Kurunthogai 345 – An inviting question

May 13, 2022

In this episode, we listen to words inviting a person to stay, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 345, penned by Andar Makan Kuruvaluthiyaar. Set in the coastal regions of ‘Neythal’, the verse speaks in the voice of the confidante to the man, requesting him to tryst with the lady by night.

இழை அணிந்து இயல்வரும் கொடுஞ்சி நெடுந் தேர்
வரை மருள் நெடு மணல் தவிர்த்தனிர் அசைஇத்
தங்கினிர்ஆயின், தவறோ-தகைய
தழை தாழ் அல்குல் இவள் புலம்பு அகல-
தாழை தைஇய தயங்குதிரைக் கொடுங் கழி
இழுமென ஒலிக்கும் ஆங்கண்
பெருநீர் வேலி எம் சிறு நல் ஊரே?

‘What could be wrong?’ is the core question here! The opening words ‘இழை அணிந்து இயல்வரும் கொடுஞ்சி நெடுந் தேர்’ is a one-line portrait of an ancient vehicle, for it means ‘adorned with golden ornaments, arrives the tall chariot with a lotus-shaped staff’. In the phrase ‘நெடு மணல் தவிர்த்தனிர்’ meaning ‘to hide behind the sand mounds’, there’s hint of a need for secrecy. In ‘தங்கினிர்ஆயின் தவறோ’ meaning ‘if you stay, is it wrong?’, the core question mentioned waves to us. First, we saw a portrait of a vehicle and now it’s the turn of the seashore in ‘தாழை தைஇய தயங்குதிரைக் கொடுங் கழி’ meaning ‘surrounded by pandanus trees and with curving backwaters filled with moving waves’. Ending with the words ‘பெருநீர் வேலி எம் சிறு நல் ஊரே’ meaning ‘our fine and small village, fenced by the huge ocean’, the verse delights us with this poetic contrast and welcomes us to learn more.

It seems a question of hiding a chariot and staying ashore! The context reveals that the man and lady were leading a love relationship and the man was trysting with the lady by day. After a while, the confidante decides to further their relationship to the next stage and one day, she says to the man, “Decked with golden ornaments and a lotus staff upfront, that tall chariot of yours comes speeding. If you could hide it behind the hill-like heaps of sand, to rest and stay here, so as to remove the loneliness of she, who wears a hanging attire of leaves on her loins, would it be wrong? With shores filled with pandanus trees, shining waves in the curving backwaters, resounding with a loud sound, and fenced by the great ocean, is our good, little village!” With these words, the confidante requests the man to stay back in the lady’s village at night and continue his secret rendezvous with the lady.

That’s a rare request, for in most poems, we find the man pleading with the confidante for a tryst by night, only to be refused. Let’s listen closely to the confidante’s words and understand how she puts forth her request. The confidante first talks about the man’s chariot, and how it’s decked in gold and filled with all essential accessories. Then, she puts forth a question asking if he were to hide the chariot behind the soaring sand mounds on the shore, and if he were to stay, thereby removing the lady’s lonely suffering, what could be wrong? Note that unique way of requesting. She doesn’t say to the man, ‘You must stay here’ and she doesn’t even put it a little more gently as in ‘Why don’t you stay here?’. Instead, she encases it in a question about its rightness. When the confidante asks the man ‘what could be wrong’, the answer is implied that nothing is wrong, and in fact, it is the right thing to do. We have to agree that this approach softens the tone and presents the request in an appealing manner.

Returning, we find the confidante answering the question, ‘where should the man stay?’, with a picturesque portrait of the lady’s little village. Lush pandanus trees stand on the banks of backwaters, filled with rustling waves that end roaring in the huge ocean, which is the wall for their fine, little hamlet. With such an invitation to such a charming place to be with a beloved, how can the man refuse? I want to take a moment and ponder if such scenarios in relationships presented in Sangam verses were drawn from practice or from the imagination of poets? Did women really have friends, who spoke on their behalf to men about their love relationships then, or have such scenes been constructed for a literary effect? Unless we can time travel, we cannot answer these questions with certainty. Meanwhile, let us relish holding some more unanswered questions in our minds!

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