Of the prosodic structure of poetry

The distinct use of syllables in languages like Tamil and Sanskrit are dealt with in detail by V.S.N. Ramaswamy in his book

Prosody form is the best indicator of the evolution and maturity of a language. It is, therefore, no surprise that Sanskrit and Tamil, among the ancient languages of the country, have a strong poetry lineage, dating back to at least a few thousand years. Both languages have extensive grammar treatises too on poetry — ‘Chandasastra’ (Sanskrit) and ‘Tholkappiyam’ (Tamil) to name a few.

While Sanskrit poetry uses letters (short-hrsva and long-dheergha) in combinations, Tamil uses syllables (Asai) as the building blocks of prosodic forms. This distinct evolution has captured the fascination of many a scholar. Does this distinctness lead to any difference in the lilt of the poems? Is there a common theme of phonetics under which one can classify these poems? This is the question that author ‘Chanthakkavi’ V.S.N. Ramaswamy has dealt with in detail in this book, ‘Chanda Chaatthiram.’

Hailing from a lineage of Tamil and Sanskrit scholars, Ramaswamy has put together a scheme, after five decades of meticulous research. The Tamil way of marking the ‘chandam,’ which he differentiates from ‘chandas’ of Sanskrit, can provide a way to group all the prosodic forms that have been written so far in these languages. Though it is possible to use thousands of different forms, there are only about 700 types of ‘chandam’ in both these languages. Sanskrit poetry has used 170 and Tamil, about 600. There are 78 which have been used by poets in both the languages.

Quoting extensively from Sanskrit works of Kedara Bhatta, Pingala, Kshemendra and relying on Tamil creations including ‘Silappadikaram’ and those of Subramania Bharati, the author establishes the connection in an ingenious way.

Billed as an important book in the history of Tamil poetry, ‘Chanda Chatthiram’ was launched by Sivasankari, veteran Tamil writer, at MOP Vaishnav College for Women, Nungambakkam, Chennai, this past Saturday. Tiruppur Krishnan and Keezhambur Sankara Subramanian, editors of Tamil periodicals, Amudhasurabhi and Kalaimagal , will receive the first copies.