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In this episode, we take in a scene from the fields of a farming town and perceive the consequences of a lie, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 127, penned by Orambokiyaar. The verse is situated in the agricultural regions of ‘Marutham’ and speaks in the voice of the confidante to the man, in response to the words of the singer, sent as a messenger by the man to allay the anger of his lady.
குருகு கொளக் குளித்த கெண்டை அயலது
உரு கெழு தாமரை வால் முகை வெரூஉம்
கழனிஅம் படப்பை காஞ்சி ஊர!
ஒரு நின் பாணன் பொய்யன் ஆக,
உள்ள பாணர் எல்லாம்
கள்வர் போல்வர், நீ அகன்றிசினோர்க்கே.
‘Deception and Illusion’ is at the core of this verse! In the beginning, a suspenseful capture and escape is rendered by the words ‘குருகு கொளக் குளித்த கெண்டை’ talking about ‘a stork snatching a carp and the carp’s flight by jumping into the water’. Next, we see ‘a white bud of a radiant lotus’ in ‘உரு கெழு தாமரை வால் முகை’, an image that instantly brings before the mind prayer and meditation. Returning, we note that the title for the man in this verse is ‘காஞ்சி ஊர’ meaning ‘man from the town with false white teak trees’. In ‘பாணன் பொய்யன்’ meaning ‘the singer is a liar’, we learn the source of the lies. Ending with the words ‘நீ அகன்றிசினோர்க்கே’ meaning ‘to those whom you have left behind’, the verse invites us to listen intently.
Lies of a bard and leap of a carp – Antics of the mind and body captured herein! The context reveals that the man and lady were leading a married life when the man took to keeping the company of courtesans, thereby infuriating his lady. After a while, the man decides to return to his home and sends a bard as his messenger to appease the lady’s ire. Hearing the messenger’s words and seeing the man standing behind this messenger, the confidante says to the man, “Escaping the stork’s snatch, the carp fish jumps into the waters and seeing the white bud of a radiant lotus nearby, fears the flower bud, in the orchards filled with fields in your town lined with ‘kaanji’ trees, O lord! As one of your messenger-bard is a liar, all the bards out there seem as tricksters to those whom you have forsaken.” With these words, the confidante informs the man that the lady has not accepted his attempt at appeasement and refuses him entry to their home.
It always gives me satisfaction to note that although it’s the man’s home that the lady lives in, she has the power to refuse him entry if he was errant in his ways. Let’s delve into the confidante’s words to understand the situation further. The confidante starts by clicking a short video of a bird’s dive and capture of a carp swimming in the shallow pond and this carp giving the bird a slip and jumping back into the water. Saved from being the bird’s meal, the carp heaves a sigh of relief; Just then, it sees a lotus bud and mistaking it for the bird, the carp trembles in fear, the confidante concludes. Remarking that it’s only to describe the man’s town, a domain of lush fields and groves filled with ‘Kaanji’ trees, the confidante then turns her attention to him. She says that because the singer sent by the man was a liar, all the singers there seemed to be liars and thieves to those who had been abandoned by the man.
What was the lie that has caused this reaction and in whom exactly? When a singer accepts to be the man’s messenger, he would come to the lady’s house and sing praises of the man, saying he’s a good and worthy person. And, it is this statement that is seen as a lie. Why? Only because the man has not been thoughtful of the pain he would cause in his lady by seeking the company of courtesans, and so, although the confidante uses no names to say it’s the lady she’s talking about, we can surmise that this is the implied meaning. That earlier image of the carp mistaking even a harmless lotus bud as a bird after its narrow escape brought before me, the psychological concern of ‘post-traumatic stress disorder’, in which the sufferers after a traumatic event, look upon their surroundings with suspicion and are easily startled. Through that metaphor, the confidante is establishing the trauma in the lady when the man abandoned her for the courtesans. Once trust is broken, it does take a lot of time and understanding to recover that, and it is this modern issue that is vividly captured in this verse from two thousand years ago!
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