This series is a tribute to those highly imaginative minds that have found "hidden messages" in sounds produced by both non-human life-forms and inanimate objects. Some of these onomatopoeic constructs have become part of popular culture, folklore or mythology; others were just lying in wait to be discovered and disseminated by yours truly :)
My first offering in this series is a couple of stanzas written centuries apart in different languages but describing the same familiar sound: the crow of a rooster which, in most cultures practicing poultry farming, is synonymous with daybreak (although the bird 'can and will crow at any time of the day'). And daybreak itself means many different things to different people.
(1) Maharashtri Prakrit text in the Devanagari script:
चोराण कामुयाण य पामरपहियाण कुक्कुडो रडइ|
रे पलह रमह वाहयह वहह तणुइज्जए रयणी||
(चौराणां कामुकानां च कर्षकाणां पथिकानां च कुक्कुटो रटति| रे पलायत रमध्वं वाहयत (क्षेत्राणि) वहत (मार्गे) तनूभवति रजनी|| - रत्नदेव;
चौराणां कामुकानां पामरपथिकानां च कुक्कुटो रटति| रे पलायध्वं रमध्वं वाहयत वहत तनूभवति रजनी|| - विश्वनाथपाठक)
रे पलह रमह वाहयह वहह तणुइज्जए रयणी||
(चौराणां कामुकानां च कर्षकाणां पथिकानां च कुक्कुटो रटति| रे पलायत रमध्वं वाहयत (क्षेत्राणि) वहत (मार्गे) तनूभवति रजनी|| - रत्नदेव;
चौराणां कामुकानां पामरपथिकानां च कुक्कुटो रटति| रे पलायध्वं रमध्वं वाहयत वहत तनूभवति रजनी|| - विश्वनाथपाठक)
corANa kAmuyANa ya pAmarapahiyANa kukkuDo raDa-i|
re palaha ramaha vAhayaha vahaha taNuijjae rayaNI||
Loose translation: The rooster says to thieves, lovers, peasants, and travelers (respectively), "Hey! Run away! Keep making love! Start drawing (your plough over the field)! Continue on your course! The night is drawing to a close!"
Source: Vajjalaggam Verse 658.
For some reason, the anthologist Jayavallabha has placed this quote in the chapter on winter (सिसिरवज्जा/शिशिरव्रज्या)!
A variant of this verse is recorded in the Anyokti Muktaavali as follows (Verse 135):
(2) Devanagari text:
Source: Vajjalaggam Verse 658.
Notes: Evidently, to our unnamed poet, a cock's crow sounded like the Prakrit words "re-palaha-ramaha-vAhayaha-vahaha!", which led him to imagine that it was a sequence of instructions for different groups of people.
The word pAmara (पामर) usually denotes a lowly, uncultured or foolish person, but is sometimes used for "peasant". Indeed, there are words for farm workers in many languages (including "peasant" itself) that carry negative connotations.
What seems problematic to me in this couplet is that lovers are being urged to carry on with their business although it is dawn. Lovemaking during sunrise has historically been frowned upon in many South Asian communities. Perhaps, it means that they should speed things up and "finish" before it is officially daytime? However, the above interpretation is based on the Hindi translation by Vishwanath Pathak. The verbal root √ram (√रम्) can also mean "to stop" which might be the correct interpretation in this context.
For some reason, the anthologist Jayavallabha has placed this quote in the chapter on winter (सिसिरवज्जा/शिशिरव्रज्या)!
A variant of this verse is recorded in the Anyokti Muktaavali as follows (Verse 135):
रमियाण पन्थियाण य पामरचोराण कुक्कुडो कहइ| रे रमह वहह वाहह पलायह पलयं गया रयणी||
ramiyANa panthiyANa ya pAmaracorANa kukkuDo kaha-i| re ramaha vahaha vAhaha palAyaha palayaM gayA rayaNI||
(2) Devanagari text:
तनुजीवनयोरभेदभावं ब्रुवतोः किञ्चन कान्तयोः क्रमेण|
स्फुटमाह यमोपमस्तदानीं ककरे के चरणायुधस्य नादः||
स्फुटमाह यमोपमस्तदानीं ककरे के चरणायुधस्य नादः||
tanujIvanayorabhedabhAvaM bruvatoH kiJcana kAntayoH krameNa|
sphuTamAha yamopamastadAniM kakare ke caraNAyudhasya nAdaH||
Loose translation: As the lovers were taking turns talking about (i.e., presumably, comparing their mutual attachment to) the inseparability of life and the body, the deathlike cry of the cock declared clearly "Who belongs to whom?".
Source: Vidyakara Sahasrakam Verse 698.
Notes: The (presumably) Maithili-speaking author of the above couplet heard the cock's crow as "kakare-ke?". I have interpreted this as kakara ke? (Devanagari: ककर के?) which is the (modern) Maithili equivalent of Sanskrit kasya kaH? (कस्य कः?), "Who belongs to whom?". Disclaimer: My knowledge of the Maithili language, especially of its poetic or archaic varieties, is highly limited and questionable.
The ear-piercing call of the cockerel is likened to Yama, the Lord of Death, since it signals the end of the lovers' nocturnal escapade; the use of the well-known kenning caraNAyudha, "one who uses his foot as a weapon", to refer to the sharp-clawed fowl often used in blood sports also evokes brutality. As such, one might say that the quote is meant to convey nothing but pathos. But I prefer to think that our author is jeering at the vacuity of the sweet nothings uttered by these lovebirds engaging in a clandestine affair: They spent the night pledging their undying love and commitment to each other but, now that it is morning, they are eager to go their separate ways for fear of being caught and shamed. Or perhaps I am just being too cynical :)
Source: Vidyakara Sahasrakam Verse 698.
Notes: The (presumably) Maithili-speaking author of the above couplet heard the cock's crow as "kakare-ke?". I have interpreted this as kakara ke? (Devanagari: ककर के?) which is the (modern) Maithili equivalent of Sanskrit kasya kaH? (कस्य कः?), "Who belongs to whom?". Disclaimer: My knowledge of the Maithili language, especially of its poetic or archaic varieties, is highly limited and questionable.
The ear-piercing call of the cockerel is likened to Yama, the Lord of Death, since it signals the end of the lovers' nocturnal escapade; the use of the well-known kenning caraNAyudha, "one who uses his foot as a weapon", to refer to the sharp-clawed fowl often used in blood sports also evokes brutality. As such, one might say that the quote is meant to convey nothing but pathos. But I prefer to think that our author is jeering at the vacuity of the sweet nothings uttered by these lovebirds engaging in a clandestine affair: They spent the night pledging their undying love and commitment to each other but, now that it is morning, they are eager to go their separate ways for fear of being caught and shamed. Or perhaps I am just being too cynical :)
