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Book Review
TAMIL
Tamil classic
ASHOKAMITRAN
NALLAPILLAI BHARATHAM — 18th century Tamil classic by Nalla Pillai: Srinivasan — Editor; Pub. by the editor, 12, New Street, Vinayakapuram, Ambattur, Chennai-600053. Rs.1500.
NO WORK in recorded history of civilisations has wielded such a powerful influence over vast populations and regions as the twin-Indian epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The Mahabharata has been around for a long time as can be seen from the long history of folk drama in Tamil Nadu.
More than one poet with the name of Perumdevanar is credited with the first attempt of the Mahabharatha in Tamil but not much of it has survived. Then Villiputhurar (14th century) goaded by the chieftain Varapati Atkondan, produced a condensed version of the epic. Independently Ashtavadanam Arangantha Kavirayar sang some 3000 verses.
This monumental Mahabharata in Tamil in some 11000 verses is by Nalla Pillai of the 18th century. Nalla Pillai came from a family of village accountants and was a child prodigy. By 20, he had composed the entire Bharatham in about 11000 verses, allowing a few to be composed by another pupil of the language, Muruga Pillai. Nalla Pillai was a master of three languages, Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit.
He had the graciousness to express his admiration for Villiputhurar’s Bharatham while his own was far more exhaustive and covered areas not recorded by his distinguished predecessor. Nalla Pillai’s was an original work. He had also filled in many details unsaid by Vyasa and Villiputhurar.
The editor of this edition, R. Srinivasan does not rule out the occurrence of interpolations, exaggerations and exclusions of certain sections of the epic. In the account of the 18-day war, some details showed displacement and variation.
The first printed edition of the work was in 1888. This new edition by Srinivasan makes the text more accessible. While his own labour can never be underestimated, he had been generous to acknowledge the help he obtained from a host of friends and scholars. This one book of nearly 2000 large-sized pages in restoring a creation nearly 300 years old is itself a task of a lifetime.
Nalla Pillai’s Bharatham is still a scholar’s fare but it is a work every Tamilian ought to be proud of. The editor’s detailed introduction gives the history of the creation of the epic in Tamil over the centuries. Arasu’s brief but brilliant foreword creates the right mode to approach the classic.
The book is one of the most important to come out in Tamil in recent times. This edition has been justly supported by the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore.
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