Sanjay Subrahmanyan Interview

[mahesh3]

Arasi, 100th Post! The translation was amazing, nice work....

[sureshvv]

If Chidambaram is far, you can show up at Rathnagireeswarar temple in Besant nagar on or around Sivarathri

[vgvindan]

vgvindan... Your analysis was correct. Your final observation though comes off somewhat presumptuous.
This is not poetical imagination - it is a powerful myth from long before GKB's time. And the reason these myths live on is because they cannot be debunked with some perfunctory rationalization

suresh,
When you go to bank to withdraw money, there is a requirement that you should ensure that money handed over to you is ok before you leave the cash counter; you cannot complain of shortage of notes later on.

Similarly, every generation has a duty to evaluate the legends handed down to it so that they stand the test of time. Otherwise some vested interest comes in between and inserts or deletes something. This is what happened with our legends. Many a insertions and deletions have taken place because every generation had accepted whatever is handed down to them, hook, line and sinker; now we find the bundle of note is deficient. Fortunately for us, the original creators of our legends were such personalities that even now what they said can be gleaned through.

I understand that Adi Sankaracharya once said that Puranas and epics are like a jungle where treasures are available but how to search is the question. This enquiring attitude is what imparted to us by upanishads - let us not lose them. Otherwise, as the time passes, the legends will be consigned to dustbin by future generations. Let us dust them whenever we find something not consistent with intelluectual analysis.

There is a strong evidence that GKB had tinkered with the legend of Tirunalaippovar in order to create the Nandanar Charitram; there is also evidence that he was asked not to do so, but he went ahead. Now we tend to believe whatever given in the Nandanar Charitram as what really transpired. What a pity?

Though this may be beyond the scope of the thread, I felt it necessary to respond to your remarks.

[mohan]

arasi madam - as a non-tamil reader I really apprecated the transalation!

[arasi]

Mohan,
Thanks for your post from far away Didgery doo land. Or, should I say, the synthesizer?

Mahesh3, thanks once again.
Rajaglan and Srinivasa sarma too.

[Suji Ram]

Arasi,
Let me thank you too. After your translation I can actually go back and read the original in tamizh easily- knowing its content. My level of reading tamizh is that of a 2 nd grader.

[badari]

Thanks Arasi. Nice recap of experiences and thanks to Sanjay for pouring his heart out.

[arasi]

Thanks Badari.
As they say, it's never too late

Sanjay has given many interviews of late.This was from nine years ago, as you can see...

[sureshvv]

Missed this when it was first posted. But here goes

There is a strong evidence that GKB had tinkered with the legend of Tirunalaippovar in order to create the Nandanar Charitram; there is also evidence that he was asked not to do so, but he went ahead. Now we tend to believe whatever given in the Nandanar Charitram as what really transpired. What a pity?

In your quest for evidence, you are missing the forest for the trees. "Tinkering" is pejorative and it should called creative license. There are plenty of people who believe in mythology literally but that should not be held against the myth makers.

When you go to bank to withdraw money, there is a requirement that you should ensure that money handed over to you is ok before you leave the cash counter; you cannot complain of shortage of notes later on.

Yep. And it seems rather than counting the money, you are staring at the receipt upside down.