MARGA AND DESI
The terms ‘maarga’ and ‘dEsi’ (ಮಾರ್ಗ ಮತ್ತು
ದೇಸಿ) hold a special
place in any discussion related to ancient Kannada literature. These are two modes
of literary communication enunciated by the early theoreticians and poets of Kannada.
It is possible to create literary works, making use of one of these modes exclusively.
On the contrary an artistic work could be a combination of these two modes. This
predicament was present right from the beginning of Kannada literature because its
confrontation with Sanskrit made it mandatory to choose viable options. It should
not be construed that the difference between these two was limited to vocabulary
and syntactic patterns. The distinction between
‘vastuka and varnaka’ is inextricably linked with these two categories.
‘vastuka’ and ‘marga’ are bundled together and ‘desi’ and ‘varnaka’ are treated
as one module. But this distinction need not be true because a ‘marga’ composition
may have descriptive passages and vice versa. Great poets like
At another level,
‘maarga’ is a linguistic style which is suffused with Sanskrit words and by and
large adopts prosodic patterns that are borrowed from Sanskrit. They do not constitute
the layman’s cup of tea. Only scholars can enjoy the nuances of the poetic expression.
They do not take to singing or recitation easily. Public rendering of such works
is not the done thing. Most of the literary works that belong to the Champu genre
are ‘maarga kaavyaas’.
On the contrary
works that prefer Kannada to Sanskrit, favour recitation and musical renderings,
make use of indigenous prosodic meters and are communicable by their very nature
are known as Deshi works. Works by poets such as Kumaravyasa, Harihara, Chamarasa
and Lakshmeesha belong to this category. Folk literature is desi by its very definition.
The terms marga
and desi have musical connotations as well. There are ragas that are described as
maargi and those that have a nomenclature related to desi. “Margi
music was part of religious ritual and it was rigid, rule bound and practiced seriously
by a few who were initiated into it. Marga ragas had names like Vajpeyika, Agneshtika
etc. Desi music was the music of the masses. All regional melodies, folk songs etc.
were grouped under this category.” This definition is similar to the remarks made
earlier about desi kavyas and maarga kavyas.
These concepts are in a state of flux because they are not merely of historical
and academic interest. They are inextricably connected with a poet’s world view
and his attitudes about realizing his genius in his language.
References:
1. ‘Marga
mattu Desi’, Narayana K.V., (In ‘bEeru kAnDa ciguru’ 1997)
Links: 1.
Articles - Marga and Desi in the sphere
of Raga - Naadhabrahmam.com
2. Literature in the Indian Bhashas: its
front yard and its back yard ...
(U.R.Ananthamurthy)