Meter in Malayalam poetry
Cheri
Could anyone tell me about the metering of Malayalam poetry. I
vaguely remember having studied about vrittams, back in school; how
exactly is it done? Could you recommend any sites?
How would you meter this piece?
Enno maranna otu swapnam,
Innu ente manassil sallapikunnu.
Ormakalude ee viraham,
Ente shantiye bhangikunnu.
Ento, janmantarabandhangalpole,
Aval ennum varum.
Thanks,
Cheri.
Jacob Thomas
This piece appears to be muktha Chandassu, i.e., free of meter, the style
followed by many current poets. If you modify it as follows, then you get
a 'rhythm', which is the basis of meter, when you read the lines.
enno marannoru swapnam
sallapikkunnee manassil
ormakalude viraham
shantiye bhangichchitunnu
janmaandharabandham pole
ennumaval vannidunnu
this vrittham, if i remember correctly, is called anushtippu which consists
of eight characters to a line(there may be other restrictions too, but high
school was a long time ago).
jacob
nuke_...@rediffmail.com (Cheri) wrote in message news:<80c8307b.03042...@posting.google.com>...
K.Kunju
Two types of meters are used in Malayalam poetry. One group is known
as Dravidian meters and the other group is borrowed from Sanskrit.
Dravidian meters are also sometimes referred to as "couplets" (eeradi)
and two lines are a minimum to define its meter. They don't have a
rigid rule, as in Sanskrit, that the poetry must have four lines
(stanzas) to define its meter. Ezhuthachan, Kunjan Nambiar,
Cherusseri and most of the writers of Malayalam classics wrote in
Dravidian meters. A typical and very common Dravidian meter is "Keka"
(pronounced as kay-ka), another one is "Manjari". Meters are
determined first by dividing the lines into 3 letter sections (ganas)
and counting the "matras" in each gana. Matra is the time required
to pronounce the letters. A simple letter has one matra, double
letters and letters with long vowels get two matras. For example, ka
and ki each gets one matra whereas kaa and kee each gets two matras.
Similarly kka gets two matras. Each meter has a specific rule about
how many ganas are there in each line (or couplet) and how many matras
are allowed in each gana and in what order.
The same principle applies to meters of Sanskrit poetry. Malayalam
adopted many Sanskrit meters. The name of some are "sragdhara",
"shardulavikridham" "kusmuma manjari". Only verses written in Sanskrit
meters are used for "akshara sloka" competition, because four-line
stanzas are required for this very interesting pastime.
Kunju
Nostalgic ACKer
> Matra is the time required
> to pronounce the letters. A simple letter has one matra, double
> letters and letters with long vowels get two matras. For example, ka
> and ki each gets one matra whereas kaa and kee each gets two matras.
> Similarly kka gets two matras.
If I recall correctly, a double letter causes the *preceding*
letter to have two matras (for eg. in "shilpi," 'lpi' itself
will have only one matra, but 'shi' gets two matras).
na
VC
in a line
but there are a lot more restrictions.
The definition goes sth like
"Ethumaavaam Aaadya Varnam
Nasangalathinappuram
Ellappadathilum Varjyam
Pinne Naalinte seshamaay
Samathil Jaganam venam
JaSam ojathil varjyamaam
Ithananushtubhathinte
Lakshanam kavi sammatam
Samathilaadyaparamaay
Rephavum pathivilla kel
Nokkendathiha sarvatra
Kelvikkulloru Bhangitan"
The definition is itself in Anushtuppu.
To answer the original question:
The given piece is not in any standard sanskrit vrittam.
I don't know if it is in any "maatra vrittam" like aarya - forgot the
definition, hence cannot verify :-)
VC
P.S1. In sanskrit too, there are two kinds of vrittams - akshara
vrittam (vrittam by the number of letters) and maatra vrittam (vrittam
by the total length of letters in the line). Anushtuppu is an akshara
vrittam and Arya is a matra vrittam.
P.S2. Theoretically, any consistent combination of letters / maatra is
a vrittam. (Did you know there are vrittams with just one letter per
line all the way upto 24 or more letters per line.) Of course, not all
these vrittams are pleasant to sing and only a small subset of these
huge combination is actually named and used.
jac...@basit.com (Jacob Thomas) wrote in message news:<4db38847.03050...@posting.google.com>...
Nostalgic ACKer
>
>
> "Ethumaavaam Aaadya Varnam
> Nasangalathinappuram
> Ellappadathilum Varjyam
> Pinne Naalinte seshamaay
> Samathil Jaganam venam
> JaSam ojathil varjyamaam
> Ithananushtubhathinte
> Lakshanam kavi sammatam
> Samathilaadyaparamaay
> Rephavum pathivilla kel
> Nokkendathiha sarvatra
> Kelvikkulloru Bhangitan"
>
Thanks VC, for the definition of anushtuppu.
Could you please help a bit with figuring it out now :)
There are some technical terms there- like the naming of the
ganams (bha, ja, sa etc.) Also, what is "samam?"
(even line, like 2nd. 4th etc?) What is "ojam?" (odd?).
Could you go over the whole thing in more detail? (like, the
definition considers the 8 chars in a line as one char, two ganams
and a char; the first char can be anything, but the following
ganam cannot be "nasam" etc.)
thanks,
na
K.Kunju
Good, you corrected me about the matras. We studied these things in
the ninth standard and did not use this knowledge to figure out the
meters of various poetry after high school. I am not sure whether that
the ganas are always divided as three-letter combinations. Usually
each gana has three letters. But occasionally two-letter ganas are
also allowed (?). Is 'keka' one of that kind?
The "key" to 'keka' starts something like this: "moonnum, randum,
randum, moonnum………" (three, two, two, three). I don't remember
whether these numbers refer to letters in each gana or to matras in
each gana.
Kunju
a
pathinnaalinnaaru ganam
guruvonnenkilum venam maaraathoro ganathilum
nadukku yathi
paadaadi poruthamithu kekayaam"
(was that entirely correct? - it has been almost a quarter of a century ...)
it seems that three, two, two refers to the letters - i may be totally
wrong ;-)
Jacob Thomas
You're almost correct,just missed one small segment.
"moonnum randum randum moonnum randum randennezhuthukal
pathinnaalinnaaru ganam paadam randilumonnupol
guruvonnenkilum venam maaraathoro ganathilum
nadukku yathi, paadaadi poruthamithu kekayaam"
jacob
Nostalgic ACKer
vruthams:
In bhashaavruthams I guess a ganam need not necessarily
have 3 varnams (ie aksharams/letters). But in Sanskrita
vruthams I think the rule is that a ganam should have 3
varnams. (somebody correct me if I'm wrong).
When the ganam is meant to mean 3 letters, there is the
following nomenclature of ganams, according to the
mathras of the 3 letters. Below "-" indicates a letter
of 2 mathras (guru) and "^" indicates a single mathra
letter (laghu).
"ma" : --- (ie all 3 gurus)
"ya" : ^-- (2 gurus)
"ra" : -^-
"sa" : --^
"tha": ^^- (one guru)
"ja" : ^-^
"bha": -^^
"na" : ^^^ (all laghu)
You can see this in the definition of anushtuppu
that was posted in this thread earlier (like "nasangal"
refers to "na ganam and sa ganam" and "jasam" to "ja
ganam and sa ganam").
The lakshanam/definition of keka that was posted by "a"
is essentially correct. (but it is ...pathinnaalinnaaru
ganam **paadam randilumonnupOl** ) As mentioned there, it
doesn't use ganam to mean the 3 varnam ganam. [So the
explanation of keka's lakshanam will be: each line has
14 varnams, divided as 3/2/2/3/2/2 with each ganam
having at least one guru. "padaadi porutham" means (i
think) if one paadam starts with guru, so should the
other paadam in the couplet. the "yathi" stands for a
break/pause- so "nadukku yathi" means after the first 7
varnams (3/2/2/) there's a break before the next 7.]
Another popular bhasha vrutham is kaakali. It's
lakshanam is:
"maathra anchu aksharam moonnil varunnoru ganangale
ettu chErthulleeratikku chollaam kaakali ennu pEr"
[ ie. 5 maathra in 3 letters- that's one ganam.
8 such ganams make a couplet (4 in each line). ]
(so kaakali's ganams indeed do have 3 letters. using
the sanskrit vrutham terminology each ganam in kaakali
should be one of ya, ra or sa.)
here's an example:
shaarikappaithalE chaarusheelE vari-
kaarOmalE kathaashEShavum chollunee
the varnams are as follows (just for clarity):
shaa|ri|ka|ppai|tha|lE| chaa|ru|shee|lE| va|ri|
kaa|rO|ma|lE| ka|thaa|shE|Sha|vum| cho|llu|nee|
and the ganams and maathras are as follows:
- ^ - ^ ^ - - ^ - - ^ ^
shaarika/ppaithalE/ chaarushee/lE vari/
- - ^ - ^ - - ^ - - ^ -
kaarOma/lE kathaa/shEShavum/ chollunee/
Here a couple of ganams have only 4 maathras, but all
other ganams stick to the rule (5 maathras). (please
correct me if i'm wrong). (and those two ganams can be
considered OK too i think: using "paythal" instead of
"paithal" and extending ("neettuka") the last varnam in
the first line.)
it has been a long while since i learnt the vruthams or
did a "ganam thirichu vritham nischayikkal."
unfortunately i don't have my malayalam text books or a
copy of vruthamanjari with me. if anyone has access to
more vrutham definitions and/or examples please do
discuss them here.
thanks,
na
Nostalgic ACKer
> "ma" : --- (ie all 3 gurus)
> "ya" : ^-- (2 gurus)
> "ra" : -^-
> "sa" : --^
> "tha": ^^- (one guru)
> "ja" : ^-^
> "bha": -^^
> "na" : ^^^ (all laghu)
oops. there's an error up there:
"sa" and "tha" need to be interchanged.
ie. "tha ganam" is --^ and "sa ganam"
is ^^-. ya ra tha have 2 gurus each
and bha ja sa have only one guru.
sorry for that.
na
K.Kunju
Thanks a lot. I am becoming very nostalgic about my school days. I
am glad to see that you guys can remember all these things after many
years.
Kunchan Nambiar wrote most of the 'Ottam thullal' verses using
simple meters. I don't remember the names of these meters. When the
mood of the narration needed a change he used very complicated
vrithams. Such a change is shown in the Otttam thullal "Kalyana
saugandhikam". Here Bhima, the impetuous Pandava with a very large
ego, is on his way to get the flower Kalyana sougandhikam. Hanuman,
in an effort to curtail his ego, disguises himself as an old sick
'vanaran' and lies in Bhima's path. Being improper to step over (cross
over) a person (or a living being) Bhima asks the old vanaran to move.
In the process of making his demand Bhima insults Hanuman to his
heart's content. Being very sick and old he could not move, said
Hanuman. But he suggested that Bhima could move his tail with his
gadha (club) and continue on his journey. When he could not perform
such a simple task Bhima realized that this was not in the presence of
an ordinary vanararn and prostrated himself before Hanuman. At that
point Hanuman changed to his true figure. Kunchan Nambiar uses a
vritham here to describe the awe and wonder of this transfiguration
and to describe what Bhima saw. The vritham (meter) is known as
"ajagaragamanam". Which literally means "the slithering movement of a
python". (ajagaram = python, gamanam = going or moving). Such
sudden shifting of meters is very common in 'kathakali' and the
audience immediately feels the change in mood.
Jacob Thomas
of the ganams. I wonder if the nomenclature extends to partial ganams,
since the length of many vrutthams are not multiples of three.
Samskrutha vrutthams are stricter than bhaasha vrutthams, look at the
lakshanam for mandaakraantha, the vruttham used by Kerala Varma
in his famous mayURa sandESham. It is very specific as to whether
each letter should be a laghu or a guru.
mandaakraanta mabhanasasagam naalumaarEzhumaay~gam
the lakshaNam itself is in mandakraantha. The first five ganams are ma,
bha, na, sa and sa. Each line consists of seventeen letters, in groups
of four, six and seven(naalumaarEzhumaay~). The remaining two letters
are both guru, I think, hence the use of two 'gam's in the lakshaNam.
Following is an excellent example of mandaakraantha from mayURa sandESham.
The instruction to mayUram(peacock)is to place a feather at the feet of
krishna when it passes a temple.
paalikkaanaay~ bhuvanamakhilam bhoothalE jaathanaaya-
kkaalikkoottam kalithakuthuham kaattha kaNNannubhakthyaa
peelikkOlonnatimalarilnee kaazhchayaay~ vecchitENam
mowlikkettil thiRukumathine theercchayaayum bhakthadaasan.
Kerala Varma was also a strong proponent of dwitheeyaakshaRa praasam,
i.e., the rhyming of the second letter of each line. In the above
example, the second letter is not only l~ but the vowel matches as well.
There is a name for it too, something like sahajaathi dwitheeyaakshaRa
praasam.
The second line is also a good example of anupraasam, i.e., the
repeated use of a sound in the same line. In this case, the 'ka'
sound appears several times, and adds to the beauty of the poem.
jacob
VC
of the few students really interested in these things (I used to write
some small poems as well). And I never imagined that quite a few folks
are fascinated by all these stuff.
Anyways. Here is a famous one:
Shaarddoolavikriiditham:
Panthrandaal masajam satamta guruvum shaarddoolavikriiditham
Ma sa ja sa ta ta and guru - break at 12th letter.
Interesting ones:
The shortest vrittam - Khaga
One lakhu per line:
lakshanam:
La
Ghu
Kha
Ga
(Mind you, this is a full shlokam!!!!)
Next shortest - Shree
Lakshanam:
Gam
Taan
Shree-
Yaam
Sounds crazy - well according to vrittamanjari (or someother book, I
forgot),
vrittams with 1 to 5 letters are used for Deva conversation, from 5 -
24 (not sure about 24) for human conversation and above 24 (called
'Dandakam's) for asura conversation. Supposedly, Gods either very
terse or said words which had lots of meanings. (detour: e.g. once
devas, manavas and asuras went to Brahma for general advice and Brahma
just replied "da". For the deva's, it meant 'damanam' - control of
pleasures, for the manavas it meant 'daanam' - alms and for the asuras
it meant 'daya' - mercy. Brahma could have just used a line in Khaga!)
On a more serious note, it shows that binary maths was very highly
developed in olden times. If you say a lakhu as a zero and guru as a
one, then each binary number is given a name (which of course is the
vrittam).
So what?? Hold on.
There were algorithms developed to find out how many vrittams are
there with, say, 12 letters in a line. Of course, we all know 2^12.
And there is a well defined procedure given to calculate 2^n.
And a couple of related questions.
I was really impressed when I read all this (while at school I was an
enthu guy about these 'out-of-the-textbook' things). But sadly, I
don't remember which book it was :-(
Keep up the enthu!!
VC
nostalg...@yahoo.com (Nostalgic ACKer) wrote in message news:<4f8450de.03050...@posting.google.com>...
> Continuing the discussion on mathras, ganams and
> vruthams:
>
Jacob Thomas
> of the ganams. I wonder if the nomenclature extends to partial ganams,
> since the length of many vrutthams are not multiples of three.
>
> Samskrutha vrutthams are stricter than bhaasha vrutthams, look at the
> lakshanam for mandaakraantha, the vruttham used by Kerala Varma
> in his famous mayURa sandESham. It is very specific as to whether
> each letter should be a laghu or a guru.
>
> mandaakraanta mabhanasasagam naalumaarEzhumaay~gam
>
Correction- mandaakraanta mabhanathathagam naalumaarEzhumaay~gam
based on na's first definition of the ganams, i had changed 'tha' to 'sa'
>
> the lakshaNam itself is in mandakraantha. The first five ganams are ma,
> bha, na, sa and sa. Each line consists of seventeen letters, in groups
bha, na, tha and tha. Each line consists of seventeen letters, in groups
Jacob Thomas
> of the few students really interested in these things (I used to write
> some small poems as well). And I never imagined that quite a few folks
> are fascinated by all these stuff.
>
> Anyways. Here is a famous one:
>
> Shaarddoolavikriiditham:
>
> Panthrandaal masajam satamta guruvum shaarddoolavikriiditham
>
> Ma sa ja sa ta ta and guru - break at 12th letter.
>
>
vaNtu who is trapped inside a closed lotus flower, waiting for the sun
to rise so it can escape when the flower opens:
raavippOL kshaNamangotungitumushassengum pRakaashicchitum
dEvan sooryanuNarumikkamalavum kaalEvitarneetumE
daivatthin manamaarukanNtu pizhuthaan gajEndranappathmineem
I've forgotten the third line. Anyone remember?
jacob
rugmach...@gmail.com
ak63...@gmail.com
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