Vairamuthu's lyrics in Ayutha Ezhithu..specially Yakkai Thiri

This man is a genius when it comes to poetry. i realised the power of his lyrics when listening
to the tamil version of the song Fanaah (from the movie Yuva). each word is pregnant with
meaning. u need not be in love to feel the power.truly, pen is mightier than the sword. i have
tried my hand at dissecting the lyrics for those of you who do not know tamil. and those who
know, please correct me if i have made a mistake somewhere.
the best part of this song is the beautiful use of the urdu word Fanaah. I used to think that
fanaah was just some random chant. nopes people, its loaded with meaning..check the following
link
http://www.lazygeek.net/gb/archives/2004/04/29/funda_on_fanah.html
yes people its nirvana. and nirvana is what everyone is looking for in this world. from the
testosterone charged teenager who headbangs to led zep, to the middle aged family person who
looks for solace from family pressures in work and vice versa, to the tottering oldie who turns
to bhaja govindam, its nirvana that is the raison de etre. vairamuthu says that love leads one to
such an exalted state. now 'Dont u want somebody to love???'...;)
Now, to the lyrics. The translation is provided below each line.

fanaa....... fanaa.........
"Salvation........Salvation......"

yaakkai thiri kaadhal sudar - anbae
"O love,The body is the wick and love is the flame,"

jeevan nadhi kaadhal kadal - nenjae
"My heart,Life is a river whilst love is the ocean"

piRavi pizhai kaadhal thirutham nenjae
"My heart,The sin of birth is rectified by love"

irudhayam kal kaadhal siRpam anbae
"o love, The heart is mere stone whilst love is the sculpture"

yaakai thiri kaadhal sudar - fanaa
"The body is the wick and love is the flame"

thoduvoam thodarvoam padarvoam maRavoam thuRavoam
"We will touch love, we will continue love, we will spread love, we will not forget love , we
will not renounce love"

thoduvoam thodarvoam padarvoam maRavoam iRavoam
"We will touch love, we will continue love, we will spread love, we will not forget love , we
will not die"

thoduvoam thodarvoam padarvoam maRavoam uRavoam
"We will touch love, we will continue love, we will spread love, we will not forget love , we
will develop relations"

jenmam vidhai, kaadhal pazham
"Birth is the seed love is the fruit"

loagam dhvaitham, kaadhal adhvaidham
"The world is dual, but love is non-dual"

sarvam soonyam kaadhal pinniyam
"everything is zero but love is infinite"

maanudam maayam kaadhal amaram
"humanity is an illusion while love is eternal"

ulagathin kaadhal ellaam ondrae ondrae adhu
"In this world, love is only one"

uLLangaL maaRi maaRi paayaNam poagum
"The bodies keep changing and go on far away journeys"

What interested me was the use of the words dwaitha and advaitha in the song. The dwaitha and advaitha concepts must be known to you from your social science textbooks in school.
Specifically i am referring to a chapter called Bhakthi and Sufi movement (that was what I was
taught). For the sake of continuity i will summarise these two schools of thought. The dwaitha
philosophy clearly stresses upon the duality of man and God. on the other hand, the advaitha
philosophy states that the finite and infinite (man and God) are one and the same except for a
screen of illusion separating them. For more info on such topics check out the following link
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/9410/hindu1.html
what does vairamuthu mean by saying that the world is dual but love is non-dual? my
interpretation is this: everything in this world has a dual. for example, male-female, fire-water
etc and the list goes on. on the other hand, love cannot be characterised as 'adjective' love.
(adjective can be anything, male/female/animal) A hidden attribute may also be that Vairamuthu is suggesting that love is divine/infinite too.

before i close this topic, let me just give u a list of tamil songs i feel are nice....
1) Endrendum Punnagai (Alaipayuthey) (the same as Humdum Suniyore in Saathiya)--> nice mix of techno beats and rap
2) Hey Goodbye nanba (Ayutha Ezhithu) (hindi equivalent=Hey Khudahafiz (Yuva))
3) Ale Ale (boys)
4) Ennaikonjam Matri (Kaaka kaaka)
5( Uyirin uyire (Kaaka Kaaka)--> racy beats
6) Haiyyo Pathikichu (Rhythm)--> sexy song, sexy singer (vasundhara Das), sexy artiste (ramya Krishnan)
7) Elangatru Veesude (Pithamagan) --> beautiful song
8) Chinna Chinnadai (mounam Pesiyathey)--> check the video of this if you want to see the tamil version of creed in 'my sacrifice'
9) Pachai Nirame (Alaipayuthey)--> melodious
10) Yaar Yaar Shivam (Anbe Shivam)

guess thats it for now folks...till the next time i get the inspiration to write, Shabba
Khair.....