Mazhai

Mazhai

(the ghostly   dance  of the divine rain)

 

By

Mahakavi  Bharathiyaar

 

Translated   by

P.R.Ramachander

 

I am a great fan  of the  Mahakavi and have translated many of his poems. Today  morning I saw  a great poem, which I have not translated  in  the whatsapp .

 

What a wonderful song penned by MahaKavi Subramnya Bharathiyar on Rain.  When we read / listen this ‘Kavithai’, we feel the rains really pouring!!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0DIfPOOTuc

 

 

திக்குகள் எட்டும் சிதறி - தக்கத்

தீம்தரிகிட தீம்தரிகிட தீம்தரிகிட - தீம்தரிகிட

பக்க மலைகள் உடைந்து  - வெள்ளம்

பாயுது பாயுது பாயுது - தாம் தரிகிட

 தக்கத் ததிங்கிட தித்தோம்  - அண்டம்

சாயுது சாயுது சாயுது - பேய் கொண்டு

தக்கை யடிக்குது காற்று  - தக்கத்

தாம் தரிகிட தாம் தரிகிட தாம் தரிகிட தாம் தரிகிட.

 

Dikkukal  yettum  chidari  , Thakka

Dheem  tharikida  Dheem  Tharikida, Dheem Tharikida

Pakka malaikal udainthu  -vellam

Paayuthu paayuthi   paayuthi  Dhaam   THarikida

Thakkath  thadhinkida dithom, andam,

Chaayuthu, chaayuthu  chaayuthi  -pei  kondu

Thakkai    adikkuthu  kaathu THakka

Thaam tharikida thaam  tharikida thaam  tharikida  thaam   tharikida

 

 

 

 

 

All the  eight   directions  breaking, making   sound Thakka

Dheem  tharikida  Dheem  Tharikida, Dheem Tharikida

The side  mountains   have broken down and water,

Is flowing , flowing   and flowing, Dhaam   THarikida

Thakkath  thadhinkida dithom –The   globe of the earth,

Is bending, bending  and bending and the wind,

Has become a   ghost  and playing the  drum-THakka

Thaam tharikida thaam  tharikida thaam  tharikida  thaam   tharikida

 

வெட்டி யடிக்குது மின்னல்  - கடல்

வீரத் திரைகொண்டு விண்ணை யிடிக்குது ;

கொட்டி யிடிக்குது மேகம்; - கூ

கூவென்று விண்ணைக் குடையுது காற்று;

சட்டச்சட சட்டச்சட டட்டா - என்று

தாளங் கொட்டிக் கனைக்குது வானம்;

எட்டுத் திசையும் இடிய  - மழை

எங்ஙனம் வந்ததடா, தம்பி! வீரா!

 

Vettiyidikkuthu  minnal , -kadal,

Veera  thirai   kondu   vinnai yidikkuthu

Kotti yidikkuthu  mekam-koo,

Koo  vendru  vinnai kudayathu kaaththu

Chatta chada  , chattachada   data-yendru

Thalam kotti  kanaikkuthu   vaanam

Yettu  disayun idiya-mazhai

Yenganam vanthathadaa, Thambi, Veeraa

 

The lightning is cutting  and blowing and the ocean,

Using the   valorous screens is beating    the sky,

The cloud  is blowing and beating and wind ,

Making  koo koo sound is rotating the sky

And the sky  is keeping beats chatta , chatta chada data

And   is winnowing

Oh Brother  veera , how did this rain,

Breaking   all the  eight   directions come

      

அண்டம் குலுங்குது, தம்பி - தலை

ஆயிரம் தூக்கியே சேடனும் பேய் போல்

மிண்டிக் குதித்திடு கின்றான்; - திசை

வெற்புக் குதிக்குது; வானத்துத் தேவர்

செண்டு புடைத்திடு கின்றனர்;  - என்ன

தெய்விகக் காட்சியைக் கண்முன்பு கண்டோம்!

கண்டோம் கண்டோம் கண்டோம் - இந்தக்

காலத்தின் கூத்தினைக் கண்முன்பு கண்டோம்

Andam kulunguthu  thambi-Thalai

Aayiram  thookiiye  chedanum  pei poal

Mindi kuthithidu kindraan-disai

Verppu  kuthikkuthu-vaanathu devar

Chendu   pudaithidukindranar, yenna

Deivaka  kakshiyai kan munbu  kandom

 

The  universe  is shaking brother and  the Adhi Sesha*

Lifting his  thousand heads, is  jumping again and again,

Like   a devil, making the balance  of directions  jump

The  devas of the sky are  blowing their drums

What  a divine scene  , we   saw before  our eyes

We saw, saw  .saw , this wild dance of time

All   before  our own eyes

 

(*It is believed  that Adisesha  lifts the earth  on his thousand heads)

An effort to teach how to be happy through Upanishads

An effort to teach how to be happy through Upanishads

 

By Raja Thatha

 

The reopening of the school was fast approaching. Rohan has to go back to USA where he studies and Maithree and Goldy have to go to school. So Raja Thatha found that his grand children were all sad. He tried to cheer them up. Maithree then asked, “Thatha, how to be happy and what is happiness?”

 

Thatha decided to explain. “There was a very brilliant boy called Svethakethu in the olden times. His father was a greatly wise saint. One day he asked his father, “What is happiness?”

 

Rohan asked, “Thatha was he also about to go to some other place for study?”

Thatha replied, perhaps. I am not sure about it. Svethakethu’s father told, “The man who is not happy will be lazy and does not work. He would be thinking about what he sees and will not be able to think about anything else.”

 

Maithree and Rohan were not able to understand and told at the same time. “We are not able to understand?”

 

Thatha replied, “If Rohan thinks of his going to a new college  and how he will miss all of us and Maithree, he will not be happy. He should have thought further. He should have thought how he will enjoy his life in the new college , about his friends whom he will  make there and also how he can talk or chat witall of us  all the time.”

 

Both children understood, “That is true Thatha. When we are sad, we do not think of anything else except our sorrow. We never think that beyond this sorrow, there is something else. Thatha, Svethakethu’s father seems to be interesting. Please continue. ”Thatha continued, Then Svethakethu’s father told, “There is a great world beyond this sorrow. It is a never ending. Once you realize it you would never be sad but only happy.”

 

Goldy who did not talk much replied, “The moral of the story is, when you are sad, think of what all happiness you are missing, because you become sad.”

A poem addressed to idli

 A poem addressed to idli

இட்லிக்கு_ஒரு_கவிதை

By

Ramya Niranjan

 

Translated by

P.R.Ramachander

 

You are the nectar,

Fed by my  mother to me,

 

You are  the full  moon,\

That comes in early morning

 

You are   the nectar  that came,

Like  white fluffy cotton

 

You are one  who stood like mother,

After feeding on milk by mother  stopped

 

You are  the jasmine  flower,

Due to being touched by my wife

 

Along with   the coconut chutney ,

You become  the nectar of devas

 

Along   with tomato  chutney

You become the real gold

 

Along  with the mint  Chutney

You become   ever green flower

 

Along with sambar

You will get the boon of immortality

 

With whomsoever  you join,

You are  the union that  leads to victory

 

You are  what  the doctor recommends,

The real super star  of  South India

 

If you are   made to sleep  on mandhara leaf,

Covered  with  the  milagai  podi(chutney powder)

Mixed  with  quality  gingelly   oil

And woken up  in running train after eight  hours,

The attension of   all  the  passengers  would be on you

Even if we   travel for two days,

Were you not one who satiated our hunger

 

 

இட்லிக்கு_ஒரு_கவிதை

அன்னை ஊட்டிய

அமிர்தம் நீ

காலையில் வரும்

பௌர்ணமி நிலவு நீ!

வெண் பஞ்சு மேகம்

போல வந்த அமுதம் நீ!

தாய் பால் நின்ற பிறகு

தாயாய் நின்ற உணவு நீ

மனைவியின் கை பட்டதால்

மல்லிகை பூ நீ!

தேங்காய் சட்னி உடன்

வந்தால் தேவாமிர்தம் நீ!

தக்காளி சட்னி உடன்

வந்தால் தங்கம் நீ!

புதினா சட்னி உடன்

வந்தால் பசுமை பூ நீ!

சாம்பார் உடன்

சேர்ந்ததால் சாகாவரம் பெற்றாய் நீ!

யாருடன் கூட்டணி சேர்ந்தாலும்

வெற்றி பெறும் சிறந்த நட்பு நீ!

மருத்துவர் பரிந்துரைக்கும் மகத்தான மருந்து உணவு நீ!

எப்போதும் தென் இந்தியாவின் சூப்பர் ஸ்டார் நீ!

மந்தாரை இலையில் உன்னை மணக்கும் நல்லெண்ணையில் குழைத்த மிளகாய்ப்பொடியாலே முழுவதும் போர்த்தி விட்டு எட்டு மணிநேரம் உறங்கவைத்து எழுப்பினால் ஓடும் ரயிலில் அனைவரின் கவனமும் உன்மேல் தான் இரண்டுநாள் பிரயாணம் என்றாலும் நீதானே எங்கள் வ(யிற்க்கு)ழித்துணை

Stotra literature by time

 Stotra literature by type.

By

P.R.Ramachander

Most of the prayers in the vedic period were called Sukthams .Most probably they were used in Yajnas . The post Vedic Stotras can be classified as

1.Sahasranamams

These are the listing of thousand names of each God. If you go through them critically you may not find that all these thousand names are different and we find that several names are repeated. The most famous of the Sahasranamams are the Vishnu sahasranamam and the Lalitha Sahasranamam. Shiva Sahasranamam and Lakshmi Sahasranams are also relatively popular.Saharanamams are available for most of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu and all other Gods and Goddesses. Trisathi giving 300 names, ashtotharams giving 108 names, Satha Nama stotrams giving one hundred names , Shodasa nama stotram giving sixteen names and Dwadasa nama storams(12 names) also belong to this category of stotras.

2.Ashtakams

These are possibly the most popular form of Hindu stotras. These normally contain eight verses praising the God or Goddess. Most of them are very simple and easy to understand. There is a phala Sruthi attached to every ashtakam giving the possible effect of chanting that particular prayer.

3.Kavachams

These are another very popular form of prayers addressed to Gods as well as planets . Essentially they request God to protect different parts of our body as well as mind. It also requests God to protect us in different circumstances. Narayana Kavacham is one of the most famous in this category.

4.Dasakam

These are similar to ashtakam but with ten Stanzas.

5.Panchakam

These are prayers with five stanzas.

5.Shatkam

These are again similar to ashtakam but with six stanzas

6.Spathakam

These are prayers with seven stanzas.

7.Pancha Dasi

These are longer prayers with fifty stanzas

8.Pancha sathi

These are still longer poems with five hundred stanzas.

9.Sthava Raja

These are supposed to be the king of prayers addressed to a particular God. Though they are not available for all Gods, many of them are available.

10.Bhujanga Stotram

These as well as Bhujanga prayatha stotrams are supposed to move like a snake. Adhi Sankara is credited with composing many such Bhujangams. His “Subramanya Bhujangam” is very famous

11.Dandakam

These are stotras where there is no restriction on the length of a line of a stanza. Some of the Dandakams are very long prayers with just one line. Shyamala Dandakam of poet Kalidasa is the greatest in this category.

12.Karavalamba Stotram

These prayers are addressed to the God requesting him to extend his hand in support to us. The Lakshmi Narasimha Karavalamba stotram of Adhi Sankara is possibly the most famous.

13.Suprabathams

These are prayers addressed to the lord to wake him up. The oldest among this type of stotras are the thirupalliyezhuchi in Tamil and the most famous is the Venkateswara Suprabatham.

14. Lahari

Lahari means waves. In this form of prayer the stanzas follow each other like waves. Soundarya Lahari of Adhi Sankara is possibly the most famous.

15.Pasuram

These are tamil prayers written by the great Vaishnavite saints of Tamil Nadu called the Azhvars.

16.THiruvachakam

These are again Tamil prayers written by Nayanmars , the Tamil saints eulogizing Lord Shiva.

17. Aarthi

These are Hindi prayers praising a particular God. These are available addressed to almost all Gods.

18.Chalisa

These are again Hindi prayers but have forty stanzas each. The most famous is Hanuman Chalisa composed by saint Thulasidas.

19. Gadhyams

Gadhyam means prose . Some of the Vaishnavite saints wrote prayers in prose and the most famous is the Gadhya Thrayam written by Saint Ramanuja

20.,Abhangs

These are prayers written in Marathi by those great devotees of Pandharpur,

20. Mangalams

Mangalam means auspiciousness and thse are prayers which are sung at the end of chanting of prayer sessions as the last prayer.

Stotra literature over time.

 Stotra literature over time.

By

P.R.Ramachander

Stotra comes from the word Sthuthi and Sthuthi means praise.Some stotras are also called as Sthavas. Stotra could be broadly translated as “Praise of God”.

1.Stotras of the Vedic period

The foremost among the Vedic Stotras is Rudram and chamakam addressed to Lord Shiva, Narayana as well as Purusha Suktham addressed to Lord Vishnu and Sri Suktham, Durga Suktham, Lakshmi Suktham etc addressed to the Goddess. There are many other great Sukthams like Bhagya suktham , Ikamathya Suktham , Bhoo Suktham, Medha Suktham etc. The Ganesa Atharva Sira Upanishad , which is from Atharva Veda is again a prayer addressed to Lord Ganesa. Many of these are not praise of God as such but description of several aspect of the God including its philosophy. These Sukthas were used mostly for performing Yagas and even today , though in some places they are chanted mostly they are used in fire sacrifices.

2.Stotras of the Puranic period.

It was the advent of Puranas that we started praying of worship of Individual Gods. Some of the greatest Hindu Stotras originated at this time, The most famous are the Adithya Hrudayam which is a part of Valmiki Ramayanam , Vishnu Sahasranamam which is a part of Maha Bharatham, Lalitha Sahasranamam and Lalitha Trishathi which are both part of the Markandeys puranam , The Devi Mahatmyam which is again a part of Markandeya puranam, the Gopika Gita , a part of Maha Bhagawatham and very many other Sahasranamams and stotras which are part of several Puranas. The prayers called Kavachams (Armours to protect ourselves) again originated during this period.Till this period Stotras were written only in Sanskrit.

3.Post Puranic Stotras

Possibly after all the Puranas were written, a vast outpouring of composition of prayers in almost all the spoken languages by very many poets took place . Many Prayers which originate in the earliest period are not available. The stotra as a vehicle of prayers was greatly popularized by Adhi Sankara and his disciples. We find Sankara ‘s prayers addressed to all most all gods. Apart from prayers eulogizing Gods , he also wrote several very philosophical prayers. Soundarya Lahiri and Shivananda Lahari are possibly the greatest stotras written by him. He also wrote several prayers using the Bhujanga meter. His disciples continued this trend. Almost in the same period , the Nayanmars of Tamil Nadu who were Saivite saints contributed largely to the Saivite Stotra literature which were all in tamil . There was also a great upsurge of Tamil prayers written by various great saints praising Lord Subramanya /Muruga.

Saint Ramanuja did not write many stotras b ut the Gadhya thrayam which are prose prayers are really great prayers. His disciple Vedant Desika has written very large number of very excellent prayers in Sanskrit as well as Tamil . There was also an outpouring outpouring of stotras mainly in tamil were written by the Azhvars who were all Vaishnavite saints. Saint Madhwa and his followers and the Hari Dasas of Karnataka also wrote many prayers

The Thulasi Das, Kabir Das, Sur Das , and many such great ones contributed to the Hindi prayers. Poet Jayadeva wrote his Gita Govindam in Sanskrit and a very large number of prayers were written by the great Krishna and Durga devotees of Bengal. There was also a great Bhakthi movement in Maharashtra and the stotras of this genre are called Abhangs.

The Stotra literature is not growing as it should in the modern times except for rare compositions .

Who should Garland the Bharata Rathna?

 Who should Garland the Bharata Rathna?

Rewritten from Tamil post

By

P.R.Ramachander

(Shaking hands –Pani Grahana is the present day culture even between all men and ladies..

But once we lived differently?. I could have simply translated the tamil post but some thing in me,

Wanted me to write it in my own words)

Once MS, the nightingale of south india,

Was supposed to be honoured,

And the great Semmangudi,

The maestro of carnatic music was presiding.

A great garland of flowers was brought to stage,

And the organizers wanted the Maestro to Garland the Nightingale

Maestero hesitated and asked her husband,

“Is it Okay “ and he nodded his head saying yes

Then the Mastero asked the audience ,

They said yes, then he asked the Nightingale herself,

And she nodded her head and then he asked his own wife,

And she also said “yes” and semmangudi went near the mike

He said , “even if the entire world say yes,

I am not willing “ and gave the garland to herr husband,

And requested him to garland her and he did with a smile,

And the entire audience gave a standing ovation.

That which made the maestro hesitate was due to,

The civilization, culture and heritage of India,

It is this that makes the world applaud India,

And feel that this culture is the greatest

ஒரு சமயம்

எம் எஸ் சுப்புலட்சுமி

அவர்களுக்கு பாராட்டு விழா நடைபெற்றது.

செம்மங்குடி சீனிவாச ஐயர்

தலைமை தாங்கினார்.

ஒரு பெரிய மாலையை

அவருக்கு அணிவிக்க

செம்மங்குடியிடம் வழங்கப்பட்டது.

அவரும் அதனை பெற்று

எம் எஸ் க்க அணிவிக்கும்

முகத்தான் மைக்கை பிடித்தவர்

“எம் எஸ் பெண்மணி

அவருக்கு நான் மாலை போட

இந்த சபை அனுமதிக்கிறதா?”

என்று கேட்டார்.

அவையில் இருந்தவர்கள் அனுமதி தந்தனர்.

அடுத்து எம் எஸ் சுப்புலட்சுமி கணவர் சதாசிவம்

அனுமதி அளிக்கிறாரா? என்று கேட்டார்.

அவரும் அனுமதித்தார்.

அடுத்து என்னுடைய துணைவியார்

இதனை அனுமதிக்கிறாரா? என்று கேட்டார்.

அவரும் சம்மதம் தெரிவித்தார்.

இறுதியாக எம் எஸ் சுப்புலட்சுமி

இதற்கு ஒப்பு கொள்கிறாரா? என்று கேட்டார்.

அவரும் மகிழ்ச்சியாக தலையை ஆட்டினார்.

மீண்டும் மைக்கை பிடித்த செம்மங்குடி

எத்தனை பேர் அனுமதி தந்தாலும்

எனக்கு ஏதோ ஒன்று உறுத்துகிறது

அதனால் திரு சதாசிவம் அவர்களே

மாலை அணிவிக்கும்படி கேட்டு கொள்கிறேன்

என்று கூறி மாலையை சதாசிவத்திடம் ஒப்படைத்தார்.

சதாசிவமும் மாலையை பெற்று எம் எஸ் க்கு அணிவித்தார்.

அவையின் கரகோஷம் விண்ணை பிளந்தது.

செம்மங்குடியை தடுத்த அந்த

ஏதோ ஒன்றுதான் என்ன ???

அதன் பெயர்தான்

பண்பாடு கலாச்சாரம் பாரம்பரியம்.

இது இன்றளவும் இந்தியாவில்

ஒட்டிக்கொண்டு இருக்கிற காரணத்தால் தான்

உலகமே இந்தியாவை பார்த்து வியந்து கொண்டிருக்கிறது.

ஒரு பண்பாடு இல்லையென்றால் பாரதம் இல்லை

நம் பண்போடு வாழ்ந்திருந்தால் பாவமும் இல்லை