Mahakavi Subrahmanya Bharathi, the great Tamil poet recognized as a national poet: a brief introduction

Mahakavi Subhramania Bharathi (11.12.82-11.9.21) or simply Bharathi was a modern Tamil poet recognized as a national poet of India. He recognized Sister Nivedita, a disciple of Swami Vivekananda, as his mentor. He was a contemporary of the Bengali poet Rabindra Nath Tagore. He had a great reverence for Madame Annie Besant and a follower of Bala Ganghadhar Thilak. He worked together with members of extreme groups such as VOChidambaram Pillai and Subramaniyam Siva. He lived alternately in Tamilnadu and Pondicherry. His poems are broadly classified into 1. Devotional songs 2. Patriotic songs 3. Biographical songs 4. Short stories and 5. General songs. This article is a modest attempt to introduce this great poet to readers who want to know more about him.

Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathi, as a worshiper of UNIVERSAL ENERGY.

“I saw a tiny spark and kept it safe in a tree hole in a dense forest,

IT! The whole forest was reduced to ashes.

Is there a difference in fire between a newborn or an old man?

Thaththarikita thaththarikita thaththom “

– This is how the poet Subhramania Bharathi dances, in praise of Agni (fire) one of the five elements of the Universe that has sung in praise of various Hindu gods in a unique way for him. Today in almost all school prayers, his songs about Gods are interpreted to invoke the blessings of the Almighty.

Bharati found a special fear and respect for fire in his poems, even in his worship of the Almighty. Although he wrote poems about Hindu male gods such as Krishna and Muruga, his description of the Goddess of Power is unique.

He visualized Goddess Shakthi as the ultimate cosmic energy. He often used to dance happily praising cosmic energy as:

“Let us praise the Mahasakthi (cosmic energy) who has created the entire Universe,

She is hidden in the five great elements that constitute the EARTH,

She is the source behind all movements, speed.

And all the attractive forces of the Earth,

She is the force of our lives and she is the food that men take to live.

“Wherever you see, it merges and finally collapses only in Shakthi”

whose concept resembles the concept of “singularity” in science.

Besides the Hindu deities, he sang in praise of Jesus Christ, Islam also in its usual form. He was a lover of the Universe with special reference to the Bharat homeland in which he lived. He called her Bharathamatha (mother Bharat) and sang ‘vandhe madharam’ (Praise to my country). The phrase Vandhe Madharam had a magical effect on the Indians fighting for freedom and several freedom fighters sacrificed their lives holding the tricolor, glued to their chests and lifting this magical motto until their last breath while being attacked by British soldiers. Poor me! Modern Indian youth must be reminded of the supreme sacrifice that the young freedom fighters of those days made to free themselves from foreign rule.

Patriotic songs:

The poet Bharathi always liked to compare the Indian freedom struggle with the war of Mahabharath, the great Indian epic. For him, the British rulers were Kauravas and the Indian freedom fighters were Pandavas. He liked the extreme approach, while Gandhians preferred to go for passive non-violence. Hence, we could see his frank disapproval of nonviolent struggle in his songs. He said:

“My heart does not tolerate these baseless people who are afraid of everything” with melancholic mood as a direct reference to the moderates and those who were indifferent to the violent struggle. However, his reverence to Mahatma Gandhi, the advocate of passive nonviolence, was unique. He compared it to God and says:

“Mahatmaji, you are the savior of Bharat, who was under the clutches of poverty, ignorance and so low and that is why it was a ruined country. You came as the savior of this country. Long live you, Mahatma Ji!”

It was deeply in favor of the armed struggle for freedom and its leaders were Bal Gangadhara Thilak, Guru Gobindsingh, Dadabhai naoroji, Lala Lajpath Rai, VOChidambaram Pillai, who were in favor of the armed struggle.

Bharathi was also deeply impressed by the foreign leaders. I was vowing to get the freedom of India on behalf of Mazzini, founding leader of YOUNG ITALY.

He sang an elegy on the fall of BELGIUM in the First World War.

But what made him famous in the international arena was his song about the Russian revolution.

“Mahakali (the goddess of power and cosmic energy) set her sights on Russia,

The revolution had its overwhelming crush for centuries!

The tyrant of Russia fell. “

He compared the tyrant to the puranic monster Hiranyan and the revolution to the Goddess of Power. The Power of the Goddess conquered him and reduced him to ashes.

‘Bharat’ from Bharati’s dreams:

“We will walk the peaks of silver hills

We will send our ships to the deep western seas,

We will build schools in all temples and

We will proudly say that we are Bharatiyans (Indians).

We will build a bridge over the sea to Srilanka (Ceylon)

We will connect both by wide roads,

Using the flooded waters of the eastern rivers

We will water in the central plateau

We will have our own weapons, we will produce papers,

We will develop Industries develop education

We will never rest, nor will we bow our heads

We will defend the Truth and show our mite. “

Poets are of various kinds. Some write poems for money. Some poets write poems because of their immense love for the country and the magnificent Nature and the Almighty. Poets who write appreciating nature have natural foresight and what they write in advance will come true in later years.

We can see that everything that Bharathi wrote in the previous poem a hundred years ago has come true now. India has shown progress on all fronts, especially in Space Science and Technology, as India sent its satellite that landed on the Moon and the second one will land on the Moon in the next six months.

Her views on women’s liberation:

He has a special place in the role of Honor for the great poets considering women. His views on marital fidelity are very famous and are quoted everywhere when the subject is discussed:

“When the question of sexual morality comes up, let’s keep it common to both sexes,” she declared when women were treated as slaves. Her opinion on the education of women is also noteworthy.

Walk with an upright pose, look with straight eyes,

Don’t fear anyone on Earth for Morality,

Superiority due to impeccable knowledge,

All this is the possession of the modern woman “

These women are known as the New Age Bharati woman.

Bharati’s poems are like an ocean. You cannot review all the content in a short time. At least one glass of your poetry has been given as stated above. If you pique the interest in the minds of readers to go over the entire writing, the purpose of this article is achieved.