“The following works of art and literature are among the most remarkable contributions of the Tamil creative genius to the world’s cultural treasure and should be familiar to the whole world and admired and beloved by all in the same way as the poems of Homer, the dramas of Shakespeare, the pictures of Rembrandt, the cathedrals of France and the sculptures of Greece:… The school of Bhakti… Saiva, which is one of those most sincere and passionate efforts of man to grasp the Absolute; and its supreme literary expression in the works of  Manikkavasagar…”
- Tamil Contribution to World Civilisation, Professor Dr. Kamil Zvelebil in Tamil Culture, Vol. V, No. 4. October, 1956

Rather than taking on a “defensive” attitude (which is often directed against Sanskrit), there is no better way to express your Tamil pride than to share it with the rest of the world. It is sad that that the Indian education system puts a disproportionate emphasis on Wordsworth, Yeats, Blake, Shakespeare, etc. than our own classics. The sense of urgency is far more today then ever before — as the last generation of Tamil experts are dying out (whose caliber cannot be compared with the self-proclaimed experts of today).

If you are well versed in classical Tamil and have a reasonable command of the English language, then just take up your favorite text and translate it, and put it out on the web (or publish it). I feel the translation should be such that it assists people in learning Tamil directly from the classical text and to appreciate it in the original instead of in the English translated version (which hardly does any justice, as it hardly renders the same depth and beauty as the original). I learned Sanskrit by reading the Bhagavad Gita directly in Sanskrit script accompanied by word-for-word breakdown with multiple meanings for each word. I want to recreate a similar experience for learning Tamil (which is very much lacking even though scores of potential texts await).

I am told this is sung by the hero for his girl. But why not go for yet another kind of passionate love, the desire for God? This song can be treated as about one’s longing for God. In particular it reminds me of the Bengali saint, Ram Prasad’s mystical poetry – his longing and crying out to Kali. You just need to consider the singer of this poem, as singing out to Kali (or whatever your Ishta Devata is). Hence I’m capitalizing the word Girl in the translation below.

For those who haven’t read Ram Prasad’s bhakti poetry on Kali (or for that matter any bhakti poetry) here is an excerpt (from Lex Hixon’s translation, The Mother of the Universe), slightly paraphrased:

Mother of the Universe, you captivate the world by your mystic black radiance!
Your long hair streams as waves of cosmic energy.
Union with your transcendent blackness is sought by your lovers.
As naked truth, you dance on the battlefield of relativity,
Wielding the sword of knowledge, that cuts through all notions of objectivity and subjectivity.
Oh Wisdom Woman! I bow down to thee.

I think what makes this film song easily interpretable as a bhakti song is that it has depth and substance, like some of the main elements of bhakti: maya (illusion), disillusion, what is real, the fleeting of time, the longing for God. The music (as much as I can’t stand fusion, this isn’t too fusionistic) together with the bhakti meaning of this poem, makes it all the more mystical.

So, from bhakti perspective, I imagine this as a poet who sings this song laying half-dead on a shallow river-bed (I imagine half is face under water), imagining his death, after the cremation flames have died down, he still remains, hovering in the dry hot air above, asking Kali in the form of the morning mist to whisk him away. Time flows, eons/yugas roll by. Life ebbing away, memories fading, blanketed by maya (illusion), not knowing what is maya and what is Real. Stretching out his hands reaching for Kali, to awaken him from the maya, the jiva-atman longing to meet the Atman, who but Her, to guide him, lest he be lost.

Note: as I am not an expert in Tamil, there maybe mistakes in the translation. Please do let me know if you see any mistakes.

You can listen to the actual song here.

Translation

உயிரின் உயிரே
uyirin uyirae

உயிரின் உயிரே, உயிரின் உயிரே
நதியின் மடியில் காத்துக் கிடைக்கின்றேன்
ஈர அலைகல் நீரை வாரி முகத்தில் இறைத்தும்
முழுதும் வேர்க்கின்றேன் [1]

The life-essence of life, the life-essence of life,
In the river’s lap, I lay there awaiting,
rows of cool waves, parting its way through the water, splashing my face,
completely perspiring.

The title of this poem “uyirin uyirae” is in itself difficult to translate. Literally it would mean “life’s life”, but the actual Tamil meaning is closer to something like “the essence that sustains life”. The poet considers Kali as the life breath of life itself.

Note the symbolism of awaiting in the rivers lap. The often used illustration is that the world is like the turbulent ocean of samsara, where the soul is tossed and turned, until, finally exhausted or fed up, it wants to escape from the cycle; through yoga, in this case the yoga of despondency/dejection (vishad yoga) – and hence the questioning of what is Real.

நகரும் நெருப்பாய் கொழுந்து விட்டெரிந்தேன்
அணைந்த பின்பும், அனலின் மேலிருந்தேன்
காலைப் பனியாக என்னை வாரிகொண்டாய் [2]

By blades of flame, set ablaze and cast away [the body],
After [the flames] have died out, I hover on top of the hot air
In the form of the morning mist, You whisked/swept me away.

I believe the poet here is imagining his cremation. After the flames die out [in the morning mist], he remains hovering (on top of) the hot air. In the form of the morning mist You [Kali] whisk me away.

நேரம் கூட எதிரி ஆகிவிட,
யுகங்களாக வேதம் [வேடம்] மாறிவிட,
அணைத்து கொன்டாயே, பின்பு ஏனோ சென்றாய் [3]

Time passes by, flowing against me
yugas pass by, the Vedas change
Took hold of me, only to later abandoned me, for whatever reason.

The poet talks of eons passing by, reflected by the change in Vedas. In Satya Yuga when people where highly evolved the Vedas were one, then the Vedas become four in the Treta Yuga, then they become many in the Dvapara Yuga. That is, to convey the same Truth it takes many lines as man is no longer as evolved or connected with the Truth/Self. In the Kali Yuga the Vedas/Knowledge is spread across innumerable books – and there is confusion on what is true and not true.

சுவாசம் இன்றி தவக்கிறேனே,
உனது மூச்சில் பிழைக்கிறேனே
இதழ்களை இதழ்களால் நிரப்பிட வா பெண்ணே [4]

I quiver/struggle as the prana ebbs away
Only by your breath I survive/sustain
Your lips fill my lips, come Girl!

The author feels his life force (svAsam) ebb away, and calls out to Kali that only through Her breath (mUchu) he is sustained, wishing Her lips to fill his lips. idhaL also means petals. This sort of rich symbolism is used profusely in Tamil love poetry and bhakti poetry.

நினைவு எங்கோ நீந்திச் செல்ல
கனவு வந்து கண்ணைக் கிள்ள
நிழல் எது? நிஜம் எது? குழம்பினேன் வா பெண்ணே [5]

Memories going away, fading/swimming out of me,
[Wake me] out of my dream, pinch my cheek.
What is shadow? what is real? I am confused, come Girl!

At the time of death our prana and our memories leave. Our entire personality is built upon the collection of all our memories (including learned responses, short/long-term memory). Our memories is what gives us an identity. Once our memories leave, our personality ceases (it doesn’t have a foundation to build an identity upon). The poet feels his life force and memories fade away. He calls on Kali to pinch him, wake him from this reverie/maya. What is maya (shadow/illusion)? what is Real (real/truth)?

காற்றில் எந்தன் கைகள் இரண்டும்
உன்னை அன்றி யாரைத் தேடும்
விலகிப் போகாதே, தொலைந்து போவேனே,
நான்…நான்…நான் [6]

In the wind my two hands [reach out]
who else besides you it looks for [to behold]?
Don’t pass by without noticing me! I will be lost!
thyself… thyself… thyself…

The poet reaches out his hand, asking who else but Kali to come get him, his only Guide, to take him out of the ocean of samsara, lest he be lost in it.

இரவின் போர்வை என்னை சூழ்ந்து
மெல்ல மெல்ல மூடும் தாழ்ந்து
விடியலைத் தேடினேன் உன்னிடம் வா பெண்ணே [7]

The blanket of night surrounds (covers) me,
little by little closes in low [on me]
In the dark I searched, come Girl!

The veil of maya (illusion) blankets him. The attachment to maya hides him from his True nature as the unchanging, infinite, and transcendent reality, the Atman. In this darkness he searches, calls out to Her…

பாதம் எங்கும் சாவின் ரணங்கள்
நரகம் ஆகும் காதல் கணங்கள்
ஒருமுறை மடியிலே உறங்குவேன் வா பெண்ணே [8]

Footprints everywhere of Death {Death’s wounds}
Into ash/hell, the harbingers/demons of desire
Just once let me sleep in your lap, come Girl!

The poet implies destroying delusion. Also, what is the final resting place of the soul (after it gets frustrated, fed up, tired with rebirth after another; that is, when one breaks through the thicket of delusion)? It is in the lap of Narayana (ref. Thiruppaavai).

தாமதிக்கும் ஒவொரு கணமும்
தவணை முறையில் மரணம் நிகழும்
அருகில் வாராயோ விரல்கள் தாரயோ [9]

I envision (acknowledge/respect) you in every second/instance
in that way death closes in {?}
Won’t you come close, won’t you give your hand/fingers?

The poet says She is there in every instance, and as death approaches, he asks Her to be there to give him Her hand (the beauty is when Death itself reveals itself to be Her only in disguise, knowable only to those who truly love Her!)

See Also

• Hindu Philosophy / Metaphysics

I believe a language, like a magnet, becomes charged with what it was used for. If a language is used for expressing abstract concepts that uplift the mind, it becomes charged with that. If a language is used repeatedly for nature/love poetry and bhakti poetry that move the heart, it becomes charged with that.

English is a language specialized in materialism: reductionistic science, technology, pop culture, sound bites, marketing. In contrast, Tamil/Sanskrit family of languages have thousands of years of experiences in a holistic science and the resulting spiritual technology – such as the means of seeking and expressing higher states of consciousness.

This why even simple sentences always run as lengthy translations in English, often accompanied by lengthy explanations and metaphors desperately trying to recreate the same expression. English is inadequately equipped to express profound thoughts in the realm of spirituality. This is because for the most part of Western civilization, spirituality was restrained/hijacked by religion/the Church and divorced from mainstream thought and academics.

Western classical literature and Eastern classical literature represent two different world-views, like the differences between Western classical music and Indian classical music. Listening to the two types of music, one can see that the former (whether it be Mozart, Bach, or Beethoven) is about “man over nature (control/domination)” and sounds like an emotional roller coaster ride (regardless of whether it calms or excites you), while the later is about “man in harmony with nature”.

Word-by-word translation, allows the person to actually learn that language, to sink into the mode of that language, thereby appreciating the expressiveness and fluidity of the language – such as the curvilinear elegance and emotional intelligence of Tamil that operates on the heart, or the energy charged vibrational intelligence of Sanskrit that operates on the mind. I believe they are both complementary – if Tamil represents yin, Sanskrit represents yang. Regardless of which you start with, they approach each other, elevating the heart/mind into the lofty heights of the transcendental (start with bhakti, you get jnana; start with jnana, you get bhakti).

I’m not an expert in either, but I find Sanskrit a lot more easier to translate than classical Tamil. Even the word-by-word breakdown of classical Tamil was difficult. Like within a short time of learning Sanskrit, I can understand the Bhagavad Gita. But even with Tamil as my native language, I still find it difficult to read classical Tamil. I suppose it’s because most of classical Tamil literature is poetry (much of it is bhakti poetry) — as opposed to Sanskrit stotrams repackaged as bhakti poetry. Sanskrit stotrams and bhajans can induce bhakti no doubt, but they’re far from resembling any form of poetry. In contrast, poetry predominates Tamil classical literature. I wouldn’t be surprised if bhakti poetry in other Indian languages have similar difficulty in translation (like for instance the Bengali bhakti poetry of Ram Prasad). Getting back to my opening point: a language over several centuries of evolution, becomes charged, with what it was used for.

What is “classical Tamil”? Script-wise and grammar-wise, classical Tamil is the same as the Tamil we have today, But the vocabulary is far more richer and expressive. A line of classical Tamil warrants a couple of lines of translation into contemporary Tamil, and a line of contemporary Tamil requires a number of lines of translation to English.

Sample Tamil Text & Transliteration

மாலே மணிவண்ணா மார்கழி நீராடுவான்
மேலையார் செய்வனகள் வேண்டுவன கேட்டியேல்
ஞாலத்தை எல்லாம் நடுங்க முரல்வன
பாலன்ன வண்ணத்து உன் பாஞ்சசன்னியமே
போல்வன சங்கங்கள் போய்ப் பாடுடையனவே
சாலப் பெரு பறையே பல்லாண்டு இசைப்பாரே
கோல விளக்கே கொடியே விதானமே
ஆலின் இலையாய் அருள் ஏலோர் எம் பாவாய்
- திருப்பாவை, பாசுரம் 26

mAlE maNivaNNA mArgazhi nIrAduvAn
mElaiyAr seyvanagaL vEnduvana kEttiyEl
nyAlaththai ellAm nadunga muralvana
pAlanna vaNNaththu un pAncha sanniyamE
pOlvana sangangaL pOy pAdudaiyanavE
sAla perum paRaiyE pallAndu isaippArE
kOla viLakkE kodiyE vidhAnamE
Alin ilaiyAy aruL ElOr em pAvAi
- thiruppAvai, pAsuram 26

To see how it sounds, click here (or right-click and save it): thiruppAvai-26.mp3

The letters/diacritics used in the transliterations of Tamil literature on this site are shown below. The equivalent Sanskrit letters are also provided for reference.

Vowels

There are 11 vowels (உயிரெழுத்து / स्वर) in the Tamil alphabet.

Consonants

There are 23 consonants (மெய்யெழுத்து / व्यञ्जन) in the Tamil alphabet (18 classical + 5 grantha). In addition, 5 consonants (க், ச், ட், த், ப்) have dual sounds (soft and hard) in accordance to certain rules. Contributing to a total of 28 consonant sounds.

Note: the grantha consonants (the last five rows: ஜ், ஸ், ஷ், ஹ், க்ஷ்) came into being to accommodate Sanskrit words, which account for a small but significant portion of the Tamil language.

Alphabet

In most Indian languages each letter is a combination of a root/consonant + a modifier representing the vowel sound. In a way each letter is a “compound letter” (two letters in one – a consonant + a vowel).

As consonants by themselves are not really pronounceable, the resulting letter also known as a voiced-consonant or a full-letter (there actual technical terms for these in Tamil and Sanskrit). All together (consonants, vowels, full letters) there are 253 (11 x 23) letters in the Tamil alphabet (198 classical + 55 grantha).

The above table may seem daunting, but it is derived from a fairly simple rule: consonant + vowel = a full letter (voiced-consonant)

Note: This usually requires at least two keystrokes per letter. The first keystroke renders the consonant, the second keystroke modifies that consonant by adding a glyph representing the vowel sound. Sometimes this modification causes final letter to change significantly in width/height, it causes the layout to be re-rendered. Therefore the font-engine needs to be capable of Complex Text Layout (CTL). For example. If one types “k”, the consonant font that will appear is: க். Next, if  one types the vowel “i”, then it back-tracks, modifies the consonant typed earlier (removed the dot over the க், and adds the “cane” glyph) resulting in the letter “கி” (ki).

Example 1
The letters க, கா, கி, கு, கெ, கோ (ka, kā, ki, ku, ke, kō), are created as follows (using consonant க் + a vowel):
க் + அ = க (k + a = ka)
க் + ஆ = கா (k + ā = kā)
க் + இ = கி (k + i = ki)
க் + உ = கு (k + u = ku)
க் + எ = கெ (k + e = ke)
க் + ஓ = கோ (k + ō = kō)

Example 2
The letters ம, மா, மி, மு, மெ, மோ (ma, mā, mi, mu me, mō),  are created as follows (using consonant ம் + a vowel):
ம் + அ = ம (m + a = ka)
ம் + ஆ = மா (m + ā = kā)
ம் + இ = மி (m + i = ki)
ம் + உ = மு (m + u = ku)
ம் + எ = மெ (m + e = ke)
ம் + ஓ= மோ (m + ō = kō)

More examples:
க, கா, கி, கு, கெ, கோ – ka, kā, ki, ku, ke, kō
ம, மா, மி, மு, மெ, மோ – ma, mā, mi, mu me, mō
ப, பா, பி, பு, பெ, போ – pa, pā, pi, pu, pe, pō
ல, லா, லி, லு, லெ, லோ – la, lā, li, lu, le, lō
ண, ணா, ணி, ணு, ணெ, ணோ – na, nā, ni, nu, ne, nō

Thus, words are written exactly as they sound (and pronounced exactly as they are written), with very little room for ambiguity. Here are some examples of English words phonetically transliterated into Tamil:
kit = கிட் (ki-t)
adhere = அதிர் (a-dhi-r)
visa = வீஸா (vī-sā)
b.c. = பீ.ஸீ. (bī. sī.)
run = ரன் (ra-n)
ruling = ரூலிங் (rū-li-ng)
book = புக் (bu-k)
cool = கூல் (kū-l)
hello = ஹலோ (ha-lō)
money = மனி (ma-ni)
eraser = இரேஸர் (i-rē-sa-r)
earth = எர்த் (e-r-th)
seat = ஸீட் (sī-t)

Just going through the above list of English words you can see just how much ambiguity there is in English: the “i” in kit and visa. The “u” in run and ruling. The “o” in money and hello. The “ea” in earth and seat. The “oo” in book and cool. The two “e”‘s in eraser.

Additional Consonants: b, kh, dh, d, g

Tamil follows several rules of grammar and aesthetics as detailed in the Tholkāppiam (the treatise on Tamil Grammar, written in around 500 BCE), such as laws governing euphonious combinations and rules of curvilinear elegance/flow of the text. These rules insure that there is no visual or phonetic discordance as the language evolves (such as when it absorbs loan words from other languages, like Sanskrit).

Example 1: if a voiced-consonant is prefixed by its root-consonant, it is either accentuated or softened. Examples:

• பகம் (pakham) – பக்கம் (pakkam)
• நாடு (nādu) – நாட்டு (nāttu)
• முது (muthu) – முத்து (muththu)
• கபல் (kabal) – கப்பல் (kappal)

Example 2: words do not start with: ங், ண், ழ், ற், ன் (i.e. voiced-consonants based on those root-consonants).

Example 3: there are rules as to which sounds are to occur in close proximity with certain other sounds. Examples:

• ந் is never used preceding a ற் voiced-consonant (instead use ன் or ண்).
• ந் is much more often used (over ன் or ண்) preceding a த் voiced-consonant
• g sound (as goat or ग) occurs only when preceded by an “n” sound, by virtue of the letter ங் (ng).

Also, FYI, phonemes found in:

• Tamil but not in English: ர், ற்
• English but not in Tamil: f, w, z
• Tamil but not in Sanskrit: ழ், ற், ஏ, ஓ