Pranam
let there be any Muri. But this is regarding curing the tree sitting at
the front; if at all one did and was blessed by the Goddess is KALIDASAN. It
is said that he was a dumb fool to start with. The king's daughter was a
very learned lady (equality of women ! :-) ) and said that she will marry
him who will defeat her in `shaastraartha' (debate on the scriptures).
Anyone who gets defeated will be black faced, head shaven and kicked out of
the country on a donkey. (The punishment part might be later additions!)
SO, the pundits took Kalidasa (whom they apparently saw cutting the tree
branch on which he was sitting) for debate. They said that he (Kalidasa)
only does mute debates. The princess showed him one finger saying `shakti
is one'. He thot she would poke his one eye, so he showed her two fingers.
She accepted it as a valid answer, since `shakti' is manifest in duality
(shiv-shakti, nar-naaree etc etc). She showed her the palm with fingers
extended like in a slap. He showed her the fist. She accepted it as an
answer to her question. She said `five elements' and he said `make the
body' (earth, water, fire, air, and void). [ The debate explanations are
also apparently later additions] So they get married and she finds he is a
dumbo. So she kicks him out of the house. He straightaway went to Kali's
temple and cut his tongue at her feet. Kali was appeased with him and
granted him profound wisdom. When he returned to his house, his wife (the
learned) asked, ``asti kaschit vaag-visheshaH'' (asti = is; kashchit =
when, as in questioning; vaag = speech, visheshaH = expert; i.e. ``are you
now an expert in speaking'').
And the great Kalidasa wrote three books starting with the 3 words:
with asti = asti-uttarasyaam dishi = Kumara-sambhavam (epic)
with kashchit = kashchit-kaantaa = Meghdoot (poetry)
with vaag = vagarthaviva = Raghuvansha (epic)
2 Some texture of Kalidasan for the mature minds:
(1) "Nikāmataptā vividhena vahninā nabhaścareṇendhanasaṃbhṛtena ca
। tapātyaye
vāribhir ukṣitā navair bhuvā sahoṣmāṇam amuñcad ūrdhvagam ॥ Sthitāḥ
kṣaṇaṃ pakṣmasu tāḍitādharāḥ payodharotsedhanipātacūrṇitāḥ । valīṣu tasyāḥ
skhalitāḥ prapedire cireṇa nābhiṃ prathamodabindavaḥ ॥" — Kumārasambhava
5.23–24; meaning: "Still sat Umā though scorched by various flame Of solar
fire and fires of kindled birth, Until at summer's end the waters came. Steam
rose from her body as it rose from earth. With momentary pause the first
drops rest Upon her lash then strike her nether lip, Fracture upon the
highland of her breast, Across the ladder of her waist then trip And slowly
at her navel come to rest." — The beauty of this verse is held to result
from "the association through suggestion of numerous harmonious ideas".
Firstly (as described in Mallinatha's commentary), the description suggests
signs of her physical beauty: long eyelashes, pouting lower lip, hard
breasts large enough to touch each other, deep navel, and so on. Secondly
(as described in Appayya Dikshita's commentary), it suggests her pose as a
perfect yoginī: her motionlessness through pain and pleasure, her posture,
and so on. Finally, and more subtly, in comparing the mother goddess to the
mother earth, and the rain coursing down her as it courses over the surface
of the earth, it suggests earthly fertility. Thus the verse harmoniously
brings to mind beauty, self-restraint, and fertility.
(2) Dushyanta describes Shakuntala to his friend:"anāghrātaṃ puṣpaṃ
kisalayam alūnaṃ kara-ruhair anāviddhaṃ ratnaṃ madhu navam
anāsvādita-rasam। akhaṇḍaṃ puṣyānāṃ phalam iva ca tad-rūpam anaghaṃ na
jāne bhoktāraṃ kam iha samupasthāsyati vidhiḥ॥"
— Abhijñānaśākuntalam 2.10 "She seems a flower whose fragrance none has
tasted, A gem uncut by workman's tool, A branch no desecrating hands have
wasted, Fresh honey, beautifully cool. No man on earth deserves to taste
her beauty, Her blameless loveliness and worth,
Unless he has fulfilled man's perfect duty— And is there such a one on
earth?"— Dikshitar. CAN A PURITY BE DESCRIBED MORE THAN THIS? IS IT NOT
GREATER THAN THE MILTONIC SIMILE?. and all words ending "am"
(3) Dasharatha's hunt: api turagasamīpād utpatantaṃ mayūraṃ na sa
rucirakalāpaṃ bāṇalakṣyī cakāra। sapadi gatamanaskaś citramālyānukīrṇe
rativigalitabandhe keśapāśe priyāyāḥ॥ —Raghuvaṃśa 9.67 Dasaratha saw many
beasts as he was hunting. Although he saw a peacock fly very close to his
chariot, he did not shoot his arrow. For, as the peacock spread its tail
feathers before him, it reminded him of his wife's hair adorned with
flowers of different kinds and how it would become disarranged during their
lovemaking.
(4) Rama's coronation is announced: sā paurān paurakāntasya
rāmasyābhyudayaśrutiḥ। pratyekaṃ hlādayāṃ cakre kulyevodyānapādapān॥
— Raghuvaṃśa 2.13 The news of the beloved Rama being crowned as king gave
special joy to every citizen, like a stream that wets every tree in a
garden. HOW THE NEWS SPREAD ALLSIMULTANEOUS HAPPINESS WRITTEN ON; LIKE
RAIN SHOWER DRENCHING ALL THE TREES SIMULTANEOUSLY.
(5) Beauty-of a woman has been so succinctly ascribed with lots of "S"
sound hissing like a snake which Milton's Paradise lost "S" does not match.
In a verse of Kalidasa's Meghadūta as follows -
"tanvi shyamā shikhari dashanā pakwabimbādharóshthi। madhye kshāmā
chakithariniprekshanā nimnanābhi।
shronibhārāt alasagamanā stoknamrā stanābhyām। yā tatrasyatdyŭvati vishaye
srushtirādyev dhatooh॥"aning:
tanvi - slim shyamā - 'aprasuta bhavet shyama, tanvi ch navayauvana -
comment' - a grownup woman who has not yet enjoyed the sex with some male
and thus has not yet any experience of pregnancy and the like...shikhari
dashanā - a woman having, well arranged clean white teeth
pakwabimbādharóshthi - having the color of her lips like the color of a
morning reddish Sun kshāmā - having her waist so short
chakithariniprekshanā - having the glimpse of a frightened deer nimnanābhi
- having a deep navel shronibhārāt alasagamanā - a slow walker, due to
heavy hips stoknamrā stanābhyām - slightly bent forward, due to good enough
weight of her grown up breasts and for the last line the meaning is: such a
woman is the idol of beauty for any woman.
Written commentaries on the works of Kālidāsa by Kolāchala Mallinātha
Suri, Kashmirian scholar Vallabhadeva Bāṇabhaṭṭa, Jayadeva and Rajasekhara
have lavished praise on Kālidāsa in their tributes. A well-known Sanskrit
verse ("Upamā Kālidāsasya…") praises his skill at upamā, or similes.
Anandavardhana, a highly revered critic, considered Kālidāsa to be one of
the greatest Sanskrit poets ever. Of the hundreds of pre-modern Sanskrit
commentaries on Kālidāsa's works, only a fraction have been contemporarily
published. His works are translated in many languages including in German
bY Goethe. Natya shastra scholar Māni Mādhava Chākyār (1899–1990)
choreographed and performed popular Kālidāsā plays including
Abhijñānaśākuntala, Vikramorvaśīya and Mālavikāgnimitra. Mohan Rakesh's
play in Hindi, Āshad ka ek din (1958), tries to capture the conflict
between the ethereal beauty repeatedly portrayed in Kālidāsa's works and
the harsh realities of his time. The Kannada films namely Mahakavi Kalidasa
(1955), featuring Honnappa Bagavatar, B. Sarojadevi and later Kaviratna
Kalidasa (1983), featuring Rajkumar, were made. V. Shantaram made the Hindi
movie Stree (1961) based on Kālidāsa's Shakuntala. R.R. Chandran made the
Tamil movie Mahakavi Kalidas (1966) based on Kālidāsa's life. Chevalier
Nadigar Thilagam Sivaji Ganesan played the part of the poet himself.
Surendra Verma's Hindi play Athavan Sarga, published in 1976, is based on
the legend that Kālidāsa could not complete his epic Kumārasambhava because
he was cursed by the goddess Pārvati, for obscene descriptions of her
conjugal life with Lord Shiva in the eighth canto. The play depicts
Kālidāsa as a court poet of Chandragupta who faces a trial on the
insistence of a priest and some other moralists of his time.
KALIDASA BY RABINDRANATH TAGORE: Rabindranath Tagore was so stirred by
Kalidasa’s Meghadoota that he wrote his own poem about it (in *Manasi, *
1889)*. *In this poem, Tagore says:
*In a gloomy closed room I sit aloneAnd read the Meghadoota,My mind leaves
the room,Travels on a free-moving cloud,Flies far and wide…*
*Ah, supreme poet,*
*That first hallowed day of AshadhaOn which in some unknown yearYou wrote
your Meghadoota…*
*Your stanzas are themselves like*
*Dark layered sonorous cloudsHeaping the misery of separated loversInto
thunderous music.*
*Who can say what thickness of clouds that day,What festiveness of
lightning,What wildness of wind,Shook with their roar the turrets of
Ujjayini?*
*Long-repressed tears seem to have poured downIn torrents that dayAnd
drenched your noble stanzas.*
*Did every exile sing to the clouds*
*The same song of yearning?Did every lover ask a cloudCountless first days
of the rainy season have passed*
*Every year has given new life to your poemBy showering it with fresh
rain.With the sound of gathered clouds,By filling streams with wavesThat
rush like your rain-swelled verse.*
*Poet, your spell has released*
*Tight bonds of pain in this heart of mine.I too have entered that heaven
of yearning.*
*Why do we aim so high only to weep when thwarted?*
*Why does not love find its true path? KR IRS 301220 *
On Wed, 30 Dec 2020 at 05:34, 'gopala krishnan' via iyer123 <
[email protected]> wrote:
> *MURI- ROOM -CUT-PART*
>
> I was recollecting the repeating quiz appearing in the forum - *What is
> equal to half of the apple? Answer- the other half. *Many Fruits when cut
> vertically the other part can have the same size. But mostly vegetables are
> cut breadth wise. The white pumpkin is cut length wise in Devi temples in
> Kerala where the Devi is fierce. It is called GURUTHI. In Kerala Guruthi in
> temples like Cherthala, Chottanikkara, Chettikulangara, Kodungallur etc.
> are very common.
>
> If a large complex divided on partition, it is common to call each part as
> Thekke Muri, Vadakke muri etc. In my home there are many palaces with such
> names.
>
> If a home is constructed with more rooms, it is common to call the rooms
> as Muri and calling rooms also as Kizhakke Muri, Patinjarae Muri etc.
> Somehow some rooms are mostly used by a person- The rooms are designated
> with their names- Room of father, Room of daughter, Room of daughter in law
> etc. Sometimes if a person does not like other on any issue- It is common
> to say- *Entae muriyil Kerathu (Do not enter my room). *In fact when a
> person continiously use one room, others do not use it unless warranted.
>
> Muri as a verb is used to mean cut. Cutting can be with scissors, knife,
> axe depend on the job. Cloth is cut breadth wise using scissors. Tree
> branches are cut using axe. Tree is cut using big axe. Knives are used to
> cut fruits and vegetables. Bigger size knives are used to cut Jack fruit,
> Elephant Yam etc.
>
> Previous day of any auspicious function it was customary on those days
> iyers from different homes come to the Home where function is held and cut
> vegetables after lighting Nilavilakku. It indicated all invitees would be
> participating and harmony. Now name sake two or three iyers will just come,
> cut one or two vegetables – All others are done by caterer.
>
> Whatever be the rules in this regard, *it is customary for iyer brothers
> to assemble for srardha of parents in Kerala. *Recollecting Vararuchi
> story and all brothers bringing some item- my brother from native used to
> bring good vegetables and elder brother dhotis etc., while srardha was
> performed in my home while at Trivandrum. My brother in native used to
> bring his knife also, since the knives in my home could not suit to him to
> cut vegetables. In this context it I worth mentioning the waste cut items
> are NOT PUT IN WASTE BOX. IT IS KEPT IN A CONTAINER AND *DISPOSED ONLY
> AFTER SRARDHA IS OVER. *
>
> I think the only fruit we fell very difficult to cut, but easy for
> breaking with a thick knife- Vettu katthi is COCONUT. After dipping in
> water coconut breaking is easy by hitting in the middle – many break it to
> exactly two halves!! I have seen some use small axe first to cut open the
> jack fruit.
>
> In Tamil the word Thundu is commonly used for a part. Normally bigger
> fruits are purchased as part. Elephant Yam, Jack fruit etc. are cut and
> sold in Tamilnadu. Kerala too it could be the same. I am not sure how it is
> now.
>
> Many times the 2nd cloth comes as part of main cloth, it is cut and
> divided. Kerala white Towels comes as lengthy piece and the quantity
> required is cut through the marked areas. Cutting anything in a haphazard
> manner is called KANDAM THUNDAM. The story of dish AVIYAL is related to
> cut and remaining parts of vegetables.
>
> There is a proverb- One should not cut the branch in which he is sitting.
> If at all he is cutting the front sitting in the back, the branch may break
> INCLUDING the area he sit.
>
> Another proverb is we can bend- not break- Valaikkam, Odikkaruthu.
> Relationships can strain- not break.
>
> In bachelor lodges many times the rooms are shared by two or three people.
> In my period, in training centre three students shared a room. They are
> called room-mates. A lot of intimacy developed between room -mates.
>
> *Writer- R. Gopala Krishnan dated 11-7-2016. Reposted on 30-12-2020 after
> editing and updating. R. Gopala krishnan*
>
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