Mooloor’s Dhammapada: A century of radical verse

The month of March holds special significance in the life and literary struggles of Mooloor Padmanabha Panicker (1869-1931). Just as the birth, enlightenment and Parinibbana of the Buddha all fall in the month of Vaisakh, Mooloor Asan was born and passed away in March. This past March 2025 marked the centenary of his 1925 Malayalam poetic verse translation of the ‘Dhammapada’ of the Buddha, undertaken at the behest of Sahodaran Ayyappan.
Through works like ‘Pulavrithangal’ and ‘Kaviramayana’, Mooloor democratized Malayalam literary culture in the early 20th century. His literary interventions laid the foundation for Kerala’s enlightenment modernity as envisioned by Narayana Guru.
Mooloor’s literary journey began with early encouragement from Narayana Guru when the guru visited the Mooloor household in Idanad, Chengannur, in the late 19th century. He wrote in the popular verse forms like Ammanapattu and Kilipattu. He is also well known for his Attakadhas for Kathakali.
Mooloor is the first accepted Avarna poet in modern times in Kerala. He was given the title Sarasakavi by Valiyakoyi Tampuran.
Living by the principle of fraternity championed by the Guru, Mooloor stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Dalits and other marginalized communities. Alongside his younger peer Ayyappan, he helped extend the Guru’s egalitarian message through poetry, activism, and cultural reform.
Kurumban Daivathan, Kesavasastri, Kuzhaliyal and many other Dalit brethren achieved education and organisation through this fraternity of Mooloor. Avarnas, women and minorities became part of the poetic canon through his struggles. Thottakattu Ikkavamma and Kandathil Varughese Mappila were also recognized as poets through his concerted cultural politics and letters.
A century ago, this pioneering poet-disciple of Narayana Guru, who is called the Kerala Buddha by his poet disciples, set in motion the wheel of ethics or the Dhammachakka (Dharmachakra) of the Buddha and Asoka in Kerala again.
It is also comparable to Guru’s own 1918 statement in Sri Lanka, citing the Amarakosa that his philosophy is also Buddhism, inaugurating the modern Buddhism in Kerala led by his lead disciples, Sahodaran, Mooloor, C V Kunjuraman, Dr Palpu and Mitavadi Krishnan. He cited Amarasimha, describing the Buddha as Advayavadi and Vinayaka.
Dhammapada is one among the 15 parts of Khudaka Nikaya within Sutapidaka. Suta, Vinaya and Abhidhamma Pitakas form the Tipidaka or Tripidaka, the three great baskets of the Pali canon finalized during Asoka’s third great conference in Patna in BCE 244 and taken to Sri Lanka as oral verses by Mahinda, his son and eventually written down in Sri Lanka by King Vattagamini.
In 26 chapters or Vaggas of the Dhammapada, there are 423 verses. It is mostly a compilation of the words of the Buddha as he talked to the people on various occasions. So, he used the language of the common people, Pali or Ardha Magadhi. Buddha Ghosha, who wrote a commentary on the Dhammapada as Dhammapada-Attakadha, also attests to the fact that it is the word of the Buddha. Dhammapada literally means the place or stature of the Dhamma. It also means the way or Marga of the Dhamma as taught by the Buddha.
It is a simple and lucid introduction or entry point to the world of nuanced ethical thoughts by the Buddha.
The quintessence of the text is Triratna or triple gems, Chatur Satya or Fourfold Truths, Panchaseela or Five Precepts and Attamagga or Eightfold Paths. Triratana or Trisarana means Buddham or enlightenment, Dhammam or ethics and democratic or representative and participatory society, or Sangha.
Fourfold truths means the Chatur Ariya Satyas of the awareness of suffering, the cause of suffering, the elimination of suffering and the Attamagga or eightfold paths for it. Panchaseela means abstaining from killing, stealing, lying, intoxication and adultery. Attamagga or Ashtanga Marga means the right or total or comprehensive ethical perspective, conception, words, action, livelihood, efforts, concentration and meditation.
Mooloor’s translation is widely appraised as the most enduring translation in poetry by multilingual scholars and critics alike. The centenary of this monumental text deserves earnest recognition from Kerala’s cultural institutions, media, and academia.
(Dr Ajay S Sekher: The writer is associate professor of English and founder coordinator of Centre for Buddhist Studies, SSUS Kalady)