Give, Eat, and Live: Poems of Avvaiyar

Introduction

9 Introduction The word Auvai means “mother,” “older woman,” or “female ascetic”; to it we add ār, a respectful suffix, to make “Avvaiyar” (Auvaiyār). The name has been given to women since the Sangam period, roughly 100 B.C.E. to 250 C.E. An Avvaiyar of that time was given the loving protection of Atiyamān – Net .umān – Añci, one of the seven great patrons of the final Sangam , the literary fraternity or community. We know of this from the songs she sang. Her elegy upon his death is one of the undying treasures of Tamil literature, and many of her other poems are collected in the Pur –anān –ūr –u, among the oldest of the ancient anthologies. The Avvaiyar of the translations that follow, who has given us books such as Ātticcūt .i, Kon –r –aivēntan, Mūturai, Nalval –i, and Ñān –akkur –al ., is thought to have lived later, in the twelfth century. Her poems are cited in the work of commentators such as Pērāciriyar and Naccinārkkin –iyar. She strove in these books to instill essential truths about life in the hearts of 10 young children, composing Ātticcūt .i in short lines, Kon –r –aivēntan in longer lines, and Mūturai and Nalval –i in quatrains, sweet venpā. Everyone in Tamil Nadu who can read has read her poems. As the esteemed pundit N. M. Vēn . kat .acāmi Nāt .t .anār has written, “It is the pride of Tamil Nadu to have been home to the woman that established this way of imparting practical wisdom to young people throughout the land.”1 Stories abound about her life, but since, as far as history is concerned, “tales give us false facts,”2 it is better to set them aside. There is no doubt, however, that the fame of Avvaiyar , like that of the Avvaiyar before her, will live as long as the world lives. Avvaiyar was clearly a devout woman. In Mūturai and Nalval –i she prays to Pil .l .aiyār (also known as Ganesh, son of Lord Shiva) and in Nalval –i she praises the five-letter mantra: For those who think upon ci vā ya na ma Not even one day of distress. This Is both way and wisdom . . . (15) Later she sings the greatness of marking the forehead with holy ash (“without it, a face is nothing”), and in Nalval –i’s final poem she celebrates the glorious hymnbooks to Shiva: Tēvāram, Tiruvācakam, Tirukkōvai, and 1 Introduction to Aththichoodi (Tinnevelly: The South India Saiva Siddhanta Works Publishing Society, 1950): 4. 2 Commentary by At .iyārkkunallār on The Cilappatikāram of Il .an . kō At .ikal ., edited by U. Vē Cāminātaiyar (Madras: Srī Tiyākarāca Vilāca Veliyītu, 1979 [1892]). 11 Tirumantiram. We can therefore say with certainty that she is Saivite, a follower of Lord Shiva. The final poem also shows us that she considered the Tirukkural . and the Upanishads, two works of philosophy and ethics that have endured for millennia, to be of equally great importance. In placing a prayer song at the beginning of her books, Avvaiyar follows a long tradition. Poets compose invocations of this kind in order to complete successfully the works that they begin. The invocations that open Mūturai and Nalval –i, however, are unusual and demonstrate the depth of her devotion. In the opening prayer of Mūturai, Avvaiyar illustrates the earthly good of daily worship: Those who come daily before the coral-red body and trunk of Pil .l .aiyār, praying and placing fresh flowers at his feet, will receive powers of speech, a mind that thinks good thoughts, the wealth that comes from Lakshmi, and a body free of disease. God gives everything necessary to those who have a pure and unwavering faith. They are the ones who have his grace (arul .), and by this grace, can show others the right path. Avvaiyar is among them. All religions stress that true faith leads to blessings, and Avvaiyar tells us this too. In the invocation to Nalval –i, Avvaiyar sings directly to Pil .l .aiyār: “I will make kol –ukkat .t .ai from milk, clear honey, jaggery, and fragrant bengal gram, and give it all to you, Pil .l .aiyār with your radiant and pure...