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In this episode, we observe the transformation of a person as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Puranaanooru 251, penned by the poet Maaripithiyaar. Set in the category of ‘Vaagai Thinai’ or ‘Victory’, the verse talks about the transition to an ascetic life.
ஓவத்து அன்ன இடனுடை வரைப்பில்,
பாவை அன்ன குறுந் தொடி மகளிர்
இழை நிலை நெகிழ்த்த மள்ளன் கண்டிகும்
கழைக் கண் நெடு வரை அருவி ஆடி,
கான யானை தந்த விறகின்
கடுந் தெறல் செந் தீ வேட்டு,
புறம் தாழ் புரி சடை புலர்த்துவோனே!
After those songs on grief, now we are stepping into a slightly different kind of emotion. The poet is a female writer from Sangam times, whose name translates as ‘Jasmine of the rainy season’. Her words can be translated as follows:
“In a spacious mansion, akin to those in a painting, making doll-like, bangle-clad maiden waste away and lose their jewels, lived a young warrior then. Now, in the bamboo-filled tall mountains, he bathes in the waterfall and with the wood brought by the jungle elephants, he kindles a blazing red fire, and dries the matted hair that falls on his back!”
Time to delve deeper. The poet talks about a young man, who lived in a wealthy home, which is akin to those seen in paintings, informing us that the Sangam folks had artists among them. It’s a pity the hot and humid weather of Tamilnadu has not let any of these paintings survive, unlike their counterparts in Egypt. Returning, we understand that the spotlight is not on the house but on the man being mentioned. The poet details the characteristics of this man by saying women used to waste away and lose their bangles and ornaments just at the sight of him. While this losing of bangles and ornaments might sound irrelevant to the theme at hand, that was a classic symptom of lovesickness in those times, as we have seen in many ‘Aham’ poems.
From that flash back, the poet reverts to the present and says how that former young man is now to be seen bathing in the waterfalls, and kindling a fire with wood brought by elephants, and drying his thickly matted hair that lay low on his back. The matted hair is a strong indicator that the person has now chosen an ascetic life. That young man who lived in comfort has given up all his pleasures and now leads a life of abstinence and isolation, the poet implies. Perhaps this poet was one of the women who were smitten by that young lord and is now regretfully taking in his transformation. In a way, the poem still talks about the grief of losing a person, not to death, but to an alternate life!
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