caaTuvu - World's First Poem!
Rao Veluri (rveluri@smtpgate.anl.gov)
Fri, 18 Oct 96 17:47:08 CST
Friends:
caaTukavitvaM is essentially oral poetry. It is always
structurally simple in text and temporally spontaneous in
context. If you accept these criteria(!), then the world's
first caaTu kavi was none other than the aadi kavi vaalmeeki.
Legend has it that one morning, sage vaalmeeki along with
his pupils was going to tamasaa river to take his ritualistic
morning bath. He saw the male 'koMca' bird(krauMca pakshi) was
hit with an arrow from a 'nishaada (bOya hunter),' and dying.
It seems the cruel nishaada hurt the bird when it was in
sexual ectasy with its loving mate.
Spontaneously, sage vaalmeeki uttered the following 'words'
that became the world's first poem. Incidentally, vaalmeeki was
planting a curse on the hunter that he can never lead a
prosperous life for having killed one of the birds, when the
loving pair was in blissful enjoyment!
_____
maa nishaada pratishThvaaM tva magama@h SaaSvateessamaa@h
yat krauMca mithunaa dEka mavadhee@h kaama mOhitaM
_____
Best Regards
Venkateswara Rao Veluri