KOCHI: When Mahakavi Vallathol Narayana Menon translated Ramayana into Malayalam, someone remarked that the poet became deaf due to his work. Vallathol replied, in jest: “I’m going to translate Rig Veda, I may become blind.”
Vallathol did not become blind. But the translation of Rig Veda, his master work, has almost gone out of the sight. It’s first edition, consisting four volumes, was published in 1955, but the prints were not available in bookstores and even in many libraries across the state. Now, there’s good news for Vallathol admirers.
Following the tireless efforts of Vallathol’s grandson Kannanchath Ravindranathan for nearly two years, his magnum opus is brought back to life nearly 25 years after Kerala University published its second edition. The translated work ‘RigVeda Samhitha’ is in two volumes and is brought out by Kottayam-based Sahithya Pravarthaka-Co-Operative Society (SPCS). It’s a joyous coincidence that new life is instilled into the work on Wednesday, the founding day of Kerala Kalamandalam, a brain child of Vallathol.
“Sometime back, a suggestion was made by Mahakavi Vallathol’s daughter Vasanthi K Menon to Chathanath Achuthanunni master (writer/poet) regarding reprint of RigVeda Samhitha, since the copy is not available,” said Ravindranathan, son of Vallathol’s fourth son C Govinda Kurup.
The real motivation for publishing Vallathol’s RigVeda Samhitha came from ONV Kurup. “He was a friend of my father. At one point, he told me ‘Ravi, even if I am not in the world, please try to get the Rig Veda Samhitha printed in good quality paper and in deluxe edition,” said Ravindranathan.
Ajith Sridhar, secretary, SPCS, said it was unfortunate that the works of great Malayalam poets/writers are not available for the current generation. “Among the triumvirate great poets of Kerala, Ulloor and Vallathol’s works are not at all available while only some selected works of Kumaran Asan are available. Almost all publishers are only interested in the works of contemporary writers,” said Sridhar.
He said SPCS has taken up the task to republish the great works of Malayalam writers and has made some success. Already, 700 out of the total 1000 copies of ‘Rig Veda Samhita’ were sold out. “Big publishers are guided by commercial interests and will be keen to publish a work only if they are confident of selling minimum 5,000 copies,” Sridhar said.
Inspired by the republication of Vallathol’s Rig Veda, Ravindranathan has decided to preserve all the works of Vallathol. “There is copyright restriction. Vallathol died on March 13, 1958, accordingly the copyright will be over by January 1, 2019. So, I have approached Kerala Sahithya Akademi. The Akademi librarian Rajendran gave me wholehearted support and I have collected 80-85 per cent works of Vallathol, which are scanned and kept at the Akademi. This is exclusively for research students. But until the copyright gets over in 2019, nobody can access these works,” he said.