Sanskrit belongs to the entire country, there is very little doubt. Some of the greatest Sanskrit scholars were from the Tamil country. But, today, the larger discourse among the people of Tamil Nadu is generally slanted against Sanskrit. It simply refuses to recognize the age-old relationship between Sanskrit and Tamil, which, in fact, is quite complex and not uni-dimensional. They were once mutually beneficial. Thus the only course available is to make the Tamils who think that Sanskrit is their enemy understand the nuances of this relationship in a gentle and a non-confrontational manner. The main reason for this antagonism was the insuperable arrogance of the Brahmins. P B Annagaracharya, a monumental scholar in Tamil and Sanskrit, narrates a story in his autobiography: A holy person, making a religious discourse in Kanchipuram, was waxing eloquent on the Alwars, their poetry and their clear understanding of Godhood. One person got up and asked this question, ‘then why is it that they wrote their poems in Mleccha Basha?’ But what can’t be denied is that there were also among the Brahmins many scholars who consistently upheld the beauty of Tamil and its supremacy. One has only to read the commentaries on the poems of Alwars to realize this. For instance take this line வடதிசை பின்பு காட்டி -“Showing backside to the North”. This is a line from one of the famous poems of Alwar. The commentary of Annagaracharya, which, if I am not wrong, is based on the works of medieval commentators like Periyawatchan Pillai is this: வடக்குத்திக்கு முரட்டு ஸம்ஸ்க்ருதம் நடையாடுவதாகி ஆழ்வார்களின் செவிக்கினிய ஈரச்சொல் நடையாடாத தேசமாகையாலே அத்திக்கிலுள்ளாரெல்லாரும் ஈடேறுதற்கு ஏற்படவேண்டிய பின்னழகையெல்லாம் காட்டுவதனாலும், (Rough Sanskrit is prevalent in the North and not the melodious, friendly language of the Alwars . Even then, the Northerners too have to be salvaged and hence the Lord has condescended to show his backside to them!)
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 07:37:02 +0000
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