Post 3
Dear sri vaishNva perunthagaiyeer,
Smt. Prema Nandakumar Ph.D quotes the following poem of Ezhuthachchan
titled `Krishna in karNaparva' in her "Samvatsar Lecture delivered on
28.1.2004 at the Thunchan Festival organised jointly by Sahitya
Akademi, New Delhi and Thunchan Memorial Trust, Tirur". The text of
the lecture is found in website
www.//theory.saha.ernet.in/~hari/prema2.html. Actually I was
searching for some good references on this `nata vara' in particular
on the `suthra dhara' of Sanskrit drama. Then I came across this
website. So I thought of sharing this poem with you all.
Quote - "Here is Prof. Ayyappa Paniker rendering Ezhuthachchan's
Krishna in Karnaparva into faultless English:
"The colourful peacock feathers fixed in a row
And brought together and tied up on the top
With the heavy tresses so like dark clouds
In the diadem with its glitter and glow
The tiny particles of dust on them
The tilak too moist with sweat
The beauty of the brows that keep moving
To create, protect and destroy the world
The eyes that reflect the changing sentiments
With pity and compassion for the lowly
Anger towards the cruel and the wily,
Love for the lovely, wonder at the squabble
Garlands, swaying on the breast,
Made of tulsi, and lotus and tender leaves
Strings of rubies and kausthubha jewel
Around the neck, the whip in hand
The breast smeared with kumkum
The bright yellow clothes, the anklets
The twin lotus feet, as in my heart
So I clearly saw in the chariot to my joy. -- unquote
See, the poem just describes my krishNa, in similar lines of
the `barhaapeedam' slOkam, the dressing of krishNa, the nata vara,
which we are discussing. From the first line to last but one line, of
the poem, it is all a full reflection of `barhaapedam and other two
slOkams' we have already seen. And has added features like
1. whip in hand,
2. kumkum in chest
3. kousthubha in chest
periyaazhvaar in seelaik kudhambai and thazhaigaLum padhigams while
describing the dressing of krishNa in lines of this barhaapeedam
slOkam ? mentions `surigaiyum, theRivillum, cheNdu kOlum' as the
tools krishNa carries, [or weapons (?) for a boy krishNa], for any
fight, in case, krishNa wants to take up in the forests. So also the
poet here adds a whip.
Only the last line of `I saw clearly in the chariot' leads us
elsewhere, to the war front as `krishNa the charioteer' appearing in
front of karNan, when arjuna is meeting karNan in war. Otherwise, it
is all the `raasa vihaari krishNa'. Now, read the poem again and
enjoy my krishNa.
Ok, let us now take swamy dhEsikan's slokam on gOpaalan with the
decorations appropriate for his role as a cowherd, roaming and
dancing with friends, while in the forests and grazing the cows and
their calves for our enjoyment of krishNa roopam. Go-paalan is
generally one who roams in the forest grazing his cow and calf herds.
Hence, our gOpaalan, the supreme lord sri krishNa, decorates himself
with the ornaments appropriate to the dwellers of the forests (i.e.)
with natural products as available in the forests. The slOkam first,
for recalling -
chithraakalpa: sravasi kalayan laangalee karNapooram
barhOththamsa sphuritha chikurO bandhujeevam dhaDhaana:
gunjaabadhDhaam urasi laLithaam Dhaarayan haarayashtim
gOpasthreeNaam jayathi kithava: gOpi koumaara haaree
-17 gOpaala vimsathi of swamy dhEsikan
chithra = excellent, strange, wonderful, a brilliant ornament,
variety of colours
aakalpa: = one who is decorated, ornamented
sravasi kalayan = praised, taken hold of the die kali ? red colour
marked and that is bright worthy of a praise
laangalee karNapooram = cocoanut flowers in the earlobes
barhaa uththamsa = peacock crest worn on the crown of head
sphuritha chikura: = flashing, glittering hair
bandhu jeevam dhaDhaana: = a flowering plant in which red flowers
blossoms at mid day and withers next day morning, these flowers held
in hand
gunjaa aabadhDhaam = tied or made by means of the kundhumaNi seeds
urasi laLithaam = in the chest, worn and adds beauty
Dhaarayan haara = wearing garlands
yashtim = a stick
gOpa sthreeNaam jayathi = seeking victory over the gOpa women
kithava: = naughty, [actually kithava means a gamester, gambler, a
cheat, a fraud]
gOpi koumaara haaree = stealing or removing the youth of gOpees
meaning: The mischievous gOpalan, who stole the youth of the gOpees
appears before them with many decorations that enhance his beauty. On
his ears, the gOpees find the flower known as laangalee (flowers from
the coconut tree's sheaf / thennampoo - cocoanut tree's flower); they
find peacock feathers on his dark and curly tresses; red hibiscus
also decorates those tresses, and hands. On his broad chest, they
find a beautiful necklace made of yellowish-red or black and red
seeds known as Gunjaa [or Kundhumani in tamil, red and black berry]
strung together. With these and more aabharaNams made of forest
products, Gopalan enchants the hearts of the adoring Gopis.
The difference between sukhar and swamy is - the kundhumani haaram is
in chest whereas as per sukhar slokam it was in ears. Swamy also
gives a beautiful title `kithava:' to my krihsNa. Whatever
difference, the description of the natavara is one and same with
minor variations only.
Since, already the length of the post is growing more, we will see
the description of my Krishna, by bhakthaas leela sukhar and
naaraayana theerthar in next post.
Dhaasan
Vasudevan m.g.
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