Manimekalai (An Old and Rare Book)

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Foreword Manimekalai and Cilappatikaram are considered by many as twin-epics as they are very much related to each other. Both of them belong to the same age and deal with the story of the same family. While Cilappatikaram is the story of Kannaki, Manimekalai is that of Manimekalai, the daughter of Kovalan (the husband of Kannaki) through Madhavi, the dancing woman.

It is also said that the authors of both the epics Ilango and Sethalai Sathanar have mutually agreed to write the respective work with the blessings of each other. It is said that though the two epics, between the selves, clearly expound the four purusharttas, the first three of them, namely, Virtue (aram), Wealth (porul) and Love (inpam) are clearly delineated by Cilappati karam, and the last of them, namely Bliss of Release (Vidu) by Manimekalai.

This is also the story of a woman, a woman of not only of great chastity but also a woman who is very much concerned with the poor and hungry.

Manimekalai's inner struggles between her passionate love for the prince who was her husband in the previous birth and her ardent desire for spiritual service are picturesquely described by the poet. Finally her desire for serving mankind triumphs and with the help of the magic bowl she is able to appease the hunger of the poor, the have-nots, the needy and the criminals alike. The prison house turns into the "House of Dharma".

Sethalai Sathanar is one of the brilliant poets of T arrulnadu who is known for his powerful images, poetic beauty and truth, musical diction, moving words, passionate and powerful phrases, sentiments and feelings, and above all for his unabated leanings towards Buddhism. If Cilappatikaram is cared ted for its well-balanced treatment- of religious tenets and canons, Manimekalai is known for its Buddhist propaganda, depiction of supernatural triads, of numerous allusions to Buddhist mythology and philosophy, its contempt tor the tenets and the followers of other religions, especially of Jainism.

A t the same time it does not fail to impress upon the readers certain important human values like the glory of chastity, the justice of the king, the feeding of the hungry, the helping of the poor, service to the needy, the importance of Dharma. faith in traditional values and culture and respect lord elders etc.

As it is very often said, Manimekalai is a precious jewel of Tamil literature and its impact and influence go a long way giving rise to a new development in Tamil literature bringing intellectual debates, philosophical and religious tenets and canons into literary works and thereby giving literary grandeur to them. Literature, it seems, is not only "criticism of life" but also a powerful medium for propagation of one's ideals and ideology.

The Tamil University has recently launched an ambitious project, Translation Of Tamil Classics Into English and I am very happy to say that within a short span of it me several works have been taken up.

Preface It was nearly ten years ago that the renowned historian and Tagore scholar, Professor Niharranjan Ray, suggested that I should translate the Tamil epic Manimekalai into English. It seemed an impossible task, but my father encouraged me to accept the challenge. Since then, my parents, Prof. K.R.Srinivasa Iyengar and Srimati Padmasani, have given me constant support in this absorbing if difficult work. To them, my loving gratitude.

I have followed Dr. U.V.Swaminatha Iyer's incomparable edition of Manimekalai throughout. In a few places, the commentary of Sri P. V.Soma- sundaranar has also been of significant help.

As for the translation, certainly it is not the pure gold of Sathanar.

Indeed, no translation can ever project perfectly the sweetness and sublimity of Sathanar. My best hope is that this translation will bring the English reader unacquainted with Tamil a little closer to the great epic, Manimekalai.

Blank verse was a natural choice to translate a poem composed in Tamil asiriyappa. It also helped me to be liter al, even If sometimes it had to be at the expense of poetic beauty. As for the notes, I have Included only the sunirrum of explanatory information that the reader would need to understand the poem.

I am grateful to Sri, T.N.Ramachandran, Prof. S.N.Kandaswamy and Prof. K G.Seshadri for going through the translation and helping (The to come face to face with my own inadequacies. If, in spite of our collective effort, any errors have crept In, I can only blame myself and crave the scholar-reader's forgiveness.

My heartfelt thanks are due to Prof. S.Agesthialingom, Vice-Chancellor, Tamil University, for including m work In the University's ambitious pro- grammar of publishing the classics of Tamil In English. I should also like to thank Dr. P Chmnian, Registry, Tamil University for his unfading courtesy and help racial stating the publication of this translation.

To my husband, M.S.Nandakumar, I owe thanks as always for his pa- tierce and understanding during this adventure of translation that, however, tossed me at times into depths of depression.

For me, living in the Manimekalai universe has been an enriching asepsis paralleled only by those years of my doctoral and post-doctoral research when I was half-lost in Sri Aurobindo's mystic and symbolist epic in English, Savitri. When I took up Manimekalai for translation, I began as a novice, but the glorious world of ancient Tamil literature soon held me In thrall. With the infallible guidance of Dr. U.V.Swaminatha Ayer to help me, I gained the needed self-confidence as the work progressed. Indeed, his name has been my sustaining talisman while I was engaged in this English translation.

Today I understand, even more than I did 30 years ago when I was launched on my Savitri studies, the significance of Sri Aurobindo's words in his Thoughts and Aphorisms: "If they aim be great and thy means small, still act; for by action alone these can increase to thee." How else can I explain this completed Manimekalai in English verse?

Savitri, Manimekalai. I conclude by once again bowing in reverence to Sri Aurobindo and Sathanar for having enabled us to recognize the Sufferance and Compassion, Power and Grace that are the quadruple glory of heroic Indian womanhood.

Introduction 1. The Tamil Epics

After the lyric brilliance of the Sangham Age and ethical Puritanism of the Kural ambience, the Epic Age was ushered in Tamil. Jadu by the Jains with the translation of Gunatya's Brihat Katna as Perunkathai by Kanguvel. 'loch of this curly epic literature like Vasudevanar Sindam and viuibisora Kathai arc now lost.

Tradition speaks of the Five' Great Epics -- 4im Peron Kappiyanqal of which the first to be written Weds, perhaps, Manimekalai. It is said that the author, Sethalai Satftanar, was a friend of nanga Adigal and re- counted to him the history of J1anilllekalai's parent which prompted nanga to exclaim:

"These are great thoughts: those who forget Darcie, To them Dharma becomes destructive Yama. Great men hailing a lady of immense chastity; The sins of the past taking revenge in the present; Here was destiny fulfilled through an ankle. Come! Let us compose an epic on this subject."

Sathanar felt that nanga himself was the right person for the task which involved the three royal houses of Cheraw, Chelas and Pandyas. Thus it came to pass that Prince! Lange, a scion of the Cheraw is amen the author of Silappadhikaram in which a couple from the Chala country came to a tragic end in Pandyan city. Manimekalai and Silappadhikaram are generally known as the twin epics.

The date of the epic Silappadhikaram has not yet been settled. Two generally held beliefs give the date as the Second century A.D. or the into century .0. The same vast divergence in dating appears for, Manimekalai also. It IS in any case clear enough that the two epics were composed not long after the Sangharn period.

Silappadhikaram's story is easily told. Having lost his riches to the courtesan Madhavi, the merchant Morazán along with his wife Kannaki leaves Pokier, they Chose capital, for Matura. Morazán is beheaded in the Pandyan city on suspicion of having stolen an ankle belonging to the Queen. Realizing the enormity of the injustice, the King and the Queen embrace instant . death. The chaste Kannaki burns up Matura in her anger, retires to Kanji and rejoins her husband In the realms beyond. The Cheri King, Senguttuvan, institutes Kannaki worship by installing in a temple the image of the chaste lady carved out of a holy rock brought from the Himalayas.

Manimekalai takes up the story of Morazán’s daughter by Madhavi.

. manimekalai though endowed with a rare loveliness of figure and accomplished In the Fine Arts rejects the love of the Chose Prince Udayakumaran and enters a Buddhist nunnery. Entwined with several digressions, the epic IS overtly a Buddhist work, written to enshrine Buddhist philosophy.

The third of the 'five great epics' to survive is Jeevani Chintamani.

Composed by Thiruthakla Dhevar, the epic theme is derived from existing legends scattered in Sanskrit Jain works like Kshatra Choodamani and Gadya Chintamani. Prince Jeevakan's martial exploits and romantic escapades conclude with his being crowned. After a long reign, he gives up his crown In the time-honored manner of Jain enunciates and engages him in austerities leading to salvation.

The remaining two epics have not been traced so far. Of these, Avaya- pati was no doubt a Jain kavya as indicated by the verses quoted by latter- day critics. Kundalakesi was a Buddhist epic written by Nathagupta. The vaisya maid Kundalakesi marries the gambler Kazan. Later on, he tries to murder her. She boldly devises a stratagem, kills him and becomes an ascetic far-famed for her thorough knowledge of Buddhist philosophy.

2. Author of Manimekalai

latria Kooalvanihan Sathanar, author of Manimekalai was a Buddhist grain merchant and probably hailed from a village named Seethalai. Scholars are still debating over the exact date but there is little doubt about his having lived after 2nd century A.D. Though Saharan’s name is cited as the Sangham poet who wrote verses for Natrinai (3), Ahananooru (5), Purananooru (l ) and Kuruntogai (l ) as well as a verse for Tiruvaluvamalai, the generally held belief is that the author of the epic Manimekalai was a different person. In fact, the late Prof. S. Vaiyapuri Pillai assigns him to 8th-9th centuries. However, V.Kanakasabhai in his scholarly book, The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago prefers 3rd century A.D. as does Prof. Tirunarayana Iyengar. Researchers of today like N.Balusamy and T.N. Vasudeva Rao also hold on to this dating, chiefly because there is no mention of the Pallavas in the epic; and Pallavas were a powerful royalty in Kanchi since 3rd century A.D.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages