தமிழ் ஓசை

Robert Butler

Robert Butler – American Tamil scholar. A Ramana Maharishi disciple who has learned Tamil from Tamil scholars. He has translated the entire Kuruntokai book into English. He explains the tinais very clearly, and cites the Tolkappiyam.

1. Kurntokai – Translation

2. Annamalai Venba – Translation

(Excerpts from the book)

Kuruntokai: one of the ettutokai – the eight anthologies of poems by many different authors, which along with Pattupāttu – the ten songs, make up the body of the literature of the Tamil classical period, commonly known as the Sangam literature. This period is thought to extent from the 2nd century B.C. when the poems began to be written down on palm leaf manuscripts, to around the 5th century A.D. Due presumably to its secular nature, this poetry, now regarded as a major and unique world literature, came more and more to be neglected over the centuries until fairly recently when, the 19th century, Tamil scholars, the most illustrious of whom was U.V. Swaminathaiyer, devoted themselves to the task of collecting and collating the often badly deteriorated palm leaf manuscripts, establishing a text and publishing them.

Tolkāppiyam, in sutra 3 of Aka-t-tinai Iyal, lists the components of the Akam poem as follows:

முதல் கரு உரிப்பொருள் என்ற மூன்றே

நுவலும் காலை முறை சிறந்தனவே

பாடலுள் பயின்றவை நாடும் காலை.

On examination, when we list them,

the entities which constitute the poem

are, excelling in order,

mutal, karu and uri-p-porul

Mutal means first or principal, and refers to the setting in time – poluthu, and place – nilam, in which the activity of the Akam poem takes place. Time is conceived of in two aspects, the time of the year, or season and the time of the day or night. Land refers to the landscape in which the poem is set; there are five of these: kurinci - mountains, hilly tracts; mullai – forest and pasture; marutham – agricultural lands,neytal – lands by the seashore; pālai – desert tracts. The Tamil name for these istinai.

Karu means embryo, nucleus, and refers to the various elements of flora, fauna, artefacts, inhabitants, and so on, which are native to the above mentioned types of tinas.

Uri is connected with the word urimai – ownership, appropriateness, propreity, and refers to the distinctive mood that characterises each tinai. The correspondence between the five tinai and their associated moods is as follows:

punartal – union is associated with the kurinci tinai

pirital - separation is associated with the palai tinai

iruttal – patient waiting is associated with mullai tinai

irankal – anxious waiting, pining is associated with neytal tinai

utal – sulking, love quarrels is associated with the marutam tinai

The Five Tinai

Kurinci – The kurinci tinai isi the hill country where the young people meet, fall in love and attempt to pursue their affair in secret. The tinai takes its name from the kurinci shrub, which flowers once every 12 years, covering the hillsides with its purple-blue blossoms. Its season extends from mid-October to mid-February consisting of the Tamil months of Aippaci and Kārthikai (kutir kālam – the cold season), and Mārkali and Tai (mun pani kalam – the season of early dew):

குறிஞ்சி

கூதிர் யாமம் என்மனார் புலவர்

பனி எதிர் பருவமும் உரித்து என மொழிப

வைகறை விடியல் மருதம்.

The learned assign

midnight and the cold season

to the hilly tract.

The season of the early dew

belongs to it also. Tolkāppiyam, Aka-t-tinai Iyal verse 7 & 8

Pālai - The pālai tinai, the arid tract, is not thought by most to be assigned to a specific geographical location, there being no deserts as such in the Tamil country. It is rather thought to refer to tracts of the kurinci and mullai when afflicted to extreme drought. Tolkāppiyam does not even assign it a name of its own, referring to it simply as natuvanilai tinai, the tinai in the middle (in the list of the other four). The name, pālai, that of a tree that grows in arid conditions, was assigned by a later commentator. According to Tolkappiyam, the season extends from mid-February to mid-August, consisting of the Tamil months of Maci and Pankuni (pin pani kalam – the season of the late dew), Cittirai and Vaikasi (ilavenil – the milder hot season) and Ani and Ati - the hot season. The time of day is mid-day, when the sun is at its most fierce and unrelenting.

நடுவுநிலைத் திணையே நண்பகல் வேனிலொடு

முடிவு நிலை மருங்கின் முன்னிய நெறித்தே

பின்பனிதானும் உரித்து என மொழிப.

As we see it,

the hot season and midday

go with the centrally-placed tract

The season of the late dew

is also help to be proper (to the arid land). Tolkāppiyam, Aka-t-tinai Iyal verse 11 & 12

Mullai - After the exhilaration and excitement of the kurinci tinai, and the subsequent hardship and deprivation of the palai tinai, the mullai tinai, trasports us to the moment when the heroine’s time of waiting is coming to an end as the rainy season approaches and the year comes full circle. The mullai tinai is associated with the rainy season and evening. Mullai – jasmine is the flower which gives its name to the tinai. Remaining fresh for several days after it is plucked, this flower symbolises the patient waiting and sustained hope of the heroine. The kār kalām is the cloudy or rainy season, which extends from mid-August to mid-October, the Tamil months of Avani and Purattāci. Mullai poems can refer also to the married stage of life, when the hero is engaged upon some errand for the king, for example.

காரும் மாலையும் முல்லை

The rainy season and evening

(are assigned to) the forest tract. Tolkāppiyam, Aka-t-tinai Iyal verse 6

Marutam – The subject matter of marutam is utal, which mean feigned dislike on the part of the heroine as a result of the hero’s infidelity; it is often translated as sulking or love quarrels. However, this definition does little justice to the marutam poems of Kuruntokai, the bulk of which deal mainly with the psychological reaction, often subtle and nuanced, of the heroine or her friend to the husband’s attempt at reconciliation. The hero’s infidelity takes place with either a concubine – il parattai, a kept mistress – kātal parattai or a village prostitute – ceriparattai. These characters take on the role of speaker in a number of poems, in which they typically disparage the hero and heroine. There is no season assigned to this tract. The time of day associated with it is the early hours just before dawn, but this is not evidenced by most of the marutam poems, in which the time of day plays no obvious role.

வைகறை விடியல் மருதம்

The early hours before dawn

are associated with the agricultural tract Tolkāppiyam, Aka-t-tinai Iyal 9

Neytal - The neytal tinai is, in Kuruntokai at least, somewhat the antithesis of thekurinci, in that the defining mood is one of anxiety in love on the part of the heroine. A large number of the verses feature the latter stages of a relationship in which the hero appears to be largely impervious to the suffering of the heroine at the hands of her own family and the gossipmongers in the village. It is also somewhat of a hybrid as it features the themes of the hero failing to return at the appointed time (palaiand mullai), the behavior of the unfaithful husband (marutham), the announcement that the marriage has been agreed (kurinci), and the successful secret meetings (kurinci). As with the marutam, no season is assigned to this tract in Tolkappiyam. It is merely stated that its characteristic time is erpatu the late afternoon before sunset, although there is little evidence of this in Kuruntokai.

எற்பாடு,

நெய்தல் ஆதல் மெய் பெறத் தோன்றும்

It is established that late afternoon

is the time assigned to the seashore tract Tolkāppiyam, Aka-t-tinai Iyal verse 10

Translations

Poem 70, Poet Orampokiyar, Tinai Kurinci – He said

Her braids are sleek and heavy

her forehead bright,

my little girl.

She’s fresh and fragrant,

and she breaks my heart.

I know of no ornament of speech