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SrI:

Dear admirers  of  AzhwAr's Prabhandhams :

I am delighted to forward with the kind permission of Smt. Jayashree Saranathan 
a brilliant introduction on the grammar of Tamil poetry and the metres used by 
AzhwArs based on that Grammar .

This will be valuable to many devotees . As one who just returned from the 
Mutthangi
SamarpaNam at SriviliputthUr for Soodikkoduttha NaacchiyAr , I very much 
aprreciate her
delightful observations on ThiruppAvai and NaacchiyAr Thirumozhi Prabhandhams .

ThiruvEzhu KooRRirukkai prabhandham is the visualization of the Lord of 
Thirukkudanthai ,
Sri AarAvamudhan seated on the big car (thEr) drawn in the Chitthirai monthat 
that Dhivya dEsam .
Smt . Saranathan mentioned that it might be the visualization of the gOpuram at 
Thirukkudanthai .

Only AruNagiri Naathar , a dear devotee of Lord Murugan has composed a 
ThiruvEzhukooRRirukkai 
on Swamy Malai Murugan , Thirumaal Marughan .     

Thanks a million , Smt.SaranAthan for your delightful & Informative Summary . 
This will help a lot of
students of dhivya Prabhandham .

V.Sadagopan


----- Original Message ----- 
From: saranathan 
To: ramanuja@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Cc: sridharvvv@xxxxxxxxxxx ; mkrishnaswamy@xxxxxxxxx ; sgopan 
Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2005 2:55 PM
Subject: The poetry types of Prabandham


SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAHA.

 

--- In ramanuja@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Sreekanth <sreekanth_a@xxxx> wrote:
>
> Dear bhagavathas


> > i also have some specific doubts
> 1. What is a "maDal" means
> 2. what is "Thandakam" in thirukkurunthANDakam and
> thirunEdumthANDakam
> 3. similarly the meanings of the titles
> "thiruvirutham" "thiruvAsiriyam"
> 4. What is "anthAthi" type prabandham means
> 5. some prabandhams are named after the begining word,
> like "amalanAdipirAn", kaNNInuNchirutthAmpU etc, but
> then what is the speicality of "thiruvEzhukUTTirukkai"
> 6. what are the specialities of meters like
> kalivirutham, venpa etc...
> 
> Sreekanth
> 
> 
> 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Respected Swamin,

 

Though I don't hold any degree in Tamil literature and grammar, due my interest 
in Tamil works, particularly poetry, I think I can  help you to some extent in 
getting some replies to your query.  

 

First of all, lets look at the name, Divya Prabandam.

 

Prabandam is a form of poetry which is of  96 different types. 

 

Majority of the verses in Aruli-ch-cheyal are some or other type of prabandham 
only. 

 

Prabandam came to be used later than the earlier forms of poetry of the  sangam 
period, such as VeNbaa, Aasiriappa, Kali-p-paa and Vanji-p-paa. The aim and 
message to be conveyed usually decide the kind of poetry form that the poet 
chooses.

 

The earlier four forms of poetry underwent modifications taking up other forms 
also, as per the requirement and intuition of the poet. That is how we get to 
see kali-veNbaa, Kochchga-k-kali-p-paa, Vanji viruttham, Aasiriya viruttham  
etc. But all these are within established norms of grammar. 

 

In course of time the 96 prabandhams came to be handled by many poets of 
post-sangam period, as they were able to convey specific ideas through them 
with a greater reach. While the former forms were difficult to understand by 
commoners, the prabandams are easy to understand.

 

Now about the word 'divya'. 'Div' in Sanskrit means 'to shine'. It is the root 
word for deva and divya. The prabhandam is divyam, since it shines, glows, 
shows the way by glowing and has Bhagavan in Divya desas as the Hero 
(karu-p-poruL) of all the verses. 

 

The divya desa derives its name from 'div'. This is understood by the way 
temples are established. There are 3 ways by which temples are established. (1) 
Bhagavan being present in a place as swayambhu, (2) Bhagavan appearing in a 
place as prathyaksha to bless some devotee and (3) Bhagavan coming to reside 
through consecration by mantra, tantra or yantra.

 

One special feature of the divya desam is that bhagavan has at some time in the 
past appeared as prathyaksha to some devotee in all these kshetras. The 
bhagavan's glow has been enshrined in those places as temples. Every divya 
desam has a history of Bhagavan's leela shown to some devotee. Therefore they 
are divya kshetras.

 

The entire body of verses dedicated to bahgavan in divya kshetras is Divya 
prabhandam.
These kshetrams are known as 'aazhwargaL ugandu aLLittha nilangaL.'

 

One can see  a divine design in the way aazhwars' avataras had been effected 
and the way they have sung the prabandhams. 

 

The songs of the first 3 Mudal aazhwars are all in traditional forms of poetry 
namely in VeNbaa. 

The aazhwars have started their verses in the traditional way of lighting Thiru 
villakku as is done before starting any  worship or action. Vilakku means 'edu 
vilanga-ch-chaigiradO adu vilakku'. By lighting the lamp, the aazhwars have 
removed the darkness or tamas.

 

The first verse of the Mudal Thiruvandaadhi,  " vaiyam thagaliya..' is about 
lighting the vilakku at the physical level with the world as the lamp, the 
oceans as the ghee and the Sun as the  light. Modern science considers the 
entire world as a single cell, in that whatever happens in one part of the  
land affects the other parts too. The wind movements, monsoons, hurricanes are 
all only but a few examples of global phenomenon. Poigaiyaar had considered the 
earth as one unit even in those times itself  and lit the lamp for the entire 
human race. 

 

The second Thiruvandhaadhi begins with lighting the ViLakku at the mental 
level. (anbE thagaLiyaa). 

 

With this,  the entire body of Bhagavan comes to be seen in the Third 
Thiruvandhaadhi in Thiru-k-kandEn, pon mEni kanden..

 

 

Thereafter the other aazhwars have taken up the task of revealing Bhagavan in 
various ways for the benefit of mankind. And the poetry forms they have 
employed also shows how wonderfully they have been able to convey their message 
in ways that can not be easily ignored or forgotten. Almost all of them are in 
Prabhandam form with suitable types of sound enjoyment (rhythm) that can be 
easily memorized and remembered. Not to miss is the bhava and the emotion 
conveyed by them by their choice of specific poetry forms.

 

Before proceeding, lets us know  some basic grammar to understand the verses.

 

Each letter is known as 'yezhutthu' in tamil.

2 letters together are known as 'asai'.

The asai, coming singly or in two or in three together is known as 'sIr'. It is 
nothing but the 'word'. 

It is this term sIr that one often finds in the poetry type of the verses.

 

In Prabandham we find iru sIr (2 words), aru-sIr (6 words), ezhu-sIr (7 words) 
or eN sIr (8 words) in each line.

 

Now about the poetry type. The poetry type is mostly a blend of 'Viruttham' and 
'kali'. 

 

Viruttha-p-paa is known for its vOsai nayam (rhythm). So also kali and 
aasiriya-p-paa. We often  find the blend of Viruttham with kali and aasiriyam  
in AruLi-ch-cheyal giving different sound effects. 

 

The basis of this is in placing 'mellina mei' suitably in between 2  vallinam 
(ka, cha, ta, tha, pa, ra). This combination can be made in countless ways and 
a beautiful stress can be attained on the otherwise soft mellinam. The 
Viruttha-p-paa gives plenty of these  combinations. Kali viruttham is even more 
effective in bringing out the sound variation effectively. 

 

To understand this, let us take up 2 verses from SenniyOngu pasurams. 
(Periaazhwar Thirumozhi). This is kali viruttham. The 3rd verse 'emmanaa en 
kula deivamE' is full of such placing of mellina mei in between 2 vallinams or 
others. The bhava effect and sound effect in this is different from the very 
next verse "kadal kadaindu amudam kondu" which is dominated by vallinams with 
much less of mellina mei. While the former exudes pathos, the latter excels in 
'seppudal' (utterance). 

 

Now lets see the poetry types of starting from Thiruppallaandu ( in the order 
as found in Mayilai Madahava dasan edition).

 

(1)   Thiruppallaandu. - aru sIr aasiriya viruttham. 

 

You will find 6 words (sIr) of 4 lines (may be split up in different 
publications)

The aasiriyam ensures the 'agavalOsai' which is like calling someone or in the 
note  of a  peacock.

 

(2)   Periaazhwar Thirumozhi. A variety of forms have been employed. The 
popular one being Pillai-th-thamizh, about different stages in the life of a 
child (pillai). 

 

             >In kali viruttham, one can find 4 words of 4 lines

 

Ø     In kali-th-thaazhisai (seeda-k-kadal), there is addition of extra lines 
due to use of thaazhisai. The effect is that of a 'neer-ch-chuzhi' (swirl)  in 
thaazhisai as per grammar sutras

 

Ø     Likewise in other forms of kali viruttham, you can find differences  in 
the number of words per line.

 

Ø     In aru sIr aasiriya viruttham, 6 words per lines are used and in eN sIr 
aasiriya viryttham, 8 words per line are used. The grammar type such as 
aasiriyam depends on the other angas of Yaappu  as per grammar.

 

(3)   Thiruppavai - iyal tharavu iNai kochchaga-k-kali-p-paa.

 

Tharavu is the first part of kali-p-paa. There are many varieties by which the 
taravu is applied in a poem. By the name of it, I guess that it is about the 
first two taravu (taravu iNAi) blending naturally (iyal - iyalbaaga).

We find that the first 2 taravus (words) of each line go together. Like 

Maagazhi-thingaL

Neeraada-p-pOduvIr

Vongi-ulagu

That is, the words are blended in such a  way that one of them conveys 
something of the other, either as adjective or adverb. They are best 
interpreted as one. 

This is understood from the way that the verses are paused at the  next or 
previous line while reciting.

Such as, 

In the 3rd verse, Vongi ulagu, we make a pause at seertha mulai pattri vaanga 
and not at the end of 4th sIr, seertha mulai pattri. Because only then the next 
verse 'kudam -niraikkum' completes the grammar 'iyal taravu iNai.'

It should not be vaanga -k-kudam which is not a double taravu as per the 
grammar of Thituppavai. It should be 'kudam-niraikkum'.

 

Some other places where we recite the taravu (from previous line)

together are 

'nammaal pOttra' (not narayanan nammaal and then pOttra-p-parai tharum)

'pandoru naaL koottram' (not puniyanaal pandorunaaL)

'vulaginil thOttramaai'

'matthinaal vOsai-p-paduttha' (we should not stop at matthinaal along with the 
previous line)

'maadhavi-p-pandal mEl'

'abhimaana bhangamaai'

 

 

(4)   Naachchiyaar Thirumozhi - 

 

 The now familiar types of  poetry forms are found in this composition. The 
basic form is kali viruttham with beautiful rhythmic effect. The kOchchgam is 
also a kind of kali-p-paa which has  some blends in sIr. There is another 
prabhandam type blended here, which I will quote while taking up Madal. The 
Thoodu vidudal (sending clouds as messenger)  is also a famous type of 
prabandham

 

(5)   Thiru-ch-chanda viruttham -

 

There are not just 2 but 3 types of sound- based poetry forms blended into one, 
the chandam, kali and viruttham. There is a beautiful blend of all the three as 
per meanings of the verses. The chandam is based on yedugai, the 2nd letter in 
the first word of every line. The language itself is rhythmic in this 
combination.

My favourites, 'voonin mEya' and 'atthannagi' which I consider as the essence 
of all Vedanta are more chandam based than the other two types. There is that 
forceful declaration by using more of vallinam in the former and a 'kuzhaivu' 
by using more of mellina mei in the latter one (above quoted)

(6)   Thirumaalai - aru sIr aasiruya viruttham.

6 words in each line with aasiriya-p-paa grammar and viruttham. 

 

(7)   Thiru-p-paLLiyezhuchchi - eN sIr aasiriya viruttham.

8 words in each line with aasiriyam and viruttham.

 

(8)   Amalanadhi piraan - Aasiriya-th-thurai.

Usually thurai is the sub-set of the main one (like the banks of the river 
forming the subset of the river. Thurai means bank -like in  aattru-th-thurai). 

 

Here the main poetry form is aasiriya-p-paa. The traditional form of it will 
have 4 words in all lines except the penultimate line which will have one less. 
(that is, 3 words). The minimum number of lines will be 5. Maximum any number. 

 

In this prabandham, the grammar is that of aasiriya-p-paa. 

All lines have 5 words (since it is thurai) 

The penultimate line has lesser words than the other lines.

The last one 'kondal vannan' is kali viruttham having 4 words in 4 lines.

 

(9)   KaNNi nuN sirutthaambu - kali viruttham 

 

 

(10)Peria Thirumozhi - Various types of kali, aasiriyam, viruttham with 6 or 7 
or 8 words  are used.

 

         One can understand the types by the sIr used and its number. 

         >In 'vaanavar thangaL' , thurai of aasiriyam is used which can be 
determined by the  

     number of words in each line and the way they are repeated.

Ø      In 'VaNduNu naru malar' vanji vbiruttham is used.

As per Yaaparumkalam sutram, there are 4 lines of sindhu-p-paa (another variety 
of prabandham) joined with viruttham of 4 words each line.

 

   ( 11) Thiru-k-kurum thaandagam.

Thaandagam is a type of prabandham and this one is a shorter version (kurugiya) 
of it having 6 words of 4 lines. The speciality of this type is that the lines 
look similar. The rhyme is distinct which can be experienced while reciting. 
The paadu-pOruL (the Hero, in other words) is always some God. In contrast the 
other prabandhams may have any valiant person, a king or God as the theme of 
the composition.

 

(12) Thiru nedum thaandagam.

 

Same as Thiru-k-kurum thaandagam. Only that the words are more per line. It is 
8. Usually Thaadagam comes only in 6 or 8 sIr per line.

 

(13) Mudal Thiru andhaadi.

 

Nerisai Venbaa with andhaadi adi.

 

This veNbaa type has 4 lines of 4 words in the first 3 lines and 3 lines in the 
last line. The first words of the first two lines have similarity in rhyme 
(yedugai) followed by the 4th sIr of the 2 nd line having the same yedugai 
which blends with the 3rd line. There will be a - in the 2 nd line showing the 
split. The last 2 lines go together in yedugai. There are grammar rules to 
determine how the last sIr of the poem must end.

 

This type is also an andhaadhi, a prabandham type. The first 3 Thiruvandhaadis 
are a blend of traditional veNbaa and prabandham  (andaadhi)

 

Andaadhi is that in which the andam of the previous verse, becomes the aadhi of 
the next verse. That is, the last word of the previous verse becomes the first 
word of the next verse. 

 

(14) Irandaam Thiruvandaadhi 

 

Same as the previous one.

 

(15) Moondraam Thiruvandaadhi 

Same as previous one.

 

(16) Naan mugan Thiruvandaadhi 

Same as previous one.

 

(17) Thiru viruttham

The type is kattalai kali-th-thurai

The viruttham ensures rhyme. But this is one of the difficult ones to compose 
going by the grammar used. There are rules in using the other angas of poetry 
such as thaLai and the kind of sIr (nEr 16 and nirai 17 ).The last word also 
must be of specific sIr type. This comes under a category, Iyal paa, meaning 
strictly adhering to traditional grammar form.

 

(18) Thiru aasiriyam

This is also an iyal paa, composed in a traditional type, aasiriyappa with 4 
words in all lines except the penultimate line where it will be 3

 

(19) Peria Thiruvandaadhi.

VeNbaa and andaadhi together. Same as Mudalaazhwars' pasurams.

 

(20) Thiruvezhu koottrirukkai.(Thiru yezhu koottru irukkai)

 

This is in aasiriyappa form with a beautiful build -up of verses. The words 
indicate the gopuram type in successive layers.

 

That is, it begins with words meaning 1,2,1

1,2,3,2,1

1,2,3,4,3,2,1..

upto 7 (yezhu koottru )

The last layer will be 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,6,5,4,3,2,1.

If my memory is right, this pasuram has been depicted in Thirukkudandai Koil in 
the form of a gopuram. 

 

(21) Siriya Thiru madal.

I am too excited to write about  madal. I think  Bhagavan too would have been 
excited to listen to Thirumangai aazhwar sing  this. A daring poetry  fittingly 
given by a daring person with whom bhagavan too enjoyed His leela. It is 
perhaps to enjoy the madal that bhagavan chose none other than our Kaliyan who 
was so vociferous in expressing his feelings and emotions.

 

Madal is originally known as MadalEral or Madaloordal in Tamil.
Madal is the palm leaf and the dried twigs of the palm leaf (panai maram). 

The scenario always involves a nayaka and a nayaki (thalaivan and thalaivi). 
The two are in love and there are obstructions to consummate their love into 
marriage. In another scenario, the nayaka is in love, but the nayaki is not 
serious about his love. In any of these circumstances, the nayaka takes the 
extreme step of madaloordal.

 

In this, he paints the picture of his lady-love on a palm leaf, makes a horse 
out of the dried palm leaves, takes the picture and looks at it as though  
nothing else matters and sits on this madal horse and moves around in that 
(oordal) like a mad person. He would not care what people think about him, nor 
would he bother about the shabby looks he has developed due to lack of care of 
his body. Such a person would even roam like this with no clothes on. The sharp 
edges of the palm leaf would hurt him. If by such hurt, his vital fluid is 
released, people would think that his love is indeed supreme and see to it that 
he marries his lady-love. If the obstacle to his love is from the nayaki 
herself, she would relent. But instead, if blood seeps out due to the scratches 
by palm leaf, people would not consider his as true love.

 

There are instances  when the nayaka would blackmail the nayaki that he would 
mount the madal if she refuses him. If he mounts the madal, every one in the 
town would come to know of the affair and the tiff between them and it wont be 
a pleasant one for the nayaki. So she would oblige. 

 

A similar threat is sounded by Andal in the first pasuram of Naachchyaar 
Thirumozhi when she takes refuge in Ananga devan. This is an indirect warning 
to perumaaL that  he must come immediately to accept her. 

 

Thirumangai aazhwar excels in flinging such 'ultimatums' to perumaL in his two 
madals. The entire composition is fast-paced  showing his aattraamai and anger 
that bhagavan has not yet taken him with Him. If recited with bhava after 
knowing the meaning, I am sure the madals are a great experience.

 

This is termed as siriya Thirumadal going by its size. The entire composition 
is in single kali veNbaa with no full stop in between!.

 

(22) Peria Thirumadal.

This is same as the previous one, only that it is lengthier than it.  Usually 
madals is mounted by the man. Women don't mount it. But aazhwar makes a 
deviation from the established norms and takes up nayaki bhava in madaloordal. 
"mannum vada neriyE vEndinOm" meaning that though this is not in vogue in tamil 
culture, he has taken up the way of Northies. 

 

(23)Thiruvaimozhi.

All types discussed above have been handled by aazhwar with most of them also 
of  andaadhi type. 

 

Even madaloordal has been done by Nammaazhwar.

In 2-1-4, (kadalum, malaiyum, visumbum..) he expresses the nature of the one 
mounting the madal in  always moving around without sleep catching the 'vudalam 
nOi'

 

The vanji-th-thurai of 'veedumin' (1-2) and 'vodum puLLEri' (1-8) are another 
special form of poem. In this there are 2 words of 4 lines which speak about a 
specific notion. They are usually written in kuraLAdi, two lines like kuraL.

 

 

 

Ramanuja Noottrandaadhi is in the  difficult kattaLai kali-th-thurai, like 
Thiru viruttham.

 

I think I have covered all the prabandhams. The mistakes in this are entirely 
mine and I may be pardoned and corrected for the same.

 

Regards, 

Jayasree saranathan.

 

 


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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