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In this episode, we relish picturesque references to a lady’s hamlet, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 235, penned by Maayendanaar. Set in the ‘drylands’ of ‘Paalai’, the verse speaks in the voice of the man to the northern wind, concealing a hidden message to his charioteer, urging him to rush to the village of the man’s lady love.
ஓம்புமதி; வாழியோ-வாடை!-பாம்பின்
தூங்கு தோல் கடுக்கும் தூ வெள் அருவிக்
கல் உயர் நண்ணியதுவே-நெல்லி
மரையினம் ஆரும் முன்றில்
புல் வேய் குரம்பை நல்லோள் ஊரே.
‘Won’t you protect her?’ asks a voice in this verse! We learn of the entity addressed so in the opening words ‘ஓம்புமதி வாழியோ, வாடை’ meaning ‘Do guard her, may you live long, O cold northern wind’. Next, we glance at ‘பாம்பின் தூங்கு தோல்’ referring to ‘the shed skin of a snake’. In ‘நெல்லி மரையினம் ஆரும்’ meaning ‘the gooseberries that the sambar deer feeds on’, there’s mention of that majestic deer species, unique to South Asia. Ending with the words ‘புல் வேய் குரம்பை நல்லோள் ஊரே’ meaning ‘with grass-thatched huts, stands the hamlet of the good lady’, the verse invites us to explore more.
What could this odd combination of northern winds, snake skin and thatched huts signify? The context reveals that the man and lady had been leading a love relationship when the man decided to part with the lady to gather wealth for their wedding. He completes his mission and on the way back, as he rides on his chariot, as if addressing the northern wind, he says, “Please protect her, may you live long, O northern wind! Looking like a hanging snake skin, the pure, white cascade flows from the mountain peak. Near this cascade, hedged by a front, filled with gooseberry trees that herds of deer feed on, and filled with huts, thatched with grass, is my good lady’s village!” With these words, the man expresses how his heart belonged with a lady and conveys the need for the charioteer to rush to her hamlet.
Time to explore the nuances in this tiny verse! The man starts with a request and blessing to the northern wind asking it to protect the lady. What protection does the lady need, that too, from the wind? Let’s hold on to that question and listen to the rest of what the man says. He details how there’s a glowing white waterfall, which looks exactly like a moulted snake skin, hanging on from high. A moment to pause and ponder on this simile! Any poet influenced by an ideology that holds an aversion to snakes would have steered clear of this comparison. That these Sangam people see nothing to be avoided in this natural phenomenon of a snake shedding its skin is evident from their matter-of-fact comparison to an alluring aspect of the landscape. Moving on, the man has pointed out to this waterfall, to say near that, there’s a circle of gooseberry trees, whose fruits are much desired by the deer that roam. Within this natural fence, are also huts thatched with grass and that happens to be the hamlet of his lady, the man concludes.
As we have seen in many Sangam poems, the northern wind is the tormentor of those separated in love. Why is the man asking the tormentor to protect? This reminds of a Tamil saying – ‘சாட்சிக்காரன் காலில் விழுகிறதிலும் சண்டைக்காரன் காலில் விழலாம்’ which means ‘instead of falling at the feet of a witness, it’s better to fall at the feet of the enemy’. Don’t seek an outsider’s help to solve your problems with someone, instead, confront them directly, says this Tamil proverb. And here, that’s what the man’s doing! He’s seeking the protection of the one who normally torments. A smart move! But the man’s smartness doesn’t end there, for this whole rendition is to point out the location of the lady, and to urge his charioteer, expressing how she would be tortured by his long absence in this cold season and would be waiting every moment for his arrival. Hope the charioteer gets the message and speeds to the lady’s abode, before the northern wind decides to change from temporary protector to a tormentor. A verse that bears testimony to how elements of nature, be it the cold, northern wind or a shed snake skin or the gooseberry-eating sambar deer, form an inseparable part of the lives of these ancient Tamil people!
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