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done and how he has approached these problems there will be no question of want of
fidelity to the original.
It is remarkable that Dr Hande whose mother tongue is Kanarese and who had
studied Ielugu as his subject in his scholastic career, has taken the trouble of going
through Kamban's Ramavataram in Tamil and giving the same in English in prose
form. It is not surprising that he has taken nearly eight years to complete the entire
work having regard to the precautions that have to be taken in such a difficult and
delicate task of avoiding omissions in any verse referring to events, occurrences and
ad|ectives that may affect the substance or detract from the basic objective and purpose
of the poet's work.
Dr Hande by this devoted work of his, has earned the gratitude of all students of
karrhan, because barring the short prose version by Shri R K Narayan, no one to my
knowledge, has attempted a systematic rendering of Kamban's Ramavataram into
English even in such a running prose form.
It was w ith a great deal of nervous hesitation and hum ility that I ventured to
render K am ban's Ram avataram , an epic of 10,000-odd, 4-line stanzas, into English
prose. I w as inspired to attem pt this, over eight years ago, after reading a couple of
English translations of V alm eeki's Ramayana.
A fter delving deep into K am ban's w ork, I am convinced that exposure to it, is a
m ust for every lover of Truth and literature, irrespective of his or her creed or
nationality. Vice and virtue, filial duty, fraternal love, loyalty, friendship, m arital
fidelity and m ore, have been splendidly dealt w ith by the poet in his eternally relevant
divine m asterpiece.
K am ban's poetic genius lies in his brilliant use of rhym e, alliteration, sim ile and
epithet; all of w hich he skilfully blends, m aking a recitation of his w ork an
audio-visual treat. So musical are the w ords and so vivid the im agery! W hile it is
im possible to reflect the poetry of such an original in a prose translation, especially
into English, I have tried my best to do justice to his unque sim iles and apt epithets.
I have even resorted to archaic w ords or usages, at times, to this end.
With boundless pleasure I dedicate this book to the people of Tamil N adu w ho
have show ered their love on me so profusely all these years.
H V HANDE
XXV
Great poets have observed that even a life of unbounded happiness in this w orld
or in heaven w ould not give the pleasure equal to that obtained by reading Kamba
Ramayanam .
IN SALUTATION
/et us keep the sacred anklets of that great Kamban on our heads because he spread
the drome name of Rama everywhere, and was also responsible fo r making the
Tamil ^peaking people take to reading Ramayana with avidity. Whether one ruled with
all the wealth available in this world, or enjoyed oneself in the cool shade of the
karpaga trees in the celestial world, one would not attain the mental satisfaction
obtained bv reading the Rdmdyanam written by Poet Kamban. It was given to Sage
Valmeeki to listen to the narration of Sage Narada and reproduce the great adventures
ot Kama, the incarnation of Lord Mahavishnu, in Sanskrit verse; but then it was given
to Kamban of Therazhundur of the Chola kingdom to conclude the singing o f Rama's
life in the great language of Tamil. In days of yore, Lord Mahavishnu gave the nectar
ot immortality to the Devas by churning the ocean of milk with the Mandara
mountain l ike Mahavishnu, the great Kavicakravarti Kamban gave the nectar of
Ramayanam to mankind by churning another ocean of milk, namely Tamil, with his
tongue The arangetram* of Kamba Rdmdyanam was done at the Srirangam temple in
an assembly of potis, under the auspices of the philanthropist, Sadayappan** of
Tiruiynnainallur. on the day o f the Uttara star, in the month ofPanguni, in the eight
hundred jnd seienth year of Sdlivahana saka.
V.rt kjmban >nyuently refers to the name of his benefactor, the philanthropist Sadayappan of
hru;rnnuindllur in Kamba Ramavanam