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Enlgish translation of Kamba Ramayanam 

Of human frailty 
http://www.hinduonnet.com/lr/stories/2003060100350500.htm 

In the Kamba Ramayana, perhaps for the last time in the cycle of Indian Rama 
stories, Rama straddles the nebulous zone between epic hero and infallible 
deity, says ARSHIA SATTAR. 

P.S. SUNDARAM'S translation of the Kamba Ramayana is a worthy addition to the 
Penguin Classics series. Published posthumously and edited by Prof. Sundaram's 
long-time friend and admirer, this shortened text has many virtues. The 
translation is clear and lucid, retaining as many features of the original 
Tamil text as possible. The story, though well known and well loved by most 
Indians, shines through as a revisioning of Valmiki rather than as a retelling 
of the Sanskrit text, or even as a "translation" of it. 

Kamban's text is dated to approximately the 11th Century, at least a millennium 
after Valmiki's composition. In the intervening centuries, much had changed in 
"Hinduism", most notably the intervention of bhakti. All the HinduRama stories 
that follow Valmiki have bhakti as their dominant rasa, theirpervading flavour. 
Kamban's is no exception to this general rule. Nonetheless, even though Rama is 
very clearly god (and seems to know it every now and then), Kamban's story 
still retains the magic of human relations, of human flaws and confusions, of 
human frailty and doubt. 

A reader may well ask why it is necessary or important to read another telling 
of the Rama story, or read another translation of this text. The answerto both 
questions is really rather simple: each teller of a tale as compelling as this 
one brings to it his or her own narrative strategy and interpretation. So, too, 
each translator, especially of an edited text, brings to the translation his or 
her own idiom and sensibility. Kamban's Ramayana places emotions at the core of 
the story and Sundaram's translation renders these classical emotions 
convincingly to the contemporary reader. 

Scholars of classical Tamil have always held Kamban's text in the highest 
esteem for its use of poetic and lyrical language as well as for its 
delineation of the delicate nuances of character. Sundaram's voice is at its 
very best in the descriptive passages ? the portrait of the city of Ayodhya 
inthe Balakandam, the exquisite metaphors and similes that bring the beauty of 
its women to life, the pathetic fallacy of the forest that shares Rama'sgrief. 
Where the translation creaks for me, as a reader, is in the dialogue. Here, I 
find the language and the idiom archaic and stilted. This question of register 
or diction, is, however, a choice that every translator makes for him or 
herself. The translator of classics should make this choice asa balance between 
the original register of the text (in this case, highly formalised and 
classical Tamil) and the contemporary idiom of the language into which the text 
is moved. 

It is certain that Kamban knew Valmiki's composition and the Sanskrit literary 
tradition, including Kalidasa, well. His exploration of the nuances 
andundercurrents of the Ramayana are, to many, much more satisfying and 
fulfilling than Valmiki's epic formulations. Sita's undying and unquestioning 
love for Rama, Laksmana's quick temper and his impulsiveness, Bharata's 
determined devotion to his elder brother, Hanuman's faith and courage ? all 
these are made explicit and developed fully in Kamban's telling. Ironically, 
the central character, Rama, is at his most ambiguous and human in Valmiki's 
epic. As Rama's divinity becomes more and more critical to the story, Rama's 
character diminishes in subtlety and arguably, in interest. With Kamban, 
perhaps for the last time in the cycle of Indian Rama stories, Rama 
occasionally straddles the nebulous twilight zone between epic hero and 
infallible deity. 

The Kamba Ramayana should be more properly referred to by it's own title, 
Iramavataram. This title makes perfectly clear that this magnificent Tamil text 
stands on its own, albeit within the larger Ramayana tradition. It alsomakes 
abundantly clear who Rama is. In Kamban's story, Rama-as-god is not simply a 
declaration, it is a leitmotif that runs through the text. Many raksasas and 
even Vali himself, are happy to die at Rama's hands because theyare assured of 
salvation. In a sense, Kamban's story fits between the two major northern 
versions, Valmiki's and Tulasidasa's. It does not carry the ambiguity of 
Valmiki's epic with regard to Rama's divinity, nor is it drenched in bhakti 
like Tulasi's. If one is interested in the growth and development of Rama as 
the central figure of the current Hindu pantheon, Kamban's deification is a 
crucial step along the way. But even if one has no interest in that aspect of 
religions and their histories, Kamban's Ramayana shouldbe read in this 
translation for the beauty of its poetry and lyricism. 

The Kamba Ramayana, translated 

by P.S. Sundaram, edited by 

N.S. Jagannathan, Penguin India, 2002, paperback, p.412. Rs. 395. 



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