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Translation of the Prabandham (From Hindu Newspaper)

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Sadagopan • May 22, 2001 


Dear BhakthAs:
Sriman Sataluri kindly forwarded this information to me.
This might be of interest to number of you , who wanted to
know such sources( English translation of the entrie 
sacred Collect of 4,000 by our AzhwArs ).

Thank you Sri sataluri,
V.Sadagopan
>
>THE SACRED BOOK OF FOUR THOUSAND - Nalariya Divya Prabandham - 
>English translation with Tamil Original: Srirama Bharati; Published 
>by Sri Sadagopan Tirunarayanaswami Divya Prabandha Pathasala, 
>Jaladampet, Chennai-601302. 
>
>THE SUDDEN demise of Srirama Bharati (51) in Chennai in November last 
>year was a great loss to the South Indian Vaishnava community in 
>general and to the propagation of Prabandha literature in particular. 
>Within a span of 25 years after his return from the U.S. in 1975, 
>Bharati rendered monumental service to the revival of the Araiyar 
>tradition and has left behind a precious legacy. 
>
>Srirama Bharati was the son of the late K. S. Srinivasan, noted 
>litterateur and Ramayana scholar of New Delhi, whose Tamil classic 
>``Kavya Ramayanam'' (1971), a comparative study of the Ramayanas of 
>Valmiki and Kamban, is yet to be excelled for its literary merit. 
>
>While studying science at the University of Chicago, Bharati 
>interacted with T. Visvanathan and Balasaraswati. One day in an 
>antique shop in Seattle he bought the bronze idol of a Hindu Acharya 
>and soon started having mystical experiences with it. He suddenly 
>returned to India and joined the mission of Prof. V. V. Sadagopan who 
>was editing the Indian Music Journal and also trying to recreate the 
>music of the Divya Prabandham. But Sadagopan mysteriously disappeared 
>in 1980 and has never been seen since. 
>Assisted by his scholarly wife, Sowbhagya Lakshmi, a student of 
>Sadagopan, Srirama Bharati continued Sadagopan's work. The couple 
>resided at Melkote and Azhvartirunagari for some years and studied 
>the Araiyar tradition with a view to setting the Pasurams to that 
>style of music. Bharati called it Deva Gana, the name given by 
>Nathamuni in the 9th century. The first volume of Deva Gana with 
>notation was published in 1985. An enlarged version of 500 pages was 
>brought out in 1995. 
>
>Simultaneously they embarked upon translating the Prabandham into 
>English and published the entire Tiruvaimozhi of Nammalvar in 1987. 
>Another magnificent volume entitled ``Araiyar Sevai'' was published 
>in 1999 by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan as a release of its Book 
>University. Although he did not belong to an Araiyar lineage, Srirama 
>Bharati did more than anyone else for the interpretation and 
>propagation of the Araiyar tradition for the benefit of the Vaishnava 
>community as a whole. The book under review is the magnum opus of 
>Srirama Bharati and also, tragically, his swan song. For over 12 
>centuries the poetic beauties and devotional appeal of the lyrics of 
>the Azhwars have been fascinating the Tamil world. 
>
>
>They have been commented upon by eminent scholars and translated into 
>several languages. For the benefit of the English reading public some 
>Indian and European scholars have translated selected portions into 
>English prose and verse. But, strangely enough, no scholar has so far 
>attempted to translate the entire 4000 verses into English. The 
>author has now achieved this stupendous task and has placed the world 
>of scholarship in debt to him. 
>
>The massive work is the fruition of 25 years of his delving into the 
>experiences of the Azhwars with the help of commentaries by Vaishnava 
>Acharyas. The language is lucid and shows the author's mastery over 
>English and his insight into the mystic psyche of the Azhwars. The 
>appendices contain copious notes of great value. 
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