- Lyricist
- Kannadasan
- Singer
- T. M. Soundararajan
- Music director
- Vishwanathan-Ramamoorthy
- Movie name
- Paava Mannippu
- Movie release year
- 1961
- Lyrics added on
- 9 Feb 2018
Lyrics & meaning
Beyond the translation
Overall song meaning
Vantha Naal Muthal from Paava Mannippu is a profound philosophical masterpiece written by Kannadasan. The song contrasts the timeless, uncorrupted purity of nature with the moral decline of mankind. While the sky, stars, rivers, and breezes remain faithful to their intrinsic qualities since creation, human beings continuously alter their ethics based on convenience, wealth, religion, and social hierarchies. Kannadasan highlights human genius in inventing airplanes from birds and radios from echoes, but laments how man turned intellect toward greed by inventing money, artificial divisions, and social inequality. Ultimately, the song serves as a social commentary on how man has strayed from nature's law of love and harmony into bigotry and avarice.
Writing craft
Poetic devices
Antithesis / Contrast (Iyarkkai vs Manithan)
“Vaanam maaravillai... Manithan maarivittaan..”
Contrasts the eternal, constant nature of natural elements with the unstable, corruptible nature of human beings.
Monai (Initial Assonance / Alliteration)
“Paravaiyai kandaan / Padaginai kandaan”
Tamil poetic tradition of matching the initial consonant/vowel sound across corresponding words in consecutive lines.
Etukai (Second Letter Rhyme)
“Vantha / Intha”
Matching second consonants across lines to create rhythmic symmetry.
Anaphora (Rhetorical Repetition)
“Ethanai kandaan.. Panamthanai padaiththaan..”
Repetition of phrase structures for musicality and thematic emphasis on human technological ambition vs greed.
Did you know?
Trivia
Composed by the legendary duo Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy and sung by T. M. Soundararajan, this song features Sivaji Ganesan on screen. It is widely regarded as one of Kannadasan's greatest philosophical lyrics in Tamil cinema history, illustrating his ability to break down complex socio-philosophical truths into simple, memorable lyricism.
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