Purananuru and Kamban

Sahitya Akademi

Purananuru and KambanAuthor(s): RAMA SUBRAMANIANSource: Indian Literature, Vol. 18, No. 3 (July-September 1975), pp. 104-119Published by: Sahitya AkademiStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23330822 .

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Purananuru and Kamban

RAMA 6UBRAMANIAN

The ancient Sangam anthologies are Ettathokai and Pathuppappattu.

Ettuthokai consists of eight anthologies. Tokai means an anthology.

They consist of 2381 verses varying from lyrics of three lines to

an idyll of 782 lines. There are 473 poets including about 30

poetesses and about 20 royal poets. The diversity of social

strata from which the poets come shows the high cultural

development of this period.

The anthologies have been classified as Akam (love poetry)

and Puram (poetry of other than love). This division is of pure

Tamil origin. Of these two, Akam monopolises the major por

tion of the Sangam period. Akam poetry is "the poetry of the

noumenon, the poetry of the inner inspiration of love, something

to be felt and realised and only to be hinted at to those who have

had similar experience". There is no mention of names either of

a hero or of a heroine in Akam poems. The names of the five

regions Kurinchi (Hills), Mullai (Pastoral), Marutham (Fields,),

Neyyal (Coasts), and Palai (Desert) have been given to the five

developments of this love. The Puram poetry is "the poetry of

phenomenon, the life of heroism, the life of self-sacrifice, the life

of glory, the life of simplicity etc—all inspired by the basic

principle of love." Akam or subjective poetry deals with love; whereas Puram

or objective poetry is concerned with war and other external

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PURANANURU AND KAMBAN

aetivites. Man's heroic achievements and noble deeds in the

affairs of the world find their greatest expression in Puram.

In Akam even the name of the beloved or the lover ought not

to be mentioned. The vaguest hint would banish it from the

religion of the Akam\ and it would be placed within the pale of Puram. It is indeed a very narrow definition of Akam. It is better that it includes all the inner working of the human

heart, its joys and sorrows, its hopes and fears, its storm and sun

shine. Some of the songs which are included in Purananuru

may be admitted to the rank of the finest lyrics which the world has ever seen.

Kalittokai, Paripatal, Ainkurunuru, Patirrupattu, Puram, Akam, Nartinai and Kuruntokai are the eight anthologies. Patirrupattu

deals with the heroic achievements of the Cher as; Puram gives us

glowing accounts of the external glory and grandeur, aims

and achievements of the kings and chieftains of the Sangam Age

^-the three great ancient kings of South India, the Chera the

Pandya and the Chola, the seven great patrons and other-chief

tains and great men of Tamilakam and it contains also details

of the trembling pity and compassion that extend even to the

straggling mullai creeper. Extreme compassion and dire cruelty meet and jostle in Purananuru. The heroic womanhood of the

Tamils, who delight in fierce war has found its glorious expres

sion in Purananuru; however, one can even fashion an utopia out

of the noblest utterances of the poets who have dreamt a world

of love and affection. It is in the form of dramatic monologue.

The world to-day is moving with hesitating steps towards

a universal humanism. The alarming nuclear (atomic)

weapons of destruction have placed before the modern world

an alternative, either to recognise the universal brotherhood of

all men, or to face total annihilation. Long before this dire

necessity arose, nearly two thousand years before, the ancient

Tamilians were bent upon discovering the value of human

existence. They found that the realisation of kinship and

equality of mankind had the greatest ethical and sprirtual value.

Universal humanism thus became their philosophy of life and

dedicated service to humanity their ultimate goal of existence.

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INDIAN LITERATURE

The problems of good and evil, misery and happiness, life and

death had also engaged their attention. They arrived at their own conclusions about these vexed and perplexing problems

of life. These thoughts and conclusions have been skillfully woven into a poem by an astronomer poet, Kaman Pungkuntravar:

All places are ours, all our kith and kin; Good: and evil come,

not caused by others. Pain and relief are brought likewise,

not by others. Dying is not new; nor living gave us joy;

Misery we hated not. As in the flood, Caused by clouds that

floured in torrents. On a mountain top with lightning flash,

A raft goes in the direction of the stream, So the swarm of lives

move .onward In the way of destiny. This we have discerned

From the teachings Of sages strong in wisdom So we admire

not the great; nor scoff at the churl. (Purananuru-192)

The thought structure of the above poem is intricately inter

woven with the simile in the poem. Just as little drops of rain,

develop into a mighty stream so a tiny molecule of life-potential

caught up in a male or matter potential evolves into a mighty stream of life. The raft in the stream is compared to the highly

developed of perfect human being in the stream of life. They

follow the same order which the stream of water and the raft

adopt.

Of all the relationships known to human mind, the rela

tionship between the body and soul is considered to be the most

intimate and sacred. This intimacy is so intense, no one—not

even the greatest of thinkers—used to think that these two are

separate entities. Our poet, Moshikiranar, compares the rela

tionship between the rulers and the ruled to that of the body and

the soul. The body moves as the soul directs: Not by food the

world exists; Nor the water gives the life. The wide expanse

of earth doth live, Because the ruler is its life; To know

this truth is duty first Of those that stand to rule the land.

The poet, Nariverruiuth-thalaiyar, remembering the age of

rulers who associated themselves with ruthless men in the belief

that such qualities are necessary for maintaining their rule,

advises the king to dissociate himself from them and base his

administration on love and grace.

106




Be friend, thou not with worthless men

who sink themselves in burning hell Devoid of love and grace;

Thy rule should take the form of tender care

with which the mother nurses suckling;

Though hard for mortals all,

Strive to get and rule the world.

Mosi Keeranar, the author of this piece stresses that the

prosperity of a country depends upon just and efficient rule.

The ideas that a king (his just rule) rather than (the availability of) water and paddy is the soul of a kingdom and that the king should realize this and act justly and efficiently are expressed in this poem.

The wide-spaced world has the

king as its soul.

Therefore, it is neither rice nor water that is the life.

To realize that T am the soul' is

the duty of the king Whose army is rich in spears.

Ever since the creation of the animate world, it has been

a battle ground, where beastly strength in the honoured name

of Might has won the admiration of the world. Once it was

the strength of the teeth and claws, then the strength of the

mighty arms. Each age has in turn been considered savage by the succeeding ages. Our poet Madurai Maruthan Ilanaganar advises the ruler as to the noble way by which perpetual great ness may be attained. Where the men in power apt to mislead

themselves, is hinted. The simile, combining the elements given in comparison with the noble qualities to be formed, is

capable of giving greater truths for any thinking mind.

Though the rulers win their fame By arms fourfold of steeds and cars,

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INDIAN LITERATURE

Warriors brave and elephants fierce, Does greatness lie on these alone?

Victory true comes from flawless laws;

So swerve not the sceptre to favour thine,

Snip not the virtue found alien; Combine the splendour of the mighty sun To the cooling lustre of the pleasing Moon

And bestow your gifts like the showering rain.

The poet, Kudapulaviyanar advises the King Pandiya to increase the water supply for food production. The poet

remarks with derision the unenterprising attitude of taking

things as they come and emphasises the adoption of the noble

spirit of getting things as we want.

Thou Mighty Ruler, listen to my song, Who gives to frames of men the food

They need, these give them life; For food sustains the mortal frame,

But food is earth with water blent;

So those who join the water to the earth

Build up the body, and supply its life, Men in less happy lands sow seed, and watch to skies for rain,

But this can ne'er supply the wants of kingdom and of king.

Therefore, 0! Cezhiyan, great in war, despise this not;

Increase the reservoirs for water made

Who bind the water, and supply to fields Their measured flow, these bind The earth to them. The fame of others passes swift away.

(Trans G. U. Pope)

The poet, Vellaikudi Nagavar emphasising the necessity of

state protection for agriculturists, goes further with a political

insight to suggest avoidance of views not tested by indigenous

experiences. Foreign cults, however formidable and fascinating,

may prove disastrous if heeded to without proper appraisal.

The poet got remission of arrears of land tax from the

Chola King.

108




The victory of your forces in battle

Is born of the share that tills the soil;

If rain doth fail and yield diminish, And people turn against their nature

And imbibe cults made by some,

The wider world will blame the king; You know this well; so refuse the words

Of those with views of foreign shade Untested in the land you rule.

Bear the people who bear the plough

Even thy foes will bear thy feet.

In a former battle, she lost her father, killed by an elephant.

Again the other day her husband too was killed, over powered

by numerous foes. And today the war drüfns started their

dreadful beat. She was overwrought with grief and sad

memories and yet she called her son, no more than a boy, dressed

him in clean clothes, did his hair, gave him the sharp spear and sent him to his sure death. Such was the great courage and high

sense of duty of an ancient Tamil mother as has been portrayed

to us by Okkur Masathiyar of the Sangam age.

She heard the war-drums

With delight and despair; The spear she gave in his hands,

Clad him in clean clothes

The straggling hair she oiled and combed,

The mother with no more than one son

Turned him battlewards and

bade him go.

Ponmudiyar, the author, describes a woman of the warrior

tribe and defines the duties of people thus ¡"Begetting a son and

rearing him with care is the prime duty of a mother of the warrior tribe; training the child in the art of war and making him a brave warrior is the duty of the father; manufacturing javelins

for use in the field of battle is the duty of the blacksmith jturning

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INDIAN LITERATURE

the subject into a dutiful citizen is the duty of the King; causing havoc in the battle field with his deadly spear, throwing javelins

, at the mighty tuskers and returning home victorious is the duty

of the brave young warrior."

My duty as mother is to bring forth and to bring up; To educate is the fathers'1 duty;

To make manful is the King's duty; To give the spear is the duty of the blacksmith; And my son's duty is—

To plunge into the battle-field, To pierce the elephant in the enemy's line,

And return triumphant.

The poet Pisiranthaiyar explains how, in spite of old age, his hair has not turned gray. He says, "his wife and children

are as virtuous and learned as himself; his youthful servants

serve him and his family to his heart's desire; the King of the

realm commits no wrong and he protects his subjects well; more

than all these, there live in his (poet's) place profound scholars

■who have mastered their five senses and who are meek and

merciful." That is why, says the poet, his hair has not turned

gray in spite of his old age.

Lend me your ear; oh my man to the reason's plea;

Virtuous and noble is my wife; Wise are my children;

Dutiful are my loyal stewards;

Just is the swamy of my ruler who,does no wrong.

And the hamlet where I dwell,

Abounds in heroic men,

Who are no passion's slaves.

Therefore my hair has not grown grey

though far sunk I be in the vale of years.

The three great Kings of Tamil Nadu, Cher an, Cholan, and

Pandian invest the Parambunadu, of the great hill-chief Pari the

110




liberal. His court-poet Kabilar expresses the opinion that their

attempt to conquer the hill-country of Pari would prove futile

because of the self-supporting nature of the hills and the valour

of the chief. He sarcastically suggests a way to succeed in their

attempt, namely, that if they along with their queens go to

Pari singing and dancing and begging for gifts, Pari would give away his kingdom hill and all!

Think you but lightly of great Part's hill? Four gifts, it gives without man's sweated toil; First, golden paddy with slim

blades yields its grain; Second, the sweet fleshed jack-fruit ripens there;

Thirdly, potatoes sweet send down fat roots;

Fourthly, the honeycomb Overspread with blue

Drips honey on the hill.

(Trans. C. Jesudason)

The following poetry is by Avvai, the poetess, whose name is familiar to all lovers of Tamil. She was an ambassador for

peace, which then as now, seems to have been sought by a show

might and by sabre-rattling speeches : Hark, O warriors, have

a care I warn you all, Beware? In the shallow waters, ankle

deep, Muddied by the play Of village urchins, May look a crocodile which could drag down A mighty elephant And kill it too. Even so is my chieftain. If you ponder not On his

great deeds of valour, And scorn him Since he is young in

years, I warn you all You will surely rue it.

The author of the poem Kopperum Cholan says that there

should be no hesitation to do good or aim high. A hunter out

to bag an elephant may succeed and another out to catch a quail

may fail! So our objective should be very high. If we succeed, we can attain even celestial bliss. If not, we may attain even

Moksha* in a future births. Even if any doubt the theory of

rebirthjit should be our firm resolve to establish our reputation

in this world as high and firm as the highest peak of the Hima

layas and then die a glorious death.

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INDIAN LITERATURE

Shall we e'er do good deeds or not?

Thus falter those whose minds rot

In the dirt of doubt and are ever so wot;

Who hunts for the tusker may happy reach one

And the seeker for the sparrow might return with one;

Aim at things high and so virtues preserve,

And if your actions but richly deserve,

Lo, the Bliss is there for you, in full reserve;

If in such a Bliss you've little faith, You'll at least stop the cycle of birth

Even if births are denied, do all the same, And like the Himalayan peak, aloft and firm Die a good death, best leaving eternal fame.

★

Kamban is very often acclaimed as the greatest among Tamil

poets. Kamban is the greatest epic poet of Tamil land. He got

the outline of the story from Valmiki's Sanskrit epic, the Ramayana.

But the whole story recreated by him in Tamil in 42,000 lines

enshrines all that is significant in Tamil tradition and culture.

He has distilled into his work all that is great in the literature

prior to him in Tamil and has exploited to the full, the heritage

of Vaishnava thought.

With a remarkable knowledge of human nature, an unfailing

sense of the dramatic, a keen mind reaching out towards pro

found truths, a diction rich and multifarious, Kamban has created

a Maha Kavya. By way of comparison V.V.S. Iyer observes that

"In the Ramayana of Kamban the world possesses an epic which

can challenge comparison not merely with Iliad and the Aeneid,

the Paradise Lost, and the Mahabharata, but with its original itself,

namely the Ramayana of Valm:ki."

Kamban, who is reverentially called Kavi Chakravarti (Emperor

of Poets) is a celebrated poet of the 9th century and his Ramayanam

or Ramaavataram is the greatest epic in Tamil Literature, and

though the author states that he follows in the wake of Valmiki,,

still his work is no translation or even adaptation of the Sanskrit

112




original. Kamban deviated from the original at some place and endeavoured to paint the characters already created by Valmiki

in brighter colours. Even though Kamban has followed Valmiki, the language versions do not follow the Sanskrit original in

respect of the main incidents of the story.

Kamban calls this work Ramaavataram, the descent of Rama_

He knows Rama is God incarnate and he repeats this as often as

he can. God has to come as a man, live as a man, suffer as;

other men, becoming perfect through the very scheme of things he has ordained for others. If Rama were to become a model

and a standard, he must become a man. It is only then any man or woman can believe in the potentialities of human nature

to become divine. Therefore in Kambaramayanam, Rama is

through and through a man and Sita through and through a

woman. If they were to behave like God, there would be nothing to wonder at. It is the human heart with all the human passions and human failings that make Rama and Sita lovable and great. Kamban is conscious of this and therefore he gives expression to a

beautiful phrase," "Manitam Venratanre", O! human nature

has won. (4:3:19) Kamban sang the story of Rama as of God come down on

earth to suffer, chasten, uplift, help and guide men. Apart from this difference in the treatment of the hero, there is consi

derable difference in poetic form between Valmiki and Kamban. Kamban's Ramayana is a lyric, while Valmiki's is an epic. The lyric is a string of cut gems with glittering facets sparkling at

each turn. It is not a solemn march of predestined sadness like

Valmiki's epic. The lyric sparkle of Kamban and Tulsidas goes well with their constant reminder that Rama is the Supreme

Being Himself.1 The story of Ramayana is this in brief outline. Dasaratha,

the king of Ayodhya, has four sons. They were the gift of the Gods, to the aged king who had been long without issue. The Gods, had obtained a boon from Vishnu the he would Himself come down to earth as man to end the tyranny of Ravana and so Rama.

1. Rajagopalachari, C. The Ayodhya Canto of the Ramayana as toM by Kamban, p. 10., George Allen & Unwin Ltd., London, 1961.

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INDIAN LITERATURE

was born as Dasaratha's eldest son by Kausalya, the senior

queen. Rama's brothers were Bharata, Lakshmana and Satrughna.

When Rama was young, quite a boy, he with his brother Lakshmana

was taken by the great rishi Visvamitra with the permission of

Dasaratha to his hermitage to protect his sacrifices from the

Rakshasas who had been annoying them. Rama performed the

mission with great success and received from the sage miraculous

weapons and blessings. He then accompanied Visvamitra to

the capital of Jana-ka where he married Sita, having bent and

broken Siva's bow, which had been proclaimed as a condition for

obtaining the hand of Sita and which many a suitor had failed to do. After some years Dasaratha resolved to instal Rama as

prince regent. On the eve of the coronation day his youngest

queen Kaikeyi at the instigation of her maid Manthara asked

him to fulfil the two boons he had formerly promised to her. Dasaratha had to agree. By one of these two boons, she demanded

the installation of her own son Bharata as prince regent and by

the other the exile of Rama for 14 years. The king was shocked

and tried his best to dissuade her from making her wicked

demands, but was at last obliged to yield. Rama gladly agreed

to go into exile to save his father from breaking his pledged word.

He was accompanied by Sita and his devoted brother Lakshmana.

Bharata, who wasln great indignation at what had happened,

went to the forest to meet Rama and persuade him to return and

take the reins of government. But Rama would not agree and

asked Bharata to be regent to enable him duly to fulfil the decree

of Dasaratha. This was agreed to and Rama continued as an

exile in the forest.

The two brother killed several powerful Rakashasas during

their exile and punished Ravana's sister who made improper

advances. Ravana resolved to disgrace Rama by carrying off

his wife for whom, under his sister's incitement, his passion had

been roused. He accomplished this purpose with the help of

Maricha. After several fruitless inquiries Rama ascertained

through Hanuman where Sita was kept in prison. Thereupon

Rama invaded the island of Lanka and killed Ravana. Rama

returned in triumph with his wife and friends to Ayodhya, where

114




Bharat had been ruling as proxy. Rama was crowned king and

reigned long and righteously.

Kamban succeeded in utilising all the artistic means of

expression known in Tamil poetry of that period. In the first

part of his work, Balakandam, he developed totally new kinds of

dhvani, the second Ayodhyakandam is (remarkable for its descrip

tions of human emotions and relations, the third Tuddhakandam,

for its brisk tempo, dramatic force and brilliant descriptions of

battle episodes. Extremely rich and expressive language,

cascades of poetic imagery and waterfalls of similes, frequent use of onomato-poesis, ingenious alterations of the metie, extra

ordinary musicality of the verse—these are the main features of

Kamban's style. Ideas of deep humanism, serene faith in man

kind, its goodness and its abilities form the very core of his work.

Vishnu, the Supreme God, must have become an ideal man,

descended down the earth and embodied in flesh as Rama

(Rama-avatharam) in order to save other gods as well as mankind

from destruction.

Kamban imports into his narration the colour of his own time

and place like the other great poets who have enriched the

literatures of the different languages of India by their works

on the Rama saga. Thus his description of Kosala is an idealized

account of the features of the Chola country, and he compares the brightness of moonlight to the fame of his patron, Sadaiyan of Vennai-nallur. Sometimes Kamban yields to the somewhat rigid canons of Tamil poetics as when he enters on an elaborate analy sis of the emotion of Rama and Sita after a chance meeting which

takes place immediately after Rama's entry into Mithila. For

instance, the human heroic Rama of Valmiki's poem has been

deified in Kamba Ramayanam (This appears understandable since

Rama was considered an incarnation of Lord Vishnu by the time the Ramayana came to be written in the regional languages of

our country—India). When Rama and Sita happen to see each other, (before marriage) for the first time, Kamban makes his Rama and Sita see and fall in love with each other following the traditions of the premarital love of the Sangam age and reminds in saying that they were Narayana and Lakshmi before their

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INDIAN LITERATURE

descent to the earth. This incident is dramatically introduced

where Rama enters the city of Sita whilst she is on the balcony of

of her palace. The poet further remarks that there is no necessity

for speech for those who reunite after a long separation. Else

where, as in the description of Sita's behaviour on receiving

Rama's ring from Hanuman, Kamban elaborates a brief hint thrown

out by Valmiki who says that she rejoiced as if she had rejoined her husband. He compresses Valmiki'''s account at other points,

as in Dasaratha's asvamedha.

Kamban describes the unfailing rains, feeding the perennial

river—the Ganges, made holy and sacred in the minds of the people

of India by legends and literature. The rains and the floods

remind him of the divine legends. Like God, they take the

form of many things, sometimes reminding us even of the

prostitute. He does not leave us in doubt; for he tells us

that, like God appearing in many forms according to the belief

of the various sects and religions, water takes many different

forms of channels and reservoirs according to the shapes men

give it. The description of the ideal city, reminding one of the

Heavens described by the poets follows. The Rama of Kamban, a

product of urban culture, goes to spread his culture in the forests,

in uncivilised countries or in countries where civilisation has

taken an undesirable turn. One can contrast the riches of this

city of Rama with the riches of the city of Ravana. Here it is

governed by the ideal of aram—universal Dharma; there it is

governed by maram—narrow national and military jingoism,

incarnate in Ravana, closing its doors to the universal principle of Dharma. In Rama's city there is no man-made distinction

between the poor and the rich, between the educated and the

uneducated. It is a land of light and love. Kamban closes this

chapter making this suggestion explicit. "Education is the

great trunk of the tree. Infinite aspects of learning are the

strong branches growing forth from it. Tapas forms the leaves;

love is the bud; dharma is the flower; unique bliss is the fruit."

Rama begins his pilgrimage of universalism. What follows

is a story of the expansion of the empire of love and the establish

116




ment of the brotherhood of man. This expansion is described

as the enlargement of the family of Rama.

The hunter chieftain, the leader of the boatsmen, Gukan,

who helps Rama to cross the Ganges, becomes Rama's younger

brother, but the eldest brother of Lakshmana and Bharata.

Kamban describes a scene in which the prince Bharata,

true to his relationships, tries to fall at the feet of Gukan, the

elder brother; and Gukan competing in love, tries to fall at

Bharata!s feet.

Rama's mother accepts Gukan as the child of Dasaratha, her

husband, and exclaims, "what wonder that Dasaratha after reach

ing the Heavens still begets children". It is not merely an

admission into the family. She ardently desires that these

five, Gukan with the four sons of Dasaratha, may like one man

rule all the expanse of this world.

Bharata is Kamban's supreme ideal. Gukan is his paragon of loyalty. Kamban closely follows Valmiki everywhere with

great care and even in some places where he deviates with

remarkable understanding and still, the exception truly proves the rule. But he lets himself go freely with Gukan, round whom

his great poetic imagination plays with wonderful effect.

Kamban had done full justice and fulfilled Valmiki's intention.

Sita is one who can conquer Nature and opposing environ

ment. Such is she and such is her power that even Ravana

cannot touch her, though he is prepared to lay down his life

for her rather than return her to Rama. She suffers in prison to

save the ideal of love, and brotherhood of man. She bears a

cross for the rest of humanity. The sufferings have no effect on

her because her love of Rama makes her think always of him and

not of anything that happens around her. When after the vic

tory Hanuman rushes to punish the servants imprisoning her, she pleads in all earnestness for them.

In another incident, according to Kamba Ramayanam, the

lament of Mandodari at seeing the dead body of Ravana, she bitterly

weeps eulogising her husband's greatness. Noticing innumbe

rable arrows in his body, she remarks whether Rama has planted those arrows in Ravana's body to know how deep his love for

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INDIAN LITERATURE

Sita has gone. Later, overcome with great sorrow, she breathes

her last. Thus Kamban depicts her as a chaste lady and a devo

ted wife who dies as soon as she comes to know the death of her

husband. Mandodari is one of the five chaste ladies and hence

Kamban's deviation from the original, is, perhaps, justifiable. The following passage from Kamba Ramayanam, a new turn,

is given by Kamban to the political concepts of the relation

between the ruler and the ruled. The fundamental principle

of democracy finds an important place in the said passage;

most probably for the first time in oriental thought. This is

an original turn given by Kamban, the poet, on retrospection,

experience and projection. The ruler is personified as the body,

which is being animated by the subjects, the life. So, the rulers

and the ruled should realise their responsibilities and act in

harmony like body and soul.

The king be decked with dazzling jewels, With strength of mighty fierceful lions,

Holding diamond-word in hand,

Guarded all the living as

He would guard the life his own.

As all the living life were his

He stood as body to the life

The world which moved his actions all.

The great Kamban uses grand similes in the course of his

Ramayana in the best tradition of our literary men. They are

beautiful by themselves and they also illustrate and explain the

points he wishes to clarify. They could be compared with

Homer's long-tailed similes which are used magnificently by the

Greek poet. Milton, too, uses his similes in an equally effective

manner in his great work, Paradise Lost. When we go through

Kamban's similes we are naturally reminded of the similes used

by Homer and Milton.

Rama and Lakshmana come out of Mithila to salute their

father Dasaratha who has come with his retinue from Ayodhya to

Mithila for his son's wedding with Sita. Then a number of girls

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rush out from their places to see Rama going in his chariot. How

and what do they look like? Kamban answers this question in the

following way that "Like the forest deer rushing forth together,

like peacocks wandering together, like the Heavenly stars shining

together, like the fire flies of the sky hurdling together, with the flower—bees buzzing all around, their anklets sounding sorrow

ful tunes, the girls of Mithila with their wet hair full of honey from

flowers, rushed together in a body and surrounded Ramans chariot."

"They rushed together like water flowing from a higher to a

lower place; their big eyes were like the Neelorpala flowers in the

flood; their anklets sounded deeply and they were pushed by an

uncontrollable force which made their waists pain. It looked as

if they were rushing to clutch and capture their hearts which were

going towards Rama involuntarily, so they ran and ran."

What a wonderful idea and how beautifully expressed as

only a Kamban could express.

And finally here is a grand painting of the darkness and some

moon-light in the forest through which Rama, Lakshmana and Sita

passed when they left the hermitages of some Rishis with whom they

had stayed for some time, it appears in the Thailam Attn Padalam.

The beautiful Rama appeared like a black-dyed mountain

moving (referring to his dark colour) and Lakshmana looked as if

the same mountain had been covered over with a golden garment

(referring to his fair colour). At that time the Moon-God

Indu began to spread on the forest-floor, bits of moon-light

which filtered through the thick-leaved trees, resembling bits

of white cotton pads so that the bow-browed Sita could walk

comfortably through the jungle.

Thus, the few similes of Kamban given above are wonderful

examples of the poet's ability in the field. They are scattered in

plenty throughout the Epic and they could be collected together

and studied with profit. They will stand comparison with the

figures used by the best world poets. Kamban had created a

Maha Kavja, the Kamban's Ramayanam or Rama-avatarm is the

greatest epic in Tamil literature. The most learned and exact

ing connoisseur will certainly find something unexpected and

surprising in this national Tamil epic.

119



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Purananuru and Kamban

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