Legends of our Land - Subramanya Bharathi
Subramanya Bharathi
Subramanya Bharathi 1882 - 1921 Subramanya Bharathi (Tamil) (December 11, 1882 - September 11, 1921) was a Tamil poet from Tamil Nadu, India, freedom fighter, and reformer. Known as Mahakavi Bharathiyar (the laudatory epithet Maha Kavi meaning Great Poet in Tamil), he is celebrated as one of India's greatest poets. Bharathi was prolific and adept in both the prose and poetry forms, and his rousing compositions helped rally the masses to support the Indian independence movement in South India. Bharathi lived during an eventful period of Indian history; his contemporaries included other prominent leaders of the Indian independence movement such as Mahatma Gandhi, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Sri Aurobindo, and V.V.S.Aiyar.
Early life
The house in Ettayapuram where Bharathi was born Bharathi was born Chinnasami Subramania Iyer to Chinnaswaamy Iyer and Lakshmi Ammaal on December 11, 1882, in the Tamil village of Ettayapuram. Bharathi was educated at a local high school called "The M.D.T.Hindu College." He learned music from a very young age and at 11 and was invited to a conference of Ettayapuram court poets and musicians for composing poems and songs. It was here that he was conferred the title of "Bharathi" (Goddess of learning). Bharathi lost his mother at the age of 5 and his father at the age of 16. He married his cousin Chellamal in 1897, at the age of fourteen. After an early marriage, Bharathi, curious to see the outside world, left for Benares in 1898. The next four years of his life served as a passage of discovery when Bharathi discovered a country in tumult outside his small hamlet. Bharathi worked as a school teacher in Madurai Sethupathy High School (Now a Higher Secondary School) and as a journal editor at various times in his life. Ettayarpuram was close to Panchalamkurichi, which was the birthplace of the great Tamil freedom fighter "Veera Pandia Kattabomman." Influenced by the legendary hero, Bharathi developed patriotic fervor, hatred for British domination, and casteism at a very young age itself.
Nationalist
During his stay in Benares, also known as Kashi and Varanasi, Bharathi was exposed to Hindu spirituality and nationalism. Bharathi's enquiring mind began to see beyond the social taboo superstition that held sway amidst the orthodox South Indians. In December 1905, he attended the All India Congress Session held in Benaras. On his way back, he met Sister Nivedita, Vivekananda's spiritual daughter, and came under her spell. From her arose another of Bharathi's iconoclasm, his stand to recognize the privileges of women. The emancipation of women exercised Bharati's mind greatly. He visualized the 'new woman' as an emanation of Shakti, a willing helpmate of man to build a new earth through cooperative endeavor.
During this period, Bharathi understood the need to be well-informed of the world outside and took avid interest in the world of journalism and the print media of the West. Bharathi joined as Assistant Editor of the Swadeshamitran, a Tamil daily in 1904. By April 1907, he had started and became the editor of the Tamil weekly India and the English newspaper Bala Bharatham.
These papers not only served the purpose of enlightening the masses on the affairs of the nation and the world outside but also were a means of expressing Bharathi's creativity, which began to peak during this period. Bharathi started to publish his poems regularly in these editions. From complex religious hymns to rousing nationalist anthems, from contemplations on the relationship between God and Man to songs on the Russian and French revolutions, Bharathi's subjects were truly diverse.
He was simultaneously up against personal and social poverty, society for its mistreatment of the downtrodden people, and the British for occupying India. Though he lived a life of abject poverty, he was always positive.
Militancy
Bharathi participated in the historic Surat Congress in 1907, which deepened the divisions within the Indian National Congress between the militant wing led by Tilak and Aurobindo and the 'moderates.' Subramanya Bharathi supported Tilak and Aurobindo together with V. O. Chidambaram Pillai and Kanchi Varathaachariyar. Tilak openly supported armed resistance against the British.
Bharathi immersed himself in writing and in political activity. In Madras, in 1908, he organized a public meeting to celebrate Swaraj (independence) Day. His nationalistic poems Vanthe Matharam, Enthayum Thayum, Jaya Bharath were printed and distributed free to the audience.
Exile in Pondicherry
In 1908, he gave evidence in the case which had been instituted by the British against V.O. Chidambaram Pillai. In the same year, the proprietor of the 'India' was arrested in Madras. Faced with the prospect of arrest, Bharathi escaped to Pondicherry, which was under French rule.
From there, Bharathi edited and published the weekly journal India, Vijaya, a Tamil daily, Bala Bharatha, an English monthly, and Suryothayam a local weekly of Pondicherry. The British tried to suppress Bharathi's output by stopping remittances and letters to the papers. Both India and Vijaya were banned in British India in 1909.
During his exile, Bharathi had the opportunity to mix with many other leaders of the militant wing of the Independence movement such as Aurobindo, Lajpat Rai, and V.V.S. Aiyar, who had also sought asylum under the French. Bharathi met with Aurobindo in Pondicherry, and the discussions often turned to religion and philosophy. He assisted Aurobindo in the Arya journal and later Karma Yogi in Pondicherry. Bharathy met with Mahatma Gandhi in 1919 in Rajaji's home.
Bharathi entered British India near Cuddalore in November 1918 and was promptly arrested. He was imprisoned in the Central prison in Cuddalore in custody for three weeks - from 20 November to 14 December.
Literary career
Bharathi had an exceptional love and devotion towards his mother tongue Tamil language, which he considered as the sweetest of all the languages known to him. He has written in one of his poems, 'Of all the languages I know, I have not heard a sweeter language than Tamil.' He was fluent in many languages, including Bengali, Hindi, Sanskrit, Kutchi, French, and English, and frequently translated works from other languages into Tamil. He had a voracious appetite for learning ancient and contemporary Tamil literature and derived astonishing insights from the ancient poems. He emphasized that musicians should not sing songs which they don't understand and should learn from Hindustani musicians how to train their voices. He was not a simple propagandist poet; however, noble his patriotic and humanist sentiments were. He was also a seeker of beauty and philosophic wisdom. As a national poet, as a poet with a universal vision, and as a poet of beauty and truth, he is comparable to some of the great poets of the world. Hence his claim to a lofty place in the great galaxy of world poetry.
A number of his creations are about nature. Both Bharathi and Shelley were soaring spirits and loved the sparrow and the skylark respectively as symbols of freedom. But Bharathi is not content with the mindless joy of the sparrow; he wants to fly in the sky like a bird so that he can see the endless hills, springs, rivers, and the sea. But the human body does not give him full freedom, and he also recognizes that the very growth of human civilization is a hindrance to experiencing the bliss of the bird. But he never wants to surrender his humanity. He is alive to the fact that in the world of the bird, there is no intellectual joy of man. Whereas Shelley is unwilling to return to the earth because of its sadness (our sincerest laughter with some pain is fraught), Bharathi's sparrow asks man to give up not life but desire. Bharathi's poetry is not an escape from but into life.
Nationalistic poems
Bharathi is considered a nationalistic poet due to his number of poems of the patriotic flavor through which he extolled the people to join the Independence struggle. He wrote "The glorious Himalayas are ours and there is none to compare with it on this earth... The good river Ganges is our river and there is no river to rival its goodness...
Instead of merely being proud of his country he also outlined his vision for a free India. He wrote 'When you say the name of Bharat you will lose your fear of your enemies... We will make weapons, produce good paper, we will build big factories and create great schools. We will never rest, nor sleep; we will be truthful and excel...'
Bharathi's strong nationalistic sense may be illustrated by this:
We may have thousand of sects; that, however, does not justify a foreign invasion. By Kabiraj
Religious and philosophical poems
Bharathi produced such masterpieces as Kannan Paattu (The Song
From India, Madras
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4Subramanya Bharathi
Subramanya Bharathi 1882 - 1921 Subramanya Bharathi (Tamil) (December 11, 1882 - September 11, 1921) was a Tamil poet from Tamil Nadu, India, freedom fighter, and reformer. Known as Mahakavi Bharathiyar (the laudatory epithet Maha Kavi meaning Great Poet in Tamil), he is celebrated as one of India's greatest poets. Bharathi was prolific and adept in both the prose and poetry forms, and his rousing compositions helped rally the masses to support the Indian independence movement in South India. Bharathi lived during an eventful period of Indian history; his contemporaries included other prominent leaders of the Indian independence movement such as Mahatma Gandhi, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Sri Aurobindo, and V.V.S.Aiyar.
Early life
The house in Ettayapuram where Bharathi was born Bharathi was born Chinnasami Subramania Iyer to Chinnaswaamy Iyer and Lakshmi Ammaal on December 11, 1882, in the Tamil village of Ettayapuram. Bharathi was educated at a local high school called "The M.D.T.Hindu College." He learned music from a very young age and at 11 and was invited to a conference of Ettayapuram court poets and musicians for composing poems and songs. It was here that he was conferred the title of "Bharathi" (Goddess of learning). Bharathi lost his mother at the age of 5 and his father at the age of 16. He married his cousin Chellamal in 1897, at the age of fourteen. After an early marriage, Bharathi, curious to see the outside world, left for Benares in 1898. The next four years of his life served as a passage of discovery when Bharathi discovered a country in tumult outside his small hamlet. Bharathi worked as a school teacher in Madurai Sethupathy High School (Now a Higher Secondary School) and as a journal editor at various times in his life. Ettayarpuram was close to Panchalamkurichi, which was the birthplace of the great Tamil freedom fighter "Veera Pandia Kattabomman." Influenced by the legendary hero, Bharathi developed patriotic fervor, hatred for British domination, and casteism at a very young age itself.
Nationalist
During his stay in Benares, also known as Kashi and Varanasi, Bharathi was exposed to Hindu spirituality and nationalism. Bharathi's enquiring mind began to see beyond the social taboo superstition that held sway amidst the orthodox South Indians. In December 1905, he attended the All India Congress Session held in Benaras. On his way back, he met Sister Nivedita, Vivekananda's spiritual daughter, and came under her spell. From her arose another of Bharathi's iconoclasm, his stand to recognize the privileges of women. The emancipation of women exercised Bharati's mind greatly. He visualized the 'new woman' as an emanation of Shakti, a willing helpmate of man to build a new earth through cooperative endeavor.
During this period, Bharathi understood the need to be well-informed of the world outside and took avid interest in the world of journalism and the print media of the West. Bharathi joined as Assistant Editor of the Swadeshamitran, a Tamil daily in 1904. By April 1907, he had started and became the editor of the Tamil weekly India and the English newspaper Bala Bharatham.
These papers not only served the purpose of enlightening the masses on the affairs of the nation and the world outside but also were a means of expressing Bharathi's creativity, which began to peak during this period. Bharathi started to publish his poems regularly in these editions. From complex religious hymns to rousing nationalist anthems, from contemplations on the relationship between God and Man to songs on the Russian and French revolutions, Bharathi's subjects were truly diverse.
He was simultaneously up against personal and social poverty, society for its mistreatment of the downtrodden people, and the British for occupying India. Though he lived a life of abject poverty, he was always positive.
Militancy
Bharathi participated in the historic Surat Congress in 1907, which deepened the divisions within the Indian National Congress between the militant wing led by Tilak and Aurobindo and the 'moderates.' Subramanya Bharathi supported Tilak and Aurobindo together with V. O. Chidambaram Pillai and Kanchi Varathaachariyar. Tilak openly supported armed resistance against the British.
Bharathi immersed himself in writing and in political activity. In Madras, in 1908, he organized a public meeting to celebrate Swaraj (independence) Day. His nationalistic poems Vanthe Matharam, Enthayum Thayum, Jaya Bharath were printed and distributed free to the audience.
Exile in Pondicherry
In 1908, he gave evidence in the case which had been instituted by the British against V.O. Chidambaram Pillai. In the same year, the proprietor of the 'India' was arrested in Madras. Faced with the prospect of arrest, Bharathi escaped to Pondicherry, which was under French rule.
From there, Bharathi edited and published the weekly journal India, Vijaya, a Tamil daily, Bala Bharatha, an English monthly, and Suryothayam a local weekly of Pondicherry. The British tried to suppress Bharathi's output by stopping remittances and letters to the papers. Both India and Vijaya were banned in British India in 1909.
During his exile, Bharathi had the opportunity to mix with many other leaders of the militant wing of the Independence movement such as Aurobindo, Lajpat Rai, and V.V.S. Aiyar, who had also sought asylum under the French. Bharathi met with Aurobindo in Pondicherry, and the discussions often turned to religion and philosophy. He assisted Aurobindo in the Arya journal and later Karma Yogi in Pondicherry. Bharathy met with Mahatma Gandhi in 1919 in Rajaji's home.
Bharathi entered British India near Cuddalore in November 1918 and was promptly arrested. He was imprisoned in the Central prison in Cuddalore in custody for three weeks - from 20 November to 14 December.
Literary career
Bharathi had an exceptional love and devotion towards his mother tongue Tamil language, which he considered as the sweetest of all the languages known to him. He has written in one of his poems, 'Of all the languages I know, I have not heard a sweeter language than Tamil.' He was fluent in many languages, including Bengali, Hindi, Sanskrit, Kutchi, French, and English, and frequently translated works from other languages into Tamil. He had a voracious appetite for learning ancient and contemporary Tamil literature and derived astonishing insights from the ancient poems. He emphasized that musicians should not sing songs which they don't understand and should learn from Hindustani musicians how to train their voices. He was not a simple propagandist poet; however, noble his patriotic and humanist sentiments were. He was also a seeker of beauty and philosophic wisdom. As a national poet, as a poet with a universal vision, and as a poet of beauty and truth, he is comparable to some of the great poets of the world. Hence his claim to a lofty place in the great galaxy of world poetry.
A number of his creations are about nature. Both Bharathi and Shelley were soaring spirits and loved the sparrow and the skylark respectively as symbols of freedom. But Bharathi is not content with the mindless joy of the sparrow; he wants to fly in the sky like a bird so that he can see the endless hills, springs, rivers, and the sea. But the human body does not give him full freedom, and he also recognizes that the very growth of human civilization is a hindrance to experiencing the bliss of the bird. But he never wants to surrender his humanity. He is alive to the fact that in the world of the bird, there is no intellectual joy of man. Whereas Shelley is unwilling to return to the earth because of its sadness (our sincerest laughter with some pain is fraught), Bharathi's sparrow asks man to give up not life but desire. Bharathi's poetry is not an escape from but into life.
Nationalistic poems
Bharathi is considered a nationalistic poet due to his number of poems of the patriotic flavor through which he extolled the people to join the Independence struggle. He wrote "The glorious Himalayas are ours and there is none to compare with it on this earth... The good river Ganges is our river and there is no river to rival its goodness...
Instead of merely being proud of his country he also outlined his vision for a free India. He wrote 'When you say the name of Bharat you will lose your fear of your enemies... We will make weapons, produce good paper, we will build big factories and create great schools. We will never rest, nor sleep; we will be truthful and excel...'
Bharathi's strong nationalistic sense may be illustrated by this:
We may have thousand of sects; that, however, does not justify a foreign invasion. By Kabiraj
Religious and philosophical poems
Bharathi produced such masterpieces as Kannan Paattu (The Song
From India, Madras
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