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In this episode, we perceive a subtle technique of persuasion, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 219, penned by Velloor Kizhaar Makanaar Venpoothiyaar. The verse is situated in the coastal regions of ‘Neythal’ and speaks in the voice of the lady to the confidante, passing on a hidden message to the man, listening nearby.
பயப்பு என் மேனியதுவே, நயப்பு அவர்
நார் இல் நெஞ்சத்து ஆர் இடை அதுவே,
செறிவும் சேண் இகந்தன்றே, அறிவே
ஆங்கண் செல்கம் எழுகென ஈங்கே
வல்லா கூறி இருக்கும் முள் இலைத்
தடவு நிலைத் தாழைச் சேர்ப்பர்க்கு
இடம் மன் தோழி, என் நீரிரோ எனினே.
‘Now would be a good time’ is the core message in this one! The verse opens with the words ‘பயப்பு என் மேனியதுவே’ meaning ‘pallor spreads on my skin’ and speaks about the quintessential symptom of pining in a Sangam woman. Then, there appears the rhythmic equivalent of the first word in ‘நயப்பு’ talking about ‘love’. Abstractions of the mind continue in the phrase ‘செறிவும் சேண் இகந்தன்றே’ meaning ‘self control has moved to a faraway place’. As in the case of ‘பயப்பு’ – ‘நயப்பு’, another word couple dance away in ‘செறிவு’ – ‘அறிவு’ and the latter word refers to ‘judgement’ in the mind. The phrase ‘வல்லா கூறி இருக்கும்’ meaning ‘speaking of undoable things’ intrigues our interest. Next, we see a predominant tree of this region in ‘முள் இலைத் தடவு நிலைத் தாழை’ referring to ‘a thorny-leaved, broad-trunked pandanus tree’, whose flowers are renowned for their unique fragrance. Ending with the words ‘என் நீரிரோ எனினே’ meaning ‘what could be your situation’, the verse welcomes us to know more.
All those intangible aspects of the mind and a thorny, fragrant tree on the landscape! The context reveals that the man and lady were leading a love relationship and that the man was trysting with the lady for a long while. One day, seeing the man arrive near their trysting spot, pretending not to notice him but making sure he’s within earshot, the lady says to her confidante, “Pallor has taken abode on my skin; Love lives in that inaccessible space of his compassion-less heart; Restraint has departed to a faraway spot; Reason declares ‘Rise and go thither’, speaking of impossible things. The lord of the shores, where grows the broad-trunked, thorny-leaved ‘thaazhai’ tree, would find this to be the right time to ask us, ‘what is your state now?'”. With these words, the lady persuades the man in a hidden manner, to seek her hand in marriage.
What a roundabout way the lady takes to ask the man to marry her! She starts by talking about the state of four different aspects of her mind. Although she starts with the description of pallor, which is a physical symptom, a hue that spreads on the skin, that too is an echo of pining in the lady’s mind. The lady is worried about something even though the man has not parted away. Moving on to the other aspects, there’s mention of how her love has moved in the direction of the man’s heart, which seems to have no compassion. The third aspect of her sense of shame and restraint has taken a ticket to a faraway country, the lady says. And finally, the logical, reasoning part of her mind seems to be nudging her to rise up and go to where the man lives… in short, asking her to do something that is out of the question. This made me smile thinking how often reason seems to come up with a perfect solution, which may appear obvious on the outside, but something that cannot happen in real life, owing to the intricacies of the social situation. Like how a purely logical computer cannot understand the nuanced ethics in a situation, so too, at times, the evolved reasoning regions of the human brain!
Moving on, after declaring her internal position in all four directions, the lady describes the man’s land as one filled with pandanus trees, which have a characteristic thorny leaf and broad trunk. Saying that, the lady concludes with the words, ‘this is the right time for the man to enquire about our well-being’. The lady has already scratched the surface with that comment about the man’s compassion-less heart. Now, she pierces the message further, saying that he needs to stop focusing on trysting and do the needful to seek the path to their permanent union. In that description of a pandanus tree with thorny leaves, the lady packs a metaphor, asking the man to not mind the thorny nature of that situation and do what he must to reach for the fragrant flower of their happy union. If only we could look within and see with precision all that we are feeling in a moment of crisis, like this lady in the past, all our battles would be half-won, right then!
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