Natrinai 353 – Feast for the fearless

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In this episode, we perceive the art of subtle persuasion, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Natrinai 353, penned by Kabilar. The verse is set in the mountain country of ‘Kurinji’ and speaks in the voice of the confidante to the man, expressing concern about the nightly path he treads, to tryst with the lady.

ஆள் இல் பெண்டிர் தாளின் செய்த
நுணங்கு நுண் பனுவல் போல, கணம் கொள,
ஆடு மழை தவழும் கோடு உயர் நெடு வரை,
முட முதிர் பலவின் குடம் மருள் பெரும் பழம்
கல் கெழு குறவர் காதல் மடமகள்
கரு விரல் மந்திக்கு வரு விருந்து அயரும்,
வான் தோய் வெற்ப! சான்றோய்அல்லை-எம்
காமம் கனிவதுஆயினும், யாமத்து
இரும் புலி தொலைத்த பெருங் கை யானை
வெஞ் சின உருமின் உரறும்
அஞ்சுவரு சிறு நெறி வருதலானே.

The poem opens with an intriguing phrase ‘ஆள் இல் பெண்டிர்’, which means ‘women without husbands’, our first brush with the concept of widowhood in the Sangam age. The phrase ‘நுணங்கு நுண் பனுவல்’ means ‘fine, slender threads of cotton’ and interestingly the word ‘பனுவல்’ is used to refer to ‘cotton’ as well as ‘book’ or ‘research’. Having travelled to the hills, we can expect to see ‘ஆடு மழை’ or ‘moving clouds’ in abundance. The delicacy born of the mountain soil, jackfruit, appears in ‘பலவின் குடம் மருள் பெரும் பழம்’ meaning ‘the jackfruit’s pot-like, huge fruits’, throwing light on the size of these nature’s gifts to taste buds. The phrase ‘குறவர் காதல் மடமகள்’ sketches for us, ‘a naive and much-loved young girl, daughter to the mountain dwellers’. Evolutionary cousins of this maiden wave to us in ‘கரு விரல் மந்தி’ or ‘black-toed female monkey’. The phrase ‘சான்றோய்அல்லை’ meaning ‘honourable, you are not’ addressed to this man, finds a comeback two thousand years later in a Tamil movie song ‘நல்லை அல்லை’ meaning ‘good, you are not’ addressed to a lady! The ‘Big Two’ of the mountains clash before our eyes in ‘இரும் புலி’ or ‘huge tiger’ and ‘பெருங் கை யானை’ or ‘elephant with long trunk’. Ending with ‘அஞ்சுவரு சிறு நெறி வருதலானே’ meaning ‘as you come on that fear-evoking, small path’, the verse beckons us to explore further!

The man and lady had been leading a love relationship and the man had been trysting with the lady, by night, for a while. One night, the confidante says to him, “The swaying clouds, akin to delicate and fine threads of cotton spun with effort by widows, gather together and crawl around the tall peaks of the mountains, wherein an adored, naive daughter of the mountain folk offers a feast of the pot-like, huge fruit from the bent, old jackfruit tree, to the black-toed female monkey, treating it as her guest.  Such is your domain of the mountains, which soar to the skies, O lord! But, you are not a man of wisdom! And that’s because, though it’s for her love to bear fruit, you still arrive in the middle of the night, treading the fearsome, small path, wherein a long-trunked elephant that has killed a huge tiger, roars, akin to thunder, with raving rage!” With these words, the confidante expresses the worry in the lady’s heart about the dangers the man faces on his way to tryst with her and in a hidden manner, persuades him to seek the path to permanent happiness.

Backpacks on, let us wander around the paths of this mountain land and gather what we can! The confidante starts by bringing into focus, fine cotton threads spun by widows, immediately launching us on our meandering. This is a loaded topic of analysis, especially when seen in conjunction with the Vedic portrayal of widows as shunned members of society. Leaving that aside for another time, here, I would like to focus on how these women were given a job to do, and that is the task of spinning cotton. That is the only true piece of information we can glean from this particular verse. While it’s not evident as to whether this occupation aided those widowed women in the Sangam age, I read related research articles about how this very cotton weaving in Medieval China was the basis of the emancipation of women and widows, owing to wealth finding their way to them through this profession. Returning to the verse, we learn that the confidante has mentioned those widows and their fine-spun cotton, only to place them in parallel to the clouds that surround the mountain peaks. In other Natrinai poems, we have seen how clouds are equated to carded cotton, wherein cotton is thrashed with steel bows, and here we see, the same yet different equivalence between these two elements. Those cloud-enveloped mountains are further described as the abode of the young daughter of mountain dwellers, a girl with such kindness in her heart that she treats a monkey as her guest and offers it, a feast of the juicy and delicious fruit of the jackfruit tree. The confidante has been talking of this scene to describe the man’s rich land or that’s what she says aloud!

After that mouth-watering praise about his mountain land, the confidante turns to the man and declares that he is not a wise person! This is rather severe in those days, coming from the confidante to the man, and when he looks up in surprise, she elaborates further saying that although his intention may be to fulfil the lady’s love, he acts without consideration when he comes walking in that dangerous path, where the elephant and tiger war against each other and wherein the elephant triumphs and roars like thunder. Instead of continuing to alarm the lady this way, the confidante says that the man must seek the lady’s hand in marriage and if he were to pursue that path without fear, akin to the monkey being offered sweet, mountain fruit, the lady’s parents would offer their daughter in marriage to him. Weaving within facets of wisdom, widowhood and wildlife, the verse has gifted the world with a rich tapestry of life as it were!