From: badri@sofia.mae.cornell.edu (Badrinarayanan Seshadri) To: prapatti Subject: more on madal We have seen that the person performing madal ERudhal attempts to spread some gossip about his/her lover. parakaala naayaki, in siRiya thiru madal (STM) merely threatens what she is planning to do: .... thaamaraip pOR kaNNaanai eNNarum seerp pEr aayiramum pidhaRRip perum theruvE ooraar ikazhilum ooraadhu ozhiyEn naan vaarrar poom peNNai madal. I will hurl thousands of unimaginable insults at the lotus eyed one and thus blabbering, I will ride the beautiful palmyra stem through the big streets even if the whole town speak ill of me! We have heard of the 'sahasranaama' about Him, and in fact every aazhvaar seems to have mentioned about these complimentary epithets (aayira naamam solli, naamam aayiram Eththa ninRa naaraNaa, etc.) but this is a novel concept, this 'sahasra dhooshaNam'! parakaala naayaki gives us some hint about what this novel sahasranama is, in periya thiru madal (PTM). Let me attempt to translate the relevent portions here: The threat: ----------- than aruLum aakamum thaaraanEl thannai naan min idaiyaar sEriyilum vEdhiyarkaL vaazhvidaththum than adiyaar munbum tharaNi muzhudhu aaLum kol navilum vEl vEndhar koottaththum naattu akaththum than nilaimai ellaam aRivippan ... If he refuses me his grace, I will expose him and his misdeeds to the young women with narrow waists, to the brahmins who chant the vedas, to his very own devotees, to the kings who rule the entire world, to those brave soldiers with sharp spears, and to the people in every city! Now, we are intrigued. We can not stand the suspense anymore. We want the juicy bits of gossip. We beg parakaala naayaki for the inside scoop! What did He do? The scoop: ---------- .... thaan muna naaL min idai aaychchiyar tham sErik kaLavin kaN thunnu padal thiRandhu thayir veNNey than vayiRu aara vizhunga kozhum kayal kaN mannu madavOrkaL paRRi Or vaan kayiRRaal pinnum uralOdu kattuNda peRRimaiyum Once upon a time, stealthily, this thief jumped the fence into a cowherdess' house. While stealing and eating butter and curds, the women with fish like eyes caught him redhanded. They grabbed him and tied him tightly with a small rope to a wooden mortar. He was not even able to free himself! Shame! Shame! And then, annadhu Or boodhamaay aayar vizhavin kaN thunnu sakadaththaal pukka perum sORRai mun irundhu muRRa thaan thuRRiya theRRenavum Another time, during Indra's festival, carts and carts piled up plenty of food. Taking the shape of a huge imp, this man, gobbled the entire lot of food! Others didn't get even a single bite! Shame! Shame! And then, mannar perum savaiyuL vaazh vEndhar thoodhanaay thannai ikazhndhu uraippath thaan muna naaL senRadhuvum Once upon a time, he was running little errands for the mighty Pandavas! The world laughed and made fun of him, when he went as a messenger boy to the courts of the Kauravas full of proud Kings! What a shame! And then, mannu paRai kaRanga mangaiyar tham kaN kaLippa kol navilum kooththanaayp pErththum kudam aadi en ivan ennappadukinRa eedu aRavum To please the aayar women, he danced the kooththu, with pots in his hands and a noisy little drum tied to his waist! The women laughed at him and his dance. Oh! How shameful it was! And then, then ilangai yaatti arakkar kulp paavai mannan iraavaNan than nal thangai vaaL eyiRRuth thunnu sudu sinaththuch choorppaNakaa sOrvu eydhi pon niRam koNdu pularndhu ezhundha kaamaththaal thannai nayandhaaLaith thaan munindhu mookku arindhu manniya thiN eNavum .... When SoorppaNakaa, the beauty from Lanka, Ravana's fond sister, with teeth sharp like daggers, who is always angry at her enemies, with uncontrolled passion and lust approached him, this angry man cut her nose off! He even thinks that is a great achievement! How shameful! And then, ..... vaayththa malai pOlum than nikar onRu illaadha thaadakaiyai maamunikaath then ulakam ERRuviththa thiN thiRalum maRRivaithaan unni ulavaa ulaku aRiya oorvan naan munni muLaiththu ezhundhu Ongi OLi parandha manniya poom peNNai madal. Just at the merest excuse, when Vishvamitra asked him, he immediately dispatched the mountain like thaadakai to the land of Yama! He does excel in killing and maiming the women. What a brave kshatriya he is! His brave acts like this are too many to count! I will make these deeds known all over the world riding on a beautiful palmyra stem! -*- -------------------------------------------------- Badri Seshadri Graduate Student Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Cornell University --------------------------------------------------