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Written by Sri Swami Chandrashekarendra
Saraswati |
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I said Chandas is the foot of the Vedapurusa. Poetry also has its foot.
In
tamil poetry there are "iradikkural" (stanzas with two feet), naladiar
(stanzas with four feet), etc: "adi" here has the same meaning as "pada",
that is foot. Naladiar does not mean four adiyars. Great devotees are
called adiyars because they lie at the lotus feet of the Lord. (In
Sanskrit
too we have similar terms like "Acaryapada", Govindapada", and
"Bhaghavatpada". Naladiar means stanzas with four feet.
If "foot" is called "pada" or "pada" in Sanskrit, it is known as "adi"
in
tamil. (It goes without saying that "foot is the English equivalent) A
stanza
must have a certain number of feet and its metre must have a certain
number of letters or syllables. "Pada", "adi", "foot"--thus all
languages
have words with the same meaning to denote a line of a stanza. The
realisation that there is something common to all mankind, something
that shows the unity of the human race, is inwardly satisfying.
One-fourth of a mantra or a stanza is called a "pada". In Tamil one out
of
four parts is called "kal"(that is foot). The foot ("leg") forms
one-fourth of
the human body. From the head to the waist is one half of the body and
from the waist to the feet is another half. And half of the latter half,
i.e.
one fourth is "kal" in Tamil or foot (leg). The waist is called "arai"
in that
language, meaning half.
In Tamil "kal" usually means the entire leg and "padam" or "padam" is
used to denote the foot. But in some contexts kal is used in the sense
of
the foot. For instance, in terms "ullangal" and "purangal" (sole and
upper
part of the foot respectively) only the foot is referred to. In Sanskrit
too
"pada" means both leg and foot. |
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