Translation work on the soulful hymns of Alwars

With educative forewords by two eminent scholars, M.K. Srinivasan and M. Narasimhachary, Vankeepuram Rajagopalan's English translations of the hymns of three Azhvars gets off to a sunny start. After a somewhat meandering introduction, Rajagopalan begins with Tirumaalai , among the sweetest of the verse-clusters in the ‘Divya Prabandham'. We are certainly held up occasionally by his use of outdated terms like ‘thee' and ‘thou' as also inversions, but his sincere transcription of the original deserves a warm welcome. After all, how can we bring into English the music of the spheres that is heard in the hymns of a ‘garland-maker'?

Tondar-adi-podi's matin-song was the forerunner of all suprabhatham compositions. All of Nature is waking up and already the sun's golden rays have chased away darkness; elephants and celestials are in attendance; but the Lord? So comes the refrain: “Immerged in yoga-nidra whilst reclined on cosy bed, O Ranga! awake from slumber and grace us all!”

Seeking the significance of this wake-up call to the Divine in the Vedas (

amrutasya

ketu ), the translator goes to Aurobindo for an appropriate explanation:

“It is the light, in other words, of the Truth and Bliss which constitute the higher or immortal consciousness … Night in the Veda is the symbol of our obscure consciousness full of ignorance in knowledge and stumblings in will and act, therefore of all evil, sin and suffering; light is the coming of the illumined higher consciousness which leads to truth and happiness.”

While the hymns of the Azhvars are soulful by themselves, reciting them with such background knowledge as the base enriches our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Tirumaalai is one such garland of unfading verses that has spread the parijatha fragrance of bhakti wafting towards Ranganatha. Tiru-p-paanaazhvar sang of Ranganatha and Venkateswara. The shimmery musings of this Dalit devotee are believed to have the power of releasing us from sins committed knowingly or unknowingly. The last two verses on Krishna have naturally evoked Periaazhvar, Andal and Subramania Bharati in the notes.

The easiest in this volume is Madhurakavi Azhvar, but he is no cakewalk even when it is only a prose translation. Here is the ninth verse of

Kanninun Siruthaambu :

“Celebrated Vedic scholars, the Brahmins, as they chant Vedas, their esoteric sense and intrinsic symbols to stay forever, he rendered Tiruvaimozhi which admirably inscribed in my mind; and to such exalted Satakopa a virtuoso, noblesse excellence, yearning to become a compatible servitor and that genuine desire of mine got accomplished in a trice, enabling me to render ceaseless service unto Azhvar.”

Since the hymns of the Azhvars have to be contextualized in a systematic way, Rajagopalan's detailed notes take a wider sweep with quotations explaining god-ward emotions. With remarkable ease, he quotes from a variety of sources like Gobhila Grihya Sutra , the Upanishads and the Raghuvamsam . Such a presentation becomes necessary for getting across mystic poetry that often takes random leaps into the Beyond, leaving Reason behind abruptly.

At the same time, the passion of the Azhvars for tuning the human lyre to receive the unheard melodies through the help of Mother Nature comes through the Hymns of Mystics Three very well. As always with the Cetana series, the book has excellent get-up and the choice illustrations make the work come alive in every way.