‘Nectar from Sea of Fire’: A novel about the Father of Malayalam language

C. Radhakrishnan’s historical novel, translated into English by Prema Jayakumar, delves into the legacy of Kerala’s revered poet and educator.

By Sini Panicker

Thunjath Ramanujan Ezhuthachan!

The name appears challenging to pronounce! And yet, it is a name almost every Malayali (a person from Kerala, India) knows and pronounces with love and reverence. A poet, philosopher, translator, and teacher, Ezhuthachan has been recognized and celebrated as the Father of Malayalam, the language of Kerala.

The word Ezhuthachan means teacher, master of letters. It is believed to have been derived from two Malayalam words, Ezhuth (writing), and Ashan (teacher); these were merged to form Ezhuthashan first and later morphed into Ezhuthachan. While the exact era of Ezhuthachan remains uncertain, the 16th century is frequently attributed to his time. Remarkably, he has remained the most influential poet, educator, and philosopher in Kerala for five centuries and counting!

A historical novel on Ezhuthachan in Malayalam was published by distinguished novelist C. Radhakrishnan approximately two decades ago, under the title “Theekadal Kadanju Thirumadhuram”.  The physicist-turned-novelist and fourteenth-generation descendant of Ezhuthachan combined family chronicles, history, and decades of research to narrate Ezhuthachan’s life.

The book was translated into major Indian languages and won several prestigious awards. “Nectar from Sea of Fire”, published last year, is a translation of this novel (with an exact translation of the title) by Prema Jayakumar. The poetic title reflects the unfathomable personal tragedies Ezhuthachan suffered as he battled against the 16th-century establishments in northern Kerala.

The state of Kerala was not in existence back then. (It was formed in 1956, nine years after India’s independence.) When Ezhuthachan lived, the land nestled between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea was divided into a few provinces and were ruled by local royals. The land was always drenched in blood, as these rulers fought with each other incessantly. The internal tumult, as well as the external ones (such as against the Portuguese), were costly and deadly.

The caste system, a closed system of stratification, controlled every aspect of human life in India, and Kerala was no exception. Additional social disparity existed through class, region, tribe, gender, and language as well. All these factors overlapped with each other and created miserable lives for people in the lower caste/class tiers and prevented equal access to valued resources like education, wealth, power, and above all, a dignified life. Unfortunately, the evil of the caste system continues to thrive in present India.

During Ezhuthachan’s time, most rulers in northern Kerala were advised, and therefore, controlled by Brahmin consortiums known as the Sanketams. As rulers became their puppets, the Brahminical orthodoxy began to demolish schools and execute educators in some provinces.

Education, as history has repeatedly shown, is what the oppressors fear the most. The lower castes had no right to learn the language(s), logic, astrology, and more importantly the scriptures or Vedanta. Ezhuthachan was born into a family of scholars. They were proficient in ancient texts, preserved and passed on knowledge for generations, and established schools to impart that knowledge to common folk. They became a target of the Brahmins and the Zamorin of Calicut (Samoothiri, the ruler of Kozhikkode).

The struggles and sacrifices of Ezhuthachan and his family are told in Ezhuthachan’s own words in the novel – a poet-sage’s gentle reflections with a mystic quality, deeply rooted in Advaita philosophy. The chapters are titled “Palm Leaves.” The novel is meticulously structured and steeped in history – it is a novel to live in and learn from. The elegant, old-fashioned, and poignant narration is a tender exploration of one man’s quest to fulfill his destiny. The sociopolitical events of the time are captured in the novel with mirrored incidents in Ezhuthachan’s life. These chronicles illustrate the geo-socio-political spectrum of 16th-century Kerala.

Take the infamous Mamankam, for example – a festival-turned-death trap where young warriors from rival provinces declared to fight Zamorin and his army until death, as an act of valor to protest against injustice. The warriors went on a suicide mission to the sandy beach of River Nila to kill the Zamorin publicly.

No warrior ever came back home – they were brutally (and openly) murdered by Zamorin’s army as they tried to reach his majestic platform on the beach. Zamorin established his title as the king of kings in northern Kerala as he stood on the platform, facing his opponents, openly and fearlessly. In the novel, Ezhuthachan’s cousin is one such warrior, who takes an oath to avenge his uncle’s brutal murder per Zamorin’s order and perishes in the act.

Halfway through the novel, the sociopolitical issues are introduced with an unusual context such as the Malayalam language, as the protagonist embarks on his life’s mission. Caught between Tamil and Sanskrit, the Malayalam alphabet was confusing and underdeveloped in the 16th century.

Ezhuthachan realized that the lack of a proper alphabet prevented the spread of knowledge. He modified and modernized the alphabet and wrote primary texts to teach it. He was a genius and found easy, realistic means (such as his devotional poems) to popularize the new alphabet among the common folk.

Five centuries later, Ezhuthachan’s Harinamakirtanam (prayers in praise of Hari, in the Lord’s name, with each stanza starting with a letter of his alphabet), continues to be one of the most recited devotional poems in Kerala. Lines like Durithabdi than naduvil mariyunnavarkku para/moru pothamay varika, Hari Narayanaya Namah! (“Be a boat to those who struggle in the sea of miseries, Oh Hari, I bow before you!”) are examples of Ezhuthachan’s brilliance as a poet and teacher.

Inspired by the Bhakti Movement, Ezhuthachan used Bhakti as a medium to educate, heal, and uplift the deprived, the disadvantaged, and the miserable around him. Immersed in the ecstasy of devotion, Ezhuthachan wrote the Adhyatma Ramayanam, Uthara Ramayanam, and Mahabharatham in an all-out effort using Bhakti to fight against the prevailing darkness and despair in the society.

Once Ezhuthachan’s activism to educate and enlighten the communities became known to the Brahmins and the Zamorin, he faced a death sentence twice but managed to escape both times. The transformation of Ezhuthachan from a simple family man, poet, and schoolmaster to a renowned visionary and revolutionary occurred through countless tragedies, unbearable events, and personal losses – his life was indeed the Sea of Fires!

The Nectar (a reference to Amrita, the nectar/elixir that originated after the churning of the ocean), embodies his immortal works like the Adhyatma Ramayanam and the Malayalam script we continue to use today. “Nectar from Sea of Fire” is a long-awaited tribute to the revered guru and Father of Malayalam. It is available on Amazon.

(Sini Panicker, a scientist for the US government, is the author of “Sita: Now You Know Me”, and its Malayalam version “Yanam Seethayanam”, a novel based on the Ramayana in Sita’s contemporary perspective.)