Musings on the Life and Times of Chinnaswamy Subramania Bharathi Narasimhan Vijayaraghavan 50
Musings on the Life and Times of Chinnaswamy Subramania Bharathi
Narasimhan Vijayaraghavan
50
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Bharathi’s association with Aurobindo Ghosh ‘was elevating’ as he said. Ghosh was a Veda exponent. Upanishads were up his sleeve. And Bhagwad Gita was at his finger prints. This prompted Bharati to attune himself as well for ‘ he could not be seen to left behind in his conversations with Ghosh on the intellectual plane’. Bharathi took Gita to Tamil and Veda Pasurangal too to English and Tamil. And Bharathi dwelt deep into Patanjali Yoga Sutras and picked up from Nammalwar and Andal Pasurangal to take them ‘all to his beloved Tamilians who needed them as part of the nation’s heritage’. We are still struggling to receive them!
Bharathi was known to be a Parasakthi Upasakan. And that was well before he met Ghosh. And after he met Ghosh and his consistent and constant exposure to Vedas, Upanishads and other scriptures, Bharathi was a changed man. The ‘philosophical’ faculty dormant or just embers state in him were triggered. And his outpourings took on a different shape. Be it the Kuyil Paattu or Kannan Paattu or Panchali Sabatham, there was a hidden meaning and underlying message at the metaphysical construct. The beauty of poetry that is immortal is that it always sounds and seems new every other time. And reveals an unseen meaning. And Bharathi’s poems were imbued with such beauty.
May just be the perfect segway to go visiting contemporaneous and future greats as to what they saw in Bharathi. Typically one goes to C Rajagopalachari @ Rajaji to set in motion this pivot. He was no ordinary scholar. No need to introduce him or his credentials. ‘ Bharathi was a divine poet. He had the grace of almighty. He was uniquely poised and positioned to take poetry to the masses. The common man on the road. The commoner knew Kambaramayanam, Nalayira Divyaprandham, Thirukural, Thiruvachagam, just by name. But not the insides of it. It was tough to follow. The ordinary tamilian found it difficult to even read such ‘Karadu Muradu’ tooth breaking verse. Leave alone understand. It was appreciated alright. At the esoteric not mundane level. And even those who could read, found it tough to understand. But in came Bharathi and simplified it to one and all. Such service he rendered is unparalleled not only in Tamil but any literature for that matter.
Yet, one has to concede that the beauty was contained in the language viz. Tamil. No matter the chosen words were simple, translation was not easy. The loveliness in the verse got lost or gets lost in translation.However competent or felicitous the translator was. impossible to capture the ethereal melody and meaning. Bharath had and has to be read in Tamil to be appreciated. It was not his fault. It was his strength. It is not even the inadequacy of the translator. It lies in the innate and inherent beauty of Tamil language which sent it into the untranslatable stratosphere. That enhanced Bharathi’s Mahakavi status, not diminished. If we are inadequate even in the simple Tamil, who is to blame? Shame.
My anxiety is that we cannot recognise a poet by merely storing his works in libraries or household shelves. Or celebrating him on birth and death anniversaries or even by erecting memorials or Illams.. Or collecting memorabilia. All that is fine. They do matter. But not they alone. We must read them. We must absorb them. Tutor the younger lot on its content and values. School children must be taught. And throughout scholastic and collegiate levels. It is possible that if we cultivate such a spirit then every house in Tamil Nadu may ring out with Bharathi’s songs. Just like M S Subbulakshmi’s Venkatesa Subrabatham and Vishnu Sahasranamam all over the nation, wherever religiosity abs spirituality pervade, which is everywhere. That is Bharat. A heritage that my dear Nani Palkhivala- God’s gift to India said, “ Bharat was a donkey carrying a sackful emeralds, diamonds and more on its back,blissfully oblivious of its cultural and spiritual heritage”.
Let us bear in mind that Bharathi was one of us. He lived with us. He breathed the air we breathed abs now do . He ate the food we ate. He was no Puranic hero. We should consider ourselves extremely fortunate to have lived in the times of a Mahakavi. He walked as one of us. He sat with us. He thundered to us. He tried to wake us from deep slumber. He never gave up. He sung in praise of us and Bharat Matha. But he was stinging in his criticism of our faults, follies and fallacies. And what a pity he struggled to get his works published let alone read. And we tamils imposed the obligation on Chellamma and her two daughters to get them published will ever remain a blot on our assumed family pride. Or do I believe with all humility not arrogance. We were less than 15% literate when Bharathi was alive. We are now much better now. I read him in full. All his works in prayerful reverence. I better off for it? You be the judge. We should all read it all.
I disagree and abhor debates and discussions on who is better. Kamban or Bharathi. There is no room for ‘or’ here. It must and shall always be ‘and’ ‘both’. We want both. We must celebrate both. We must read both. Bharathi spoke highly of Kamban, Valluvan and Elangoadigal. Poetry is distinct from Prose. The message may be same or similar, at times. But when it comes in verse it takes a different construct and force. And a poet like Bharathi sets them in immortal verse. Such poetry is hard to come by. I have had the fortune and privilege to learn Shakespeare, Shelley, Wordsworth, Tennyson and Tagore. I love Bharathi and his immortal verses not because he was a fellow Tamil or Indian. But because he was universal in his vision and spoke a language of brotherhood, fraternity and humanity like none before or after. Do we owe him better than holding functions and events? Yes, I do. Not to elevate Bharathi. He needs no props or elevation from us mortals. In trying to read him we try to reach him where we can otherwise not dream or even imagine.
Let us remember and relish that Bharathi lives in his poems. Just as Lord Krishna said he would love inside of the Srimad Bhagawatham. Let us at least open the pages. We remember Bharathi through his songs. His songs are immortal. Not he. He has left his breath of beauty in the verses. So, I believe that putting up monuments for him is fine. He is beyond it. He was no mortal soul requiring remembrance through Ilams or houses. His songs are more than adequate to speak of him. If we read them, continue to do so and remember him through his verses, then we may be paying a true homage”. There is more.
How can we ignore what Va. Ve. Su Iyer, a contemporary and close friend of Bharathi said about his ‘buddy’ to use a colloquial expression. “In our national heritage and legacy there are two streams of thought, process and expression in literature. One, the classical that is meant to have been handled by great scholars appealing to the intellectuals with even grammarians in awe. They are the elevated versions which remain esoteric and not pervasive among the ordinary you and me. The masses know about them. But do do not know anything beyond the names. Bharathi was among the first of his genre to bring it down to us. His vision was breathtaking. And his verses spoke from his heart, mind and soul. Every throb of his body spoke him. The likes of me were extremely privileged to live in his time, know him, read him , talk to him. Yet we fell short, not for want of trying. But our faculties did not and could not match up.
His classmate Somasundara Bharathi always said Bharathi showed promise early, at even all of seven years. He shared his works even with Ettayapuram Samasthanam when a schoolboy. But Somu- felt differently. He wanted his friend Subbiah to ‘come down’ and not insist or expect his brethren to come up. He wanted Bharathi to write in simple language. The verses must use ordinary and day to day expressions. Was it possible? Yes, it was, for Bharathi the undisputed genius, born and lived as one. Bharathi obliged and thus was born a true Mahakavi in the hearts of the masses. Not an easy task.
Lest you mistake my imputation- Bharathi did not make it simple because he was not capable of the higher and esoteric. Bharathadevi’s Thiruthasangam, Thitupalliyezhuchi tell us of a different Bharathi. The unique and innovative skill of Bharathi was to give a contemporary touch to the Puranics too. He spoke in the common man’s lingo. He reached out knowing fully well that being a poet with a Parasakthi given gift meant little unless he touched the hearts and minds of fellow tamils. Not the intellectual ones but the ordinary ones. And that made a huge or THE difference”.
Let us get back to Bharathi in Pondicherry where we left him after he left the company of D Rangachariar with his ‘India’ magazine. But before that the ‘penury and poverty’ connect to these men of unbelievable mettle. From a fascinating perspective. Not mine, as it is scholarly, for sure.
(Author is practising advocate in the Madras High Court)
