What do you think?
Rate this book
Voices from Asia
A Poem at the Right Moment: Remembered Verses from Premodern South India
A Poem at the Right Moment collects, and preserves, poems—called catus —that have circulated orally for centuries in South India. The poems are remarkable for their wit and precision, their lyrical insight on the commonplace, their fascination with sensual experience, and their exploration of the connection between language and desire. Taken together the catus offer a penetrating critical vision and an understanding of the classical traditions of Telugu, Tamil, and Sanskrit.
Each poem is presented in a contemporary English translation along with the Indian-language original. An introduction and a concluding essay explore in detail the stories and texts that comprise the catu system.
Each poem is presented in a contemporary English translation along with the Indian-language original. An introduction and a concluding essay explore in detail the stories and texts that comprise the catu system.
- GenresPoetry
195 pages, Paperback
First published May 15, 1998
63 people want to read
About the author
Velcheru Narayana Rao
27 books10 followersVelcheru Narayana Rao is Visiting Distinguished Professor of South Asian Studies at Emory University.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 10, 2018
During the Krishnadevaraya period, in Andhra Pradesh and during King Bhoja's time in Central India, and many other kings in the entire Indian sub-continent throught the mideival period, we find the craft of poetry excelling so much that even common people could compose verses. Especially in Telugu, Tamil and in Sanskrit the "Chatu" form was easy and poetic enough for everyone to learn and compose verses. Alongside this, the poetic prowess of versemakers like Kalidasa, Bhavabhuti, Srinatha, Avvaiyyar, Peddana, Bhimakavi and not to forget Tenali Ramalinga is so lucid and gigantic that these poets responded and broke out into poetic verses even for small and normal aspects of everyday life, which enriched the quality of life of them and others around them infinitely. Reading this book made me wonder, what would the country have looked like, where from King to Common man was engaged in learning, using and composing verses using words. If India has a rich literary tradition today, it is due to all these people who have contributed so selflessly to this field.
Two noteworthy aspects struck me in this book. During this time, I think that kings, poets and even common people enjoyed sexual activity and never considered it as a sin or an illegal activity. There are prostitutes who composed verses in praise of the Lord, made a poetically witty comment or remark that earned them a customer or two or lyrically expressed their love to kings and influential people that earned them their favor. Whatever they said through their verses, sometimes brazen, at times subtle, was throughly entertaining making sex an every day aspect of life rather than the taboo it has become today.
The second aspect is how the poet's life revolved around poetry and the kinds of emotions, from base fear to exquisite romance to hilarious comedy, was expressed rather spontaneously by these sensitive and sensible men and women. Their sense and sensitivity allowed them to achieve things that were considered impossible, including change the course of war. I also could witness some poetry written during the transition time from medeival period to the more modern period which captured the pain and the sense of loss of the versemakers of these times.
All in all, this book is a good read, although in many places the English translation is not up to the mark. Since, I am aware of Telugu and a little bit of Sanskrit, I was able to enjoy many verses, have a hearty laugh or smiled at a witty remark. But for those who dont have the language on their side, what might give some enjoyment is the after-essay!
Two noteworthy aspects struck me in this book. During this time, I think that kings, poets and even common people enjoyed sexual activity and never considered it as a sin or an illegal activity. There are prostitutes who composed verses in praise of the Lord, made a poetically witty comment or remark that earned them a customer or two or lyrically expressed their love to kings and influential people that earned them their favor. Whatever they said through their verses, sometimes brazen, at times subtle, was throughly entertaining making sex an every day aspect of life rather than the taboo it has become today.
The second aspect is how the poet's life revolved around poetry and the kinds of emotions, from base fear to exquisite romance to hilarious comedy, was expressed rather spontaneously by these sensitive and sensible men and women. Their sense and sensitivity allowed them to achieve things that were considered impossible, including change the course of war. I also could witness some poetry written during the transition time from medeival period to the more modern period which captured the pain and the sense of loss of the versemakers of these times.
All in all, this book is a good read, although in many places the English translation is not up to the mark. Since, I am aware of Telugu and a little bit of Sanskrit, I was able to enjoy many verses, have a hearty laugh or smiled at a witty remark. But for those who dont have the language on their side, what might give some enjoyment is the after-essay!
April 30, 2021
I always disliked reading tamil from english/phonetic letters but I just realized after reading this book that this method of writing makes the language (language as in the aural thing) available to way more people than those who just know tamil/telugu/local scripts! That these languages and these poems were not written and read, they were spoken and heard -- as the authors insist over and over again!
The poems are catus/thanipaadalgal/single poems, often anonymous and attributed to some ancient poet or another. There is a pleasant diversity in this collection -- there is telugu, tamil, sanskrit, wandering bards, anonymous courtesans and famous court poets.
Anyway here are a few poems from a book full of perfection. Although they're meant to be read out loud and heard, the authors have translated them into written english poems, for those unfortunates who don't speak the source languages.
---
The great logician Udayanâcārya, a specialist in ontological arguments, arrived in Puri to visit Lord Jagannatha, but found the temple closing for the day. In anger he addressed the god:
You're so drunk on wealth and power
that you ignore my presence.
Just wait: when the Buddhists come,
your whole existence
depends on me.
aiśvarya-mada-matto 'si mām avajñāya vartase
upasthitesu bauddhesu mad-adhīnā tava sthitih
---
Kumbhakarna loved Sleep.
After Rama killed him in battle,
Sleep was widowed.
Since then, she spends her time
at lectures.
nidra-priyo yah khalu kumbhakarno
hatah samike sa raghūttamena
vaidhavyam apadyata tasya bhāryā
śrotum samāyāti kathā-puranam
---
The village elders gather on the porch of the Rama temple
to recite Mahabharata and talk of other things.
"Telugu is a good language," they say.
"This hissing-spitting Engilis that our boys are speaking
goes no farther than their lips,
even if they pass F.A., B.A., or some other A."
mudi karanālu rāmu-gudi-mosala raccalu dirci bharatāl
caduvucu loka-vartala-prašamsalan andru tělungu basa mañ
cidi mana pillakayalu vacincědiy ingilipisu pus-pusan
pédavulu datad' entati yefeyu biye yemiye vacincinan
---
King Bhoja gave the following line to his poets as samasya to be completed as a four-line poem:
carama-giri-nitambe candrabimbam lalambe
The Moon rests his head in the lap of the Western sky.
First Bhavabhūti produced a line:
aruna-kirana-jalair antarikse gatarkse
In the red glow of morning, stars fade from heaven.
Then Dandin added his line:
calati fisira-vate manda- mandam prabhäte
A cooling breeze moves through the dawn like a sigh.
Now Kalidasa finished the verse by adding the third line:
yuvati-jana-kadambe natha-muktostha-bimbe
Lovers leave one last kiss on the lips of young women.
---
The monkey on the temple wall,
the priest's pretty wife,
the whore who walks the street,
the wild wind that howls outside -
if you're going to the village,
say hi to them
from me.
gudi midi kotitodanu
gudi lopali nambivari kodalitodan
nadi-vithi lanjětodanu
adigõppula horu gălin adigitin' anumā
Ascribed to Srinātha, nostalgic for the village of Adigõppula.
---
The world is really two, made of name and form.
One the poet creates.
The second comes from God.
nāma-rūpâtmakam višvam drśyate yad idam dvidha
tatradyasya kavir vedha dvitiyasya caturmukhah
---
The beauties of a poem are best known
by the critic.
What does the author know?
The beauties of a woman are known only to her husband.
What does a father know?
kavitā-kanyaka-gunamulu
kavikanna rasajñud' ěrugu kavi em' erugun
bhuvilo kanyaka-gunamulu
dhavud' ěrugunu gāka kanna tandr' em' ěrugun
---
Who needs a basketful of glittering stones?
One true blue sapphire will suffice.
In this world, one good poem
will do.
nikkam'aina indra nilam' õkkati cālu
taluku běluku rällu tatted' ela
catu-padyam' okati calada bhuvilona
visvadabhirama vinura vema
---
Yes, one good poem will do, but luckily humans are greedy beyond measure.
The poems are catus/thanipaadalgal/single poems, often anonymous and attributed to some ancient poet or another. There is a pleasant diversity in this collection -- there is telugu, tamil, sanskrit, wandering bards, anonymous courtesans and famous court poets.
Anyway here are a few poems from a book full of perfection. Although they're meant to be read out loud and heard, the authors have translated them into written english poems, for those unfortunates who don't speak the source languages.
---
The great logician Udayanâcārya, a specialist in ontological arguments, arrived in Puri to visit Lord Jagannatha, but found the temple closing for the day. In anger he addressed the god:
You're so drunk on wealth and power
that you ignore my presence.
Just wait: when the Buddhists come,
your whole existence
depends on me.
aiśvarya-mada-matto 'si mām avajñāya vartase
upasthitesu bauddhesu mad-adhīnā tava sthitih
---
Kumbhakarna loved Sleep.
After Rama killed him in battle,
Sleep was widowed.
Since then, she spends her time
at lectures.
nidra-priyo yah khalu kumbhakarno
hatah samike sa raghūttamena
vaidhavyam apadyata tasya bhāryā
śrotum samāyāti kathā-puranam
---
The village elders gather on the porch of the Rama temple
to recite Mahabharata and talk of other things.
"Telugu is a good language," they say.
"This hissing-spitting Engilis that our boys are speaking
goes no farther than their lips,
even if they pass F.A., B.A., or some other A."
mudi karanālu rāmu-gudi-mosala raccalu dirci bharatāl
caduvucu loka-vartala-prašamsalan andru tělungu basa mañ
cidi mana pillakayalu vacincědiy ingilipisu pus-pusan
pédavulu datad' entati yefeyu biye yemiye vacincinan
---
King Bhoja gave the following line to his poets as samasya to be completed as a four-line poem:
carama-giri-nitambe candrabimbam lalambe
The Moon rests his head in the lap of the Western sky.
First Bhavabhūti produced a line:
aruna-kirana-jalair antarikse gatarkse
In the red glow of morning, stars fade from heaven.
Then Dandin added his line:
calati fisira-vate manda- mandam prabhäte
A cooling breeze moves through the dawn like a sigh.
Now Kalidasa finished the verse by adding the third line:
yuvati-jana-kadambe natha-muktostha-bimbe
Lovers leave one last kiss on the lips of young women.
---
The monkey on the temple wall,
the priest's pretty wife,
the whore who walks the street,
the wild wind that howls outside -
if you're going to the village,
say hi to them
from me.
gudi midi kotitodanu
gudi lopali nambivari kodalitodan
nadi-vithi lanjětodanu
adigõppula horu gălin adigitin' anumā
Ascribed to Srinātha, nostalgic for the village of Adigõppula.
---
The world is really two, made of name and form.
One the poet creates.
The second comes from God.
nāma-rūpâtmakam višvam drśyate yad idam dvidha
tatradyasya kavir vedha dvitiyasya caturmukhah
---
The beauties of a poem are best known
by the critic.
What does the author know?
The beauties of a woman are known only to her husband.
What does a father know?
kavitā-kanyaka-gunamulu
kavikanna rasajñud' ěrugu kavi em' erugun
bhuvilo kanyaka-gunamulu
dhavud' ěrugunu gāka kanna tandr' em' ěrugun
---
Who needs a basketful of glittering stones?
One true blue sapphire will suffice.
In this world, one good poem
will do.
nikkam'aina indra nilam' õkkati cālu
taluku běluku rällu tatted' ela
catu-padyam' okati calada bhuvilona
visvadabhirama vinura vema
---
Yes, one good poem will do, but luckily humans are greedy beyond measure.
April 14, 2021
Space to Space
Held-not-held
by this heap of worms, this body,
the gentle light that is Knowing
beyond everything that is there,
flling the world without a break,
not even a hair's breadth in between,
the wholeness that is always first,
that filters through memory and thought,
an endless goodness closing all gaps
that brings rich hope to the humble,
unmeasured in words or the movement of the mind,
that one untainted
open space:
enter now
the space inside me. (wife of the poet Varatunkaramapantiyan, 76)
The First Rule
If it happens, it happens.
If it doesn't, it doesn't.
If you try to force it to happen,
you're left with an arrow in your heart. (Anonymous, 126)
Bitter-Sweet
The Tree of Life is bitter,
but it has two sweet fruits:
good poetry
and a good friend. (Anonymous, 127)
Real Kinship
Stronger, even, than the bond
that comes from having the same mother
are the bonds we make
by sharing words. (Madiki Singanna, 132)
Held-not-held
by this heap of worms, this body,
the gentle light that is Knowing
beyond everything that is there,
flling the world without a break,
not even a hair's breadth in between,
the wholeness that is always first,
that filters through memory and thought,
an endless goodness closing all gaps
that brings rich hope to the humble,
unmeasured in words or the movement of the mind,
that one untainted
open space:
enter now
the space inside me. (wife of the poet Varatunkaramapantiyan, 76)
The First Rule
If it happens, it happens.
If it doesn't, it doesn't.
If you try to force it to happen,
you're left with an arrow in your heart. (Anonymous, 126)
Bitter-Sweet
The Tree of Life is bitter,
but it has two sweet fruits:
good poetry
and a good friend. (Anonymous, 127)
Real Kinship
Stronger, even, than the bond
that comes from having the same mother
are the bonds we make
by sharing words. (Madiki Singanna, 132)
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews