Translation of
complete works of Poonthanam in to English done for the first time
By
P.R.Ramachander
(You can see English
translation of fifty stotra works
of poonthanam. Though few more
people including me have translated
Jnana Pana , this is the first time all his enchanting Stotra
rathnas have been translated in to English.)
In spite of Adhi Sankara
, who has himself composed large number of great devotional stotrams ,
being born In Kerala and in spite of the Bhakthi movement
which was full swing in neighboring Thamizh Nadu
lead by the Nayanmar’s(Shaivism) and Azhvars (Vaishnavism) , the
Bhakthi movement in Kerala started only at the end of 15th centaury.
Ofcourse Kulashekara Azhvar who wrote Mukunda Mala in Sanskrit and several
other Tamil works, belonged to Kerala.
This Bhakthi movement of Kerala was lead by four great poets viz
Thunchathu Ezhuthachan, LeelaShuka called as Bilwamangalam Samiyar
, Meppathur Narayana Bhattathiri and
Poonthanam.While Bilwamangalam and Meppathur preferred to write
in Sanskrit , Thunjathu Ezhuthachan and Poonthanam preferred to
write in Malayalam. Sri Krishna Karnamrutham of Bilwamangalam
who was one of the pioneer of Krishna Bhakthi movement , reached
the hands of the savants of Bhakthi movement of Bengal and he became popular
throughout India. But the other great writers were known only inside Kerala.
It was the great savant and Harikatha exponent of Tamil Nadu
Brahmasri Sengalipuram Anantharama Deekshithar who popularized
Narayaneeyam, the master piece of Meppaathur in Tamil
Nadu. The other two did not get the popularity
that they deserved among the devotees outside Kerala because ,
Malayalam was not understood outside Kerala. In spite of that
many people did hear about The Adhyathma Ramayanam kili pattu
of Ezhuthachan and the Jnanapana of Poonthanam.
I was
mentally instructed by Lord
GUruvayurappan to translate the works of Stotra of Poionthanam in to English. I did translate
Jnana pana about 10 years
back and poonthanam’s Bhasha Karnamrutham in 2012. I did translate a few stotra earlier and as per
the lord , I have translated all
the stotra works of poonthanam as well as Jnana pana (I have not
translated three other Pana written by him) as on today
. Poonthanam was not his name but the name of the
Nambudiri family that he belonged. We do not know his real name.
Though he did learn Sanskrit, some how, he was more interested in
Malayalam. He used to live in a village called Keezhathur
near Perinthalmanna of Kerala which was not very far away from
Guruvayur. He used to be a devotee of the mother Goddess of
Perinthalmanna, who also happened to be the Kula Deivam of the
Zamorin kings. He was not blessed with a child for a long time
after marriage. Then a son was born to him. The child passed away under
tragic circumstances on its first birthday. Being a great
devotee and a great philosopher , he decided to go to Guruvayur.
From that time onwards he became an ardent devotee of Guruvaurppan. It
was at this time when Meppathur Narayana Bhatathiri , a great sanskrt scholar
and an ardent devotee of Guruvayurappan was writing Narayaneeyam in
Guruvayur. Poonthanam also started writing his great works at that time.
Most of the works of Poonthanam were in Malayalam , few in simple
Sanskrit and four of them in Tamil. Even in Malayalam he took up for his
writing using the Pana style which was similar to the blank
poem, with very less rules governing it and written using the
conversational Malayalam rather than the Malayalam of the scholars
, which was mostly Sanskrit. Some of the great works that he
wrote were Jnana Pana, Kuchela Vrutham Pana , Santhana Gopalam Pana,
Bhasha Kasrnamrutham and Kumara Haranam Pana. Out of this Jnana Pana was
a work of extreme devotion to Lord Krishna , with Advaitha philosophy in
simple language so that it can be understood by the common people .
Bhasha Karnamrutham was prayer songs addressed to Lord Krishna. Then he
also several stotras addressed mainly addressed to Krishna, but also
addressed to Shiva as well as Goddess Parvathi.
There are many stories about how
Poonthanam was recognized by Guruvayurappan himself. It seems once when
he was reading Vishnu Sahasranamam, instead of reading Amara Prabhu (the
eternal lord) , he read Mara Prabhu(Woodden Lord) It seems Meppathur
who heard that laughed at him. It is believed that the voice of
Guruvayurappan from inside the temple ,told Meppathur, that he would
prefer to be Poonthanam’s Mara Prabhu rather than bring Meppathur’s
Amara Prabhu. Another story tells how Meppathur refused to edit the
manuscript of Poonthanam on Bhasha Karnamrutham, saying that it did not
have Vibhakthi. That day night, Meppathur became very sick and the
Lord came in his dream in told him that Poonthanam’s Bhakthi was more
dear to him. There is also a story of How Once Guruvayurappan saved
Poonthanam from robbers in the guise of the Minister of Zamorin. It seems
Poonthanam presented him his ring and next da, it appeared in
the sanctum sanctorum of Guruvayur temple and the priest was ordered to
return it to Poonthanam,. Poonthanam lived to the ripe old age of 92. When he
became unable to go to Guruvayurapan temple, the Lord himself came to
Poonthanam’s house and asked him to build a temple for him there.
Poonthanam constructed the temple on the left side of his home and called
him Vamapureswaran. It is also believed that the Lord personally came to
take Poonthanam to heaven. I am very happy to be able
to translate the following works of Poonthanam in to
English:-
2.
BHasha
Karnamrutham http://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2012/11/bhasha-karnamrutham-of-poonthanam.html
3.
Maha
lakshmi stotram http://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2015/12/mahalakshmi-stotram-in-malayalam.html
4.
Ghana Sangam or Ambika Sthavam http://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2013/02/ghana-sangam-or-ambika-sthavam-by.html
5.
Guru Sthuthi (Malayalam) of Poonthanam http://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2015/07/guru-sthuthi-malayalam-of-poonthanam.html
9.
Narayana stotram
http://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2015/12/narayana-govinda-chanting-of-gods-names.html
15.
Vandhe
Vama Puresa https://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2019/06/vandhe-vama-pureshwara-of-poonthanam_22.html
16.
Vama pureshwara sthuthi https://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2019/06/vama-puraadheesa-sthuthi-of-poonthanam.html
17.
Vama pureswara
Hare https://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2019/06/vama-pureswara-hare-of-poonthanam.html
18.
Vandhe
Vamapuresam https://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2019/06/vandhe-vama-pureswaram-of-poonthanam.html
20.
Vama pureswara
prasamsa https://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2019/06/vama-pura-prasamsa-of-poonthanam.html
21.
Krishna
Pahi maam https://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2019/06/krishna-pahi-maam-of-poonthanam.html
23.
Dwadasa nama keerthanam http://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2013/02/dwadasa-nama-keerthanam.html
30.
Narayana
Jaya Stotram https://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2019/06/narayana-jaya-stotram-of-poonthanam.html
32.
Pavana
Puresa keerthanam http://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2018/12/pavana-puresa-keerthanam-by-poonthanam.html
34.
Neeyathre
Govinda http://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2013/02/poonthanams-neeyathre-govinda-malayalam.html
35.
Naraka
Vairi Stotram http://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2018/12/naraka-vairi-stotram-prayer-to-enemy-of.html
36.
Kaanumarakanam https://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2019/06/kaanumarakanam-of-poonthanam.html
38.
Dasavathara
Stotram http://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2013/02/poonthanams-dasavathara-stotram.html
39.
Kesadhi Padha, padhaadhi kesa stotram https://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2019/06/kesadhi-padha-padathi-kesa-stotram-of.html
40.
Moola Thathwam
http://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2013/02/poonthanamsmoola-thathwam-malayalam.html
41.
Bala
Krishna Stotram https://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2019/06/balakrishna-stotram-of-poonthanam.html
43.
Naranayingane http://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2016/08/naranayingane-prayer-in-malayalam-to.html
44.
SAptha
swara keerthanam https://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2012/09/mathangi-saptha-swara-keerthanam.html
45.
Partha saradhi sthavam https://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2019/06/partha-saradhi-sthavam-of-poonthanam.html
46.
Athma bodha
Keethanam https://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2019/06/athma-bodha-keerthanam-tamil-of.html
47.
Maya
Varnanam (Tamil) https://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2013/02/poonthanams-maya-varnanamtamil.html
48.
Vasudeva
Sthuthi https://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2013/02/ponthanams-vasudeva-sthuthi-tamil.html
49.
Paarum-porum
(tamil) https://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2019/06/paarum-porum-see-suffecientcome-to-end.html
50.
Sri Ramam
bhaje (Sanskrit) https://stotrarathna.blogspot.com/2019/06/sri-ramam-bhaja-sing-about-rama-prose.html
1 comment:
Very grateful to you for your effort in providing us translation of poonthaanam s work. Namaskaarams
Post a Comment