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On Kampa Ramayanam

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elayavalli • October 27, 2002 


Sri:
AzhwAr emperumAnAr jeeyar thiruvadikalE Saranam,
appan thiruvadikalE Saranam.

Dear Group,

Dear Group

There has been some exchanges on this thread that I have not 
completely read. Please forgive me for any repetition.


According to Sri K. K. A Venkatachari, the first commentator to use 
Kamba Ramayanam and other tamil classics like Tirukkural and other 
sangam works (kurunthokai) was Sri Vadakku thiruveedhi pillai in his 
Idu commentary. Following is a quote from his book "Sri Vaishnava 
Manipravala"

"Explanation via references to social customs is closely related to 
VatakkuttiruvItippillai's use of proof-texts from Tamil Literature. 
Cankam works, Tirukkural, Kampan's Ramayanam, Tamil grammar - all are 
amply quoted"

..

"Or he draws from kampan's Ramayanam to give a parallel description 
for NammAlwar's use of the term KidantavARu (which refers to the 
recumbent posture of the Lord) in stanza 5:10:6. Commenting on 
NammAlvAr's description on how lanka was consumed by a fire set by 
HanumAn, he explains that this is because Agni (the god of Fire) had 
been subjugated and restrained by RAvana for so long that, feeling 
liberated at last, he 
consumed with gusto the island of Lanka."

Idu - 5.10.6

Following is just my humble observation. From Pillan to Nanjeeyar the 
commentary tradition was in a early development stage. They 
concentrated on specific works like Sri Pillan's 6000 padi or Sri 
bhattar's tiruneduntandakam or Nanjiyars' 9000 on tiruvaymozhi and 
other 4 works by alwars. One can see a significant shift in the nature 
of the commentaries by subsequent acharyas, starting with Nampillai 
and Vadakku tiruvIdhi pillai, periyavAcAn pillai and so on (Even 
though, nampillai is not known to have written independent 
commentaries, he is credited with the work of reproducing Nanjeeyar's 
9000 and Idu is also known as Nampillai's work, since it was based on 
his lectures). The above mentioned later acharyas, have used wide 
ranging resources to bring out the essence of the works at hand. These 
acharyas represent a more developed and defined form of commenting 
on sacred works with the specific purpose of targeting the entire 
human community, not just the intelligentsia.

note: Please refer to Sri K. K. A Venkatachari's book "Sri Vaishnava 
Manipravala" for an analysis of various acharya's commentaries on 
Divya Prabhandam.

adiyEn
Venkatesh Elayavilli



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