View to M. L.

Thangappa’s Love Stands Alone: as an elegant translation

Introduction

M. Lenin Thangappa is a rare personality. He is an English scholar and has an

exemplary proficiency in Tamil classics and grammar. In his Tamil poems we cannot see

even a single word borrowed from other languages. The chaste Tamil diction is mingled

with powerful expression in his poems. As the same time, he avoids a pedantic and

pompous style, which will form an iron curtain to the readers from the author. Simple

and elegant style is the unique feature of his poems. He published a number of books and

essays Tamil and has translated from Tamil in English Sangam poetry, and the songs of

Ramalinga Swamigal, Subramania Bharati and Bharathidasan. M. L. Thangappa is an

internationally acclaimed translator of Sangam classics. He has won the Sahitya

Akademi awards for both children’s literature and translation. Love Stands Alone, which

is the English translation of a collection of Tamil Sangam poetry, which this paper

largely focuses.

Tamil Sangam

“Poetry cannot swerve from tradition”, declares Tholkappiam, the defining

grammatical treatise on Sangam literature. The language’s claim to classical status rests

on the corpus of literature commonly known as Sangam literature. Sangam literature

comprises some of the oldest extant Tamil literature and deals with love, war,

governance, trade and bereavement. Unfortunately much of the Tamil literature

belonging to the Sangam period has been lost. The literature currently available from this

period is perhaps just a fraction of wealth of material produced during this golden age of

Tamil civilization. In the Sangam literature, the Tamil language had reached a level of

maturity and began to serve as a powerful and elegant medium of literary expression.

This must clearly have been the result of evolution and development spread over some

generations.

1
 The over 2,000 poems which make up this corpus are breathtaking in their directness,

subtle in their nuances and have an astonishing contemporary quality. According to

tradition there were three Sangams, in ancient Tamil Nadu where poets congregated to

debate and authorize literary works. The first Sangam is said to have flourished south of

present-day Kanyakumari, now submerged, in the ancient Pandyan city of Then-

Madurai. The second, in Kapadapuram, both these Sangams, each consisting of Fifty-

nine core poets, are believed to have been engulfed by the sea and the works lost. The

third Sangam, in historical Madurai, continued for 1,850 years with forty-nine core

poets, all the surviving works are said to be from this Sangam, except Tholkappiyam said

to be from the second Sangam. The first occurrence of the Sangam as a Tamil academy

dates from the Bhakthi movement of the seventh to ninth centuries. The tradition of

Sangam played a central role in the primacy achieved by Madurai in Tamil literary

imagination and in the Saiva religious world.

Compilation of Sangam Literature

The available Sangam literature was categorized and compiled in the 10 th century; the

extant corpus is made of two sets of eighteen works. The Pathinen Melkanakku or major

eighteen consists of the Ettuthokai (The Eight anthologies) and the Pathupattu (The Ten

Long Poems). To this must be added the outstanding work of, among other things,

linguistic analysis and scholarship, the grammar Tholkappiyam. Thirukkural has pride

place in the Pathinen Keelkanakku or the minor eighteen. It is now common to designate

the first eighteen as Sangam literature proper; the other eighteen being now considered

post-Sangam.

The eight anthologies consist of Nattrinai, Kurunthokai, Ainkurunuru, Pathittrupathu,

Paripadal, Kalithokai, Akananuru and Purananuru. The Ten Long Poems

Thirumurugattrupadai, Porunar Attrupadai, Sirupan Attrupadai, Perumpan Attrupadai,

Mullai Pattu, Madurai Kanji, Nedunalvadai, Kurinji Pattu, Pattinappalai and

2
Malaipadukadam make up the Pathupattu. The poems in this corpus total 2,381

composed by as many as 473 poets.

Pathinen Keelkanakku is a collection of eighteen poetic works created during the ‘post-

Sangam period’. The poems of this collection differ from the earlier works under the

Pathinen Melkanakku collection, which are the oldest surviving Tamil Poetry. The

poems are written in the Venpa meter and are relatively short in lenght6. Most of the

books deal with morals and ethics. Pathinen Keelkanakku consist the following books:

Nalatiyar, Nanmanikkatigai, Inna Narpathu, Iniyavai Narpathu, Kar Narpathu,

Kalavazhi Narpathu, Ainthinai Aimpathu, Thinaimozhi Aimpathu, Ainthinai Ezhupathu,

Thinaimalai Nurru Aimpatu, Tirukkural, Thirikatukam, Acharakkovai, Pazhamozhi

Nanuru, Siruppanchamulam, Muthumozhikkanchi, Elathi and Kainnilai.

The structure of the anthologies, Ainkurunuru, consisting of 500 akam poems which

vary in length between three and six lines, is divided into a hundred poems for each of

the five thinais organized in tens. Kurunthokai, Nattrinai and Akananuru consists 400

akam poems each. The organizing principle is the length of the poems. Kurunthokai

consists of 4 to 8 lines, Nattrinai, 9 to 12 lines and Akananuru, 13 to 31 lines. Akananuru

itself is divided into three books: Kalittriyanainirai, Manimidaipavalam and

Nithilakkovai based on the arresting phrases occurring in them even though the logic of

the division is not evident. Within the Akananuru all odd numbered poems belong to

Palai thinai, thus accounting for half of the poems. Poems in the sequence of 2,8,12,18…

belong to Kurinji; poems in the sequence of 4,14,24… are Mullai; poems in the sequence

of 6,16,26…belong to Marutam and every tenth poem (10,20,30…) is in Neidal thinai.

Kalithokai, is the kali meter, as distinct from the akaval meter, the prosodic form par

excellence of Sangam poetry consist of 150 long poems. Similarly Paripadal is written

in the pari meter.

As the poets themselves, as, many as 473 have contributed to the corpus, of these about

250 poets wrote only one poem each. Among the poets are 30 women with 154
3
compositions; the most outstanding being the hugely venerated Avvaiyar. Just over a 100

poems remain anonymous. Some of the most prolific and important poets are Kapilar,

Orampokiyar, Paranar, Perunkatunko, Avvaiyar and Nakkeerar.

Tradition of Sangam Poetry

Tholkappiyam is a brilliant classification and analysis of ‘content’ or ‘subject matter’.

Consisting of 1,610 verses in the pithy nurpa form, the text of Tholkappiyam is divided

into three books: Ezhuthu (letters), Chol (words) and Porul (content). Tholkappiyam

divides the content and subject matter of all literature into two complementary and

overarching categories: Akam and Puram. The authoritative Tamil Lexicon defines Akam

as inside, interior, heart, mind, breast, sexual pleasure, house, agricultural tract, the

theme of love, subject and so on. Puram is defined as the ‘other’ of Akam: outside,

exterior, heroism, bravery, side, back, gossip and backbiting, partiality, place, tax-free

land, wild tract and so on.

For Tholkappiyam, akam concerns the interior or love and conjugal life. The akam

poems are concerned love in all its varied situations: pre-marital; clandestine and illicit;

conjugal happiness and infidelity; separation and union. This amorous life is divided into

five thinais: Kurinji, Mullai, Marutam, Neidal and Palai. Thinais are physiographical

regions in which the love poems are set. Tholkappiyam classifies the recurrent themes in

the following ascending hierarchy – into Mudhal (the first theme), Karu (the seed

theme), and Uri (the essential theme). Mudhal refers to time and place (the hills of

Kurinji thinai, the pastures and woods for Mullai; the countryside and plains for

Marutam; the seaside for Neidal. While there is no desert proper in the Tamil country,

Palai refers to the wilderness and dried-up Kurinji and Mullai land during hot summers).

Similarly the time of day and seasons appropriate for the above five thinais, respectively,

are night and cool seasons; late evenings and monsoons; mornings and all seasons;

nightfall and all seasons; midday and summer. Karu referes to the deity, flora, fauna,

drum, occupation, music and so on that are current in that particular physiographical
4
region. The Uri Porul is the essence of akam poetry and it defines akam poetry: Kurinji –

clandestine meetings of lovers, Mullai – Hopeful wait of the wife, Marutam – The

infidelity of the man and sulks of his wife, Neidal – The wife’s anxious wait for the

husband’s return and Palai – The Lover’s departure and travel through wilderness in

search of wealth, education or adventure.

The union of the lovers; ruminating about the union; discussion with the friend about

the desperation of love; approaching the girl’s friend for help in carrying forward the

love; the setting up of daytime and night meetings; the calling of the shaman and

soothsayer to cure the malady of the pinning girl; the scandalous gossip about the affair;

standing steadfast in love in the face of familial opposition; elopement of the lovers; the

mother’s grief and search for the eloped girl; the husband’s separation in search of

wealth, education and adventure; the wifely sulking due to the husband’s infidelity and

so on. In fact, tradition enumerated an elaborate scheme of stock situations in amorous

life – a sub-theme of thinai called thurai.

Translating the Tradition

There has been a long tradition of translating Sangam poetry into English and, to a

certain extent, other European languages. Even by the end of the nineteenth century, as

the Sangam classics went into print, G. U. Pope had identified Purananuru as ‘heroic

poetry’ and had begun to translate from it. The Sangam poems are now found in

anthologies such as the Penguin Book of Love Poetry, Penguin Book of Women Poets

and Women Writing in India. A peculiar situation obtains in Tamil Nadu where Tamil

works are translated into English in the vain hope that the mere translation into global

language would win worldwide recognition. Thangappa is an accomplished Puducherry

Tamil poet who has published several collections. Not for him free verse and all his

poems are written in variety of traditional metrical forms. He has also written number of

Tamil poems in the Akam and Puram genres. It is this thorough immersion in Sangam

poetry – its language, vocabulary, style and content – that makes Thangappa an enviable
5
translator. Nabokov listed three unbreakable rules for a good translator: intimate

knowledge of the language from which one translates; experience as a writer of the

language into which one translates; and ‘that one knows, in both languages, the words

designating concrete objects’. Thangappa fits the bills perfectly.

Love Stands Alone: as an elegant translation

Love Stands Alone is divided into two sections: Akam and Puram. Translations from

Akam, as a rule, have tended to be divided into thinais. This book avoids this division.

Kurunthokai makes for the bulk of the selections – not surprising considering that it

occupies pride of place, along with Purananuru, in the canon. This is followed by

selections from Ainkurunuru. These short poems provide the foil for Kurunthokai. Brief

selections then follow from Nattrinai, Akananuru and Kalithokai.

Here is a classic Kurinji poem by Devakulathar renowned for his mastery of this

particular thinai.

epyj;jpDk; nghpNj: thdpDk; cah;e;jd;W:

ePhpDk; Mh; mstpd;Nw – rhuy;

fUq; Nfhy; FwpQ;rpg;G+f; nfhz;L>

ngUe;Njd; ,iof;Fk; ehlndhL el;Ng.

(Njhop jiytid ,aw;gopf;fj; jiytp vjpuhf ,aw;gl nkhope;jJ)

- NjtFyj;jhh;

Thangappa’s translation of this Sangam poem;

Larger than the Earth

Larger than the earth,

Vaster than the sky,

And immeasurably deeper than the seas

Is my love for him

From the hills

Where the honeybees make

6
Abundant honey

From the black-stemmed

Kurinji flowers.

(What the girl told her friend about her devotion to her lover)

-Devakulathar

This famous poem tells the qualities of the lover by the heroine to her friend who

rebukes him for delaying the marriage. They were in love for sometime. Her friend is

worried that the lover is delaying the marriage. The meaning of this poem is as follows:

“The bees gather honey from the trees of Kurinji land. My lover who belongs to that land

is as sweet as honey. His love for me is as high as the vast sky, wider than the land

expanse and deeper than the seas”. In this way she impresses on her friend that their love

is no ordinary love. Kurunthogai abounds with poems of this nature where one overhears

the characters say to each other, to themselves, or to the moon. A poem implies, evokes

and enacts a drama in a monologue.

GwehD}W 192> ghbath;: fzpad; G+q;Fd;wdhh;> jpiz: nghJtpay;> Jiw:

nghUz;nkhopf; fhQ;rp

ahJk; CNu ahtUk; Nfsph;

jPJk; ed;Wk; gpwh; ju thuh

NehjYk; jzpjYk; mtw;Nwhud;d

rhjYk; GJtJ md;Nw tho;jy;

,dpJ vd kfpo;e;jd;Wk; ,yNk Kdptpd;

,d;dh njd;wYk; ,yNk kpd;ndhL

Thdk; jz; Jsp jiy, MdhJ

fy; nghUJ ,uq;Fk; ky;yw; Ngh; ahw;W

ePh; topg; g^ck; Giz Nghy MUaph;

Kiwtopg; g^ck; vd;gJ jpwNthh;

fhl;rpapd; njspe;jdk; Mfypd; khl;rpapd;

7
nghpNahiu tpaj;jYk; ,yNk

rpwpNahiu ,fo;jy; mjdpDk; ,yNk.

Thangappa’s translation of this song;

All the world is our home.

All men our kin.

Good and evil

Are not caused by others.

Nor are suffering and relief.

We do not exult

That life is sweet,

Nor do we cry

In bitterness

That life is cruel.

We know from the vision of seers

That life takes its fated course

Like a raft that floats

On a rapid river

Roaring among the rocks

During the monsoon rains.

Therefore we neither marvel at the great

Nor disdain the small.

-Kaniyan Punkundran

This is the only purananuru poem Witten by this poet, who came from a town called

Poonkundram near Ramanathapuram. This poem conveys the meaning that every town is

our town, everyone is our relative. Evil and goodness do not come to us because what

others did. Nor do suffering and the ending of suffering, death is nothing new. We do not

show great joy when living is sweet. When we suffer we do not say that living is
8
miserable. Through the vision of those who have understood, we know that precious life

makes its way like a raft riding a powerful huge river that roars endlessly, fed by cold

rains with bolts of lightening as it crashes against rocks. So we are not awed by those

who are great. Much less, we do not despise those who are weak.

Conclusion

M. L. Thangappa’s translation from the Sangam anthologies possess a rare precious

and accuracy, crafted in a voice that is vivid, supple, and uniquely his own. His

translations are marked by serenity and an assurance that owe to utter familiarity with the

source text. The breathtaking poems in Love Stands Alone speak to us across time, space,

language and culture. His self-effacing nature combined with an indifference to the ways

of English publishing has meant that the files of translation in his chaotic study have kept

accumulating. It has been said that great works of literature should be translated a new

for every generation. In a manner of speaking, Thangappa has one that himself, revising

his translation for every generation.

References

Gerow, Edwin., Edward C. Dimock, Jr, and C. M. Naim, eds. The Literatures of India:

An Introduction. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1978. Print.

Thangappa, M. L. Love Stands Alone. Delhi: Penguin Books India Ltd, 2013. Print.

Varadarajan M. The Treatment of Nature in Sangam Literature. Tirunelveli: South India

Siva Siddhantha, 1969. Print.

Venkatachalapathy, A. R. Introduction: Love Stands Alone. Delhi: Penguin Books India

Ltd, 2013, xii-xiviii. Print.