THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ACUMENS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE TWO CHARACTERS MANIMEGALAI AND
KAYASANDIGAI
Dr. B.Jaiganesh
Assistant Professor & Head, Department of Tamil
College of Science and Humanities, SRM Institute of Science and Technology Mail id - [email protected]
Abstract:
Just about all epics across history have left the image of a female as a myth or archetype for posterity. The oral and written traditions of civilization have passed down these legendary archetypes. Religions have been linked to all of these legends. To explore what has been done to and through few female characters in the Epics written in Tamil Classical Literature is the objective of this research paper.
Keywords: Epic, Manimegalai, Cultural Gaps,Chithrapathi, Kayasandigai, female perspectives, Psychological perspectives
INTRODUCTION
The epic tradition within the world classical languages has been advanced as a noteworthy variant. Epics are written in classics with descriptive linguistics outlined by varied sequences through long sequent verses. Epics written in the Greek, Tamil, and Northern languages reflect the lifestyles of their society, and the spiritual political aspects of the community are also reflected through it. Institutionalized religions adopted the epic tradition to advance and propagate their principles and doctrines.
In the advanced Epic tales, solely the male authority is shown within the male and feminine narratives. Women are portrayed as adorable chaste women on the one hand and prostitutes who are rejected by society on the other. Morality, chastity, and innocence have all been hailed as feminine virtues. When a woman deviates from these moral norms and is considered a pervert, she is excluded from society. The verdicts of punishment for her are given there as well.
Almost all the epics written over time have left the identity of a woman as only a myth or archetypes to posterity. These archetypes in the myths have been perpetuated in the oral and written traditions of society. All of these myths are found to be related to religions.
Myths are set to be religious; Causality is seen as irrelevant, naturalistic, and narrative. These are based on what is believed to be some secret/sacred in the Ancient community. Further myths are believed to belong to the pre-literacy oral community. They reflect and maintain the culture of the community in which they originated. (R. Prema, ThonmaMeetturuvaakkangal, PenniyamAgalamum, Aazhamum, p.781)
This claim puts forward the notion of myth. Archetypes continue to exist as a collection of stories told over time as an extension of written narratives. There are various connections perceptible between these myths and human psychology.
Sigmund Freud engaged in psychoanalysis 1. Myths Dreams of Primitive Mankind, 2.The
Transfiguration of suppressed Oedipus Guilt.(K.Panjaangam,
PudhiyaKootpaaduNookkilPazhanthamizhIlakkiyam, p. 52)
The way of saying the almanac is known. Such myths the archetypes have many levels in the world epic tradition, Indian epic tradition, and Tamil epic tradition. Such myths are also found to be derived from the written epic tradition. Mythical characters have been redesigned from time to time based on modern psychological thinking. The element of the curse has been presented as one important symbol of mythical characters.
MANIMEGALAI- AN EPIC
Silappathikaram and Manimegalai, which are considered to be significant epics in the Tamil epic tradition, embody epic traits that embody various thought traditions. Manimegalai's Buddhist thought is more pervasive throughout the epic than Silappathikaram's Jain thought in these two epics, which are based on the roots of the ancient religions of Jainism and Buddhism.
The Manimegalai epic focuses on the Manimegalai character that highlights Buddhist thought, but the epic has also created various other significant characters. Two of these characters are essential to the narrative progression of the story of Manimegalai. Along with it the psychological background of the two characters contributes to the flow of thought of the very epic.
Both characters are created through the curse. Their psychology also works in harmony with that curse.
CHITHRAPATHI IN MANIMEGALA
Although Chithrapathi is mentioned in the Silappathikaram as Madhavi's mother, Chithrapathi's name is not mentioned anywhere in the Silappathikaram. The Manimegalai epic goes on to say that Madhavi's mother was Chithrapathi. Although Ilangovadigal has never mentioned Chithrapathi, the name Chithrapathi continues to be accepted based on the fact that Ilangovadigal and SeethalaiSathanar were together and based on the story sequencing series of the two stories and they becoming the Double Epics, the name Chithrapathi seemed to have continued as an accepted name.
Madhavi is the grandmother of Madhavi in one of the chapters of Silappathikaram, "
KadalaaduKaadhai" Madhavi of the Madhavi tradition (ft - 69) thus mentions Ilangovadigal.
Who is the Grandmother Madhavi of Madhavi is mentioned in the beginning of the AragetruKaadhaiChapter,
The Great Sage (Agastya) of the divine Podiyil hill (once) cursed indra’s son (along with urvasi), and the latter obtained redemption by displaying her skill on the stage. From the distinguished line of celestial nymphs, was descended madavi. (Silapathikaram, AranketruKathai, 1-7).
thus has Ilangovadigal documented. While Urvasi was dancing at a dance festival in the heavens, Indra's son Sayantan glanced upon Urvasi, the gaze of his made Urvasi also gaze back and their exchange of gaze made Urvasi stumble down. Seeing this, Naradhar lost his concentration and his Veena went discordant. this sequence of act infuriated the great sage Agathiyar and he cursed them all. he cursed Urvasi to be born on earth and Sayanthana to become a bamboo and Naradar'sveena to lose its artistry. (V.T. Ramasubramaniam Text, Silappathikaram, p. 51)
Born on earth as a consequence of Agathiyar's curse was Madhavi and this Madhavi can be defined as the mother of Chithrapathi, whose daughter is Madhavi, the character of Silappathikaram. Although Chithrapathi, who is presented as a descendant of the ThevalokaUrvasi dynasty, is not given an essential place in the Silappathikaram, her place in the Manimegalai though is significant.
Madhavi converts to Buddhism after Kannaki becomes a goddess after Kovalan dies. Madhavi, does not accept any other man than Kovalan in her life, and after his death, she embraces Buddhism to become an ascetic or a nun and she desires the same for her daughter Manimegalai as well and makes her convert to Buddhism. But Chithrapathi who did not like Madhavi's decision to become a nun did not Manimegalai her granddaughter to get into an ascetic life at all.
she desired Manimegalai to somehow get married to the prince of the nation, Prince Udhayakumaran. But the goddess Manimegalai kidnapped Manimegalai and gave her the Akshayapaathiram- a chalice of eternal nourishment and turned Manimegala into a solace for the starvation of human lives. Knowing this, Manimegalai's grandmother Chithrapathi puts forward words to provoke and entice Udayakumaran to fall for Manimegalai, thinking that Manimegalai should be reached to Udayakumara somehow for she believed that her clan pride will be destroyed if Manimegalai becomes an ascetic.
THE STATE OF MANIMEGALAI INFURIATES HER
When Chithrapathi, came to know that Manimegalai after embracing ascetic life had entered the city with her Chalice - the Akshayapaathiram to satiate the hunger of humanity
Chithrāpathi, Mādhavi’s mother, knew that Manimekalai had become a bhikshuni and was upset,
her chest burning as if wounded with a hot poker.
She sighed, worried and thought,
“I will stop Manimekalai from feeding people.”
Chithrāpathi’s Vow.
She told all the dancing girls,
“Isn’t it a laughable matter that Mādhavi felt sad
and entered a Buddhist monastery when Kovalan was killed? (UdhayakumaranAmbalam Pukka, Kathai, 1-10)
Thus, Saaththanaar puts forward the Chithrapathi’s mind. I don’t need to know everything that is good for this town.It is noteworthy that Chithrapathi challenged here that she will make sure that Manimegalai unites with Udayakumaran. Chithrapathi, who says that there is no connection between the nature of the chaste women and the nature of their clan, presents the reasons for it on many levels.
We are not chaste women who should suffer for the dead husband and climb his pyre and die along with him. We are people who get food from everyone and make a living. We are like beetles. After consuming the honey and running out of honey, we will go for another flower. We are not the only ones doing this. The goddess Lakshmi also like us only. In the absence of benevolence, she leaves them. In the same way she says it is our nature to leave men when they
have no wealth. She says that abandoning such caste tradition and holding ascetic is an insult on our clan.
Besides we are like a bee that avoids fragrant flowers if they have no honey.
We are like the goddess Thirumagal who deserts people when they do not have good karma.
(UdhayakumaranAmbalam Pukka Kathai, 18 – 21)
The above said is understood through these lines. She says, I will make her to belong to Udhayakumaran, snatch the begging bowl in her hand and give it to others. I will make her ride together in Udayakumaran's golden chariot. Saaththanar records that Chithrapathi uttered her vengeance that if she could not do so, she would be Courtesan living around the arena carrying bricks on her head and living with guilt, and would not enter the homes of other theatrical women.
Chithrapathi goes to Udayakumaran and urges Udayakumaran to return to Manimegala. She tries to change his mind on several levels. that time Udayakumaran tells Chithrapathi that a goddess came to him in a dream and told him to stay away from her, claiming the monastic status of Manimegala. On hearing this, Chithrapathi tells two stories that there are stories where even the gods have been misled when it comes to lust.
Chithrāpathi smiled and said,
“O, young royal prince!
Do not let those thoughts worry you. Leave them.
I can tell you that even the gods have great difficulty when they fall into the play of the wine of passion.
Indra, the king of the gods
was cursed to have a thousand eyes all over his body
when he fell in love with Ahalya the wife of the sage Gauthama.
In the Saravana pond fed by springs in the Himalayas the god Agni loved the seven wives of the sages but could not consummate his passion.
His wife Sukhadevi took the form of six of those women, all except Arundhati, and made love with Agni.
Satisfied, Agni did not desire the wives of the sages after that.
You are a prince with a strong sword. Haven’t you heard these stories?
(UdhayakumaranAmbalam Pukka Kathai, 87 – 100)
The above said lines narrates the same. In it, the story of Indra, who was cursed by Sage Gautama, and how he suffered thousand vagina all over his body. And the story of how the goddess of fire Agni Devan who developed lust for the seven wives of the sage who lived on Himalayas near Saravanapoigai and how he adorned various form for self to quench his thirst. At the end she tells Udayakumaran that he should never get stopped by any when it comes pursuit of love and he should try and get her by all means.
BOASTING ABOUT HER CLAN
When Chithrapathi narrates Udayakumaran about the greatness of the clan of hers to which Manimegalai belongs, she says, Manimegalai is not a woman, who kills herself after her husband or lover is dead, she is not someone who guards her chastity, she not who is protected by her father, husband or lover. she not one who worships solely her husband and not even the god. Manimegalai is everything but ordinary. So, she has no guard and no chastity. She is someone who will have to go up to the good halls and allow to let one see her. in front of all country people, she is to dance, sing and show off their beauty. she is to soothe the eyes and heart of the beholder. she should go to the houses of those who love her and get gold and goods from them and leave them after the material is exhausted. But now she wanders around advising and satiating the hunger of the hungry human. Subjugating her to you is the only redemption.
Prove your greatness and your duty by bringing her back to her clan. Hurry her up and subdue her as yours. Thus says Saththanar about the way Chithrapathi urges Udayakumaran.
(UdhayakumaranAmbalam Pukka Kathai, 101 – 120)
THE PSYCHE OF CHITHRAPATHI
From the public and public perspectives, Chithrapathi's activities can be structured as anti- social. From the point of view of Chithrapathi, all her activities are logical.
Descendant of the Goddess and the Queen of dancing Urvasi, the descendants of a dynasty that has not strayed from generation to generation when finally digressed the anxiety was unbearable.
Two women of a generation that lived in affluence, costumes and amazed everyone with their dance songs had digressed away today into monastic life.
Chithrapathi, who was in excruciating sorrow because her daughter Madhavi had joined monastic life after her divorce from Kovalan, could not stand the fact that her granddaughter Manimegalai, in all her youth and beauty, had also embraced monastery life and was feeding the poor.
The Prince Udayakumaran belonging to a great dynasty was the one who falls in love with Manimegala. She dreamed that thus her own dynasty would prosper and she would be able to live with the same prosperity if Udhayakumaran could unite with Manimegalai.
Chithrapathi, who has lost her ancestry, luxurious comfortable life and clan pride, is known to be suffering beyond the limits of mental anguish.
The events and stories told by Chithrapathi to change Udayakumaran's mind made this world full of circumstances. That it is human nature to make mistakes. It's a desire-inducing sight.
Even sages and gods are not immune. So Chithrapathi's character goes on to declare that this action was right in and of itself, and that the honesty of her soul and the honesty of her existence is fully displayed by her in all of her self-righteousness.
Fearing that Manimegali's desire to become an ascetic will destroy her entire clan's identity, Chithrapathi advises Udhayakumaran on many levels to pursue Manimegalai.
Her mindset is pulsing with the need to add justice to the history of generations, to the point where her generational history is to receive from everyone and live off of it, and giving others is beneath her dignity. Giving generosity to others, she claims, is an insult to her family.
Her dynasty's mission was to satisfy others and to make others happy, both intellectually and physically, and to live happily by making others happy. But Manimegalai was destroying her
clan's responsibility and heritage, which was difficult for Chithrapathi's psyche because the elements of a long heritage getting destroyed thus was such a painful sorrow unfolding before her eyes.
Individual psychology drifts away from the fact that a society clings on for itself when developing a society, as shown by the character of Chithrapathi. Individuals in a society have their own justifications, and this community is made up of such a diverse range of viewpoints.
KAYASANDIGAI
The character of Kayasandigai is an important aspect of Manimegala's story.
Kayasandigai is also a part of epic tradition's curses. Kayasandigai, a native of Kanjanapuram in the North of Heaven, travelled to the south with her husband Kanjanan to witness the riches.While she was there with her husband, she purposely damaged the celestial fruit that the sage Viruchikan had reserved for himself to ingest. The fruit could only be obtained once every twelve years, and the sage could only eat it once every twelve years. When Viruchikan, who eats just this novel fruit once every twelve years and hasn't eaten anything else for years, discovers the fruit has been destroyed by the celestial woman, Kayasandigai, he curses her. By smashing the enormous fruit with her foot, Viruchigan curses her to forget the magic of soaring in the sky, and she will suffer terribly from the disease of never being satisfied hunger. A hunger that will consume her like an unquenchable fire.Kayasandigai recognizes the agony of the curse and asks the sage for forgiveness. He promises her that after twelve years, when he consumes the fruit, she will be free of the agony of hunger sickness.
The curse of Kayasandigai ends through the AkshayaPaathiram of Manimekala. Kayasandigai, free of the curse, flies into the sky to rejoin her spouse. To get away from Udayakumaran, Manimegalai disguises herself as Kayasandigaiagi. Manimegalai, who is in the guise of Kayasadigai, is followed by Udhayakumaran, because he had realized it was Manimegalsi and not Kayasandigai. Meanwhile, Kanjanan arrives in quest of Kayasandigai, who has not yet reached heaven, and finds Udayakumaran trailing behind him. Kanjanan, not realizing the truth, murders Udayakumaran, bringing the story of Kayasandigai to a close by Saththanar.
Kayasandigai, who was on her way to heaven, was unable to get there because she flew above Vindhamalai, a mountain guarded by a spirit called Vindhakadikai, who engulfs anything that flies above the mountain. As a result, Saaththanar claims that as Kayasandigai flew above the Vindhamalai, Vindhakadikai absorbed her into the mountain.
PSYCHE OF KAYASANDIGAI
She was cursed with forgetting the power of flight and suffering from hunger for her arrogance and avarice, as well as her failure to understand the nature of the fruit and its inevitability. Although the curse of being a stone is not mentioned, the Buddhist epic Manimekala does include the curse of hunger, based on the belief of Buddhism that food is vital to mankind.
Cursed, she could not satisfy her hunger. Her husband Kanjanan plucks every fruit and berry for her but her hunger remains the same. So, he urges her to go to Pugar, a nearby city with a lot of merchants who might be able to fulfil her appetite. As a result, he leaves her, vowing to come meet her once year. Kayachandigai, who arrived in the city of Pugar, had been only eating for twelve years. Kayasandigai wanders the streets and perishes as a result of her folly.
She was carrying a hunger in her stomach that was described as a huge hunger, elephant hunger, and a starvation that nothing on the planet could satisfy. When concern for her hunger is her primary goal, she can never be concerned about her appearance or other ornaments. She didn't just have to deal with the curse of her stomach. She could only see her husband Kanchanan once a year for the next twelve years, so the curse was set to paralyze her body with hunger and lust, and she was left with nothing but the grief of having lost everything.
When she felt guilty and apologized to herself, the sentence she received was viewed as a punishment that would have a psychological impact on her. There isn't much of a difference between turning into a stone and going hungry for the rest of your life. She sees herself as an object as well. There is no big difference between being stone and becoming inanimate. When the starvation curse is lifted, she spreads her boundless wings as she soars happily and she is only imprisoned and paralyzed again.
It is noteworthy that Kayasandigai was constructed in Manimegalai as a character who lost her life till the end.
CURSES AND PSYCHOLOGICAL TECHNIQUES
The two characters, Chithrapathi and Kayasandigai, reflect the psychology of two contrasting emotions.
Chithrapathi, who realizes in the background of the instincts that the history of her generation should not be lost to herself when her granddaughter Manimegala, who was born as UrvasiMadhavi, goes to the monastery, puts forward her idea from her own justifications. As Chithrapathi's ancestry travels in the opposite direction, her psychological suffering surface via her persona, as she views the life she has lived for a long time it was crumbling in front of her.
Kayasandigai's curse is linked to everything she is connected to. Her hunger was not only stifled in her stomach. It was all about her physical appearance. She does have the appearance of a stone. When she is sent back into the mountains, all of her hunger is permanently suppressed under the premise that other hungers would be satiated after her hunger is satiated
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