Ainkurunooru 1 to 10 – Wishes: Hers and Mine

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For this Sangam Literary work, I intend to start with the number of the verse, the English title that I have given for the verse, followed by a reading of the original Tamil verse, and then, its English translation. Once we have traversed all ten songs in this manner, we will assimilate the whole and savour its core in the final section.

With that, I give you, ‘Ainkurunooru 1-10’:

1 Plentiful pregnant fish

‘வாழி ஆதன், வாழி அவினி!
நெல் பல பொலிக! பொன் பெரிது சிறக்க!’
என வேட்டோளே, யாயே: யாமே,
‘நனைய காஞ்சிச் சினைய சிறு மீன்
யாணர் ஊரன் வாழ்க!
பாணனும் வாழ்க!’ என வேட்டேமே.

‘Long life to Aathan! Long life to Avini! May there be an abundance of paddy! May there be a profusion of gold!’ – So, wished mother. As for me, I wished, ‘May the man from the prosperous town with the ‘Kanji’ tree filled with buds and small fish, laden with many eggs, live long! May his bard live long too!’.

2 The blue lily and the white

‘வாழி ஆதன், வாழி அவினி!
விளைக வயலே! வருக இரவலர்!’
என வேட்டோளே, யாயே: யாமே,
‘பல் இதழ் நீலமொடு நெய்தல் நிகர்க்கும்
தண் துறை ஊரன் கேண்மை
வழிவழிச் சிறக்க!’ என வேட்டேமே.

‘Long life to Aathan! Long life to Avini! May the fields be bountiful in their harvest! May the supplicants come seeking!’ -So, wished mother. As for me, I wished, ‘May the relationship with the man, from the town with cool waters, where along with the many-petaled blue lily, the white lily too blooms, thrive on for long!’.

3 Reapers of harvest

‘வாழி ஆதன், வாழி அவினி!
பால் பல ஊறுக! பகடு பல சிறக்க!’
என வேட்டோளே, யாயே: யாமே,
‘வித்திய உழவர் நெல்லொடு பெயரும்,
பூக் கஞல் ஊரன் தன் மனை
வாழ்க்கை பொலிக!’ என வேட்டேமே.

‘Long life to Aathan! Long life to Avini! May the milk pour copiously! May the bullocks multiply and prosper!’ -So, wished mother. As for me, I wished, ‘May the life of the man, from the town with plentiful flowers, where farmers who sow part with mature paddy undoubtedly, flourish in his own home!’.

4 The sugarcane and the paddy crop

‘வாழி ஆதன், வாழி அவினி!
பகைவர் புல் ஆர்க! பார்ப்பார் ஓதுக!’
என வேட்டோளே யாயே: யாமே,
‘பூத்த கரும்பின், காய்த்த நெல்லின்,
கழனி ஊரன் மார்பு
பழனம் ஆகற்க!’ என வேட்டேமே.

‘Long life to Aathan! Long life to Avini! May the enemies bite the dust! May the priests sing songs of worship!’ -So, wished mother. As for me, I wished, ‘May the chest of the man, from the town with lush fields, having sugarcane with flowers and paddy with plentiful grains, not become public property!’

5 Young crocodile’s huge appetite

‘வாழி ஆதன், வாழி அவினி!
பசி இல்லாகுக! பிணி சேண் நீங்குக!’
என வேட்டோளே, யாயே: யாமே,
‘முதலைப் போத்து முழு மீன் ஆரும்
தண் துறை ஊரன் தேர் எம்
முன்கடை நிற்க’ என வேட்டேமே.

‘Long life to Aathan! Long life to Avini! May hunger vanish! May disease part far away!’ -So, wished mother. As for me, I wished, ‘May the chariot of the man, from the town with cool shores, where the young crocodile feeds thoughtlessly on fully grown fish, stand in front of our gates!’

6 Blooming lotus in the pond

‘வாழி ஆதன், வாழி அவினி!
வேந்து பகை தணிக! யாண்டு பல நந்துக!’
என வேட்டோளே யாயே: யாமே,
‘மலர்ந்த பொய்கை, முகைந்த தாமரைத்
தண் துறை ஊரன் வரைக!
எந்தையும் கொடுக்க! என வேட்டேமே.

‘Long life to Aathan! Long life to Avini! May the enmity of foes be subdued! May he rule for years many!’ -So, wished mother. As for me, I wished, ‘May the man, from the town with cool shores, with the blooming lotus in the widespread pond, seek her hand! May my father give her too!’.

7 Waterbird on the Marutham tree

‘வாழி ஆதன், வாழி அவினி!
அறம் நனி சிறக்க! அல்லது கெடுக!’
என வேட்டோளே யாயே: யாமே,
‘உளைப் பூ மருதத்துக் கிளைக் குருகு இருக்கும்
தண் துறை ஊரன் தன் ஊர்க்
கொண்டனன் செல்க!’ என வேட்டேமே.

‘Long life to Aathan! Long life to Avini! May justice thrive with excellence! May injustice disappear completely!’ -So, wished mother. As for me, I wished, ‘May the man, from the town with cool shores, where the waterbird resides on the branch of the ‘Marutham’ tree with soft flowers, take her to his town!’.

8 Peacock on the Mango tree

‘வாழி ஆதன், வாழி அவினி!
அரசு முறை செய்க! களவு இல்லாகுக!’
என வேட்டோளே, யாயே: யாமே,
‘அலங்குசினை மாஅத்து அணி மயில் இருக்கும்
பூக் கஞல் ஊரன் சூள் இவண்
வாய்ப்பதாக!’ என வேட்டேமே.

‘Long life to Aathan! Long life to Avini! May the king render rightful justice! May falsehood vanish entirely!’ -So, wished mother. As for me, I wished, ‘May the man, from the town with flourishing flowers, where the beautiful peacock rests on the swaying branch of the ‘Mango’ tree, make his oath come true!’.

9 Sleeping stork

‘வாழி ஆதன், வாழி அவினி!
நன்று பெரிது சிறக்க! தீது இல்லாகுக!’
என வேட்டோளே, யாயே: யாமே,
‘கயல் ஆர் நாரை போர்வில் சேக்கும்
தண் துறை ஊரன் கேண்மை
அம்பல் ஆகற்க!’ என வேட்டேமே.

‘Long life to Aathan! Long life to Avini! May what’s good flourish greatly! May what’s evil vanish entirely!’ -So, wished mother. As for me, I wished, ‘May the relationship with the man, from the town with cool shores, where the stork that fed on the fish sleeps on the haystack, not become an object of slander!’.

10 Fragrance of flowers and fish

‘வாழி ஆதன், வாழி அவினி!
மாரி வாய்க்க! வளம் நனி சிறக்க!
என வேட்டோளே, யாயே: யாமே,
‘பூத்த மாஅத்து, புலால்அம் சிறு மீன்,
தண் துறை ஊரன் தன்னொடு
கொண்டனன் செல்க!’ என வேட்டேமே.

‘Long life to Aathan! Long life to Avini! May the rains pour plentifully! May prosperity grow abundantly!’ -So, wished mother. As for me, I wished, ‘May the relationship with the man, from the town with cool shores, with the flowering mango tree and the flesh-reeking small fish, take her along and leave!’.

That ends Ainkurunooru Verses 1 to 10. Now, let’s delve into the hidden references and deeper meanings in these verses. The first common element we note is how all the songs begin with a salute to King Avini, who belonged to the clan of ‘Aathan’. This king is said to be a Chera king of renown in Sangam times. 

Next, a quick note to tell you that all these songs are situated in the context of a man, who questions the lady’s confidante, on how the lady fared in his absence. The first five are when he leaves the lady to pursue other women called as courtesans. The last five are when he’s married and living a happy life with her and he turns to the lady’s confidante and asks her what did the lady do, in that time before he married her. The beauty of this section is its consistency. As you may have noted, in each verse, the confidante talks first about the lady, whom she addresses as ‘mother’, possibly because of her noble nature or that she’s the mother of the man’s child. And, this lady always seems to wish for the good of the land.

In the first, she hopes for food and mineral wealth for the country; In the second, for a rich harvest, not so that she can hoard it but to give away to supplicants, whom she hopes will arrive at her door; In the third, for milk production and cattle wealth; In the fourth, for the defeat of enemies and for the good work of priests; In the fifth, for vanquishing hunger and disease, which no doubt is prone to crop up in an agricultural landscape; In the sixth, for enemies to be defeated and for a long life to the king; In the seventh, for justice to reign supreme; In the eighth, for rightful actions by the king and death to falsehood; In the ninth, for the triumph of good and the defeat of evil; And finally, in the tenth, for rains and its inevitable consequence of prosperity. So, if we see, all the priorities of a person, who is completely focussed on the common good of the land comes to fore, in the first section of all these verses.

Now, let’s contrast this to the wishes of the confidante, which centres around the man and his private life specifically. In the first verse, she wishes for a long life to the man and his bard too, but where she places the catch is in her description of his town, which she calls as one filled flowering Portia trees and pregnant small fish. As in all Aham poetry, where a description is not merely a description, here she places a metaphor for how the man treats the towering lady, symbolised by the Portia tree, and the many petty courtesans, symbolised as small fish, as one, and does not discern the greatness of the lady. Likewise, in the second, she wishes good for the man and lady, but yet again by describing the blue-lily and the white blooming together, she hints that the man has not understood the glory of his wife, and had treated her as an equal to the courtesans. In the third, is a scene with the farmers leaving with plentiful paddy, and here, she directly wishes that the man returns to his home for a happy life with his own family. In the fourth, the confidante contrasts the sugarcane with flowers and the paddy with grains, and directly refers to the artificially adorned courtesans, who cannot extend his family line, as the flowers of sugarcane do not bear fruit. Likewise, the lady she refers to as paddy with plentiful grains, implying that she’s the one who can bear the man’s children, who will reinstate his name, and in a curious wish, she hopes the man’s chest will not become a common land, for anyone to graze on, again hitting at the courtesans. In the fifth and final one in this section, spoken after the man’s return from courtesans, she comments on how he has been thoughtlessly interested only in relishing the pleasures of the courtesans like how a young crocodile keeps munching on small fish, without seeing what’s what, and in this one, she says she wished for the man’s chariot to return home. 

In the next five, the confidante talks about what she wished for when the man was having a secret relationship with the lady prior to marriage, and here, she wishes that the man seeks the lady’s hand and find success in pleasing the lady’s father, followed by a wish that he takes her to his town, also that he fulfils the oath he took before the lady saying he would marry her, a hope that the relationship does not become gossip material, and finally, if all fails, that the man should elope with the lady. Even in this segment, with the blooming lotus, she tells the lady’s relationship with the man is becoming evident for all to see, and like how the waterbird rests on the ‘Arjuna tree’ and the peacock rests on the ‘Mango tree’, the lady should also rightfully be at the man’s home. With the image of the sleeping stork on the haystack, she scolds the man for enjoying the pleasures with the lady and not taking the steps to marry her, and finally with the flowering mango tree and the flesh-smelling fish, she points out how though the relationship is beautiful like the flowering tree, reeking slander is spreading through the town.

Thus, in this collection of ten verses, we see a dense compaction of so many elements of Aham themes, and in the process, we are presented with these images of a farmland country in the Sangam era, etched like an indelible rock art that stands the test of time!