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102
Study of Civakacin täm ani
(She is nice to touch like butter. Her sweet words are like delicious milk, Her body is like the cow ghee which has been melted to be eaten.)
Tēvar starts his epic with a detailed descripton of the country Emankatam, with its villages, 1 town, the interior of the town 3 the moat, the walls, the interior of the fortified city with the descriptions of the harlot street, market street, the living apartments of the servants of the king, and the palace of the king. 9 Some of these descriptions are even found in earlier Tamil works such as the Pattinappalai and the Cilappatikāram. As in these poems, Tēvar faithfully follows the Tamil tradition of describing the country. Yet Tēvar's method of description is one of extreme exaggeration, and he liberally uses the figures of speech Utprekşā and Udātta.
The following verse composed with udatta alankāra expresses the fertility of the land in the country of Emāńkatam :
pāvaiy annavar pantu putaitialir kūviy annam veriit tunaiy enru poyk kõvai nittila māțak kuļamicai
mēvi ven mati tannot innkkumē To (The swans which are frightened by the (noise) of the balls played with the ladies who are (beautiful) like images, go and sit with the men on the top of of the mansions which are adorned by pearl garlands, thinking that it is their companion.)
In this verse it is indirectly said that mansions are so high that their tops touch even the moon.
Tēvar also uses atiśayokti (hyperbole) in his descriptions and the following verse is a good example:
ten ula matuc cey kötai tēm pukai kamalav ütļa van ulāñ cutarkan mūți mă nakar iravu ceyyap pa nilāc corintu nallar anikalam pakalaic ceyya
vēnilän vilainta ceri mēļulak anaiyat onra.11 (In that city the smoke which arises when perfumming the garlands which are surrounded by bees, hides the rays of the sun which moves in the sky, and converts the day into night. The jewels of the ladies cast rays of moonlight like milk and make the night look th: day. This city which is desired by the God
of love appears like heaven.)
To give a different touch to the facts he narrates he also often uses utpreksā alankāra, which is called "tarkurippërram” in Tamil. The following verse serves
1 2 3 4
Ibid, vv. 64-77. Jbid, vv. 79-84. Ibid, vv. 85-93. Ibid, vy. 94-99.
5 Cc. vv. 100-105. 6 Ibid, vv. 106-111. 7 Ibid, vy. 112-117. 8 Ibid, vv, 118-124,
9 Ibid, vv. 125-156 10 Ibid, v. 125. 11 Cc. v. 111.
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