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Book Review
TAMIL
Homage to a mystic
Prema Nandakumar
KAMBARIN SATAKOPAR ANTADI: Commentary by V.N. Gopala Desikachariar; Vanathi Padhippagam, 23, Deenadayalu Street, T. Nagar, Chennai-600017. Rs. 125.
MUCH OF ancient Sangam literature is secular with the sacred coming to the fore only in Paripadal. It is with the coming of the Azhwars that we find the distance between the devotee and the deity annihilated. The Bhakti movement initiated by them proved to be so overwhelming that these God-immersed hymnologists themselves came to be considered as divine. The move was initiated by Madhurakavi Azhwar who wrote “Kanninun Chiruthambu” to pay homage to Nammazhwar.
In Satakopar Antadi, the epic poet of the Tamils, Kamban, pays homage to Nammazhwar. The 101 verses of Satakopar Antadi can be taken as an amplification of Madhurakavi Azhwar’s Kanni-nun-chiruthambu (S.K. Ramarajan). After the commentary on Kamban’s poem by V.M. Gopalakrishnamacharya, we have had to wait for a long time to get one written in contemporary diction. Our waiting has not been in vain. Gopala Desikachariar’s language is a pellucid stream, with word-for-word meaning followed by pointed explanations that bring in a host of allied material. We have glimpses of Nammazhwar’s poetry, and get to admire the manner in which Kamban has imbibed the poetic canon. All the while, the commentator’s voice informs us of innumerable links such as the girl engaged in Matanga dance and the Yoga of Self-surrender.
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