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In this episode, we hear of a king’s cruel act placed as a unique simile, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 292, penned by Paranar, a historian poet. The verse is situated in the mountains of ‘Kurinji’ and speaks in the voice of the confidante to the lady, passing on a hidden message to the man, listening nearby.
மண்ணிய சென்ற ஒள் நுதல் அரிவை
புனல் தரு பசுங் காய் தின்றதன் தப்பற்கு
ஒன்பதிற்று-ஒன்பது களிற்றொடு, அவள் நிறை
பொன் செய் பாவை கொடுப்பவும், கொள்ளான்,
பெண் கொலை புரிந்த நன்னன் போல,
வரையா நிரையத்துச் செலீஇயரோ, அன்னை!-
ஒரு நாள், நகை முக விருந்தினன் வந்தென,
பகை முக ஊரின், துஞ்சலோ இலளே.
‘How heartless can she be’ is the wondering question about someone in this verse. The opening words ‘மண்ணிய சென்ற ஒள் நுதல் அரிவை’ meaning ‘a girl with a shining brow, who went to take a bath’ describes a generic person going about their activities. Where this girl went to take her bath becomes clear in ‘புனல் தரு பசுங்காய்’ meaning ‘a green fruit that the river brought’. Moving away from this commoner, we next meet up with a king from the past in ‘பெண் கொலை புரிந்த நன்னன்’ meaning ‘Nannan, who killed a woman’. Sounds like a tyrant indeed! In Natrinai 73, which was also written by the same poet, we have already encountered this king in connection with the ‘Kosars’, who rode with strategy and felled the king’s favourite mango tree. This could be the verse that describes in depth about the events around that same mango tree. In ‘நகை முக விருந்தினன்’, we meet with ‘a man who arrives as a guest with a smiling face’. What could be the significance of that phrase? Ending with the words ‘துஞ்சலோ இலளே’ meaning ‘she has slept not’, the verse beckons us to learn more.
Killing kings and smiling strangers stride across in this verse! The context reveals that the man and lady were leading a love relationship and the man was trysting with the lady for a while. One night, the confidante observes the man arriving to tryst with the lady. Pretending not to notice him, but making sure he’s in earshot, the confidante says to the lady, “A young maiden with a glowing forehead, intending to bathe, ate a green fruit that the stream brought to her. For that mistake, although he was rendered eighty-one elephants and a golden doll, equivalent to the maiden’s weight, he refused to accept that, and put her to death. Like that king Nannan, let mother go to an endless hell. Why, because mother saw the man arrive as a smiling guest one day, and, akin to a town on enemy lines, she has not slept since then.” With these words, the confidante makes it clear that the time for trysting was over and that the man should take steps to seek a permanent union with the lady.
How will the story of a king’s act help in changing the man’s mind? To understand, let’s delve into the confidante’s words closely. She starts by talking about a woman with a radiant forehead going to take a bath. At first, I thought she was talking about the lady and addressing her so. It turned out that she was talking about another, a woman involved in a historical incident. This woman, seeing a fruit floating in the stream that she was bathing in, seems to have taken the fruit and savoured it. Just then, guards seized that woman to bring her before king Nannan. What could be wrong in eating a fallen fruit that a stream brings? Turns out it’s wrong if a king says so. That fruit had fallen from Nannan’s favourite tree, and so, he was angered that this woman had eaten what he thought belonged only to him and ordered her to be put to death. Hearing this, the woman’s kith and kin rushed and they even offered nine times nine – eighty one elephants as well as a solid golden doll, equivalent in weight to that of the girl, who ate the mango. But still the king refused to accept the reparation and killed that girl for the sin of eating that single fruit!
A spine-chilling story that makes me shiver! Why has the confidante brought this up? Only to say, like that Nannan, mother too will go to a hell that has no end. From this single statement, we understand that the act of Nannan was something to be abhorred, not just in our modern times but even then. The people then seemed to have seen this as a supreme act of cruelty, which sent people to hell in their afterlife. Thus, we also infer a belief in life after death, one that involved hell or no hell from these words. Moving on to the even more shocking fact about mother being cursed in such a manner, it makes us wonder why would a loving mother be thought of in such harsh terms? The confidante explains that’s because one day, the man happened to sneak in to the lady’s house in the guise of being a guest, and mother seems to have registered that. Since that day, like how an entire village near the enemy lines would not sleep in the midst of war, mother too sleeps not and guards the lady fiercely, the confidante concludes!
Now, it’s clear that the confidante is simply telling the man that the lady has been placed under strict guard and there’s going to be no more trysting for him and he’d better seek the lady’s hand in marriage and find permanent joy in her company. The verse involves a simple concept of hidden persuasion and yet, it brought up many thoughts about those in power and about war. As I write this, a war goes on in the world, and as all wars are, this is an unnecessary one too! One thing remains clear, be it then or now, because of those in power, it’s the people who suffer. It’s surprising that after all these thousands of years, that still has not changed. King Nannan could put an innocent girl to death because he thought so. Worse things have happened in the hands of other kings in other places and in other times. But why haven’t we learnt from history yet? Kings may rule us no more, but power seems to exert that same force on the lives of innocents even today. My heart goes out to those sleepless people at towns and cities near the raging battlefront. May peace come your way soon!
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