From: sp2@cec1.wustl.edu (Sundara Pandian)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.tamil
Subject: Kamban on SurppaNagai
Date: 4 Sep 1992 11:02:41 -0500
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

               Kamban on SurppaNagai
             ------------------------
   In this posting, I have presented a comprehensive
 translation of Kamban's verse on SurppaNagai posted in the
 net by Kathiravan Krishnamurthy. I saw some interesting
 follow-ups by Natarajan Sureshbabu and N.Sundar. I agree
 with Kathiravan that this poem has a good `sandham'. Another
 Kamban's verse with good `sandham' that I remember is a 
 verse on Gukan preparing himself for a war against Bharatha
 mistaking that he had come with his army for a war with Rama.
 ( K.Srinivasan (not ireq) pointed out a verse with good 
 `sandham' on KumbakarNaa. )
   The verse using K.Srinivasan's ADAMI transliteration scheme:

 \(TAMIL)
   panchiyoLir vinchukuLir pallavam aNunga
   sencheviya kanchanimir cheeradiya laagi
   ancholiLa  mannaiyena annamena minnum
   vanchiyena nanchamena vanchamagaL vandhaaL .

    Kamban describes how SurppaNagai presents herself before
 Rama. She is an asura and with a view to allure Rama, she 
 transforms her appearance to a beautiful looking woman and
 walks towards Rama. SurppaNagai's walk towards Rama is being
 described in the above verse.
    Kamban is an expert in how to convey the message. Those  
 who have attended Ramayana discourses must have heard praises
 heaped on Hanuman's wisdom for his choice of words in his 
 speeches. When Hanuman returns from his Lanka visit and meets 
 anxiously waiting worried Rama, he starts with
  ` kaNdEn seedhaiyaik kaRpinukkaNiyaik kaNgalaal..'
 This is discussed a lot in Ramayana discourses. Here Hanuman's
 wisdom is in his choice of words and the order
     kaNdEn seethaiyai ( I saw Sita )
     kaRpinukku aNiyai ( The jewel of chastity [aNi=jewel] )
     kaNgalaal ( This word may look superfluous here, as kaNdEn
                 means seeing with eyes but Hanuman adds this
                 word to emphasize that he saw Sita with his own
                 eyes and not hearsay . )
   Similar to the above verse, Kamban uses very good words in 
 the first three lines ( meaning given in this posting ) giving
 a good description of SurppaNagai. If one reads them carefully,
 they are all external descriptions, how she looks outwardly to
 Rama's eyes. But Kamba finishes the verse with 
      `nanchamena vanchamgaL vandhaaL'
 meaning that she is like poison, like the daughter of wickedness.
 These are internal descriptions. Kamban implies that though 
 SurppaNagai has changed her external appearance, she retains her
 wickedness in her earlier appearance. This is rather philosophical.
 Now, for a meaning :

   In the first two lines
 ` panchiyoLir vinchukuLir pallavam aNunga
   chencheviya kanchanimir cheeratiya laaki '
 Kamban describes the act of SurppaNagai's walking .

   pallavam = feet ( paadham )
   vinchukuLir = very cold 
   panchiyoLir - this refers to beautiful drawings           
                 decorated on women's feet. They are
                 done with a red coloured liquid made
                 of `sengal podi' etc., Those who have   
                 seen `Vicco turmeric' advertisements
                 may remember the bride's mother and
                 her friends decorating her feet before
                 the marriage with a red liquid.
 [ panchiyoLir pallavam means feet shining with freshly
  painted decorations. ]
   aNunga = do with pain
  SurppaNagai's very cold and decorated feet are so soft
 that the act of walking on the hard ground is a pain for
 her.               

  sencheviya =  sharp ears ( chevi = ear )
  kanchanimir = the sound of anklet
  cheeradiyalaagi = cheer + adi + kalaagi
                  Some readers have translated `adi' as feet.
                  `adi' really means `step'. This means the
                  act of walking with short steps. `cheer'
                  means `chiriya'= short.
  SurppaNagai walks with short steps her anklets giving a
 musical sound which is so minute that it could be heard
 only if one has sharp ears.               
   Having described how SurppaNagai walks, Kamban proceeds to
 describe her appearance in the next lines.
    
 `ancholiLa mannaiyena annamena minnum vanchiyena'
   
    ancholiLa = am + chol + iLa
                am = sweet, chol = words, iLa = young
    mannaiyena = mannai + yena
                mannai = peacock
  We should combine `iLa' with `mannai' to take the meaning
 ` like a young peacock '. Hence, `ancholiLa mannaiyena'
 means ` a woman with sweet words, like a peacock '
    annamena = like a swan ( annam = swan )
  One may ask why `annam' is compared to. This comparison is 
 really beautiful. `annam' is known for its beautiful walk.
 Kannadasan has written a popular song
  ` annam pOla nadai nadandhu aadidum mayilE'
 `mayil' = peacock as well and the comparisons to swan and 
 peacock are very appropriate and describing the beautiful
 walk of SurppaNagai. The word `mannai' is used here instead
 of `mayil' for good sound.
   minnum = shining 
   vanchiyena = like silk dresses worn by babies
   Kamban ends the verse with saying

    ` nanchamena vanchamagaL vandhaaL '

  nanchamena = like poison
  vanchamagaL = the daughter of wickedness
  vandhaaL = came
 As said before, the words `nanchamena' and `vanchamagaL'   
 tell us the character of SurppaNagai.
  Combining,

    "Paining her very cold, tender and  beautifully decorated
 feet, her short steps giving rise to a musical sound by her
 anklets which could be heard only with trained ears, like a
 woman of sweet words, like a young peacock, like a swan,           
 shining like silk-dresses worn by the babies, like poison
 and like the daughter of wickedness, Surppanagai came. "
               
                                                   - S.Pandian
                                             sp2@cec1.WUSTL.edu
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