Chapter 28 - Thiru-Venjamakoodal or Tiru-Vencamakkutal (Hymn 42)

I

In the last hymn we saw our poet in the midst of his subjective exclamations, losing himself in the natural beauty of the Holy place appearing before him almost reminding him of the Lord and His overflowing love. He is completely under the influence of this enchantment of Nature appearing as the very form of the Lord—the bewitching beauty of Art form of Venjamakoodal (Venjamakoodal Vikirta in each verse) with its river—the very abode of the Lord, Sivalokam, overflowing with His Grace aboundings. It is because of this experience that the poet assures us that the masters of the ten verses of this Tamil garland of perfect words are sure to reside in the Shivaloka.

II

In thus experiencing the Lord as Omnipresent and the lovingly beautifying Nature full with His presence, as though He were in need of all these for His Omnipresent perfection, an idea arises in his mind, whether God is not in need of him as well. Yes, every soul, every creature has to be saved; for, otherwise, the Lord and His love become incomplete and imperfect, ineffective and powerless. “You need me as well” is the expression of wonder, but in the presence of the Omnipresent Beauty and Love and Power, the old lurking feeling of duality and fear, converts this exclamation of wonder, into a cry of anxiety, “Will you want me?” and into a prayer of despair, “Pray, be desirous of me as well”.

III

In the first three stanzas except the chorus, “Vencamakkutdl Vikirta atiyenaiyum ventutiye”, the poet is completely under the divine enhancement of the beauty of Nature inside which the Lord is enshrined. There is the river (Cirraru—1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9)—a symbol or a form of the overflowing love of God. On its eastern bank stands Vehcamdkkutal full of the beauty of Nature and Art, enshrming God in its temple. The river dashes against the banks with its gifts as though forcing the world to receive its loving blessings, a world which goes its way without caring to be saved by this flow of love. But the loving waters enjoy this saving overflow and this rush of theirs (Tilaittu). The river throws down the bamboos with such force that they split and yield up to it, their shining pearls. The river throws the wealth of pearls, and fragrant spices of cardamom, clove, takkolam and ginger into its rushmg waters and swells up in joy to dash against the banks.

As mentioned before, on its eastern bank stands the Venjamakoodal full of the leafy Mango-trees, the bent ‘Punnai’ and the ‘Ratal' trees and ‘Kurukkattz’ on which the cuckoos never cease singing whilst the reindeer gets frightened. “O, Beauty of Art-form of this Venjamakoodal Pray, be desirous of me as well” (1).

“The river swelling up with joy carries throwing into Its restless waters, the round shaped precious gems, the sandal and akil, to fill up many a tank and pits and dashes against the banks. On its eastern bank stands Venjamakoodal of wealthy palaces, towers and gem-bedecked-mantapas or Halls, going up, become one with the shining moon inside the clouds (as though presenting the very form of the Lord crowned with the moon). O, Beauty of Art-form of Venjamakoodal! Pray, be desirous of me as well” (2).

Our suggestion that the river appears as an idol of the Lord receives further support in the third poem where the poet describes the river receiving the worship of the beautiful damsels. The innumerable damsels, shy and coy like the deer of the mountains, of lovely beauty, like peacocks—the good souls of beautiful eyes like the well shaped spears come and bow down. The river swells up and dashes against the banks carrying valuable things rolling them all into its waters full of waves. On the eastern bank stands the city surrounded by the fragrant gardens, cool because of the harmony of the innumerable varieties of crowding trees, the rows of arecanut palms, the long-legged cocoanut palms and the short-legged jack trees. O, Beauty of Art-form! Pray, be desirous of me as well” (3).

IV

In the fourth verse our poet, instead of suggesting the Lord as in other verses, openly describes the puranic personality of the Lord in addition to his original scheme of describing the river and the city, which more patently suggests that very form of His puranic personality. “The damsel of music-like speech is on one part of your body and you never leave off your attachment to the graveyard. The river teases and tosses up, cool ‘akil’ and the beautiful chauries. On its eastern bank stands the city of Venjamakoodal, where young damsels dance to the tune of the flute and the musical drum inside the gem bedecked music hall going up to become one with the moon of the Heavens. O, the Beauty of the art form! pray be desirous of me as well” (4). The idea of the Mother and the Lord’s hall of Dance inspire the poet to describe the damsels in the dance hall of the city.

The puranic personality of the Lord again captivates the mind of the poet and under the influence of its enchantment he forgets his present scheme of describing the river and the city. The form of the Lord dancing with the ‘totu’ and the ‘kulai” suggesting the Ardhararisvara comes to the mind of the poet. In the dance escapes the fragrant ‘konrai’ flower (Kalaiye kamalum—is not quite clear. ‘Kalai’ may be the accusative of the ‘Kal’ [Kaḷ] or honey with its central ‘l’ [ḷ] elided. Then ‘kamalum’ [kamaḻum] must become causative. Or, ‘Kalai’ [Kaḷai] may mean that which has become separated escaping in the swift movements of the dance. ‘Kalai’ [Kaḷai] also means beauty but that usage seems to be not earlier than the age of Tayumanavar. ‘Kalai’ [Kaḷai] may also mean something soft). This idea of the flower at once reminds the poet of the ‘Karpaka tree’ of the Heavens giving everything desired and he at once addresses the Lord as the great ‘Karpaka’ blessing those in communion with Him—an expression of his own experience clothed in the form of a universal truth. The crescent moon which forms this description comes to our poet’s mind along with His mat-lock. But these stories have a beginning and that may suggest these acts of love have come in, as something unconnected with the nature of the Lord. The stories may have a beginning but He has no beginning whatsoever. These are the manifestations of His Nature which continues to be the same always. Except those who are in communion with Him and crying to Him for His help, none else can attain Him. This is not any freak of His. He is the

Lord of Dharma or the Law in the form of the pure white bull. Having thus described the love of the Lord, he prays, “O, Beauty of the Art-form of the city of V enkamakkutal, pray, be desirous of me as well” (5).

In the next verse, the poet seems to be sure of Lord’s Grace. “You are easy of approach to those who fall at your feet and you stand before them so that they may be devoid of all miseries”. The ‘konrai’ flower on the mat-lock and the bull and the destruction of the three cities come to his mind. The beauty of the harmony of these makes him exclaim, “O, Beauty”. The dance has been in his mind in the previous verses along with the music and the drum and now in this verse our poet speaks of the Lord as the expert dancer in the hall of the graveyard where resound unceasingly the drum and the music and the dance. The festivity of the dance brings him back to the city of V encamakkutal whose streets are so full of festivals and festivities. Addressing the Lord as the beauty of the Art-form, he concludes with his chorus of a prayer, “Pray be desirous of me also” (6).

In the next verse, he forgets every description about the city and the river, describing only the puranic personality of the Lord and refers thus: to the flaying of the elephant, the dance of fire in the graveyard, the bull, the konrai flower and the serpent with its thousand hoods and fiery poison (as something’ suggesting the fully evolved universe in its terrifying aspect, which our scientists speak of as Nature being red in tooth and nail). He concluded with the chorus, “Pray, be desirous of me also” (7).

The world once again captivates the mind of the poet and he describes according to his original scheme the river and the city. “The river tumbles down over-shining precious gems and fragrant sandals and ‘akils’ through its passage through forests, mountains and the country side and joyfully dashes against the banks, rushing with the desire of reaching the place where the great One resides” (8). The poet sees his own love for God reflected in the river. On the eastern side of the bank of the river is the city Venjamakoodal where the music and the dance of damsels of the bamboo shaped shoulders never cease dancing in accompaniment to the musical drum and the tuning flute” (8). Not only people of this great culture but also people leading a life of nature like the hunters love this place. If all sorts of people love the Lord, may not the poet also expect to be loved by the

Lord? Therefore, he sings the chorus “Pray, be desirous of me as well”.

It is the dance of the Lord which is still in the mind of the poet and he refers to the konrai flower, the serpent and the river of the mat-lock and the musical instruments which the Lord carries. He is indeed the purest of the pure. The river goes circumambulating the up-land fields throwing into its having beautiful waters everything on the way; it swells up and joyfully dashes against the banks. On its eastern bank stands the city surrounded by the dark lovable fields, the city enshrining the Lord; and our poet winds up by singing the chorus, “Pray, be desirous of me as well” (9).

V

The last verse giving the name of the poet and the final effect of reciting this hymn repeats the description of the damsels then bowing down before the river but now bowing down before the Lord Himself thus making it clear that the river is after all another idol of the Lord. Our poet states herein that he had out of love given expression to the prayer of the chorus, “Pray, be desirous of me as well” (10).

(Kutal [Koodal] is coming together. It has to signify a city where all sorts of people flock together. The city of Madurai is known as Kutal. The city of this hymn is a Kutal of the Konku country—a place famous then for some heated battle—Vencamam— which probably has become Vencama [Venjama] due to the final lengthening of proper names of phrases, e.g., Muthaiya Pillai: Muthaiya Pillai. One wonders whether the word for battle is ‘coma’—assuming the forms of Camam and Cama. Or. it may be that the final V of ‘Camar’ had been wrongly read as a ‘Zeal’ ()—the sign of the long vowel). The tradition as preserved in the Purana of this place is said to be named after ‘Vencan’ the Raksasa who worshipped the Lord. To distinguish it from other Kutal it was called Makkutal. Kutal as in the phrase and name Makkutai means the place where rivers meet.

This Venjamakoodal is at the place where Kutavanam and another brook (Kattaru) join together and hence it was called kutal. It is near Amaravati which is a bigger river when compared to which this river Kutavanam is only a ‘cirraru’.