B. R. Rajam Iyer
இந்தப் பக்கத்தை தமிழில் வாசிக்க: பி.ஆர். ராஜம் ஐயர்
B.R. Rajam Iyer (B. R. Rajam Aiyer/ B. R. Rajamaiyar) ( January 25, 1872 - May 13, 1898) was an author, novelist, columnist, journalist and inclined towards spiritual and philosophical thinking. His full name was B. R. Sivasubramanya Iyer. Rajam Iyer authored Kamalambal Charithiram, one of the earliest novels written in Tamil. He is considered to be one among the forerunners of realist novels in Tamil.
Personal Life
Rajam Iyer was born on January 25, 1872 at Vathalakundu , Tamil Nadu to Ramaiya Sastry. Rajam Iyer's family was into agriculture and a few agricultural lands of Ramaiya Sastry were the main source of income to the family. B. R. Rajam Iyer got married at the age of 13 to 9 year old Ramalakshmi.[1]
B. R. Rajam Iyer had his early education at Sethupathi High School, Madurai and completed his FA degree from Madura Native High School, Madurai. He graduated in History from Madras Christian College in the year 1889 and then joined the Law college, Chennai to pursue law. He couldn't succeed in the final exam and the failure shattered him. As a result, Rajam Iyer, an introvert and a reclusive person wasconfined to himself. Frusted Rajam Iyer came across an anthology by Thayumanavar and the book paved the way for him to philosophy and vedanta. Books like Kaivalya Navaneetham (Cream of Liberation) and the poetries of Tattuvaraya Swamigal took him through the path of wisdom.
Literary Life
B. R. Rajam Iyer was a scholar in Tamil literature. At the age of 17, Rajam Iyer wrote a critical review of Kachikalambagam, a Tamil poem by Poondi Aranganatha Mudaliar. The review, published in the Madras Christian College magazine, was Rajam Iyer's first publication in the print media and revealed his scholarliness. His family got relocated to Chennai during this time. The literary works of Shelley, Wordsworth and Tennyson made him interested in poetries. Rajam Iyer was very much impressed by the Tamil poet Kamban.
In the year 1893, Rajam Iyer got an opportunity to serialize the novel Kamalambal charithiram, in the monthly magazine Viveka Chintamani. He was only 21 years old when he wrote this, the second novel of Tamil language. He has stated that the main purpose of writing this novel is to describe the journey of a restless soul indulging in worldrly pleasures, experiencing difficulties and then attaining the immaculate, eternal bliss. He has used many proverbs, fables and the vedic and vedantha concepts in a simple and lucid language. He has also quoted lyrics from Kamba Ramayanam, Thirukural, Nalavenba, Thayumanavar Paadal, Pattinathar Paadal, Arichandra Puranam, Neethi Neri Vilakkam and mentioned about "Puck", the demon from Shakespear's Mid Summer Dreams also in this novel. These reveal his mastery over Tamil and English literature.
Though Rajam Iyer has read the British novelists William Thackaray and Oliver Goldsmith, he could write the Kamalambal Charithiram novel without any influence their style. The novel showed his skills and his perspective about life and was the beginning of a new literary tradition in Tamil.
Apart from this novel, Rajam Iyer wrote a serial Seethai in the magazine Vivega Chinthamani. The plot of this serial was in the form of a dialogue between Janaki and Natarajan admiring the glory of Seetha and proficiency of the poet Kambar. But this serial was not published as a book.
Spirituality
When Rajam Iyer was residing at Thiruvallikeni in Chennai, a lady monk was giving sermons near his home. Rajam Iyer was attending the sermons everyday and the lady monk could understand his inclination towards philosophy and blessed him by touching his head. This blessing gave a rare and divine spiritual experience for Rajam Iyer [2]. As a result, he became spiritually inclined and his interest in worldly affairs started to decrease.
In the year 1896, M.C. Alasinga Perumal, a disciple of Swami Vivekananda, started the journal "Brahmavadin" with a goal to spread the word of Vedanta and Indian philosophy to the masses of the country. Rajam Iyer wrote his first article Manidhanin Sirumayum Perumayum (Man his littleness and Greatness) in this journal. His quest for ultimate truth were reflected in his writings. During this time, Rajam Iyer got introduced to the monk Santhananda Saraswathy Swamigal. Rajam Iyer accepted him as his spiritual master, got spiritual initiation by Santhananda Saraswathy Swamigal and started practising spirituality, meditation and yoga under his guidance.
Rajam Iyer got introduced to Swami Vivekananda who was visiting Chennai, through his friends. Dr. Nanjunda Rao, yet another disciple of Swami Vivekananda started the English magazine "Prabuddha Bharata" and Rajam Iyer became the chief editor of that magazine. He wrote many articles on religion, philosophy and various aspects of vedanta in the magazine under his real name and pseudonyms. Later, these articles were compiled into the book Vedanta Sancharam (Rambles of Vedanta in English) [3] consisting of 900 pages.
Comments from other writers
Critic Venkatasaminathan wrote about Rajam Iyer in his book Ilakkiya Alimayigal ( Literary Personalities) that, "Rajam Iyer was a power, like a comet, like the magnificence of a nuclear explosion, that was threshing in different directions at an extrordinary speed within a short span of time and then disappeared. The speed and pulse of this power, its multidirectional nature, and the short span of his life stutters the person, who wants to approach and understand him. As a result, we judge him as a novelist or a philosopher as per the piece of explosion that we have in hand.
Death
Rajam Iyer passed away on May 13, 1898, when he was 26 years old, due to intestinal obstruction. It was announced in the June 1898 issue of Prabuddha Bharata that the magazine is closed following the death of Rajam Iyer. However, the magazine was resurrected after two months, from Advaita Ashram, Almora in August 1898 by the great efforts of Swami Vivekananda.
Biography
Biography of Rajam Iyer was published in the year 1909 by A. S. Kasthuri Ranga Iyer as Rajam Iyer Sarithai (Biography of Rajam Iyer).
Controversies
In the April 1898 issue of Prabuddha Bharata, Rajam Iyer wrote an article Vedantamum Chakaravarthy Perumanum' ( Vedanta and the Emperor). In this article, he wrote that, vedanta always tries to topple the emperor and the emperor is in peril as long as vedanta exixts. British government considered it as a sedition and sent police to his home for enquiry. The police reached Rajam Iyer's home two days after his death and learnt about his demise.
Works
Novel
- Kamalambal Charithiram
Essay
- Vedanta Sancharam ( Rambles of Vedanta)
- Manithanin sirumaiyum perumaiyum (Man his littleness and greatness)
Links
References
- ↑ https://minnambalam.com/k/2017/05/13/1494613825
- ↑ https://tamilandvedas.com/tag/%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%AE%E0%AE%B2%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%AE%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%AA%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%B3%E0%AF%8D-%E0%AE%9A%E0%AE%B0%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%A4%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B0%E0%AE%AE%E0%AF%8D/
- ↑ https://archive.org/details/RamblesInVedanta
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