| அக்னிக் குஞ்சொன்று கண்டேன்

Freedom is a child who is born with every passing day. Evening makes love to the shy silent universe, filling her womb with nascent desire. As dusk falls, the universe's breasts swell with the milk of pure love as her womb grows heavy. Through the night she labours, tossing in her sleep. And just as the twinkling maids withdraw her dark veil, the dawn of freedom, that golden child pokes her head out, the gilded rays stretching and embracing the universal mother.

Freedom is a queen from the time she is born. Morning is her throne, afternoon her royal court and evening her zenana. The river is her sceptre, the breeze her royal seal, fire her army and the sky her palace. And like a true queen, freedom does speak to her people. She speaks through her musical minstrels, who convey her message to the whole universe and listen to the words of her subjects. And when she is born from her own self every night, it is these minstrels who sing songs of her incarnation. The first true poets who sang songs that sprung from their heart when they saw the abundance of joy that was given to them. The sparrows.

So what song do these minstrels sing? What message do they bring from our queen? Of hope? Of blessings, gifts? Of war, glory and fame?

Nay, they sing of truth, freedom and joy.

So,

come thither, take your seat by the yard, the muRRam of my house and listen as dawn brings to your ear this music.

விட்டு விடுதலையாகி

விட்டு விடுதலையாகி நிற்பாய் இந்தச்
சிட்டுக் குருவியினைப் போலே

எட்டுத் திசையும் பறந்து திரிகுவை
ஏறியக் காற்றில் விரைவோடு நீந்துவை
மட்டுப் படாதெங்கும் கொட்டிக் கிடக்குமிவ்
வானொளி என்னும் மதுவின் சுவையுண்டு (விட்டு...)

பெட்டையோடின்பம் பேசிக் களிப்புற்றுப்
பீடையில்லாதோர் கூடு கட்டிக் கொண்டு
முட்டை தருங் குஞ்சைக் காத்து மகிழ்வெய்தி
முந்த உணவு கொடுத்தன்பு செய்திங்கு (விட்டு...)

முற்றத்திலேயுங் கழனி வெளியிலும்
முன்கண்ட தானியம் தன்னைக் கொணர்ந்துண்டு
மற்றப் பொழுது கதை சொல்லித் தூங்கிப் பின்
வைகறை யாகுமுன் பாடி விழிப்புற்று (விட்டு...)

Transliteration

vittu viduthalaiyAgi niRpAy inththac
cittuk kuruviyai pOlE

ettuth thisaiyum paRanththu thiriguvai
ERiyak kARRil viraivOdu nInththuvai
mattup padAthenggum kottik kidakkumiv
vAnoLi ennum mathuvin cuvaiyuNdu

pettaiyinOdinbam pEcik kaLipuRRup
pIdaiyilAthOr kUdu kattik koNdu
muttai tharung kunjcaik kAththu magizveythi
munththa uNavu koduththanbu seythinggu

muRRaththilEyung kazani veLiyilum
munkaNda thAniyam thannaik koNarnththuNdu
maRRap pozuthu kathai sollith thUnggi pin
vaigaRai yAgumun pAdi vizipuRRU

Meaning per word

leave (and)/become free/(shall) stand/this
sparrow/like

eight directions/fly/and roam
climb that wind/with speed/swim
limit/not feeling/pour and lying/
light of the sky/called/nectar's taste/(shall) drink (and)

joy with the female/speak and pleasure happen
without sorrows/one/house/build (and)
egg given young/protect and attain happiness
early food give/make love here (and)

in the yard and/in the canal expanse
front see/grains/those bring and eat
other times/story speak/sleep later
dawn/before becomes/sing/awake happen (and)

Appreciation

The written word can more than often serve as balm to the soul. Weariness, ennui, pain, humiliation, fear - all can be soothed eased and wiped clean by a song. Even as the shadows creep in on the soul a song, a line, a single word can offer a golden ray of hope. Such a song is this.

If Bharathi had just written the first two words of this song, we couldn't have asked for more. "Leave and become free" - as simple and as profound as it gets. In all forms of bondage, it is never the chain the binds the prisoner, it is the prisoner who holds on to the chain; Like the child clinging on to the parent in fear while the entire world spreads ahead of it. All that is need is to leave, to let go of this chain that we grip so tightly with sweat in our arms.

But then, letting go is not so easy. We know what to do but not how. That is why, Barathi says, "like this sparrow". Freedom is found like that - in two lines of poetry. That's all that is there.

Further words to detail and decipher this masterpiece would only sully it. A poem may at times submit to the guiles of prose, but a song shall mate only with another song.

Translation

Stand, you will released and free
Like this sparrow here that you see

In every direction thou shall fly and drift
Climb that wind and swim it swift
This limitless nectar pours all land
This light of the skies drink it and

(Stand, you...)

Revel with the female and of joys you spake
A house without sorrows thou shall make
Guard well your young and attain joy
Feed it early and with love cloy

(Stand, you...)

In the yards in the canals of the fields
gather the grain that your sight yields
Then speak of tales and then sleep make
Then ere the dawn sing and awake

(Stand, you...)

Re-Posted with corrections from Vidya

Sanity is statistical. If a few thousand people believe that the women must be treated like property and you tell them they are divine and should be treated with due respect, the chances of you being burned on a stake are very high. But that is not the end of it. Fifty years after you've been burned at the stake for asking people to be nice with others, you shall be resurrected, praised, glorified and statues of you shall be erected all over the world. Scholars will debate on your works, associations will be formed in your honour, students will study you and read your poems by rote. Then, two things will happen. Women will be ill-treated and abused, but in a more covert manner. On the other hand, women will be glorified and deified making them into Goddesses who resemble stone idols with no feeling, no life, nothing. In simpler words, you'll be transformed from an insane man who nobody understood and nobody praised to an insane man who nobody understands and everybody praises. Yes, a life of insanity is interesting!

But the fact is insanity is truth. Insanity is the ultimate bliss. I remember this guy I used to see at the bus stop everyday I went to college; a scraggly man with a straggling beard, matted hair and two balls of dark fire in his sockets instead of eyes. His only means of livelihood was the mercy of those around him - a few stray coins tossed, a packet of food thrust because the kid in the car wouldn't eat it and so on. His very survival depended upon the pity that he evoked in his fellowmen, a supplicant begging for favours. And yet, he had rejected all the conventions that these men had laid. If he walked about exposing his body, someone rushed with a cloth for him. If he let loose a string of obscenities, he would get a kind look.

Don't you see the point? Here's a man who is living life in a fashion that ridicules all of us and yet he is not unhappy. His laugh, his insane laughter is that of courage. அவன் சிரிப்பு வீரச் சிரிப்பு, வெற்றிச் சிரிப்பு. He celebrates his mad victory over sorrow, over avarice, over covetousness. He laughs a laugh that will send fear into all false hearts. He laughs and dances. He laughs and dances. The dance of destruction, the laughter of chaos. He is in reality, the truth, the Shivam that sits still in the midst of everything while dancing a dance of frenzy on the outside. He is the brave, the fearless mad mendicant, the (ANdi) ஆண்டி (paNdAram) பண்டாரம். And he...has a song!

அச்சமில்லை அச்சமில்லை (பண்டாரப் பாட்டு)

அச்சமில்லை அச்சமில்லை அச்சமென்பதில்லையே
இச்சகத்துளோர் எல்லாம் எதிர்த்து நின்ற போதிலும்
அச்சமில்லை அச்சமில்லை அச்சமென்பதில்லையே
துச்சமாக எண்ணி நம்மைத் தூறு செய்த போதிலும்
அச்சமில்லை அச்சமில்லை அச்சமென்பதில்லையே
பிச்சை வாங்கி உண்ணும் வாழ்க்கை பெற்று விட்ட போதிலும்
அச்சமில்லை அச்சமில்லை அச்சமென்பதில்லையே
இச்சை கொண்ட பொருளெலாம் இழந்துவிட்ட போதிலும்
அச்சமில்லை அச்சமில்லை அச்சமென்பதில்லையே
கச்சணிந்த கொங்கை மாந்தர் கண்கள் வீசும் போதிலும்
அச்சமில்லை அச்சமில்லை அச்சமென்பதில்லையே
நச்சை வாயிலே கொணர்ந்து நண்பரூட்டும் போதிலும்
அச்சமில்லை அச்சமில்லை அச்சமென்பதில்லையே
பச்சை யூனியைந்த வேற்படைகள் வந்த போதிலும்
அச்சமில்லை அச்சமில்லை அச்சமென்பதில்லையே
உச்சி மீது வானிடிந்து வீழூகின்ற போதிலும்
அச்சமில்லை அச்சமில்லை அச்சமென்பதில்லையே

Transliteration

accamillai accamillai (paNdArap pAttu)

accamillai accamillai accamenbathillaiyE
iccagaththuLOr ellAm ethirththu ninRa pOthilum
accamillai accamillai accamenbathillaiyE
thuccamAga eNNi nammaith thURu seytha pOthilum
accamillai accamillai accamenbathillaiyE
piccai vAnggi uNNum vAzkkai peRRu vitta pOthilum
accamillai accamillai accamenbathillaiyE
iccai koNda poruLellAm izanththu vitta pOthilum
accamillai accamillai accamenbathillaiyE
kaccaNintha konggai mAnththar kaNgaL vIsum pOthilum
accamillai accamillai accamenbathillaiyE
naccai vAyilE koNarnththu naNbarUttum pOthilum
accamillai accamillai accamenbathillaiyE
paccai yUniyainththa vERpadaigaL vanththa pOthilum
accamillai accamillai accamenbathillaiyE
ucci mIthu vAnidinththu vIzuginRa pOthilum
accamillai accamillai accamenbathillaiyE

Meaning per word

Fear no/Fear no/Fear called no
(belonging to)this world (who)are/all/oppose/(and)stand/even then
Fear no/Fear no/Fear called no
Lowly/think(and)/us/slander/done/even then
Fear no/Fear no/Fear called no
beg/get/life/life/(we)got/even then
Fear no/Fear no/Fear called no
desire/had/objects/all/lost/even then
Fear no/Fear no/Fear called no
Corset/wearing/breasts/women/eyes/throw/even then
Fear no/Fear no/Fear called no
venom/(in) mouth/bring/(and)friends feed/even then
Fear no/Fear no/Fear called no
raw/flesh/desiring/spear armies/come/even then
Fear no/Fear no/Fear called no
top/upon/sky crumble/(and)fall/even then
Fear no/Fear no/Fear called no
The word by word translation for this will be posted later.

Appreciation

One of my friends says that everything in the world is driven by two things - 1. Fear 2. Greed. It does sound like a plausible theory for me, although I would replace greed with desire. All through history, all battles, both on the field and in the mind have been fought only against these two enemies. It is always either fear of defeat or desire of victory. And how much has been said about these? Fear especially. One crowd says fear has to be conquered, must be fought against and won. Another says you must surrender to your fears and overcome them accepting them. A third says courage is merely acting as if you are not afraid. And amidst all this the truly fearless man laughs!

The only truly fearless man in this universe is he who is insane. He does not fear the dark. Fear shame, insult, defeat, death, disease - nothing frightens him. And why is it that he does not fear anything? There is only one secret to overcome fear. The seer of Kanchi, Maha periyavAL Chandarsekarendra swamigal says in one of his discourses "Fear happens only when there is something different from you. So does desire. Fear and desire are negative and positive reactions to something that is different, something that doesn't belong." So when does fear disappear? It disappears when one is in unity with everything, when one sees nothing different from oneself; when one achieves that complete perception where the surface of distinction and the underlying soul of unity present themselves at the same time. It is from this kind of a perception that Barathi, my insane poet proclaims his fearlessness.

At first look this poem has no trace of insanity or underlying thoughts that Vidya suggests in her translation. It appears like a simple positive song that exudes confidence and courage in a frightened soul. But then, the common man's soul is not frightened by the things described in the poem. He is scared by more mundane things. This poem was definitely written for a common man's fears - nenjcu porukkuthillaiyE (நெஞ்சு பொருக்குதில்லையே) will possibly qualify as a poem written upon seeing a common man's fears.

So much is clear with the title and the first line (the refrain rather). A paNdAram is a mendicant of the saivite sect, a mystic. So a song of this mystic would appear trivial while hiding deep thoughts inside. Further Barathi says accamillai accamillai accmenbathillaiyE. Why say "There is no fear" and then "There is nothing called as fear"? Perhaps I can give an answer to this, but I want this one to be a discussion. Leave your thoughts about this in the comments section.
Now, look at the first thing that Barathi uses to say there is no fear. He says even if thhose who inhabit the world entirely stand opposing, there is no fear. Opposition of this sort comes in many ways. Let us analyze this from the unity and harmony idea suggested earlier. Imagine thousands of millions of people united standing against Barathi with flaming torches, fuming faces, shouting oaths and ready to lynch him. They stand separated from him and hate him. What does Barathi do? He laughs; laughs a laugh of compassion. And then he says "I have no fear". Why does he have no fear? Because he is not different from these people who are opposing him. Why so? Because all these people opposing him are imagining that they are opposing him when in reality he is one with them; one as a human, one as a child of God, one as a unique piece in this wonderful Creation. See further, Barathi who is supposedly insane here is sane when he looks at everybody with harmony in his heart, while the sane people opposing him are imagining that they hate him in their actual insanity.

Now, Barathi has said "I have no fear" to those who oppose him. What do they do next? They are not able to attack him directly because his laugh has disarmed them. They attack him from the behind. They think low of him and spread that slander. They say "This Barathi here, he is a heretic. He goes around singing the praise of love, rebelling against our established customs, mingling with the untouchables and praising some Dark Gods". They say this in the hope that everybody would then shun Barathi and then he would have no way left but to accept his defeat and accept their ideals.

What does Barathi say again? He laughs with his "I have no fear". What? No fear even when your reputation is soiled? When your society is being forced to shun you? Yes, I say! What reputation do I a madman have? What society do you speak of to me that separates people from one another? Don't you know I'm one, one with everything that is seen, heard, smelt, tasted, touched, known, felt, thought and even with the unknown, the unthought and the unseen? What fear do I have form myself?

The people scratch their head. This doesn't seem to make sense. But their slander has taken effect. Barathi has no work, no means of livelihood. He is not allowed to teach children for he will spoil them. He is not allowed to publish his works because they enrage the British. He is now a beggar. He lives of the mercy of others. The people gather around his emaciated form and say "Now you shall know fear." For if we don't give you food, you shall die and that will worry and frighten you." "Listen my dear people, I still have no fear. This is a mere body that survives by food. And what mercy will you show to me who is one with the ocean of mercy, the very source of all compassion. You think you feed me? Nay! I feed from myself! I'm one. I know no fear."

Now Barathi is a beggar forced to live off the streets. His house is eaten away by termites. His treasured books of Shelley's poetry lie rotting in a corner. The cittukkuruvi (சிட்டுக்குருவி sparrow) that comes everyday to his terrace to give him company with his dinner comes no longer. "Barathi has lost all that he had" say the people. "He has only his desire left. All that he desired, treasured, even his ideals are lost". "Ho! What do you speak of this losing? If the clouds in the sky move from East to West will you say the sky lost its clouds? Don't you know that my house is still the biggest in the world - my heart? Don't you know that my poetry still lies in golden words carved on my mind? Don't you know that my dear sparrow still visits me in the moonlit nights for the sparrow is my parAsakthi? Don't you know my friend that in the depths of myself, in my own stillness, I still have everything, that I am still everything? Don't you my friend, still know that I have no fear?"

This won't do they say. This insane man must be brought to his senses. Humanity has till now mostly known only two ways of achieving its means. The first is by threats and the next is by temptation. "Let us ask our pretty women to trap Barathi in the lust of the flesh" they scheme. And how do these women seduce Barathi? They use the most wicked weapon of theirs - their eyes. They think, "This same Barathi who sung that the breasts of a women are sivalingams to be worshipped and who sung that if there is no love there is only death, how can he now shun these women? How can he say that desiring these women is wrong and they are traps? Then he'll go against his ideal."

"Heed ye men and women. Love is that which springs to union. These women here tempt me with possession. They wish to become mine and make me theirs, when in reality I'm them and they are me. You who see them different from you, fear them thinking they shall lead you unto sin and temptation. But I shall not fear them for they are not different from me. I know no fear." See how subtly Barathi differentiates between the kinds of fears - when the people oppose him, it is fear that stems from survival instinct; when they slander him it is fear that is caused out of revulsion for the slander; when he is tempted by women, it is fear caused by desire.

And now comes the fear that is the worst of them all. This line to me is the climax of this poem in one way. When in fear, you curl up against those you love and seek their protection. And your worst fear is that they should betray you. "People, you kindle my friends against me. They come here now and offer me poison. Nay, they take the venom and thrust it into my throat. Shall I fear now? Never! For I'm one with my friends through the path of love and if they offer me venom, it shall become nectar. For even if they offer it with hate, I take it with love. So like the nIlakaNdan (நீலகண்டன் blue-throated shiva), I shall stay immortal even after drinking poison for my friends because my beloved Sakthi shall stop it from eating my life. Therefore, I have no fear"

Now, the armies come. Kingdoms rise against this man's insanity. They take up arms and siege him. And he welcomes them with open arms and mad laughter. "Come here my comrades who wish to differentiate yourself from the rest with your spears and your valour. Come and drive your points into me, for if that gives you happiness, I shall live in your happiness forever. Come here, kill me, slaughter me and see if I shall die then. Come you fierce soldiers who eat the flesh of the dead. Come and eat my corpse raw while I eat my death raw. Know me now in your hearts - I shall die a thousand deaths and yet live on because, I know no fear!"

And then the end. The Gods too can't stand this man's rebellion. They look upon him with fury and jealousy. And that crashes the skies. It comes crumbling down on him. And at the end of it all he stands there laughing his mad laughter that echoes to eternity. He laughs "I'm one. I have no fear."

(Translations and adaptation in the next post)

அக்னிக் குஞ்சொன்று கண்டேன்

Thursday, July 05, 2007

The Song of Freedom's minstrels

Friday, February 09, 2007

Apologies

Thursday, January 18, 2007

The madman's song II

Friday, January 12, 2007

The madman's song I

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