Natrinai 310 – Startled by a fish

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விளக்கின் அன்ன சுடர் விடு தாமரை,
களிற்றுச் செவி அன்ன பாசடை தயங்க,
உண்துறை மகளிர் இரிய, குண்டு நீர்
வாளை பிறழும் ஊரற்கு, நாளை
மகட் கொடை எதிர்ந்த மடம் கெழு பெண்டே!
தொலைந்த நாவின் உலைந்த குறு மொழி
உடன்பட்டு, ஓராத் தாயரொடு ஒழிபுடன்
சொல்லலைகொல்லோ நீயே-வல்லை,
களிறு பெறு வல்சிப் பாணன் கையதை
வள் உயிர்த் தண்ணுமை போல,
உள் யாதும் இல்லது ஓர் போர்வைஅம் சொல்லே?

The verse begins with the radiant image of ‘விளக்கின் அன்ன சுடர் விடு தாமரை’ meaning ‘a lotus that gives out a glow like that of a lamp’. ‘உண்துறை மகளிர் இரிய’ which means ‘frightening the maiden who come to collect water’ hints of a danger around. We learn that this danger is ‘the deep-water ribbon fish’ in the words ‘குண்டு நீர் வாளை’, a fish we saw a lady delicately preparing in Natrinai 120. As we have seen in other Natrinai poems, ‘குண்டு’, which means ‘fat’ in contemporary language, is used to signify ‘depth’ in this usage. The phrase ‘களிறு பெறு வல்சிப் பாணன்’ is a significant term referring to ‘a bard who used to receive elephants as patronage’. This talks about the charity of kings then, as well the skill of those bards who impressed their patrons thus. The image and sound of a ‘loud drum’ is highlighted in ‘வள் உயிர்த் தண்ணுமை’. Ending with ‘போர்வைஅம் சொல்லே’, which means ‘words that are a mere cover’, the verse invites us to unravel the truths within!

The man and lady had been leading a happy, married life, when the man took to keeping the company of courtesans. The lady understandably is angered by this action of the man. After a while, the man intends to make his peace with the lady and return home. To this end, he sends a female dancer, as a messenger to the lady’s house. Seeing her, the lady’s confidante says to her, “A lotus flower glows akin to a lamp. Rustling the lotus flower’s green leaves, which look like the ears of a male elephant, startling the women collecting water, the deep water ‘vaalai’ leaps. Such is the domain of the lord! O foolish woman, who has a courtesan lined up for him tomorrow, heeding your untruthful tongue and acceding to your words, those mothers of courtesans, who do not analyse things, agree to your requests. Instead of going to them, why do you come here in such a hurry, bringing your empty, deceiving words that have no truth within, akin to the resounding drum in the hands of a singer, who receives elephants for his living!” With these words, the confidante refuses to entertain the request of the dancer and conveys the lady’s continuing ire at the man’s actions.

Time to delve deeper! The confidante opens her conversation with the dancer by bringing before our eyes, a waterbody where one can see a lotus in full bloom, looking so like a lamp that has been lit. From the flower, the confidante turns our attention to the leaves of the plant and here too, she brings in another simile, drawing parallels between an elephant’s ears and the leaves. An apt link between the plant and animal word! When we are delighting in the peaceful scene that seems to be straight out of a Zen temple, suddenly, there’s commotion. We see maiden who have come to collect water drop their vessels in alarm. The reason we discover is a ribbon fish that seems to shake the leaves of the lotus and frighten those ladies. This elaborate scene is said to describe the man’s land but is sure to conceal a metaphor within, which we will see in a while. From that scene involving the ladies and the lotus flower, the confidante turns her attention to the dancer standing before her and calls her a woman filled with foolishness! Why these angry words at the messenger? The confidante informs us that it’s because the dancer is the person, who arranges courtesans for the man!

The confidante then goes on to elaborate how the dancer does that. Apparently, she talks to those naive mothers of courtesans and confuses them with her words, which the confidante describes as those arising from a tongue that has lost truth. However, those mothers do not seem to have the confidante’s power of analysing what is what and they naively accept the request from the dancer. After mentioning these disgraceful acts of the dancer, the confidante asks in a mocking tone, why the dancer has chosen to come to the lady’s house, instead of going to those mothers, to seek their daughters! She finishes her words by declaring that the conciliatory words of the dancer were nothing but a mere cover, with no substance, exactly like a singer’s drum, covered with leather and hollow within! That singer, by the way, is said to be one who receives not jewels or gems in return for his musical services but elephants as his prize! Wonder what the singer would do with those elephants, for he’s no mahout! Sell them to someone, perhaps. And what could they give him in exchange? The economics of the past is a mystery indeed!

Returning to the opening scene with the lotus flower and the ribbon fish, the confidante says this, as an image of how the man seems to be disturbing the lady and her kith and kin by leaping to one courtesan after the other! With all her words of anger, the core message the confidante conveys to the dancer and the one who sent her, the man, is that the lady is still in rage about the man’s actions. A verse that contains disturbing elements that rustle the mind akin to that leaping ribbon fish! A society where a man could do as he pleased and rove like a bee, from flower to flower, is something unsavoury indeed. But, that’s the bane of an agricultural life and the offshoots of ownership. Unlike an egalitarian hunter-gatherer society, such a society becomes unequal, leading to these practices that give undue importance to wealth and the wealthy!