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Isaimozhi
Lyrics & meaning

Chithirathil Penn

From Rani Samyuktha · 1962

Lyricist
Kannadasan
Singer
K. Jamunarani
Music director
K. V. Mahadevan
Movie name
Rani Samyuktha
Movie release year
1962
Lyrics added on
29 Sept 2025

Lyrics & meaning

♫ Tanglish lyrics
↻ English translation
Sithirathil penn eludhi
Seer paduthum maanilamae
Jeevanulla penn inathai
Vaazha vida maattaayoo
Sithirathil penn eludhi
Seer paduthum maanilamae
Jeevanulla penn inathai
Vaazha vida maattaayoo
Sithirathil penn eludhi
Seer paduthum maanilamae
Kaaviyathil kaadhalendraal
Karaindhurugum karpanaiyae
Kaaviyathil kaadhalendraal
Karaindhurugum karpanaiyae
Kanniraindha kaadhalukkae
Kanneer thaan un vazhiyoo
Kanniraindha kaadhalukkae
Kanneer thaan un vazhiyoo
Kanneer thaan un vazhiyoo
Sithirathil penn eludhi
Seer paduthum maanilamae
Jeevanulla penn inathai
Vaazha vida maattaayoo
Sithirathil penn eludhi
Seer paduthum maanilamae
Annai endrum deivam endrum
Aarparikkum periyorae
Annai endrum deivam endrum
Aarparikkum periyorae
Innamudha deivam ellaam
Yettil varum thaendhaanoo
Innamudha deivam ellaam
Yettil varum thaendhaanoo
Mannar kula kanniyarum
Kan kalanga naerum endraal
Mannar kula kanniyarum
Kan kalanga naerum endraal
Mandalathil pengalukkae
Vaaitha vidhi idhu dhaanoo
Mandalathil pengalukkae
Vaaitha vidhi idhu dhaanoo
Vaaitha vidhi idhu dhaanoo
Sithirathil penn eludhi
Seer paduthum maanilamae
Jeevanulla penn inathai
Vaazha vida maattaayoo
Sithirathil penn eludhi
Seer paduthum maanilamae
You paint a woman in a picture
and adorn her with praise, O great world!
Will you not let living women
live their lives in peace?
You paint a woman in a picture
and adorn her with praise, O great world!
Will you not let living women
live their lives in peace?
You paint a woman in a picture
and adorn her with praise, O great world!
When love is told in an epic,
your heart melts in imagination.
When love is told in an epic,
your heart melts in imagination.
Yet for a true love before your eyes,
are tears the only path you offer?
Yet for a true love before your eyes,
are tears the only path you offer?
Are tears the only path you offer?
You paint a woman in a picture
and adorn her with praise, O great world!
Will you not let living women
live their lives in peace?
You paint a woman in a picture
and adorn her with praise, O great world!
Calling her a mother and a goddess,
O elders who make such grand claims!
Calling her a mother and a goddess,
O elders who make such grand claims!
Are all these sweet goddesses
only honey written on the page?
Are all these sweet goddesses
only honey written on the page?
If even a daughter of a royal house
is fated to shed tears,
If even a daughter of a royal house
is fated to shed tears,
for all the women of this world,
is this the only destiny granted?
For all the women of this world,
is this the only destiny granted?
Is this the only destiny granted?
You paint a woman in a picture
and adorn her with praise, O great world!
Will you not let living women
live their lives in peace?
You paint a woman in a picture
and adorn her with praise, O great world!
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female

Beyond the translation

Overall song meaning

This poignant song from Rani Samyuktha is a fierce critique of societal hypocrisy regarding the treatment of women. Kannadasan's lyrics contrast the idealization of women in art, literature, and religious rhetoric with the harsh realities faced by real, living women. Society reveres women in paintings, glorifies tragic love in epic poems, and loudly proclaims women to be divine mothers, yet it inflicts sorrow and oppression upon them in actual life.

Writing craft

Poetic devices

Metaphor / Proverbial Allusion (Yettil Varum Thean)

“Yettil varum thaendhaanoo”

Compares abstract honor bestowed upon women in books to honey written on paper ('Yettil varum thean'), referring to the Tamil idiom that bookish honey cannot satisfy real hunger.

Moonaai (Initial Rhyme / Alliteration)

“Kaaviyathil kaadhalendraal / Karaindhurugum karpanaiyae”

Repetition of the 'Ka' sound across words in consecutive lines ('Kaaviyathil', 'Kaadhalendraal', 'Karaindhurugum', 'Karpanaiyae').

Rhetorical Question (Vinaa Aani)

“Jeevanulla penn inathai / Vaazha vida maattaayoo”

The speaker challenges societal norms using rhetorical questions to highlight the painful contradiction between worshiping women as goddesses and oppressing them in reality.

Contrast (Ethir-nnilai)

“Sithirathil penn eludhi ... Jeevanulla penn inathai”

Striking juxtaposition between static art ('Sithirathil penn') and real breathing women ('Jeevanulla penn').

Did you know?

Trivia

Rani Samyuktha (1962) stars M. G. Ramachandran and Padmini. The song is picturized on Padmini and sung by K. Jamunarani, composed by K. V. Mahadevan in a classical raga framework expressing deep distress and philosophical anger.

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