Empress Kali

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam – 13 February   2016

Kotravai( Kali) God of Desert region

Lankan War – Myth or Legend

Recent reports highlight the ‘Lion’ connection claimed by Sinhalese of Sri Lanka:

 The Lion In The Sinhalese Imagination: Bestiality, Incest & New Beginnings by Prof. R.S.Perinbanayagam and The Tragicomic 'Sinha-Le' Tribe by Sharmini Serasinghe. There has been no parallel about the Tamil Community’s animalistic mind order. As Sri Lankans we need to maintain this balance at the subjective level  - so as to provide a level platform on which Sri Lankan issues are presented. Not showing  the outcomes of our work – does not mean the value is lost. The value of genuine work is raised to the higher level. When such work is intellectual, we need to maintain the balance of the base. In one minded group – this balance is on the basis of rights and wrongs or the side we see through our physical senses – amounting to direct current observation -  as ‘external’ and the picture within based on our Truth/Experience.

Where there are cultural differences  within a group that is recognized as one – we need two groups – one seeing one side of the coin and the other the other side – both being required to be ‘current’ observations. The picture is incomplete in terms of democracy – when we go back to the past and bring the past as is into the present. The Lion claim by Sinhalese was matched by the Tiger claim by Tamils – both invoking the animal in man. Any inquiry into that – as if it were current – would continue to feed the animal in both sides.

Ms Sharmini Serasinghe is asking the question about cultural deterioration as follows:

‘It is indeed ironic and tragically hilarious, that while Sri Lanka boasts of a 2500 year-old culture, and one of the highest literacy rates in Asia (the ability to read and write), those claiming relationship to a four-legged beast (lion) today; its 'Sinha-Le' tribe, is unable to separate allegory and myth, from fact. After all, the ability to read and write doesn't guarantee intelligence, common sense or wisdom, does it?

What is most hilarious is that, by claiming bloodline to a beast, they are also admitting to being subhuman, the qualities of which, they have no qualms about displaying unashamedly, in the public arena. Is this what our 2500 year-old culture has produced?

The Hindu-Tamil parallel gives us the message that there is a god as well as animal within every human. The higher mind order leads us to the god within and the lower mind order – to the animal within. There are no rights and wrongs common to the whole group but the intrinsic qualities are associated with the Landscape and its produce through which one could work out the essence of the culture of a group to whom such Land was ‘home’. The intrinsic character is buried in Aham (interior)  the external description through Puram (exterior). As per Wikipedia:

Geographical and non-geographical thinais:

Under this codification, the inner universe associated with love is divided into seven modes, or thinai, five of which are geographical and associated with specific landscapes, and two of which are non-geographical and not associated with any specific landscape. Four of the geographical landscapes are described as being landscapes that occur naturally in the Tamil lands. These are: kuṟiñci (குறிஞ்சி) - mountainous regions, associated with union, mullai (முல்லை) - forests, associated with waiting, marutam (மருதம்) - cropland, associated with quarreling, and neytal (நெய்தல்) - seashore, associated with pining. The fifth - pālai (பாலை), or desert, associated with separation - is described in the Tolkappiyamas not being a naturally existing landscape.

From these basic associations of landscape and subject, a wide range of specific themes suitable for each landscape were derived. Thus, for example, the commentary on the Iraiyanar Akapporul states that as a result of the association of the kuṟiñci landscape with union, it was also associated with the fear of separation, reassurance, the hero's or heroine's discussions with their friends, their being teased or taunted by their friends, their replies to their friends, the friends' role as intermediary, the meeting of the lovers, grief and doubt, and other similar themes. According to the Tamilneri vilakkam, a 9th-century text on poetry, the love themes described by the five thinais constitute "the Tamil way of life" or "the Tamil way of love." (tamiḻneṟi)

The two non-geographical modes - kaikkilai and peruntiṇai - were seen as dealing with emotions that were non-conforming, and therefore were not associated with any specific landscape. Kaikkilai, dealt with unreciprocated or one-sided love, while peruntiṇai, dealt with 'improper' love or love against the rules of custom.

Poetic Attributes of the Landscape

	kuṟunji	Mullai	Marudam	Neydhal	Pālai
ne expresses patient waiting over separation	Lovers' quarrels, wife's irritability (husband accused of visiting a courtesan)	Heroine expresses grief over separation	Elopement, Longest separation, dangerous journey by the hero
Flower	kuṟunji	Mullai (Jasmine)	Marudam	Water lily	Paalai
Landscape	Mountains	Forest, pasture	Agricultural areas, plain or valley	Seashore	Parched wasteland, Desert
Time	Midnight	Evening	Shortly before sunrise	Sunset	Noon
Love Poem	Kuṟiñci (Kuṟuntokai - 2) Beautiful-winged bee whose life is passed in search of honey don't speak to me of desire but tell me what you really saw: Could even the flowers that you know be as full of fragrance as the hair of the woman with the even set of teeth and the peacock nature, to whom long affection binds me? - Irayanār	The sun goes down and the sky reddens, pain grows sharp, light dwindles. Then is evening when jasmine flowers open, the deluded say. But evening is the great brightening dawn when crested cocks crow all through the tall city and evening is the whole day for those without their lovers. (Kuruntokai - 234) tr. George L. Hart	Nowhere, not among the warriors at their festival, nor with the girls dancing close in pairs, nowhere did I see him. I am a dancer; - for love of him these conch-shell bangles slip from my wasting hands - he's a dancer too. - Marutham (Kuruntokai - 31)	Water lilies bloom in the lagoons where cranes part the water lilies looking for fish then fly away to stay in fragrant seaside groves, near my lover's village washed by the sea. His love for me is greater than the sea. - Neithal (Ainkurunuru - 184)	They will not dig up the earth and enter it, They will not climb into the sky, They will not walk across the dark sea. If we search every country, every city, every village, can our respective lovers escape us? - Pālai (Kuṟuntokai - 130)
Season/Climate	Winter/Cool and moist	Late Summer/Cloudy	Late spring	Early summer	Summer
Crop/Plant	Jackfruit, bamboo, venkai	Konrai	Mango	Punnai	Cactus
Water	Waterfall	Rivers	Pond	Well, sea	dry wells, stagnant water
Soil	Red and black soils with stones and pebbles	Red soil	Alluvial	Sandy, saline soil	salt affected soil
Occupation	Hill tribes, gathering honey	Pastoral and agricultural occupations	Farmer	Selling fish, salt, fisherfolk	Travellers, bandits
God	Murugan	Thirumaal	Vendan	Kadalon	Kottravai

While Tamils live in many parts of  Sri Lanka, each part believed to be home (usually through majority being Tamils) could be identified with through the above classifications. The Homeland of LTTE Leader – Prabhakaran  for example is of  group 4 above – represented by Water Lily. Due to leaving ‘home’ for example – he became of group 5 above – represented by cactus. The deity of this group is Kottravai / Kali whose vehicle is the Tiger.

Another liquid formation is the caste system as per a group’s jobs/trades. Accordingly – category 5 would have been travelers and bandits. So long as each group stayed within its natural habitats – it would not harm another. Just yesterday, I was describing to a local here in Thunaivi – where we were invited to one wedding but another – that we would not attend weddings without being invited. The young lady said that as per their culture – only close relatives were invited and that others just dropped in. The latter is like disco parties of the young, while the former is like special performances by specific artists. Where we fail to develop the higher structures that raise our experiences to the higher level – we do not ‘feel’ at home within us – even though we may physically be in a high-class area. A person teaching at a University – but without investment in Research and/or belief in a true Researcher – would be lacking in deservedness to be called an Academic. Those at the University of NSW who punished me for sharing my discoveries in Democratic system of management – effectively revealed their own ineligibility to be University leadership positions. They did not have Research in their Aham (interior). Hence it is often said that they were factories producing  graduates.

Our natural makeup / genes at the time of birth therefore needs to be interpreted within the cultural structures natural to that place. The older the culture that is actively used currently – for example Lion and Tiger – the greater the need to refer to the landscape’s intrinsic quality – so a person is not punished or rewarded more or less by using current merit. The problem with genes/past qualities is that the ‘other’ side is naturally and instantaneously invoked and are beyond the control of the current players. Hence where Sinhalese Thuttakaimunu is invoked by a current Sinhalese – Tamil Ellalan is automatically manifested at that place. All it takes is a ‘current medium’ with appropriate qualities. Some times the ‘other’ side is delayed due to an appropriate person not being immediately available. But an intellectually driven person would seek and find the match – so as to complete the experience at the higher level.

In summary, every completed experience promotes us to the higher level and every completed observation to the wider level for merit based assessment. Every abandoned emotion develops into a one-way road – as happened through Sinhala only and Tamil only observation blindness. Emotions cannot be observed by the self. Hence they result in early blindness through mental disorder. Sri Lanka driven by Politics – whether they be domestic or foreign is developing the one-way gene of politics and hence would need more and more internal separations towards smooth flow of narrow knowledge/sitrarivu. This applies also to those who call themselves Academics or the media.

What happened in the past – when carried without faith in the environment in which it happened – become myth when it is taken past its current life. It becomes legend with it is carried with faith in its home environment. Fact needs to be current in its environment – be it human and/or land. Hence when foreigners hear the acts of the  LTTE and/or the Government’s  Armed Forces – using their own laws – the way they are interpreted by THEIR culture – they are likely to make a myth of the Sri Lanka war. If they practice the principle of being a Roman in Rome – they would make a legend of the Sri Lankan war.  Physical and Legal demarcations of current times could be used as being foreign or domestic only when the past – is escalated  from the conscious mind and Truth of that experience become the empowering Energy.

Talking about Land and its powers – the former President of Sri Lanka – Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa being elected by the folks of Kurunagela away from his home town – confirms that the system of Democracy is abused by such folks. When this is reality – Administrators need to be strong enough to allocate lesser status to such electorates to uphold reliable administration and justice systems. Kurunagela has now become less than Colombo where Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe is largely Common to all races.