ya ma’ adds to four. Next ‘na’ has a visarga, so na: is two maatraas. Then, ‘sa ma ya vi sha ya m ru ga’, are all clean lagu. Even this ‘mru’ is not the guru maatra as it does not sound like the longish ‘ooo’ and so it is a lagu maatra only. That adds up to another eight. That totals to 14 aksharaas in the second line so far. Then is the word ‘trushNaam’, ‘thru’ + ‘shNaam’ adds up to four. So in the second line / paadam there are 18 maatraas.
26. Third paadam is ‘bhu(2) ta(1) da(1) yaam(2) vi(2) staa(2) ra(1) ya(1), is having 12 maatraas like in the first line. (After ‘vi’ which is normally only one maatra, as it is followed by two consonants ‘s’ and ‘t’, the ‘vi’ also becomes two maatraas!). This first sloka’s last line is: ‘dhaa(2) ra(1) ya(1) sam(2) saa (2) ra(1) saa(2) ga(1) ra(1) ta:(2)’, totalling 15 maatraas.
25. In Arya meter itself there is one slightly different as ‘Geeti’. In that also the first and third lines are of 12 maatraas. But the second and fourth, both have 18 maatraas. This is known as ‘ardha sama maatra Jaati. In Mooka Panchasatee, the Arya Sadakam is in this Jaati. The first slokam in this is “kaaraNa para chidroopaa kancheepura seemni kaama peeta gataaI kaachana viharati karuNa kaashmeera stabaka komaLaangalataa II”
26. In this the first paadam: ‘kaa (2) ra Na pa ra (each 1) chi (2 because it is followed by double mei ezhuthu) dru (2) paa (2) – totalling 12 maatraas. The second paadam: kaa (2) nchi (2) pu (1) ra (1) see (2) mni (1) kaa (2) ma (1) pee (2) ta ga (1 each) taa (2) – totalling 18 maatraas. The third paadam: kaa (2) cha na vi ha ra ti ka ru (each 1 = 8) Naa (2) – totalling 12 maatraas. The fourth paadam: kaa (2) shmee (2) ra (2 because it is followed by double mei Ezhuthu) sta (2) ba ka (1 each) ko (2) ma (1) Laa (2) nga (2) la (1) taa(2) – totalling 18.
27. The Shatpadi under discussion as written by our Aachaaryaal has used the Jaati Chandas. He is a pure Adwaitin alright! But he has made use of as much variety as possible in this sloka. In each one of the stanzas, the first and third lines both have 12 maatraas; each second line has 18 maatraas and each fourth line has 15 maatraas. It will be very interesting to count maatraas in each paadam. Do not count in terms of Uyir and Mei Ezhuthu; but count in terms of lagu and guru aksharaas and you will see a pattern. It is the super duper capability of his in use of the words that the words, sounds and their meanings will so merge and coalesce with each other that we as the reader will feel that things are just appropriate. Even a child will feel so at home with the sloka that it will commit it to memory in a jiffy! If we leave what is seemingly the phalasruti (phalasruti means that which gives a description of what are the gains in chanting this sloka), there are six stanzas.
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.