Re: Vishwambhara
Subbarao Varigonda (varigond@cems.umn.edu)
Thu, 29 May 1997 23:39:39 -0500 (CDT)
Vishwambhara. It's tribute to human spirit. The journey of man
from his Creation to the present. What makes man distict from the other
life-forms is his esthetic sense. (Though, it's not conclusively proven
that other forms lack that. that's another issue).
This esthetic sense is what is driving man to explore nature.
The quest for beauty and knowledge are stimulated by this esthetic sense
of appreciation. How was nature before mankind existed? Was there anybody
to appreciate the beauty of it? What difference did the creation of man do
to the universe?
>addina biLLAlu ciTlipaDDAyi.
>dhULi poralO poDicina
>vittula pottikaDupullO
>ceTlu netturu pOsukunnAyi.
neelitera anTukuni, tAralu ciTlipaDi, vittula kaDupullO ceTlugA netturu
pOsukunnAyi. That's the cosmic origin of life. ciccumuddala nunci.
The more impressive thought comes here.
>nEnu puTTakamundu...
>entagA mabbulu edirucUsAyO
Who was there to discover and appreciate all this beauty of the cosmos?
mabbulatO sandEsAlampAlani, avi varshincinappuDu cinkulluO taDavAlani,
nakshatrAlanu andukOvAlani evaru cUsAru?
prati udayam kOsam vEci uppongE devaru? velugunu,vennelanu AsvAdincE devaru?
veduruku kalavaram. vENuvu kAvAlani.
Silaku ArATam. Silpam kAvAlani.
nemaliki ubalATam. evarainA naDakalanErukOvAlani.
kOkilaku, tana kuhukuhu levarainA meccAlani utkanTha.
The imagination continues to flow.
sarassulu uvvettuna lEci cUsEvi, O veccani SarIrAnni tAkAlani.
samudrAlu pongEvi, pasipApallAnTi paDavalu rAvAlani.
They are longing for man to feel, explore and appreciate their beauty.
>cIkaTikAgitam mIda
>tOkatO aksharAlu cekkE miNuguru purugulU
>AkASa sikharAllO
>pAdarasamm selayELLanu
>pAkincina meruputIgalU -
>okaTEnEmO!
The esthetic merit of an object has two sides. One that is inherent to the
object and another that depends on the perciever. It's not entirely true that
"Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder". There is something that's
intrinsic to the thing that may be impossible to define but makes it a
"thing of beauty". These two elements are essential for an esthetic or artistic
experience (Ref. Kant's Regulative Principle of Aesthetic Excellence
http://english-server.hss.cmu.edu/philosophy/aesthetic-excellence.txt).
Before man existed, there was only one element. The thing of beauty. There is
no soul to "appreciate" it. So, the experience is incomplete.
Another parallel is with the theory of perception, indirect realism in
philosophy according to which objects exist independent of our experience
but can never be experienced directly. What we perceive is a sensory image
only. Those things of beauty they exist but they are unexperienced. They
needed man to fulfil that deficiency.
>intakU nEnevaNni?
>E minTi inTivANni?
>E kAlam canTivANni?
This new esthetic experience brings with it the quest for truth. The curiosity
to know and understand nature. The introspection starts.
We can see that the issues raised are not trivial. What's in these lines
that I liked? There is imagination. There is good imagery to portray the
experience (like vittula kaDupullO ceTlu, gOruveccani SarIrAlu, pasipApallA
pArADE paDavalu, paDamaTi urikambam mIda veluturu talanu vElADadIsina astamayam,
AkASamlO pAdarasam selayELLu etc). It's mostly in accatelugu without long and
obfuscating sanskrit samaasas.
If the last lines seem inconclusive, that's because they are cut from
the kAvyam. It hints the continuation.
There are occasional bad uses that seem to have been used to create a
certain sound effect (prAsa) which obstruct the interpretation. (like
dikkula DokkallO tInDrincAyi, E kAlam canTivANni ). Nevertheless, a
holistic view of the verse does reflect a deep artistic imagination.
Another anticipated objection is that this kind of poetry is of no relevance
to the society. I object to this kind of opinion which demands
that art must be for social change(makes another interesting topic!).
In any case, this objection doesn't apply to Vishwambhara since the latter parts of it
address various issues troubling (or troubled) the society by describing the
human mind enslaved by extreme emotions. It praises man for all the
progress he has achieved. There are many obstacles in the journey. Yet
man progresses.
idi nitya prasthAnam
eguDudiguLLU tappavu
...
mRtyuSAsanAnni poDucukoccE
nitya SiSUdayAlu.
...
aNuvu nunci antarikshAniki
ambaramnunci avanItalAniki
anubhUti nunci AkRtiki.
...
antaScEtana AlambanamgA
purOgamistADu manishi
...
rEbavaLLanu mOsukuTU
gunDelOni suDigunDAlanu
ninDunavvulugA malacukunTU.
...
RshitvAnikI,paSutvAnikI
samskRtikI dushkRtikI
svacChandatakU nirbandhatakU
samArdratakU roudratakU
tolibIjam manasu
tulArUpam manasu.
...
I wish I could write more on this book but due to my time constraints,
I may not be.At the least, I will post some more extracts that appealed
well to me.
I would like to know who (sinaare/dEvulapalli/mallAdi) wrote the lyrics
for the songs "nI pEru talacinA cAlu" and "E pArijAtammulIyagalanO"
from EkavIra. The telugu film server page doesn't have full info about
these. Perhaps, Sri Paruchuri Sreenivas can help!
I think there were some typos in the previous post. Sorry for the
inconvenience.
-subbarao
--
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