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In this episode, we observe the sorrow afflicting a lady, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 325, penned by Nannaakaiyaar. Set in the coastal regions of ‘Neythal’, the verse speaks in the voice of the lady to the confidante, in response to the friend’s worry about the lady’s ability to bear with the man’s parting.
‘சேறும், சேறும்’ என்றலின் பண்டைத்தன்
மாயச் செலவாச் செத்து ‘மருங்கு அற்று
மன்னிக் கழிக’ என்றேனே, அன்னோ,
ஆசு ஆகு எந்தை யாண்டு உளன் கொல்லோ?
கருங்கால் வெண்குருகு மேயும்
பெருங்குளம் ஆயிற்று, என் இடை முலை நிறைந்தே.
‘What a mistake I made’ is the lament herein. In the opening words ‘சேறும், சேறும்’ meaning ‘I will leave, I will leave’, the lines rendered by another is noted. The phrase ‘மாயச் செலவு’ meaning ‘a false travel’ talks about the scenario, where people say they would leave but they don’t. In the question ‘யாண்டு உளன் கொல்லோ’ meaning ‘where could he be’, we can sense the yearning in the lady’s heart. An element of land pops up in ‘கருங்கால் வெண்குருகு மேயும் பெருங்குளம்’ meaning ‘a huge pond, on which a black-footed white bird grazes’. Ending with the words ‘என் இடை முலை நிறைந்தே’ meaning ‘the region between my bosom fills up’, the verse seems to portray a poignant emotion.
A curious reference to pretence about parting! The context reveals that the man and lady were leading a happy, married life when the man parted away to gather wealth. At this time, the confidante worries if the lady will be able to bear with the parting. To her friend, the lady says, “When he said, ‘I shall go, I shall go’, thinking it was like before, when he used to lie about leaving, I said to him, ‘parting from my side, permanently leave’. Alas! I wonder where the lord, he, who is my support, went. Like a huge pond, wherein black-legged white birds feed, the space between my breasts has become!” With these words, the lady regrets the words she said to the man and expresses her suffering after the man parted away.
What makes the lady regret so? Let’s understand by delving into her words. She starts by talking about an instance when the man came to her and said that he was going to part from her and go away. Thinking that he was playing as he always does, the lady too seems to have said, ‘Please do that, and do go away for long’. The man seems to have taken that as consent and parted away on his mission. Saying this, the lady cries out wondering where he could be, the man who was her support and protector. To visually portray her state, the lady talks about how tears seemed to pour down and fill the cleft between her breasts, making them appear as if it were a pond where birds feed!
Stunning juxtaposition in that image of a pond of tears! Reflecting on the verse, it seems like the lady is biting her tongue and nodding her head in disbelief at her past foolishness. She seems to have fallen for the trap the man laid for her to get her consent to leave. And though she has, she sees no fault with him and wonders about his whereabouts. Hope the confidante has the necessary equipment to drain that pond of tears and fill it with solace about the man’s return!
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