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A Brief Survey of the Tradition of Rama and Ramayana in Tamil Nadu

One of the greatest losses of the so-called Dravidian discourse in Tamil Nadu is the loss of a number of Hindu devatas or deities in the civilizational consciousness of the Tamils. More pointedly, the cultural-heritage-loss that accompanied this devata loss has in many cases become irreversible. To restate the obvious, most ancient and medieval era temples in Tamil Nadu today have become dens of corruption, squalor, and pettiness at all levels. This rampant degradation continues unchecked.

Rama’s True Victory

Vijayadashami – the victory on the tenth day – is when Rama killed Ravana. While the victory of Rama over Ravana was a great one, greater still are the several personal battles he fought and emerged victorious. Being the elder son, he was the natural choice for being the king, but he was sent into exile. He took it in his stride. After Sita was kidnapped, he pined for her and did not rest until he fought and killed Ravana. Then circumstances forced him to abandon his beloved wife. Caring little for his personal feelings, he acted according to the ruling.

A Story for a Verse – Bilhana

निरर्थकं जन्मगतं नलिन्या
यया न दृष्टं तुहिनांशुबिम्बम् ।
उत्पत्तिरिन्दोरपि निष्फलैव
कृता विनिद्रा नलिनी न येन ॥

Once, in the Pravarapura district of Kashmir, there lived a couple: Jyeshthakalasha and Nagaradevi. They had a son named Bilhana, who grew up to be a poet par excellence.

The Tradition of Kshaatra in India – The Age of Kingdoms

Now from the Vedas, Itihasas, and Puranas, we come to the era of reality. As such, there is no separate demarcation that separates our ancient texts from history. All the details of the lineage of kings that we find in the Vedas are part of history. For example, an ancient king who is mentioned in the Vedas is Divodasa. His son was Sudasa. The purohita of Sudasa was Vasishta. The Rigveda speaks about the Battle of Ten Kings (दाशराज्ञयुद्ध), in which ten kings combined forces under the guidance of Vishwamitra and attacked Sudasa.

A Story for a Verse - Harihara and Madana

रे रे ग्रामकुविन्द कन्दलतया वस्त्राण्यमूनि त्वया
गोणीविभ्रमभाजनानि शतशोऽप्यात्मा किमायास्यते ।
अप्येकं रुचिरं चिरादभिनवं वासस्तदासूत्रतां
येन्नोज्झन्ति कुचस्थलात् क्षणमपि क्षोणीभृतां वल्लभाः ॥

The Secret of the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra

We can evade taxes but can we do about death? Many of us have seen death from close quarters in our lives and those who have not, are most definitely aware of the idea. But imagine when the earliest humans experienced the death of someone around them. They would have seen one of their own people fall down, never to get up again. Their recognition of the phenomenon of death would have suddenly given them a definition for life. Until that time, there was nothing to delineate life. With the cognition of the phenomenon of death, suddenly there arose the awareness of a life-span.