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In this episode, we swim with a fish and peer into a heart, guided by the flow of Natrinai 340, penned by Nakirar. The verse is situated in the agricultural regions of ‘Marutham’ and speaks in the voice of the lady to the man, expressing her feelings about his recent behaviour.
புல்லேன், மகிழ்ந! புலத்தலும் இல்லேன்-
கல்லா யானைக் கடுந் தேர்ச் செழியன்
படை மாண் பெருங் குள மடை நீர் விட்டென,
கால் அணைந்து எதிரிய கணைக் கோட்டு வாளை
அள்ளல்அம் கழனி உள்வாய் ஓடி,
பகடு சேறு உதைத்த புள்ளி வெண் புறத்து,
செஞ் சால் உழவர் கோல் புடை மதரி,
பைங் காற் செறுவின் அணைமுதல் பிறழும்
வாணன் சிறுகுடி அன்ன, என்
கோள் நேர் எல் வளை நெகிழ்த்த நும்மே!
Opening with ‘புல்லேன், மகிழ்ந’, which means ‘I shall not embrace you, O lord’, the poem firmly establishes the theme of love-quarrel that we have seen dominate the ‘Marutham’ landscape. Then, we meet with ‘கடுந் தேர்ச் செழியன்’, which takes us in the presence of an early Pandya king, who skilfully rode fast chariots. The phrase ‘பெருங் குள மடை நீர்’ meaning ‘the water let open by the flood gates of a huge tank’ proclaims much about the engineering and administrative abilities of the ancient world. Next, we meet the hero of this poetic adventure in ‘கணைக் கோட்டு வாளை’ meaning ‘scabbard fish with powerful fins’. ‘அள்ளல்அம் கழனி’ talks about ‘a muddy field’. Note how the word ‘அள்ளல்’ which refers to ‘mud’ here is the contemporary word for ‘trouble’. Often, when in trouble, it does feel like one is wallowing in mud! A ‘ploughing ox’ passes us by in ‘பகடு, accompanied by ‘செஞ் சால் உழவர்’, the ‘tribe of farmers who plough the red land’. In addition to the Pandya king Chezhiyan we met in the beginning, we also greet another historical character and his town in ‘வாணன் சிறுகுடி’. The verse ends with ‘எல் வளை நெகிழ்த்த நும்மே’ meaning ‘you, who caused my shining bangles to slip away’ and evokes our empathy!
The man and lady were leading a happy, married life when the man took to keeping the company of courtesans. The lady was angered by this action of the man. After a while, the man sent messengers to appease the lady’s ire and they all failed in their mission. The man himself returns back to the lady and she accepts him into the household. One night, she says to him, “I shall not embrace you, O lord… Neither shall I fight with you! Akin to the glory of Chezhian’s army, the king who rides untrained elephants and speeding chariots, is a huge water tank. When its flood gates were opened, the ‘vaalai’ with powerful fins that swim against the current, runs into the inner side of a muddy field. There, farmers, who plough the red land, having white dots on their backs owing to the splashing of mud by their bulls, beat with their rods, making the ‘vaalai’ leap and thrash on the well-watered bunds in Vaannan’s Sirukudi. My well-fitted, shining bangles, which are akin to that Sirukudi, slipped away, because of you!” With these words, the lady reveals the state of her mind to her husband, who had forsaken her for the sake of a courtesan.
Now, for the hidden nuances! The lady comes straight to the point and declares that she will neither embrace nor be cross with the man. If her feelings were a scale, it would neither go up nor down. Why does the lady choose to be so? Let’s wait for her words, which now has turned in the direction of young elephants and racing chariots. These, she says, belong to the Pandya king Chezhiyan’s army. The king’s army is referred only to be placed in parallel to a huge water tank, no doubt built by the same king, to yield succour to his subjects in the sweltering summer. The rains have poured well that season and now, the flood gates have to be opened to let out the excess water to the fields around. When the water gushes out, along with it, a ‘vaalai’ fish too rushes into the mud-filled fields. In a forest, you cannot be sure that you will meet with a hunter but if it’s a field, you will inevitably meet with a farmer, for it’s they, who makes what was mere land into a treasure trove of food with their hard work. This is captured by the image of these farmers, ploughing the red soil of these regions, with their oxen. When those helpful animals walk about making furrows in the mud, it splashes on the backs of these farmers, leaving behind white specks. After this compact word-snapshot of a life of a farmer, the lady then points to the rods they have in their hands for driving those oxen and as they move these rods, the fish that came swimming in the flood waters from the tank, leaps and falls on the well-watered bunds by the field. The lady has taken us on this detailed farm tour only to say such scenes are to be found in the town of ‘Sirukudi’, ruled by the feudal chief ‘Vaanan’. But, what do kings and chiefs have to do with a lady’s heart?
The lady completes her narration by saying that her exquisitely crafted, radiant bangles were akin to that Sirukudi and it was the man’s actions that made it slip and fall. To an uninitiated person, bangles loosening may still be puzzling. One should understand that when a Sangam lady’s bangles slipped and fell, it meant that she had lost her health and beauty, owing to the pining of separation. And in this case, the details of the separation have been concealed in the scene of the fish swimming from its pond to the muddy fields, which is a metaphor for the man being pulled into the company of a courtesan, and in spite of the slander in town, akin to the farmer’s beating rod, the man had remained there, with her. Saying all this, the lady gives expression to the pain in her heart and conveys the decision that at the moment, there is neither hate nor love towards the man, in her. I’m not rushing to accept you, and at the same time, I will not fight with you, the lady says. A state of poise and balance in such a situation. Extraordinary is this ability to look within and to precisely express the feeling there and indeed, it’s this very skill that is needed to water that field of life and marriage!
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