Author: Amrith Lal
Publication: The Times of India
Date: March 26, 2007
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1807076.cms
K G Paulose is a Sanskrit scholar who has
recently written a history of Kutiyattam, the ancient Sanskrit theatre. Paulose
spoke to Amrith Lal about the tradition of Sanskrit scholarship in Kerala,
its non-Brahmin and non-Hindu lineages:
Q.: Can you trace the non-Brahmin roots of
Sanskrit learning in Kerala?
A.: There are only three varnas in Kerala Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Shudras.
Muslims and Christians substituted for Vaishyas. In the process, the Christian
community, particularly, became a well-knit part of the varna society. The
culture that evolved was also inclusive. The best Sanskrit grammar text in
Malayalam was written by I C Chacko, a Christian. He also wrote Christu Bhagavatam.
Kerala's Sanskrit tradition is also unique for its Buddhist and Jain lineage.
Lower castes like Ezhavas were once Buddhists, they had access to Sanskrit
learning and practised Ayurveda.
Q.: Were there secular public institutions
teaching Sanskrit?
A.: Punnasseri Nambi, a Brahmin who opened a Sanskrit school in Pattambi in
Malabar, taught students irrespective of their caste and religion. Nambi's
well-known disciples included Assainar Vaidyan and Kuryakku, a Muslim and
a Christian respectively.
Nambi contributed to building a popular and
secular base for Sanskrit education in Malabar. His disciples set up nearly
80 schools and exams were coordinated by Nambi. In Maruthukali, a popular
art form of lower castes, Sanskrit slokas are debated.
Q.: Did these factors help Sanskrit theatre
to thrive in Kerala?
A.: It is slightly different in the case of Kutiyattam. Sanskrit theatre that
followed Natyashastra disappeared in most parts of India as prakrit languages
developed. Theatre evolved in new regional languages while Sanskrit got reduced
to a repository of theatre theory. In Kerala, Sanskrit and Malayalam got amalgamated.
I have described this phenomenon in my study of Kutiyattam as the regionalisation
of a national culture. The Vidushaka of Sanskrit theatre played a major role
in this transformation. We developed the role of Vidushaka. He was given the
right to speak in Malayalam. So here was a character talking in Malayalam
in a Sanskrit drama. People forgot that they were watching a Sanskrit play.
Q.: We see the making of a composite culture.
A.: Yes. Sanskrit manuscripts from all over India are in the Devanagari script.
But in Kerala, Sanskrit manuscripts are in the Malayalam script. Practical
applications of Sanskrit learning like Ayurveda and architecture survived
in Kerala, whereas it was traditions of philo-sophy and grammar that continued
in other regions. If people in Kerala did not die that was because the lower
caste physicians practised Ayurveda. There was interaction between them and
the Brahmin ashtavaidyas. This trend is evident in other fields as well. That
is how Sanskrit theatre and learning survived in Kerala.
