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Lyrics & meaning

Vetkapada Vendum

From Samarpanam · 1974

Lyricist
Pattukottai Dhandayuthapani
Singer
M. S. Rajeswari
Music director
N. S. Thiyagarajan
Details
Samarpanam1974

Lyrics & meaning

Tanglish lyrics English translation
Female
Vetkkapada vendumEvery human being should feel ashamed
Ovvoru manithanumEvery human being
Vetkkapada vendumEvery human being should feel ashamed
Ovvoru manithanumEvery human being
Vedhanai pada vendumShould feel deep agony and grief
Vedhanai pada vendumShould feel deep agony and grief
Avanavan nenjai thottapadiUpon touching one's own conscience and heart
Female
Vetkkapada vendumEvery human being should feel ashamed
Ovvoru manithanumEvery human being
Vedhanai pada vendumShould feel deep agony and grief
Avanavan nenjai thottapadiUpon touching one's own conscience and heart
Female
Sorkaththin thanthaiyaanaDid the heavenly Father
Antha kadavul kudiththaaraaDid that Almighty God ever consume alcohol?
Yazhai varkaththin thanthaiyaanaDid the father of the impoverished working class
Annal ganthi kudiththaaraaDid the revered Mahatma Gandhi ever consume alcohol?
Female
Paaratha poril kadamaiyai seithaWho fulfilled His moral duty in the epic Bharata war
Kannan kudiththaaraDid Lord Krishna ever consume alcohol?
Uyar kaaviyathalaivi seedhaiyai pirikkaTo separate Sita, the heroine of the great epic
Raman kudiththaaraaDid Lord Rama ever consume alcohol?
Female
Vetkkapada vendumEvery human being should feel ashamed
Ovvoru manithanumEvery human being
Vedhanai pada vendumShould feel deep agony and grief
Avanavan nenjai thottapadiUpon touching one's own conscience and heart
Female
Gandhiyai pootti punnagai seithaOh prison doors that locked up Mahatma Gandhi and smiled
Siraiyin kadhavugalaeOh doors of the prison
Gandhiyai pootti punnagai seithaOh prison doors that locked up Mahatma Gandhi and smiled
Siraiyin kadhavugalaeOh doors of the prison
Paalum kudiyai pootti unakkul vaiththaalIf you lock up the habit of drinking liquor inside yourself
Kudiyaa muzhugi vidumWill the lineage and home sink into ruin?
Paalum kudiyai pootti unakkul vaiththaalIf you lock up the habit of drinking liquor inside yourself
Kudiyaa muzhugi vidumWill the lineage and home sink into ruin?
Female
Vetkkapada vendumEvery human being should feel ashamed
Ovvoru manithanumEvery human being
Vedhanai pada vendumShould feel deep agony and grief
Vedhanai pada vendumShould feel deep agony and grief
Avanavan nenjai thottapadiUpon touching one's own conscience and heart
Avanavan nenjai thottapadiUpon touching one's own conscience and heart

Beyond the translation

Song interpretation

Vetkkapada Vendum is a socially conscious reform song from the 1974 Tamil film Samarpanam. The song urges every individual to deeply introspect and feel ashamed of the vice of alcoholism. It uses a series of powerful rhetorical questions involving divine and historical icons—God, Mahatma Gandhi, Lord Krishna, and Lord Rama—asking if any of these great figures ever consumed alcohol while carrying out their duty or enduring trials.

Writing craft

Poetic devices

Rhetorical Question (Vina Vani)

Antha kadavul kudiththaaraa

Repeated use of rhetorical questions ending with 'kudiththaaraa' to challenge the listener's conscience by appealing to moral role models.

Personification

Gandhiyai pootti punnagai seitha Siraiyin kadhavugalae

Addressing the prison doors as living beings capable of smiling after locking up Gandhi.

Repetition (Anaphora)

Vetkkapada vendum

The line 'Vetkkapada vendum' is repeated systematically to emphasize the urgency of moral shame and social reform.

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Trivia

Samarpanam (1974) features music composed by N. S. Thiyagarajan, with lyrics penned by Pattukottai Dhandayuthapani. Sung by veteran singer M. S. Rajeswari, the track stands out as a prohibition movement song in 1970s Tamil cinema.

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