Sunday, June 03, 2007

A Cryptic Expression of Love

Expressing love, is what young, enthusiastic and vibrant lovers apply their thoughts and brains to impress each other. The creativity that comes out is always admired and awaited by the opposite party. The suspense/hidden clues in such expressions of love are the interestings bits that really takes people close to each other. Discovering the hidden pieces is the real blast of the such expressions, that gives each other the adrenaline booster. More cryptic the message, more is the entertainment in deciphering it.

There is one such cryptic love message, in Tamil, where the guy write to his lover a cryptic message that is very interesting to decipher. The song is from the famous Viveka Chintamani, the author of this work is unknown, but the message is really out of this world and deciphering requires a real effort, the result of which is really astounding. The song goes like this





"Oru Naangum Eeraraiyum Ondrae Kelaai

Unmaiyaai Aiaraiyum Araiyum Kaetaen
Irunaangum Moodrudanae Ondrum Solvaai
Immozhiyai Kaetapadi Eendhaai Aayin
Perunaangum Arunaangum Peruvaai Pennae
Pinnae Ore Mozhi Pugala Vaendaam Indrae
Sarinaangum Paththum Ore Padhinaindhaalae
Sagikka Mudiyaathini En Sagiyae Maanae"


The message is that the guy asks his lover for a kiss. If she agrees, she will win his heart. But the poet has used his creativity and put in a really interesting puzzle to solve. That his request requires a lot of thought and intelligence to decrypt the message.

Oru, Ore - One
Naangu - Four
Arai - Half,
Eer - Two, so Eer Arai - Two Halves
Kaetaen - Ask
Iru - Two
Moodru - Three
Solvaai - Tell
Immozhi - These words, request
Kaetapadi - As requested
Eendhaai Aayin- Give as requested
Peru - Big, Dominant
Aru - Six
Peruvaai - Obtain, Receive
Pennae - Girl, Young lady
Pinnae - Later
Mozhi - Language, Speech
Pugala - Utter
Vendaam - Negation of an action
Indrae - Today
Sari - Correctness, Exactness
Paththu - Ten
Padhinaindhu - Fifteen
Sagikka Mudiyadhu - Intolerable
En - My
Sagiyae - Friend, An Equal Partner
Maanae - Deer

Lets get the literal meaning first so that we could uncover the clues one by one, that we get the pleasure of solving an interesting puzzle, rather the one that relates to love :)

The literal meaning is,

"One Four plus Two Halves plus One (Six) Hear to what I say
Truly I requested for Five Halves and a Half (Three)
You tell Two Fours plus Three plus One (Twelve)
If you hear to these and give as requested
You will get a big Four plus six Fours (Twenty Eight), young lady
You don't not tell anything else today
Because of the Four plus Ten plus One Fifteen (Twenty Nine)
I am not able to tolerate it, my deer like soft young lady"

The numbers are really cryptic ain't it? Especially, the total in the brackets. Now lets, decipher the numbers and solve the puzzle. The clue to all the answers in this song lies in the concepts used in astrology.
  • The first line totals to Six - One Four + Two Halves (One) + One. In this song the poet refers to the sixth zodiac sign which is the Virgo (Kanni in Tamil), and refers to the virgin, the young lady.
  • The second line totals to Three - Five Halves + Half. Here, the third day of the week, Tuesday (Sevvaai in Tamil, which also means mouth with rosy lips)
  • The third line totals to Twelve - Two Fours + Three + One, which refers to the Zodiac star called Uththiram that also means Acceptance, Consent in Tamil
  • Line four is already translated, so we will see the fifth line, which totals to Twenty Eight - Four + Six Fours that refers to the twenty eighth year in the Tamil Calendar which is Jaya that means Victory.
  • We will skip the sixth line and move on the the seventh that totals to Twenty Nine - Four + Ten + Fifteen, that refers the again to the year in the Tamil Calendar. Manmadha (A person similar to Cupid). The last line is done.

Now lets gather our clues and put them together to find out the solution to the puzzle. The guy says, "You young lady, I request you to give me your rosy lips. If you accept and heed to what I request, you will have victory in winning my heart. You need not tell me anything else (reasons or denial) today because, I am not able to torelate the effects of manmadha arrow (cupid's arrow)."

Spectacular puzzle and the answer to it!!! If such creativity could be found in old texts like Viveka Chinthamani, our language and tradition has a very rich and excellent stuff to be admired for years to come. I am not sure if the girl consented to this, or even decrypted this message, but the creativity and the intelligence of the guy is truly amazing and out of this world.

More to come, until then...

14 comments:

Thiru said...

hey prabhu
that is simply fascinating one. It would be nice if you can mention in your post the approximate time (in centuries) of when this poem could have been written.

anyway now we are living in umma ummamma umma ummamma era...

it is a real archaeological dig man! keep them coming.

Sree's Views said...

Prabhu..
Thanks for telling me abt the post in my blog .
Naan 2 murai unga post a padichitten....it was like a puzzle unfolding...
Innum rendu murai padichittu comment podaren :)
good work , Prabhu :)

balar said...

பிரபு, அருமையான பதிவு.
விவேக சிந்தாமணியும் சீவக சிந்தாமணியும் ஒன்றா இல்லை வேறு வேறா..
தங்களுடையு விளக்க உரை மிகவும் அருமை..இதை எழுதியவர் புதிர் புல்வராக இருப்பார் என்று நினைக்கின்றேன்..:)

ஹ்ம்ம்..இதை படித்ததும் ஒன்று மட்டும் புரிகிறது.அந்த காலத்தில் காதலன் தான் காதலியிடம் புதிர் புனைகிறான்..இந்த காலத்தில் பெண்கள் தான் புதிர் போடுகிறார்கள்..:)).

btw, நான் பார்த்த் முதலாவது தமிழில் புலமை பெற்ற நண்பர் Sowmya அவர்கள். அவர்களுடைய சாதாரண உரைநடையே சங்கதமிழ் கலந்து இருக்கும்.:)

Thiya said...

Woah!! That is way too good! [:)]

Kaizen10 said...

Prabhu, Your posts are very facinating. Request for you. Is it possible for you to write about temple architectures like importance of temple,connecting space & earth etc...? I couldn't find better person to ask than you.

R. Prabhu said...

@Thiru
Thanks for coming by! Nice suggestion, sure will try to give the approximate time during which these poems were created, but as of Viveka Chintamani I did not get any authoritative answers as to its time. So did not mention the time period it was written

@Sree
Hope you unfold the puzzle to its fullest. Thanks!

@Balar
Thanks Balar! Viveka Chintamani and Seevaga Chitamani are different. Seevaga Chitamani was written by Thiruthakka Devar, whereas the author of the Viveka Chintamani is unknown. Viveka Chintamani is basically a work that inculcates morals and virtues. Whereas Seevaga chintamani resembles an epic about Seevagan

@Thiyagaraj
Thanks buddy!

@Kaizen10
Welcome to my blog. Thanks for coming by! Sure will do, I am doing a research, when I am free. It requires a lot of time to actually find out the reasons behind it. But surely post those details as and when I find them. Some have to be believed, some have to be understood. We might not be able to find out reasons for all, but we find fascinating facts about them. Will surely post those details the upcoming posts. Once again Thanks for visiting!

kvijayendran said...

Again, a great article by you da.

R. Prabhu said...

Thanks Vijayendra!!!

Anonymous said...

That was interesting. I think Tamil literature has many such puzzles. Poet Kaalamegam has written many such verses called"siledais" in venbaa format. Of course, they are not as complicated as the one u have shown.

R. Prabhu said...

@Anonymous
Thank you very much. Indeed Kaalamega Pulavar has also such interesting puns, there are also a few posts about him. Hope you will like them too. Thanks once again!

Sowmiyanarayanan said...

Dear Mr. Prabhu,
Your act of decrypting [i think that is what you have done] this stanza definitely requires an accolade. Wow great job. thanks for this good work.

R. Prabhu said...

Thank you very much Mr.Sowmiyan

Anonymous said...

well mr.prabhu i have discovered the name of the author of the book " vivieka Chintamani" after years of search, its open to debate.

contact me soon. my name is bala- 98801 55554

appreciate your decoding its verses, good job.

R. Prabhu said...

Thanks Bala