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In this episode, we appreciate the layers of meaning stitched in Sangam Literary work, Natrinai 48, written by Perunkadunko, a poet-king belonging to the Chera dynasty. Being the favoured domain of this poet, the poem is set in the ‘Paalai’ landscape or the drylands, in the words of the lady’s confidante to the man, recollecting events of the past.
அன்றை அனைய ஆகி, இன்றுஉம் எம்
கண் உள போலச் சுழலும் மாதோ,
புல் இதழ்க் கோங்கின் மெல் இதழ்க் குடைப் பூ
வைகுறு மீனின் நினையத் தோன்றி,
புறவு அணி கொண்ட பூ நாறு கடத்திடைக்
கிடின் என இடிக்கும் கோல் தொடி மறவர்
வடி நவில் அம்பின் வினையர் அஞ்சாது,
அமர் இடை உறுதர நீக்கி, நீர்
எமர் இடை உறுதர ஒளித்த காடே.
Right at the beginning, the poem pulls you in to listen intently to the unfolding story, by talking of ‘அன்றை’ meaning ‘that day’ and ‘இன்றுஉம்’ meaning ‘today too’ and binding these two firmly with ‘கண் உள போல’ meaning ‘as if, within my eyes.’ To make you relish this story with all your senses, appear elements like ‘குடைப் பூ’ meaning ‘umbrella flower’, ‘மெல் இதழ்’ meaning ‘soft-petalled’ and ‘பூ நாறு’ meaning ‘the fragrance of flowers’. From fragrance, let’s move on to sounds. Do you recognise these words – ‘clang’, ‘swoosh’ and ‘tweet’? These are the onomatopoeic words, words that are created from what they sound like. We meet one such Tamil word in this verse -‘கிடின்’ meaning ‘a sudden sound’. Speaking of sounds, the repeating structure in the last two lines of this little poem leaves us with a trance-like effect.
Moving on from sounds to the domain of words, their meaning and context, we find the poem situated in a time when the man and lady are living a life of married union. One day, during this time, the man informs the lady’s confidante of his intention to part away from the lady, to complete a task. Hearing this, the lady’s confidante recollects events from the time when the man had eloped with the lady and says,“What happened that day, so long ago, rises within me, even today, as if it’s happening right before my eyes. As we were walking through the jungle path, the slender, umbrella flower of the Kongam tree was glimmering above, reminding one of the star that appears in the early morning sky. The forest path we were treading was beautiful, filled with the fragrance of flowers. Suddenly, with a thundering sound, appeared before us, those wasteland bandits, wearing thick armlets and bearing the sharpest of arrows! And yet, not a bit afraid, you fought with those bandits and drove them away. But when you saw my kin, who had followed us knowing that we had eloped, you did something different. So as to avoid inflicting harm on them, you hid away in the forest.” Do not be confused hearing the lady’s confidante narrating these events from the lady’s past with the man. Here, she takes on the voice of the lady to convey a hidden message to the man.
When I first read the poem, I was mulling over for a long time, wondering why the lady’s confidante is saying something irrelevant when the man is saying he wants to leave. Instead of using her persuasive skills to make him abandon his plan to part, why is she going on, about the past? Being the wise one she is, she would never say something for the sake of saying it.
Holding on to that faith, let’s try to unravel the layers of hidden meaning in her words. First stop, the Kongam or the red cotton tree. Kongam is a tree which is found all over India and in many other southeast Asian countries. Here, the lady’s confidante references the soft flowers of the Kongam tree, saying it reminds one of the stars that appear at dawn. Searching to know more about the shape of these flowers, I found that these flowers appear with five petals. Thus, in the lines, we do not find some irrelevant comparison, but a perfect parallel to the five pointed star! A true testimony to the acute powers of observation of the ancient poets! Now coming to why the lady’s confidante is referencing these flowers and talking of a fragrant path through the forest, we see it’s her way of bringing the man’s attention to the happy, wedded life that he’s currently leading with the lady.
On this blissful path, suddenly bandits break in. Like a dashing action hero, the man singlehandedly defeats those skilled warriors and chases them away! Can you too hear the whistles and applause of an Indian audience watching a movie star’s action sequence? Returning to the poem’s reality, we find that the lady’s confidante drawing a parallel between the bandits and the man’s intention to part away, stressing that it is the obstacle that has come in the way of the blissful wedded life of the lady and the man.
And finally, the lady’s confidante talks about how although the man has all the strength to fight with anyone in his path, when the lady’s kin follow them hearing of their elopement, he does not choose to fight with them. Instead, ensuring that he does not hurt his lady, he avoids the confrontation and hides away in the forest. By pointing this out to the man, the lady’s confidante is passing on a subtle message that he should abandon his intention to part away and show that same kindness of the past, to his lady. A master class in the art of subtle persuasion!
Brilliant poem 😍