I N S I G H T: An International Multilingual Journal for Arts and Humanities Peer Reviewed and Referred: ISSN: 2582-8002 University Research Publications, Ernakulam, Kerala VOL 1-ISSUE 4: JUNE 2021
Manimekhala Mahakavya: The Buddhist Epic
Anitha Mol P.D Research Scholar, Department of Vyakarana SreeSankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady
Manimekhala, an epic written in the 2nd century, is one of the five great epics in Tamil. The book was written in chen Tamil by Cittalai Cattanar. This epic is differing from other five great epics, in its novelty of theme and aesthetic composition. It is considered manimekhala was written as a sequel to the epic ‘Cilappatikara’ written by Ilango adikal. But unlike Cilappatikara, it is completely a Buddhist work. Manimekhala epic is the story of Manimekhala, the daughter of Kovila, the protagonist of Cilappatikara and Madhavi,a prostitute. Cattanar's aim is to spread Buddhism through his work. The fact that, for spreading Buddhism he created Manimekhala, a girl from the ganika community as protagonist in his work, enhances the quality of the epic. The author is careful to maintain a poetic context in ‘Manimekhala’ that is a religious text and at the same time it demands a literary text. This article is seeking to highlight the literary beauty of the poem and to present the Buddhist ideas contained in it. The twin epics Cilappatikara and Manimekhala are believed to have been written in the second century A.D. These epics stand out among the five great epics that have become very popular in the Tamil literary world due to their variety of themes and compositional features. It can be understood from the thematic reference, that the epic Manimekhala, which is believed to have been written after Cilappatikara. ‘Manimekhala’is a work with a different emphasis on Buddhism than ‘Cilappatikara’.
‘Manimekhala’written by the poet Cittalai Cattanar, is the story of Manimekhala, daughter of Kovalan, the protagonist of the Cilappatikara, and Madhavi, the prostitute.
It can be said that the second phase of the development of Tamil literature began with the advent of long poems such as ‘Perumkatai’, Cilappatikara and Manimekhala. Ancient Tamil poetry was written in the form of short songs. The new style of writing was introduced in Tamil literature by the writers like Ilanko adikal. The Tamil scholar Mu.Varadarajan says “Unlike the short song forms that were written in the early days, Ilanko adikal and others
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I N S I G H T: An International Multilingual Journal for Arts and Humanities Peer Reviewed and Referred: ISSN: 2582-8002 University Research Publications, Ernakulam, Kerala VOL 1-ISSUE 4: JUNE 2021 were ready to compose poetry in epic form”i It can be seen that Cattanar the predecessor of Ilanko adikal also wrote a long poem in the same way.
The long poem Manimekhala begins with the declaration of the Indra festival, in the city of Pukar, to please the god Indra for rain and prosperity in the land. Unexpectedly Madhavi and her daughter Manimekhala did not participate in the dance performance associated with the festival. After the death of Kovalan, Madhavi and her daughter became monks. Their conversion led to opposition from the natives and relatives, because they are gifted and talented dancers. By the instructions of a Buddhist monk named Aravana adikal, Manimekhala becomes a Buddhist monk and the subsequent development is the theme of the epic. The epic contains aprologue referring to the plot, two incomplete verses written in Tamil venpa metre, and thirty subsequent chapters (katai). Each chapter is written in aciriyappa metre. Cattanar raised his poetry as a perfect model of the conversion of a girl from prostitution into a monk. The heroines of Indian poetry were princess or other nobles. In contrast, Cattanar through his ‘Manimekhala’ epic tells the story of the survival and self – confidence of a prostitute.
Maṇimekhala: A Mahakavya
Manimekhala is a treasure of poetry in ancient Tamil literature. The poet Cattanar may have embellished the story of a girl named Manimekhala, who was born to a prostitute named Madhavi and Kovalan, the protagonist of the Kannaki - Kovalan story, a legend or folk tale prevalent in ancient Tamil Nadu. Or the poet may have made a real story as suggested by the prologues of Cilappatikara and Manimekhala. In any case, it is also the literary treasure of Kerala as it is the poetry of ancient Tamil Nadu including Kerala.
Written in Chen Tamil, the epic is one of ‘the five great epics’ (Aimperumkappiyangal) in Tamil literature. These ‘five great epics’ are first referred to as ‘Aimperumkappiyangal’ in Malainatan’s Nannul commentary. And these five poems are first mentioned as ‘five great epics’ in a text ‘Tamil vidu tututtu’ written in the 17th century A.D. The five great epics (Aimperumkappiyangal) are five Tamil epics according to later Tamil literary tradition. They are Cilappatikara, Manimekhala, Civakacintamani, Valayapati, Kuntalakeci. The first mention of the Aimperumkappiyangal occurs in Mailainathar’s commentary of Nannul. However, Malainatar did not mention their titles. The titles are first mentioned in the late- 18th to early- 19th – century work Tiruttanikaiula. Earlier works like
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I N S I G H T: An International Multilingual Journal for Arts and Humanities Peer Reviewed and Referred: ISSN: 2582-8002 University Research Publications, Ernakulam, Kerala VOL 1-ISSUE 4: JUNE 2021 the 17th – century poem Tamil vidu tuttu mention the great epics as panca kavyams. Among these, the last two, Valayapati and Kuntalakeci are not existing.
The Tamil version of Danti’s ‘Kavyadarsa’, the ‘Tantiyalankara’ dates back to the 12th century.Manimekhala is a work that stands far from the symbolic material of Tantiyalankara. Manimekhala according to Danti’s criteria, is only a Kappiyam responding to ‘a long poem’ii
Although the word kappiyam can be found in texts such as Tolkappiyam, it can be said that its growth and development took place after the Tantiyalankara. It was probably after that Manimekhala began to be called kappiyam (kavyam). In ancient days the long poems have been called by the Tamil term totar – nilaic- ceyyul(work of verses standing in sequence) and not by the Sanskrit name kappiyam. The word Kappiyam has been used in other classics like Perumkatai, Manimekhala and Cintamani.iii
Manimekhala, as mentioned at the beginning, is composed in venpa and aciriyappa metres. This was generally the style followed by writers of that time. The Upamalankara expressions found in poetry are as good and attractive as those found in Sanskrit poetry. In addition, long lines of the type commonly found in Sanskrit poetry can be seen in epic ‘Manimekhala’.Manimekhala bears a striking resemblance to Sanskrit poetry, such as deity praise, storytelling, festival proclamations, city-season descriptions, garden descriptions, rock descriptions, fountain and juggling, and a variety of rasa bhavas. it also includes many sub- stories (upakathas) like the story of pious man named Aputhra, the story of Athira, the story of a prostitute named Sali, the story of the hunger of a gandharva woman named Kayacandika, the story of the Cakravala fort, the story of Gautami and her son Sargalan etc. However, there is no hero, warrior, or armour of the type mentioned in the Tantiyalankara. Contrary to that, there is a legendary story of a girl who was born into a brothel and enters a Buddhist monastery and becomes a Buddhist monk.
Maṇimekhala: A Buddhist Epic
Although the name Manimekhala is very popular in Tamil literature, the original name of this epic is ‘The renunciation of Manimekhala’(Manimekalai thuravu). From the very beginning,
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I N S I G H T: An International Multilingual Journal for Arts and Humanities Peer Reviewed and Referred: ISSN: 2582-8002 University Research Publications, Ernakulam, Kerala VOL 1-ISSUE 4: JUNE 2021 its focus has been on Buddhism. Throughout the poem testifies to how qualified a girl is in every sense to accept the truths propagated by the Buddha and to follow the teachings of Buddhism, and what sacrifice she endures in order to enter into monastic life. Born into a prostitute community, Manimekhala was fascinated by prince Udayana at an early age. Although she has an inner passion for prince Udayana, she resists all his attempts to get her. Despite all the opposition from her relatives, including her grandmother, her ability to overcome it and accept the teachings of Aravana adikal and to merge with the Buddha through Taponishta shows her self-confidence and determination.
Manimekhala’s writing may have taken place during the decline of Buddhism. It was not common at that time for nuns or sages to be characters in Tamil works. In that case, it is not wrong to think that Cattanar, a Buddhist, wrote Manimekhala for the propagation of Buddhism. Kavuntiadikal, a Jain nun from Cilappatikara, Madhavi and Manimekala from ‘Manimekhala’ epic are some of the most important nuns in Tamil literature. The character Sudhamati, can be seen to have converted from Jainism to Buddhism. It can be seen that, at first Buddha was opposed to women entering the monastery.
Cattanar's aim was to spread Buddhism. Cattanar also pursued his goal through literary writing, as was the case with other religions in Tamil Nadu at that time. Through Manimekala, Cattanar spreads important ideas of Buddhism such as begging and donation. In addition, it discusses issues like the instability of worldly pleasures, re – birth, previous birth etc.
Some Buddhist Principles mentioned in Manimekhala
From the very beginning of the epic Manimekhala, the author tries to praise Buddhist ideals. Unable to bear the grief of Kovalan's death Madhavi expresses her grief to a Buddhist sage named Aravana adikal. On that occasion he advises her of the five principles of the Buddha. He also advises that all those who are born into this world are suffering, and it is a great blessing not to be born again. The only way of salvation is the Buddha; “The born get grief abundance! The birthless get bliss plenty! The fomer comes from attachment! And the latter is got by detachment!
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Know ye this And showed the calmness of the five good virtues This is the way of deliverance” (Manimekhala 2:64-69). In the fifth chapter, it is written about the quality of a Buddhist saint that he was born in many births and gained wisdom and lived for others; “The treasure of flawless character Having gone through several births Virtually in the world Guiding the lives in the divine path as the fully realised! Selfless living and giving self to others !”(Manimekhala 5: 71 -79) Buddha is praised by goddess Manimekhala as a pure, holy and saint: “Oh ye of divine wisdom! Shall I call thee, the pure! the holy! the ancient ! The preeminent by the world’s penance? Shall I call thee as the eraser of impurities? Annihilator of anger? The fully realised! To ranker? Shall I call thee, the duster of lust? The ever blissful, the hater of The cruel enemy of wicked ways?”(Manimekhala 5:98-105)
While sharing the concept of quench for the poor, the epic ‘Manimekhala’ explains the severity of hunger. The instances of Visvamitramuni and a Gandharva woman named Kayacandika depict the harsh expressions of hunger. Manimekala upholds the idea that “food givers are life givers"iv.
Manimekhala’s dialogues to Prince Udayana are beautiful description on the futility and instability of worldly pleasures. Buddhism believes the concepts of karma, birth, rebirth etc. The deeds done by someone in a particular birth follow in the next births. Good deeds provide good fortunes and bad deeds provide worse situations. Every human being has to accept the consequences of preconceived notionsv.
The last two chapters of Manimekhala mainly discuss the doctrines and philosophies of Buddha. Manimekhala learned all kinds of philosophies that existed at that time in Vanchi
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I N S I G H T: An International Multilingual Journal for Arts and Humanities Peer Reviewed and Referred: ISSN: 2582-8002 University Research Publications, Ernakulam, Kerala VOL 1-ISSUE 4: JUNE 2021 from various scholars. Later she realized that none of them are true and she approached Aravana adikal to study the Buddhist philosophy. After realizing the light of wisdom, Manimekhala took to penance. Thus Cattanar establishes that Buddhism is the ultimate truth and achieves his goal of spreading Buddhism through this literary writing.
Conclusion Tamil epic Manimekhala, written by Cattanar, is one of the most important in five great epics. This book was written in the 2nd century for the propagation of Buddhism. Even though main story is about the renunciation of a girl named Manimekhala, the epic is rich with many sub-stories. The last two chapters are exclusively dedicated to explain the philosophy of Buddhism, while the other parts carefully reflected the writer's attempt to make it beautiful and excellent by combining the styles of a poem. Cattanar's success as a writer is that he selected a girl from a prostitute's family as his protagonist for the propagation of Buddhism. As always, the social status of prostitutes was worse than that of other women. Therefore, the entry of their monastic life was a serious challenge. Through the central character, Cattanar has been able to discuss the doctrines of all the major religions that existed at that time and establish the advantages of Buddhism.
References 1.History of Tamil literature, Mu. Varadarajan, Malayalam translation, Melangath narayanankutty. 2.Manimekalai: Tamil Buddhist Epic, Parthasarati, Buddhism in Tamil Nadu collected papers, p-177) 3.Manimekalai : Tamil Buddhist Epic, J. Parthasarathi, Buddhism in Tamil Nadu collected papers.p-175
4.Manimekala 11:95 5.Manimekhala 23:73-79. Bibliography • Buddhism in Tamil Nadu, Collected papers,G.John Samuel, Institute of Asian studies, Chennai, India 1998
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• History of Tamil literature, Mu. Varadarajan, Malayalam translation, Melangath narayanankutty, Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, 2000.
• Manimekhala , Translated by P. Pandian, The South India Saiva Siddhanta works Publishing Society, Tinneyvelly, Limited Salai, Madras , 1989 • Unifying Hinduism, Philosophy and identity in indian intellectual history,Andrew J Nicholson, Permanent Black, Himalaya, Mall Road, Ranikhent, cant, Ranikhent, 2014. • The cullavagga, Vinaya text . Translated by T.W. Rhys Davids and Herman Oldernberg, Sacred books of the East, Vol.20.
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