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Continued from yesterday’s instalment
 We were discussing the second and third lines of the verse and trying to find out what the Poet actually intends to convey. Kamban refers to one by ‘the one worshipped even by Brahma,’ and the other by ‘the one whose glory resides in the minds of even the venerable.’ In the third line of the verse the Poet says ‘he embraced him like a father would embrace his son, lovingly.’ If there is any dispute in the interpretation of this line, it is the job of the critic to look for evidence, which, if not available in this verse would be obtainable from the verses that follow. Now, let us see the verse that follows where the Poet unmistakably states whom he refers to in the third line.
‘thazuvina puLinjar vendhan,’ The hunter chief who thus embraced,
‘thaamarai sengaNaanai,’ (looked at) the one with lotus-like eyes (Bharata) (and asked)
‘ezhuvinum uyarndha thOLaai, eidhiyadhu ennai?’ What is the purpose of your visit, O strong shouldered one?
The word ‘puLinjar’ stands for hunter. The Poet states here it was Guha who embraced Bharata. And if it was Guha who embraced Bharata ‘as lovingly as a father,’ the argument that Bharata did not touch the feet of Guha would not hold water. It is what the Poet conveys and wants us to see. As we mentioned earlier, no critic or no scholar can be greater than the Poet whose verse they are interpreting.
And so it is. The verse that we have been discussing gives out an important quality in Bharata - humility and the immense regard he has for Rama and the regard he has for Guha as Rama’s closest friend. Second. It shows Guha has attained the kind of glory that is fit to be remembered and celebrated by one and all. ‘Even by venerable persons,’ is what Kamban says. Obviously, that would include the ordinary people as well!
And when Bharata answers Guha, we see that he does so in a very polite and calm manner - unlike with anger that seethed in him when answering sage Bharadwäja. (See: What brings you
here?). Says
Bharata:
 ‘muzhudhu ulagu aLiththa thandhai,’ My father, who had been protecting this whole world
‘mundhayOr murayinindrum vazhuvinaan,’ swerved from the path of our ancestors. My father did a mistake. He broke the tradition. Instead of making the eldest in the family the king, he made me assume authority.
‘adhanai neekka mannanaik koNarvaan endraan.’ I have come here to correct it. I have come to take the king back to Ayodhya.
These two lines are examples of how much can be conveyed with a few words. When referring to Dasaratha, he uses the word ‘thandhai’ - my father. When referring to Rama, he uses the word ‘mannan’ - King. Though they seem to be uttered in a regular manner, they are laden with deeper connotation. We have already discussed them when we were studying Bharata. (See:
‘The King’ and ‘my brother’ - ‘mannan ’ and
‘annan’)
And that’s how Guha’s evolution from a mere hunter to someone whose glory is to be thought of and celebrated takes shape.
More follows...
Hari Krishnan
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