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--- sadagopaniyengar <sadagopaniyengar@xxxx> wrote:
Odious Comparison
Poets make liberal use of similes to enhance the
> impressiveness of the subject. Mahakavi KAlidAsA was a facile
> handler of similes, so much so that the very term simile brings him
> to our mind ("UpamA KAlidAsasya"). However, whoever coined this
> tribute might not have been a student of Srimad Ramayana or Swami
> Desikan's works, as both these great poets were adept at employing
> upamAs. 


Dear Sri Sadagopan Iyengar,

You are right. Adiyane has never ceased to be amazed at that most
bewitchingly beautiful of 'upamA-s' (similes) ever used by Swami
Desikan found in the 9th Stanza of the "bhagavath-dhyAna-sOpANam". 

I have heard it from a Sanksrit scholar (who is not by any chance a
particularly devout admirer of Desikan, and hence one may therefore
trust his objectivity) that the simile in question is perhaps one of
the finest ever found in all Sanskrit poetry! It reveals the very
prodigious insight and imagination of Desikan as a poet. 

The stanza as you well know runs as follows:

"mAlyairantha-ha sthira-parimaLair-vallabhA-sparsha-mAnyai:
kUpyacchOli vachana-kutilai-hi kunthalai-hi slishtamUlE I" 

As we all know, in this 'sOpAnam' Desikan waxes lyrical about the
extraordinary beauty of the 'archA' (iconic) form of the Deity at the
SriRangam Temple. Like a slow-motion movie-camera that pans in
lovingly on every minute detail of its subject, Desikan's poetic lens
in this 'stOtra' too takes in the beauteous form of the Lord, 'anga'
by 'anga', verse after verse -- progressing from Ranga's Feet in the
first stanza, to the Lord's shanks, the thighs, the navel, the chest,
the splendorous face... until in the 9th stanza, Desikan's gaze falls
upon the "kutila-kunthaLam" -- the lush but unruly tresses of locks
that peep out under Ranganatha's "kireetam" (Crown). 

On seeing those lovely "hair-locks" ("kEsam") of Ranga, Desikan
obviously got so excited that he plunged headlong into a paroxysm of
poetic delight. We see him employing an extraordinary simile -- an
"upamA" -- that, for want of a better description, can only be said
to be simply "out-of-the-world"!

How does the poet describe the unruly tresses ("vakra-kEsam") of Lord
Ranganatha?

He says they appear to be like: 

"kUpyacchOli vachana-kutilai-hi kunthalai-hi slishtamUlE"

The lush and jet-black locks on Ranga's crown curl, curve, twist and
twirl in thick tufts around His Crown... and all that rebellious,
unruly "curling" and "curving", to Desikan, seems so much like the
rebellious and unruly words of the angry women of the Chola province!


This is quite an extraordinary 'upamA' indeed! What a fantastic
simile! To compare the locks of hair upon Ranga's head with the
unruly and irrepressible words of Chola damsels! When and where did
Desikan witness the angry women of Chola-nAdu? And why did they
remind him so much, of all things on earth, the "kEsam" of Ranga?! 
This is poetic 'svArasyam' of a unique pedigree indeed!

Sri.D.Ramaswamy Iyengar, a noted Desikan-scholar who wrote a little
commentary on the "bhagavath-dhyAna-sOpAnam" has this to say about
this apparently outlandish ("ChOlandish"?) but outstanding simile
used by Desikan:

"Probably, Desikan had occasion to witness an outburst of wrath in a
lady of that territory in his time and came to the conclusion that
there could be nothing in the world more "curved or crooked" (or
rebellious or unruly) than the words in which that wrath took shape.
Hence, the poet took the image and turned into a classic simile.
Desikan's feelings about that "kautilyam" could not have been one of
condescension, for clearly then, he would not have used it as
"upamAnam" for the "kutilatvam" of the Lord's "kEsam". He must have
been truly amazed by and also truly admired the "vachana-kutilam" of
the angry ladies of the Chola provinces!".

What a magnificent "upamAna" indeed of Desikan! It shows what a keen
observer of God and Man (and Women, too!) the poet was! 

Truly, in the same league and class as that of a Kalidasa or a
Valmiki... as scholars would point out to us, yes?

Thank you for bringing up a truly delightful subject.

Regards,

dAsan,
Sudarshan





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