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Our dearest Kamban...

From the Bhakti List Archives

Vijay Triplicane • March 25, 1999 


--
Vijay Triplicane



Dear Sri rAma bhakthAs,
	Today being the Sri rAma n^avami, I thought there would be some posts
from AzhvAr aruLichcheyals on sri rAmA and hence decided to write about one of
the greatest Sri rAma bhakthan, kamban. His 'kamba rAmAyaNam' is considered to
be one of the foremost thamizh literary works, very unique in its style, very
grand in its setting, and a true thamizh abhimAni would go into raptures over
this work. 

	I just happened to read this pAsuram from the yudhdha kANdam this
morning and thought of sharing this with you all. 

"chEya kAlam pirin^dhu agalath
    thirin^dhAn, mINdum sEkkaiyinpAl,
mAyan, van^dhAn; ini vaLarvAn"
    enRu karudhi, varum thenRal
thooya malar pOl n^uraith thogaiyum
    muththum sin^dhi, pudai suruttip
pAyal udhaRip paduppadhE oththa-
    thiraiyin parappu ammaa.

	Sri rAman with his huge army has just arrived at the shores. He takes a
look at the ocean, and our great kavi chakravarththi kamban decides to offer him
a sol mAlai (garland of words).

Synopsis:
	The ocean and the breeze are so happy to see Sri rAman back. He used to 
rest on a serpent bed in this ocean. For a long while He was away and now that 
He is back, the southerly breeze welcomes him with the bubbly, frothy waves like 
the pure white flowers and pearls and prepares his bed by spreading the waves 
forward for Him to take rest. 

A closer look:

This is the thought process of the southerly breeze:

chEya kAlam pirin^dhu - Having been away for a long while
agalath thirin^dhAn - He wandered about 
mINdum sErkkaiyinpAl - with the intention of continuing His rest
mAyan vandhAn        - He came back
ini vaLarvAn         - Having come back, He is going to take rest now

enRu karudhi, varum thenRal - the southerly breeze decides to welcome Him. (Like
a faithful servant )

thooya malar pOl n^uraith thogaiyum muththum sin^dhi - 
the collection of froth and all those bubbles on top of the waves looked like
showering pure white flowers and pearls. It looked as if the Ocean was doing an
archanai with flowers and pearls at the feet of Sri rAman. 

pudai suruttip pAyal udhaRi paduppadhE oththa-
    thiraiyin parappu ammaa -

The waves flowing towards the shores looked as if the breeze hurriedly prepares
the bed and spreads it across for Him to rest. 
The words, "pudai suruttip pAyal udhaRi..." brings the exact picture of a
faithful, loving servant hurriedly preparing the bed, making sure the bed is
clean (pAyal udhaRi) in front of our eyes. 


	I love some of the verses from man^dharai (kooni) soozhchchip padalam
too. This talks about how kooni poisons kaikEyi's mind just before Sri rAman's
pattAbhishEkam. It vividly describes her evil intentions and how kaikEyi slowly 
changes her mind... It is very interesting. Will try to share some of those
pAsurams soon...

adiyEn kamban abhimAni
-Viji
(Vijay Triplicane)