Adhyatma Ramayana- A Critical Introspection

From 17th of July, 2013 onwards (1st of Karkidaka month as per the Malayalam calendar), Malayalis are celebrating Ramayana Month. There is no doubt in regarding Ramayan (Ramayanam) as one of the greatest contributions of Indians to the literary world, but it is worth asking how Ramayana got an undisputed acceptance among Indians or Hindus or for some upper-class elite Hindu- Indians. This is not an irrelevant question as Valmiki’s Ramayana has little or nothing to do with giving religious stature to Rama, whereas now Rama is considered as a God-incarnated. Many social critics attribute Rajiv Gandhi govt’s pro-Hindutva stand which permitted the telecasting of Ramayana series in Doordarshan as one reason for this sudden shift in the thinking of the people. Some other thinkers conducted studies which analyze the pro-Hindutva stand of nationalist leaders ranging from Tilak to Gandhi. Recently, Delhi University included A.K. Ramanujan’s “Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation” in the syllabus which was being criticized RSS think-tanks a lot.

However, one can easily see that Ramayana has tremendous influence in the life of people of India. In every nook and corner of the country, we can see stories related to instances from Ramayana and there are many adaptations to this epic. Throughout India, the impact of Bhakti Movement influenced the spread of Ramayana. One such example is Ezhuthachan’s adaptation named “Adhyathma Ramayana.” His writing helped the strengthening of Malayalam language and hence he is regarded as the father of Malayalam. During the Karkidaka month, Malayalis read this version of Ramayana in their homes and temples to attain Moksha. I don’t know specifically when onwards Malayalis started this celebration; I can only guess after the publication of this book in Malayalam!! Ezhuthachan is believed to have lived in the 16th Century. I remember reading one article in Deshabhimani where it is mentioned that the RSS ideologues in the 1950s urged the people to start celebrating Karkidaka as Ramayana Month, and EMS, the CPM veteran, criticized the instance citing this would have communal polarization in the state. Even then, no one can question the literary, religious and philosophical merit of the work.
Ezhuthachan conceived Ramayana with Bakthi as the central theme. It has religious as well as literary dimensions. First of all, the literary arena of that period focused on the Sringara rasa only. This has deteriorated the literary strength considerable. The moral life of the people was also in the downward way. Secondly, till that time, Chambu Kavyas and other notable writings were filled with both Sanskrit and Tamil expressions. Therefore, Ezhuthachan intended purification, both literary and social. He is a success in that also.

His success is evident while considering the religious and social life of Kerala with its neighboring states. When the neighboring states resisted any attempt to glorify Rama or Aryans, Kerala always remained passive in this area. We can also say that Ramayana as one of the first instances which question the Brahminical orthodoxy.

(To Be Continued)

Kilippattu- Significance of Adhyatma Ramayana

“We can say that Ramayana is one of the first instances which question the Brahminical orthodoxy.” I know that this statement will invite much criticism if it gets the attention of the so-called progressive thinkers. I would reaffirm this statement because till the time of Ezhuthachan, the Vedic teachings and knowledge system were controlled by upper caste people only. They indulged in “tharka, vitharka, kutharka” and always concentrated on the Sringara aspect of life. The life and culture of the society were of licentiousness in character. Ezhuthachan’s writing has significance not just because he redirected the society in the “Bhakthi Marga”, but he himself was a question to the orthodox society. Ezhuthachan is believed to have born in a lower caste family, according to most critics though there is controversy over this subject. If this argument is correct, his very assertion of religiosity is an attack on the orthodox mentality. Even now, the upper caste people could not digest this fact and are constantly trying to reinterpret the fact about his life, with each dominant caste groups trying to add him in their caste group. Prominent novelist Rashakrishnan’s literary biography on Ezhuthachan “Theekkadal Kadanju Thiru Madhuram” is one such instance.

There is an interesting explanation for calling “Kilippattu (parrot song)” along with the epic poem.

The concept is similar with the way Vyasa wrote Mahabharatha. The story behind Mahabharatha is that after conceiving the epic, Vyasa asked Lord Brahma to help him compose or write it down the lyrics, but Brahma declined it and suggested Lord Vinayaka in turn. At last, Lord Vinayaka wrote down the lines composed by Vyasa. The reason for this according to critics is that Vyasa was the son of a lower-class woman (Malsya Gandhi). In the same way, the story is told in the Adhyathma Ramayana by a parrot, as Ezhuthachan is also from a lower class family. However, it has larger implications than this. The movement called “Kilippattu” is not started by Ezhuthachan, nor is he the first to introduce the same in Malayalam literature. It is an influence from Tamil literature and it has been identified that “Ramacharitham” composed in the 12th Century by Chiramon used the same style.

Teaching Pronunciation in Kerala’s Context

Teaching pronunciation is a funny (or sad) case in the colleges of Kerala, India. Traditionally, phoneticians have found several challenges on teaching listening. This may include lack of time for the teachers, the influence of first language (L1) rhythm in the second language, mental block of the students, other background noise in the class room, hearing problems and so on. However, there are so many other problems which I could find in the classes of Kerala.
1. Lack of continuity
In Kerala, teaching pronunciation (means standard introduction to phonemic variations of sounds and accents) start in the college level only. In the school level, no emphasis is given to pronunciation. As far as Kannur University is concerned, the introduction to pronunciation starts and finishes at the first semester itself.

2. Lack of time
First of all, the teachers won’t get enough time to train the students. Considering the fact that there is only one semester, it is impossible for the teachers to give training to the students. Ideally, one semester lasts six months, but in reality, teachers won’t get six months at all. Besides, communication English paper is just one paper along with another long paper.

3. Lack of facilities
The paper required the teachers to play audio files in the classrooms and train the students. This required computer assisted language lab for getting proper training. Most of the colleges in the state do not provide such a facility.

4. Individual attention
For a proper training, the teacher should give individual attention to the students. In most colleges, there will be more than fifty students in English classes. This makes giving individual attention a dream.

5. Lack of trained teachers
Most of the teachers of English would be graduates or post graduates in English literature, not Functional English. They may not have a clear understanding about the sound systems and phonetics, though they may have got some introductory lessons on these during their college level.

If the educators are not giving a serious review on these aspects, teaching pronunciation is going to be a total waste of time.

Need for a Structural Change in the Society

Ahimsa reigned the politico-religious discourse of India two times in history: Emperor Ashoka’s time and Gandhian era. Except these two times, Indian social and political arena was or is controlled by violence. The films, literature and other social and entertainment platforms are glorifying various forms of violence, not just in India, but the whole world.
Violence in any form, for whatever reasons, cannot be justified. Animals kill the other species for their survival, for food. Had they known to think, to speak, and to write, they would have justified their violent nature; as humans are capable of doing these things, we are justifying our unjustifiable violence with the help of ideological explanations; in the name of religion, caste, creed, nationalism, social security, and so on.
Whether art and literature fuel violence or just represent violence in the society is a difficult question. Both help each other maybe the safest answer. However, one can easily see that violence, whether genocide or sexual crimes, are increasing in the society because the society favors violence instead of non-violence. As noted earlier, we can find only two instances where a widespread discussion surrounding non-violence dominated. When the national culture itself is that of violence, how can we expect a decrease in crime ratio?
There may be difference of opinion about the argument that the national character of India is violence itself. For that we need to identify the terms that are in use; for example, when the police or army kill someone in an encounter, nobody considers it as a crime, whereas when an individual kills someone for money or for any other reasons, it is a crime. However, in a closer look, we can identify that both are instances of violence, the only difference is that one act of violence is supported by the prevailing ideologies and social norms whereas the other not; one is accepted by the society, and the other not.
We, as a society, favor atrocities of any kind provided it is supported by religion, caste, party system, linguistic group, race and so on. Atrocities against minorities are supported by the national parties as these minorities do not form the part of the so-called “Sanatana Dharma”; violence against other parties are being justified as they are against the ideology of that party and so on.
These often can be exemplified in the movies of our times. We can never find the heroes arguing for non-violent methods, they are heroes mainly because they resort to cruel act of violence. They may give justifications for their violence, may be to save someone, the country, the village and so on. However, they are glorifying nothing but violence.
When the political parties, religious groups, caste leadership, literary pieces, movies and so on propagate violence in this way, what we can expect from the poor masses? They are living in their own imaginary world and whatever they are doing are for a reason (which may be madness for the society). The increased number of violence against women, children, and other socially isolated sections can be because of this reason.
If the continuing glorification of violence is the reasons for crimes in the society, what we need to do? We need to give an emphasis on non-violent ways of thinking in the society. This does not mean we need to reproduce the statements of Gandhi or Buddha; they already said what they want to say. We need to move on from where they stopped. Only through non-violence, we can decrease the crimes in the society.

From Ayodhya to Gujarath - Rise of Another Stalwart

I don't know anyone of you remember the name K. Lakshmana, the stalwart Inspector General of Police during the black days of Emergency. He was celebrated as a hero during the time of Emergency as under him, the Naxalite movement came to an end in Kerala, but later 'fate' turned its positions and he became a villain; he was convicted for the death of the Naxalite leader Varghese. I am not going to illustrate the complexities in this issue, but I was just reminded of Lakshmana when I heard of L.K. Advani's resignation letter. So, you may ask what is so common with I.G. Lakshmana and L.K. Advani.



I will come to that later, but what are the common aspects between LK and NaMo ( as the followers address Narendra Modi). One thing, both are BJP leaders, both are at least sometime in their lifetime been regarded as the hard face of RSS in the party, having so strong an idea on Hinduist principles. But, what attracts me the most is, Advani is responsible for Babri Masjid Demolition and subsequent murder of 2000 Muslims( if I trust Wikipedia) and then hailed as an undisputed leader of BJP whereas more or less Modi is responsible for the murder of 2500 or so people( excluding those who are missing and all) and the violence followed after Godhra incident and became the one and only notable leader in the BJP after LK Advani. Whereas Modi is trying to change his image from a bloodthirsty ideologue to the epitome of development, Advani failed in his attempt to be the moderate face in the NDA.

The question so is not who is better, but something else. Here lies the reason why I thought of Lakshmana when I heard of the fall of LK Advani. Lakshmana's case shows how good our system of law in punishing the culprits even if it is so late, whereas LK's case shows, even if the law failed, the time, the God will do its function well. Those who hailed him for the murder, for the illegal demolition of the Masjid conducted demonstration outside his house criticising him. A Great Show Indeed.