By Kambar (Kavichakravarthy Kamban)
Translated in English by P. R Ramachander
Kamba Ramayanam-Bala Kandam 5 (Padalam 18)
18. Undattu PadalamThe chapter on dancing after drinking.
( Here is a peculiar chapter of Ramayana . It describes ladies drinking alchoholic drinks. As , it is mentioned as “Kallu”, the fermented flower juice of palm trees , I have translated it as toddy. In few places the word Madhu (either honey or wine) also is used. There are few stanzas in this chapter which describe love sport , which is called war of love in some places.The incidents described in this chapter happen at night after sun set.)
962. The great moon light which was cool spread everywhere,Like the white liquid of toddy ebbing out everywhere ,Like the sweet music taking a form and spreading all over,And like The passion in the mind spreading to all sense organs.
963. As per the request of the God of love the full moon opened up in the sky,Like the toddy which increases the sweetness to those engaged in love play,Like the poison to those couples who are forced to live apart,And like an emissary to those with love tiff , to again join together.
964. Due to spread of moon light , all rivers became like Ganges,All oceans became like the ocean of milk ,Al the hills became like the silvery mountain where lord Shiva lives,And what more can we say about the spread of moon light?
965. ,With matchless directions ,when all men and all animals,Became lustrous due to the pouring moon light on them,This world which was surrounded by ocean appeared to celebrate the birthday,Of the God of love who has a very sharp sword and Makara fish on his flag.
966. In the shade of the pearl tent created by lustrous stars ,In the gardens where the roof curtain is provided by dark clouds,In the crystal rooms which were shining like ponds,And in the scented flower gardens, ladies reached to take rest.
967. Those ladies whose hair had the perfume of scented flowers,With an intention of enjoying the love play on flower spread beds,Started drinking in pretty golden goblets , the newly extracted toddy,Which was like the nectar which was made only for that purpose.
968. Those ladies of the heaven full of stars , The Vidhyadhara ladies ,Were not comparable in prettiness to these ladies and they,Who were having eyes like deer and honeyed flowers,Drank toddy like a torrential rain of honey by their mouth.
969. The toddy that entered the mouth of one of those ladies,Went and settled inside her like nectar and not only her black eyes became red ,But the white goblet of the colour of the spilled milk ,Turned red due to their being touched by her lustrous red hands.
970. The pure toddy drunk by the ladies whose hair has been perfumedBy musk and cool akil smoke, similar to the ghee poured in the Fire pit ,Which is full of burning sacred fire , increased ,The fire of passion that was burning in their heart.
971. One lady who had a shining forehead resembling a sword ,Seeing her shadow which was as pretty as her reflected,In the toddy with cool smell in her golden goblet told,“Oh friend, please take this along with me and enjoy”, Is there anywhere the greater ignorance to that of,Of ladies who have poison like very long eyes,And who have voice like that of nectar to our ears.
972. One with a waist which looks as if it will break Having thick hair , black eyes which appears to be coated by poison,And having a red face with a smile , seeing her shadow in the toddy asked,“Hey mad one , what are you doing, why are you drinking my left over toddy,When there is a huge jar full of toddy ?” and then she thinking ,Her shadow is another lady , laughed showing her jasmine bud like teeth.
973 . Another lady who had eyes like the horrifying spear which can kill,Seeing the crystal gem studded goblet in which the white rays of moon fell,Appearing that it is full, , kept that goblet , thinking it is toddy on her lips,And when all other people teased her for drinking ,Out of an empty goblet , felt greatly ashamed.
974. She , the one who made one conclude that her lisping voice was the one That gave sweetness to Yaazh and sweet flute and the one who has a mouth,Which is as red as the flowers of Murukka tree , happened to , See the shadow of her sword like eyes In the big jar of cool toddy In which, the blue lotus with its stalk has been put,And she thought that they were bees who have come to drink honey from flowers.
975. There was one lady who wears the ear globes made of pure gold,Seeing the shadow of the white moon reflected in the toddy ,With her confused and energetic eyes due to her drinking toddy,Said, “Oh moon , scared of the snakes that come to attack you,On the sky , you seem to be hiding here, do not get scared ,For I am offering you protection.” In a very sweet voice.
976. A lady with a belly button which resembled a whirl pool ,Of that river that remains stable at one place , noticing the great moon light,Which pierces the roof made of flowers which dripped red honey ,Either due to her taking toddy , or due to her having lost her intelligence,Or due to the timid nature which ladies have,Thought that it was toddy that is dripping , tried to catch it in her goblet.
977. One lady who had a waist which was similar to a streak of lightning ,Having a wavering voice instead of her sweet voice like the white nectar,Took off her pretty waist belt and tied a flower garland there,And not only that started tying her golden necklace on her curved hair.
978. One lady seeing the drunk image of her face at the bottom of the goblet,Containing toddy , thinking that moon in the sky has fallen in side the goblet,With a wish to drink toddy said, “When I have a lover’s tiff with,My husband who gives me happiness to the mind , you would,Remove my heat and so I would give this toddy for you to drink.”
979. A lady who had an ornamented nose like flower of gingely ,Without realizing that she has spilled all the toddy she had ,Due to the shivering of her hand in to her hips ,Due to the stupor created by toddy , concluding that ,Toddy would be there on the back of the goblet andKept the goblet upside down and attached to her lips.
980. Seeing the bees which have spread up to the sky,Similar to the beggars who have come to get the great wealth of misers,One lady felt shy to open her red mouth which was dripping honey ,Thinking that the bees would go inside her mouth and started,To sip the toddy from the goblet using the stem of a tender plant.
981. One lady who had made the kayal fishes in the lotus tanks,Run away since they felt that they could never compete with her eyes,Who has the shining eyes similar to sharp knife just taken out of its leather case ,And who was wearing thin garland made of honeyed flowers over her thin hair,And was resembling a young peacock did not drink toddy as she knew,That the lover residing in her heart does not like to drink toddy.
982. One lady made both her death like eyes look deeply red,Made her eye brows bend and tried to take it to the top of forehead,Gnashed her lustrous teeth as if she was angry by drinking toddy,And folded her pretty arms ,which are as pretty as the newly formed leaf.
983. The sweat of the a lady with vibrating red lips which are like red fruits,Biting them with lustrous teeth which look like cut pieces of the moon,And staring with their deep red eyes looking like spears tainted by blood,Was looking like the toddy they have drunk coming out of their skins.
984. The excess of redness of their red fruit like cheeks went to her eyes,The lustrous eye brows in her lotus like face looked more like a bow ,And the crescent like forehead became wet because of sweatOf that lady who was well ornamented and was telling something with thinking some other thing,
985. With the Red ilavam flower like lips becoming deep red,With the saliva coming in between teeth becoming sweet,With the cloth tied over their breasts getting loosened up,With her hair falling down slowly sliding like waves ,And with the teasing laughter , The toddy and love making by husband appeared similar.
986. One lady wearing a waist belt studded with invaluable gems ,Tried to send her friend to her husband who has parted from her ,Asking her to tell her faultless husband that due to the God of love,Who wears the heroic armlets , she was greatly disturbed ,And told her , “Would you also stay like my mind with him or come back.”
987. One lady who had eyes that were desired by the deer was ,Sending all her close friends one by one as emissary to her very strong husband,And when she noticed that each of them who had gone did not return,Made herself as her emissary and went to meet him alone.
988. One lady who had honey like lisping talk , who was ,Drowned in the sea of love which cannot be stopped by shores,Lying down on a bed of several layers of scented flowers,With great love and joy hugged the parrot ,Which was capable of telling all the names of her husband.
989. Sitting in a location which was scented , one lady ,Having a sword like forehead , hugged her companion parrot and screeched,“You have not gone and brought my soul like lord ,What other help except this can be done by you,And you are like the one who makes sad,Those who have parted from their lover”
990. When the husband called her by the name of wife junior to her,One lady whose hand is crowded with bangles and who was like a peacock,Initially smiled showing her jasmine bud like teeth at the mistake of her husband,And then, when she thought he is telling the name of junior due to more love towards her,Tears dropped torrentially from her eyes which were like Kayal fish.
991. One good lady who thought about the mistake done by him earlier,With passion caught hold of the golden belt which his wife wears over her hip,And even before the pearls studded in hip belt started falling down,The pearl like tears of that lady who wore golden bangles reached the floor.
992. One lady who had a hair decorated by well opened flowers,Was doing serious thinking like , “would I have a love tiff with him?”, or“Would I enjoy love play with him so that this sickness melting my soul will get cured,”Or “Would I sing about his good qualities accompanied by the Veena?”
993. Another lady instead of telling her friends about the tiff with her lover,Touched with her flower like red hands , the Makara Veena with knobs,And started singing what was in her mind so that her lover would understand.
994. One lady who was like a creeper which has put up new shoots,Went on drawing love lines on the ground with her feet,And when they did not meet with each other every time,Became extremely sad due to the arrows shot by the God of love,And once in a while left deep breath to prove that she was still alive.
995. One lady who has fingers which made the ball beautiful , due to sorrow of parting,Send her friend as an emissary to her extremely pretty husband,And when he came , she closed the door , preventing him from coming in,And since she was not knowing what her thoughts were, her eyes became red.
996. One lady who wanted to end the love tiff with her husband , lay down on her flower bedAnd when her husband did not understand her wish acted as if she has just woken up,And put her hand and legs on to his body asked, “How much of a time is over now?”
997. One lady becoming worried due to love tiff and with her cotton like soft feet,Kicked him and due to his body which was like a field with a fence ,Was made wet because of the flow of sweet emotions ,The seeds of love germinated in him and his hairs stood up like plants.
998. One hero who had swords by which he made enemy king suffer,Seeing that her breasts have gone down in size due to his parting,Realizing the great measure of love that she had towards him,Became very happy and stood with increased size of his shoulders.
999. One person who was blessed with great beauty reached the place,Where his wife was there and saw that the flowers of her bed,Were like the troublesome arrows of God of love andNoticed that all those flowers have been burnt like new twigs,And understanding her intensity of sorrow , was perplexed and became thoughtful.
1000. The heat of breasts of a lady caused drying of the sandal paste that was applied,And seem to tell one hero who worked with his sword, “please protect our country”,And looked like the pots of holy water kept there for crowning him.
1001. One lady who was not able to tolerate the suffering due to parting,With her soul like lover , removed the waist belts, golden bells and diamond necklaces,Thinking that they would make sound and make others know her intention,And saw with fire like eyes the moon which made her suffer at time of parting.
1002. To a valorous one who was suffering like the sugarcane in a mill,Due to parting, and a lady who had the sweet tender voice of the garden koel,And was not able to take out the flower garland that he was wearing on his very strong shoulders,And What shall we say about the strength of this garland he was wearing?
1003. One lady who had very long hair , for the sake of telling her sorrow,First saw the picture of the God of love and then she looked at her friend,And she understanding her plight of trouble from God of love,Started walking towards the home f her husband who wore honeyed garlands.
1004. One peacock like lady wearing a golden Kuzhai went speedily towards .A very angry hero who was holding a sword in his hand,And was this done because the toddy that makes her heart melt,Or was it the evening time or was it the god of love himself?
1005. When one lady who was defeated by the full strength of love ,Who was angry and had a crescent like forehead,Shed tears from her eyes which looked like rain,And when her husband smilingly asked “What happened to you?”She lost her shyness and became laughing and joyous.
1006. One lady to whom “this is her waist” was a lie,Though she had not lost the desire to sports of love,Took away her hand , due to being drunk from him , and this peculiar act,Made her husband feel that one sword has entered his chest.
1007. One lady who was tender hugged a lady friend of hers,And wanted to send her as an emissary to her husband,And due to her shyness preventing her from telling it,Went on wailing for a measureless time.
1008. One lady , from whom great love was ebbing out again and again,Wanting to tell the wrongs done by her lover for whom she is the only soul,To another lady who was wearing flower garlands with great scent,Became shy and went on telling unconcerned things.
1009. One couple thinking that their thought process was alike .Their soul was same and the love that each had to the other was same,But not knowing why their bodies only were different ,Hugged tightly with each other so that their bodies could become one.
1010. One lady who had shoulders like bamboo , when her husband,Who had a tiff with her stood before her , when without her control,Her mind went towards him stood up and saluted him,And seeing this as a new act of hers, He was scared thinking that she was angry.
1011. One lady with a curved forehead who had a love tiff ,Thinking about the pleasure that it could bring and later repented,Seeing her friend who went as emissary but returned alone ,Told her that like the breeze and the night that are yet to come,Her friend would trouble her like her mother..
1012. One lady who was made to love , send her mental feelings also,Along with her emissary whom she sent to bring her husband,And she was standing making all those who saw her tell that,She was looking like one hit by the God in the evening,But she became action less and went on staring at the direction of arrival of her husband.
1013. One lady who was not able to forget her husband ,Would always be waiting for his arrival and to her,Joy and sorrow used to come alternatively like birth and death,And like the streak of lightning appearing between clouds which cannot be moved,She would come out thinking he has come and Disappear thinking that he has not come.
1014. One lady who had breasts that can never be drawn in a picture ,Had horrific wounds caused by the arrows of God of love on them,And she caressed them with her hands wearing bangles ,She cried and laughed and saluted one of her friends,And requested her to tell about all her sufferings to her lover.
1015. One lady was covered with sweat , thinking how she would tell in words ,The illness caused by love and the problems that were caused by it,Which are to made known by signs to the wise people , as it is useless,And then she told her friend her sorrows with a pained mind and lied down on a bed,And then with an eye full of anxiety looked at her friend,Thinking “would she keep quiet and not do everything to make him come.”
1016. The God of love who is inside all the young men and women,Would have been thrice more happy than young ladies with breasts ,For without the knowledge of any one , He would have definitely,Drunk the clear and pure toddy drunk by them inside their bodies. .
1017 . Those men who had tied up hair which is scented due to wearing flower garlands,After throwing away the cloths worn by ladies who have not understood the love play,And also after throwing out the waist belt which was used to tie their broad hips,Because those who can shout and announce should not be there during secret works.
1018. Is it new that a lady threw away her cloths as well as ornaments and,A lady with pretty forehead also forsook the shyness which is in built in her ,Like a saint who with great determination has forsaken all attachments,For only in passion resides the capacity of forsaking oneself.
1019. One man who was like the matchless god of love ,And a lady who was similar to Goddess Lakshmi living on a lotus flower,Went on doing the war of love with both of them not being defeated,Because if the souls of both of them are same who can win or who can loose?
1020. One lady who was sword like in the war of stealing the minds ,Seeing her pretty lover who liked like God Muruga and was wearing a garland,Hiding his chest to prevent her kick by the leg due to love tiff,By his flower like hands , became more angry with him thinking that,He was trying to protect another lady in his mind out of deceit.
1021. One lady with a mouth which is red and had a taste of milk,Who was wearing several types of bangles , who had huge shoulders,Who had eyes like spear and who was looking very tender,To one who had a mind full of ocean like love and Who had,Long hands like that of a cloud, gave same type of pleasure,That made her like the divine lady of heaven.
1022. One lady who was like a peacock living in gardens of mountainous terrain,Who got very angry thinking about the lies told by her husband ,And in the war of love with anger engaged by them,The love that rose in the minds of them only won.
1023. With a cruel eyes a lady resembling personification of murder,Who had wide hips which appears to start from within her dress,Hugged her husband tightly and thinking that her breasts ,Would have pierced the mountain like chest of him, stretched and saw his back.
1024. When the men were enjoying the new sweetness of ladies,Kumkum fell down , her hair became untied.The conch bangles made great sound , Cloths slipped down,And the anklets that they wore in their legs produced great tingling sound.
1025. When love removed the sorrow causing love tiff , like the Sun removing the snow,One lady who was like a peacock , was pretending to be asleep in spite of it ,With a very anxious mind , due to the help of a pretended bad dream, hug her husband tightly.
1026. One lady with a round face , who looked like a peacock and her husband,When they happened to come near hugged very tightly ,And due to being not willing to separate their pasted bodies,Never left the hands that embrace and did not realize even when night got over .
1027. To the hero who was like an elephant in a rare rut,And to a lady who had very black thick hair ,Due to the war of love , that night went on reducing,Like their hip which were unable to carry her heavy breasts.
1028. Like those who were not able to do blessed deeds till the end,Whose wealth slowly vanishes, the moon vanished from the sky .And the sun appeared in the middle of the black sea with spreading waves ,Like the shining Kausthubha gem in the black body of Lord Vishnu.
Download PDF (Kamba Ramayanam: Bala Kandam 5 (Padalam 18)
Kamba Ramayanam: Bala Kandam 5 (Padalam 18) – Kamba Ramayanam: Bala Kandam 5 (Padalam 18)
Download PDF: Kamba Ramayanam: Bala Kandam 5 (Padalam 18) in English PDF
Read More :
Kamba Ramayanam: Bala Kandam 5 (Padalam 15)
Kamba Ramayanam: Bala Kandam 5 (Padalam 16)
Kamba Ramayanam: Bala Kandam 5 (Padalam 17)
Kamba Ramayanam: Bala Kandam 5 (Padalam 18)
About Kavichakravarthy Kamban
Historians place him in the 9th century CE, But surely Kamban belongs to the third great wave of Tamizh literature that started with the Sangam period (dated before the Common Era), followed by the widespread impact of Bhakti literature of the Alwars (vaishnavite saints) & Nayanamars (shaivaite saints). Kamban Authored Ramanaya in Tamil…Known as Kamba Ramayanam..
Kambar has been the milestone for the Tamil scholars that none had reached. He was also known as “Kamba Naatazhvar” at his time. Many Tamil authors from the modern world have written the books on the poet Kamban.
FAQs
Kambar or Kavichakravarthy Kamban (1180–1250) was a medieval Tamil poet and the author of the Ramavataram, popularly known as Kambaramayanam, the Tamil version of the epic Ramayana.
Valmiki Ramayana and Kamba Ramayanam are two versions of Ramayana written in the Sanskrit and Tamil languages respectively. … Kamba Ramayanam is originally called as Ramavataram. Although Valmiki Ramayana is the original version of the story of Rama, Kamba Ramayana is believed to be based on the work by Valmiki.
The Kamba Ramayanam, is a Tamil epic that was written by the Tamil poet Kambar during the 12th century. Based on Valmiki’s Ramayana (which is in Sanskrit), the story describes the life of King Rama of Ayodhya.
The book is divided into six chapters, called Kandam in Tamil. The Kandams are further divided into 123 sections called Padalam (படலம்) in Tamil. These 123 sections contain approximately 12,000 verses of the epic.