G sankara kurup biography pdf free

Shankara Kurup worked as Malayalam teacher in many schools. Most of the works he had written are during vacation holidays. His first poem was published in But he is known most for his translation of Geethanjali to Malayalam and Odakkuzhal Flute — Collection poems published in the year for which he won the highest literary award of India - Jnanpith in the first year of its organization.

He has also led a political life and was elected as the member of Rajya Sabha in the year He served the country for the term of 5 years. When he got Jnanapith Award, he reserved a small amount of that prize money and started a new award for Malayalam known as Odakkuzhal. Now a brief note on the important works done by G. Shankara Kurup. Apart from Gitanjali, he has translated a few more great works too.

In addition to poems, he has written a few essays too. She had to marry some one else. The lover was one among the vast unknown multitude for a long time and returned to the native place in the end, vanquished by disease coughing and spitting blood. She longed to see him ; paid him a visit— just once. The watching eyes of society detected sin in the sympathy.

Seeing him suffering her eyes were full. Sankara Menon The struggle of the man came to an end in thenight. They prepared the pyre, made all the arrangements for the last journey. She was in her room, alone. Even the relief of tears had been denied to her. In her great suppressed agony she had night marish ex- perience. She felt as though the pyre was burning on her chest.

Sankara Menon The night mare was so ieal. Suppressed sorrow and sense of guilt made her mind a living pyre. Master carpenter- — Perum Tachan was an authority on carpentry, a genius. His son showed great promise with signs of outshining the father. When somebody started to cross the bridge, the doll would gradually rise from the river-level and just when he crossed the mid-point, it would spit wafer on his face.

People crowded on the soot to see this wonder. In four days another wooden doll at the other edge appeared. Before the first one opened its mouth, the second would strike a blow on its face. Everybody knew it was a master- stroke of the son and admired him. But the father took it as a personal insult. He suffered from jealousy and not a lack of humour.

Similar talents of the young man proving superior calibre caused a rift between father and son. When the village temple was to be renovated, the feudal Lord entrusted the task with the father but did not forget to give special instruction to consult the son also. Yet, they worked together. Father was engaged in some woik on the roof and was shaping a wooden rivet with the broad chisel.

Below, on the floor, the son was carving on sandalwood, the decorative figure of a lotus. A slip? This is the riddle. The tragic story is told in all its poignancy and horror, in the form of a dramatic monologue. He tries to convince himself that it was an accident ; but an inner voice protests ; his thoughts are drowned in engulfing remorse.

Reading the poem, we literally experience the psychic suffocation that awaits great men of ambition in the moments of Nemesis. But during those days depression and despondency had not devoured hopes. There is a dormant fire in labour If awakened abruptly It will explode with greater might than an atom bomb. One day, as usual, throughout the day-time he wandered in the town, leaving his sick wife at home but none was in need of a work- man.

He returned to the hut in the evening only to find that his beloved had left him for ever. Again he set out now wondering who would give him a tree to be cut into firewood for a pyre. Dreams of Revolution and ultimate redemption of tbe working class do not radiate optimism in such poems of this period. Within the period four collections and a volume of selected poems had been published.

Guptan Nair, as introduction. The poems were representative and the volume a substantial, impressive one. The idea to publish a solid volume of selected poems originated in an auspicious moment, it appears, for in the absence of such a publication, none would have thought of highlighting any other small single volume when recommenda- tions for Jnana Pith award were inviteci.

Some of the important poems included in the above volumes have already been referred to. A few more require to be looked into. It threw the wave out and on the bank it was shatlered. The wave is the symbol for a megalomaniac, a leader who does not realise that the people whom, he is supposed to lead are his strength. Discarded by them the leader is reduced to a nonentity.

They are the warriors fighting against the odds in the mighty sea, not for a moment frightened by the fierce power, a protector and destroyer in one. Then behind the coconut grove the moon peeps in. Startled, he is on all fours, starts g sankara kurup biography pdf free and slashing the bank. The rich class though they were reluctant to make sacrifices during freedom struggle, came forward to celebrate the victory.

The conflict between Marxism and Gandhism had been a psychic affliction for the poet throughout. In the dream, fierce battle between the oppressed and oppressors, blood-shed and destruction appear in all realism. Storm, lightning, thunder, floods, rains of blood — the revolution is pictured as an inevitable calamity manoevered by the very nature.

Still, that prophet of destruction deserves homage. In the first autocratic rulers of ancient Kerala, in the second, a conqueror reduced to a quarry by imminent death and in the third the ultimate nothingness of ferocious conquerors like Timur, are given as illustrative examples. Such poems, no doubt, are meant for the benefit of the present and the futme ; not for the past.

Slil, it has its own significance. Or rather, nothing is insignificant in the universe. The mountain with its lofty medi- tation, the ocean with its boisterous hilarity, the planets and stars traversing their predetermined paths of motion, birds of innumer- able colours and hues singing hilariously, intoxicated by Infinity, trees whose dreams respond to the call of creative Energy probing into the Heavens and who embrace the wind, stretch their arms to Light aud suck in the intoxicating sweetness in selfforgetful- ncss ; infinite number of creatures with their diverse instructive individual characteristics.

This unending procession is solemn and marvellous. The heights of the mountain, the vastness of the universe, the disquietude of the ocean and roar of the stonn — all these are mine too. This feeling of oneness with the essence of universe was the main psychic component in the first stage of the poetic career, and now its reemergence gives spiritual solace.

This little creature too has his great part to play and how well he is playing it! What a glorious growth! Sankara Menon The revival of faith in man gives spiritual sustenance for a renewed journey from Darkness to Light. The ways of bureaucracy have their own rigidity which is likely to produce a sense of g sankara kurup biography pdf free in a sensitive poet not used to encounters with reticence of officialdom.

Before serious estrangement occured a way out was suggested by authorities themselves. Sending reports periodically. Venue of the work was accordingly shifted to Ernakulam where construction of a house had been completed. Inhis only daughter Radha was given in marriage to Sri M. The leisurely restful life gave a new impetus to creative activity.

This coincided with a new phase of poetry also. Sanna, an old teacher of the poet knew Bengali and gave him lessons in the language. He soon acquired enough proficiency in Bengali to work on the translation with self-confidence. The translation was completed soon and was published by the Central Sahitya Academy in The cosmos as viewed by the ancient sages and the scien- tists of the present age has much in common.

The mystic sages got their vision of the inlinite universe through introspection, meditation and reasoning whereas the modern scientists have acquired the astounding vision through empirical experiments observations and mathematical calculations. Works like Mysterious universe by Sir Jamas Jeans and Expanding universe by Sir Arthur Eddington present the modern concepts of universe accepted by science.

The poet had a passion for knowledge and had gathered a general idea of these concepLs. A blending of these scientific perceptions and the revelations of the ancient sages as could be gathered from vedic Literature was taking place in the poetic imagination. This force is conceived as a cosmic momentum beyond words and imagination, manifesting itself as a whirlpool unleashing foams, flakes of which turn out to be the galaxies, stars and suns, infinite in number and beyond comprehension in magnitude.

When this ever new creative urge Began— why seek to know? Behold the wonder! Do not faint knowledge, imbecile Vanity! Blossom forth into this wonderment And satiate your being With nectareal sweetness Of universal love Ever hails the great Mercy which holds me to its heart tr. And finally it found fulfilment in the creation of the Psyche with power to recreate rem edify itself evolve to higher levels of essence and existence on primordial principles of Truth, Beauty and Duty.

Thou planted this magical gem, this psyche in me Mercifully thou chose it as thy own abode How am I to keep it pure And free from all pollutions! The second part describes a unique experience of the meditative psyche, the speaking self ; how thrilling is the experience of res- ponding to the silent music of the universe attuned to solitude!

Goddess Night appears as a ravishing Beauty in her diamond studded dazzling garment of deep blue velvet. The soft fibres rub on the skin and an electrifying thrill spreads. She is melodiz- ing the silent music of the universe, herself setting the pitches parts and refrains and providing the notations in stars. The magic of this music!

Tt unfolds the infinite universe before the eyes of the bewildered observer and his egoism evaporates like mist. Impossible to comprehend even a small nook of the limitless space which is suddenly unveiled. Could the eyes magnify visual powers ten Lhousand times, this tiny speck of individual psyche might piobably catch a glimpse of the stray samples of vast array of the stupendous variety of creations, litteied in the ever receding illusory limits.

In His presence the Dawn and the Dusk perform then- colourful dances. Birth and Death are the sentinels taking orders from Him with bowing heads. How I wish I could ever sing and sing His glory To the beat of the small drum of my heart Keeping time and rhythm Peeping into the sanctum sanctorum standing at this tower gate. But here it is as though they are beneficial as in photography.

They make the vision of cosmos possible. Setting distance to focuss propeily. Bunches of flowers with their pistil-rays rising, are abun- dant and visible everywhere the eye can reach. Some are blue, some red, some yellow and some white. The solid darkness with the glittering pollen is, indeed, marvellous. The glittering povvdei falls on the wings of my imagination and it is a virtual transfor- mation.

A mad flying dance it reaches the bunches, sucks the honey and forgets itself in toxic elation. Dipped in raining particles of light it soars to the galaxy, the milky way and rests on it. A stalk shoots forth and on the tip is seen a nodule, the glowing sun. A butter- fly is hovering around and kissing the rainbow coloured pistils. It is the earth ; on its delicate wing, by the edge, who is seen?

The vision instills humility, wisdom and wonder in the human psyche whose devout character is awakened Just a bit humility And some inner purity We might well prefix The hymn of universal Truth with this refrain ; Homage to the Glory The primordeal Root from which the resplendent universe Springs expands onwards ftr. Yasoda implored her son to shut the mouth in mortal fright.

Here the poet implores Mother nature not to shut off the vision Lruest of true and rarest of rare. Not all poems in this volume bear the mark of mystic visions and other-worldliness. Chandanakkattil Sandal wood cot is a long lyrical narrative based on a folk-tale. It tells the tragic story of a she-eaglc. It happened to swoop off a young human kid.

The touch of its tender limbs awakened the mother in her. Instead of preying on it, she placed the kid in a big hole of a sandal tree in a forest brought fruits for the kid daily. Slept with it m the hole during nights and thus brought it up with loving care. They came with axes and knives and spotted the biggest sandal tree. Relief dawned on their faces for returning empty handed would cost them their heads.

A haunted tree, they concluded. Yet one brave man with a knife to ward off the evil spirit, if any, climbed up the tree and saw in the wide hole, a pretty girl glowing like a lamp.

G sankara kurup biography pdf free

He brought her down, they felled the tree, fleeced it and carried away. They took the wonder girl with them. She had a red cloth draped on her which she now tore to pieces and dropped each shred on the route as they continued the journey. Trailing on the clues of the cloth-shreds she reached the high walled fort of the palace, beat her head on the thick walls and fell dead Years later, on a moonlit night the heir-appa- rent to the throne sat on the Sandal wood cot with his bride, the prettiest gift of the forest.

When he raised her face to kiss, a drop of tear glittered in her eyes. Happiness or grief? Who ever knows? The rejoicing and the trans- formation of the new generation inevitably require the fall of the old. The wavelike rise and fall of life is a continuous story of sacrificial fires. The poignant pathos of death and the exhilaration of the resurrection touch the inner chords of the soul.

In simpli- city and exquisite artistic imagery many hold that this poem excels all other compositions of the poet. The imagery and the picturesque descriptions have succeeded in bringing to life, the atmosphere of the socio-economic structure of medieval village life, the sylvan surroundings maintained by the agricultural communities. The poet attributes a new sceientific connotation to the term.

Indeed moon is the brother of earth and uncle of her children. They were together and very happy. And then came the pang of separation. There was ait explosion and he was lifted off to the heights. Ever since, he has been watch- ing her from there, unable to out-step the determined path. He Jongs for a reunion but knows it will never be. He watched with profound happiness her wedding with the Lord of Light.

Her children were dear to him. These young nephews had been mischievous and caused disillusionment on several occasions. But confident is he that they will prove their worthiness ultimately. He is anxiously waiting for the moment when one of them reaches his abode. I am inert inanimate, practically dead But I hope they will step in and revive me Then I will teach them to g sankara kurup biography pdf free in Peace That neither dies nor decays.

He just threw open the hatch and got out into space. Eight years had rolled on, suice he abandoned her and stepped out of the palace. All these years she was also observing a penance. Yet she was not able to conquer her egoism completely. When she knew that he was visiting the palace, a vague hope throbbed in her mind : I want nothing more Enough if he comes near, alone.

Enough if his eyes meet mine, dry of tears " But he did not come to her — that great cloud of mercy showering peace and comfort to all. She was not given her special share of solace. Setting aside all egoism and pride, she went to him and paid obeisance. Did she not deserve anything more than these two drops of nectar, for all the thirst she suffered for the past eight springs?

And then little Rahul ran upto her and exclaimed. Why mother, standing here thus alone? Father is there, in the court yard, And grandfather near him She detected in his voice the voice of his father. Lt was a painful, blissful realisation. She took his hand in hers kissed on it gently and said : Dearest! Father showed him the begging bowl and said See, this is rather too heavy For your soft hands to hold Grand father will give you the crown Wear it well.

The son followed the father without pausing for once to turn back. She did not have to wander all over the world and meditate under the Bodhi tree to attain enlightenment. She had the realisation of ultimate truth of sorrow by the very penance she observed in the palace. The poem scintillates with' radiant tragic pathos. The space-time entity of one spectacular Dusk transforms itself into a vision, the cosmic form of Nataraja in the Thandava postuie.

It is not a mere metaphor, all the same. The vision has the mystic charm of a universal character. I felt its rhythm and heard its sound and at the moment, I knew that this was the dance of Siva the Lord of dancers worshipped by the Hindus. But it has the impints of the age of rationalism and science on it and thus has a special significance linked with the modern mind and the modern needs.

Language and culture, essentially based on it are thus the common heritage of society and not the individual. The individual who boasts of Omniscience loses his head The story of Brahma. Then He will have to take the begging bowl and seek the love He had lost. Individual ego is likened to a hound on the occasions of its megalo- maniacal inflation, when it tears apart the social salvation.

Selfish motives and self centred thinking based on the individual, caste, creed nation etc. Thus Siva, in this poem is identified with Humanity at large. Every self-centred entity with a small radius not in harmony with the larger circle of humanity is destined to doom. The destructive dance of Siva has all the fury of the doomsday. Hindu fundamentalists have nothing to rejoice on accounl of this poem for this envisages the Thandava as a destructive dance of the human race pronouncing Nemesis for the discordant, self centred individuals opposed to the well-being of the community.

In this sense, it harbours the most revolutionary thinking of a modern mind It is not the new interpretation and the new metaphor that give it the unique power and charm but the quintessence of Truth and truthfulness that illuminates the soul of the reader. The two conflicting components of the psyche the meditative devout one and the revolutionary humanistic one — always demanded a reconci- liation.

To Creators for whom creations are their own re-incarna- tionsthe creative effort is also an endeavour to resolve their iimei conflicts. If this conflict were a private problem of the poet, it may not deeply touch the innermost chords of the collective mind. But, as we know, it has a collective bearing. Similarly the humanistic yearnings and hopes for the ultimate redemption of mankind also are the conscious components of collective psyche.

These passions are also satisfied and thus the poem serves as a potent pill for the ailing mind of humanity. An ancient Prophet- poet in Tamil, the Pananar poet of Sreerangam, awakened Lord Vishnu from Yoga nidra continuation of which would spell the greatest disaster, the dissolution of the universe. The Gods. Brahma, Siva and the sages tried in vain to awaken him.

The divine consorts were confident they would succeed. But their attempts also proved futile. Then goddess Saraswati came to the rescue of all suggesting that the poet would succeed where all others failed, for the words are the Supreme power. He sang to the rhythm of this drum. The Lord opened his eyes and the universe escaped total annihilation.

The Lord Vishnu is identified with the principle of Love in the poem. Love has fallen into a deep slumber. Unless love is awakened in the mind of humanity, the race will meet with ultimate annihilation. A sprouting grass is the speaking self in the poem. A small grass! Yet with what tremendous spiritual strength it springs to the surface pushing away even stones obstructing its path.

This grass is a humble member of unending procession of devotees moving to worship the Deity at the temple of Dawn. The hills and mountains listen in absolute self-abandonment. Looks as though they will run next moment in response to the call. The waves are struggling hard to break away from the ropes that fasten them to the sea.

The forests are dancing to the Lune unmindful of the loosened flowing shadows. In response to this call has arrived this tiny grass rising up from the waters, as it were, in uttei nakedness stretching its arms for the clothing. But her father hod all arrogance of nobility She loved a painter, a genius, but poor and of low lineage. The poem is in the form of a mono- logue.

He is standing near his canvas on which he has painted a portrait of Lily. Death in poems of earlier stage was viewed as the profound truth that gives meaning to life, in an impersonal philosophic vein of conjecture. But in these poems, death is viewed as an imminent inevitability with a personal signi- ficance. On one occasion the mainspring became weak.

The poem describes the reactions. The mad lover of the remote past, aftei celebrating his sixtieth birthday, watches the same darling, reading the old note of farewell, about to be crumbled to pieces and wiping tears. It was her loving care, he thinks, that gave him the will and the strength to live the life of trials and tribulations. But the inevitable must be accepted and now he exhorts : When the dark train came over the rails of life You halted it far off by holding up the red glow of your heat.

As a train is halted by the red light, death was stopped at a distance by the scarlet glow of love — this die poet fiimly believed. The glass shutters arc dim perception and vision weak. The roof is roll ing greying termites thrive on it wringlcs and signs of age The hour of departure is awaited. The call may come any time. The traveller playing the tunes on his flute Will arrive and summon me I will set out forthwith No patience to linger on Under the pretext of locking the door.

The poems bespeak of a symptomatic obsession which is evidence not for unconcern but for tormenting anguish and this very fact is the secret of their appeal and charm. Yet natural devoutness is the unfailing source of solace. He had left it in the hole of the tree when duty required him to take Panchajanya and Sudarsana. Now lie has abandoned them anxious to return to the music divine.

The image has a bearing on the poetic mind. A return to the old Flute of devoutness is an inevitability. The unique honour was confirred on G for his volume of poetic compositions, the Flute Otakkuzhal. The first Jnanapith award has a special significance. It was to be awarded for the best work of a living author in any of the Indian Languages, written during the span of thirty years from Certain eminent works in Hindi, Bengali, Kannada and Telugu etc.

Compared to some of the richest literatures in the regional languages in India Malayalam has only very modest claims to superior excellence. Tamil is the oldest of South Indian Languages and can be proud of a hoary past with unparallelled wealth of ancient literature. A poet from the smallest of states to secure the first award was a surprise to many.

It was a moment of glory for all who speak Malayalam and an occasion for rejoicing. Kerala Sahitya Academy had written to the award committee that no book in Kerala written within the period, de- served the coveted prize. Such was the opposition the poet had to face in his home-land. Now looking g sankara kurup biography pdf free, an unbiased critic will be convinced that the seathing criticism against the works of G was most undeserved.

There was a three-member committee entrusted with the responsibility of sending recommendations regarding books in Malayalam— Dr. Krishna Warner as convener and Dr. Nayar and Suranad Kunjan Pillai as members. The responsibility of explaining the merits of the work and the reason for such opposition on home-front, bad fallen on Sri Warrier.

The work had been translated into Hindi in a 78 MA. Mr Ravi Varma a journalist and writer and Smt B. Mary, a scholar m Hindi but not known as a writer. Veerendra Kumar M. Sanu K. Satchidanandan M. Paloor Subhash Chandran K. Meera Prabha Varma K. Ramanunni S. Ramesan Nair V. Madhusoodanan Nair Omchery N. Pillai George Onakkoor M. Thomas Mathew E.

Ramakrishnan Malayalam literature. Literary Award O. Aymanam John Babu Bharadwaj B. Suhara B. Sandhya C. Radhakrishnan C. Balakrishnan C. Raman Pillai C. Sreeraman Chandramathi Cherukad E. Harikumar E. Vasu G. Indugopan George Onakkoor Gracy I. Kaimaparamban K. Baby Arch Deacon Koshy K. Mohana Varma K. Ezhuthachan K. Nirmal Kumar K.

Ramanunni K. Meera K. Rekha K. Surendran K. Joseph Kalarickal K. Govindan M. Mukundan M. Sukumaran M. Mohanan N. Pisharody N. Chellappan Nair N. Mohammed N. Madhavan Nandanar Narayan O. Vijayan Omchery N. Pillai Oyyarathu Chandu Menon P. Ayyaneth P. Surendran P. Mathews P. Balakrishnan P. Kesavadev P. Nathan P. Shyamala P. Hareesh S. Rajeevan T.

Padmanabhan T. Kochubava T. Khader U. Ayyappan A. Sreehari A. Shankara Kurup Irayimman Thampi K. Ayyappa Paniker K. Kesava Pillai K. Appan M. Kakkad N. Kurup Olappamanna Subramanian Namboothirippad P. Kunhiraman Nair P. Parameswara Iyer Unnayi Variyar V. Madhusoodanan Nair V. Balakrishna Panicker V. Thomas C. Jose C. Sreekantan Nair Cherukad G.

Sankara Pillai K. Muhammed M. Govindan Nalapat Narayana Menon S. Puram Sadanandan Thoppil Bhasi T. Gopinathan Nair V. Malayath Appunni P. Annie Thayyil C. Ahmad Moulavi C. Venkiteswaran Joseph Mundassery K. Daniel K. Appan K. Sankaran K. Damodaran K. Capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future. Uploaded by Public Resource on January 22, Hamburger icon An icon used to represent a menu that can be toggled by interacting with this icon.

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