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In this episode, we listen to words addressed to a friend, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Ainkurunooru 31 to 40, situated in the ‘Marutham’ or ‘Farmlands landscape’ and penned by the poet Orambokiyar.
Here goes the Fourth Ten of Ainkurunooru: For the Confidante’s Ears
31 The vow
அம்ம வாழி, தோழி! மகிழ்நன்
கடன் அன்று என்னும் கொல்லோ நம் ஊர்
முடம் முதிர் மருதத்துப் பெருந் துறை
உடன் ஆடு ஆயமோடு உற்ற சூளே?
Listen, my friend! May you live long! The lord pledged a vow in our town’s huge river shore, where grows the old and curving ’Marutham’ tree, even as our playmates listened. Will he now say that it’s not his duty to remain true to it?
32 The Return
அம்ம வாழி, தோழி! மகிழ்நன்
ஒரு நாள் நம் இல் வந்ததற்கு, எழு நாள்
அழுப என்ப, அவன் பெண்டிர்
தீ உறு மெழுகின் ஞெகிழ்வனர் விரைந்தே.
Listen, my friend! May you live long! Because the lord came to our home for just a day, they say his women cried for seven days, melting away in angst like wax in fire!
33 Play and Pleasure
அம்ம வாழி, தோழி! மகிழ்நன்
மருது உயர்ந்து ஓங்கிய விரி பூம் பெருந் துறை,
பெண்டிரொடு ஆடும் என்ப தன்
தண் தார் அகலம் தலைத்தலைக் கொளவே.
Listen, my friend! May you live long! In our huge river shore, where fully-bloomed flowers of the soaring ‘Maruthu’ tree fall and spread, they say the lord plays with his women, as each of them take turns in embracing his wide chest, adorned with a cool garland.
34 Eyes of Pallor
அம்ம வாழி, தோழி! நம் ஊர்ப்
பொய்கைப் பூத்த, புழைக் கால் ஆம்பல்
தாது ஏர் வண்ணம் கொண்டன
ஏதிலாளர்க்குப் பசந்த என் கண்ணே.
Listen, my friend! May you live long! The hue of pollen in the hollow-stemmed white waterlily that blooms in our town’s pond, spreads in these pallor-filled eyes of mine, yearning for the man, who has become a stranger to me!
35 Hues of Pining
அம்ம வாழி, தோழி! நம் ஊர்ப்
பொய்கை ஆம்பல் நார் உரி மென் கால்
நிறத்தினும் நிழற்றுதல் மன்னே;
இனிப் பசந்தன்று, என் மாமைக் கவினே.
Listen, my friend! May you live long! Glowing even more than the unsheathed, slender stalk of the white waterlily, blooming in our town’s pond, was my hue then; But now, it’s all covered in pallor, that dark and shining beauty of mine!
36 If he can, we can
அம்ம வாழி, தோழி! ஊரன்
நம் மறந்து அமைகுவன் ஆயின், நாம் மறந்து
உள்ளாது அமைதலும் அமைகுவம் மன்னே
கயல் எனக் கருதிய உண் கண்
பசலைக்கு ஒல்காவாகுதல் பெறினே.
Listen, my friend! May you live long! If the town’s lord can remain forgetting us, we too can forget and remain, without thinking of him. But only if we find a way to avoid my kohl-streaked eyes, akin to fish, from diminishing with signs of pallor!
37 Expert Liar
அம்ம வாழி, தோழி! மகிழ்நன்
நயந்தோர் உண்கண் பசந்து, பனி மல்க
வல்லன் வல்லன் பொய்த்தல்;
தேற்றான் உற்ற சூள் வாய்த்தல்லே.
Listen, my friend! May you live long! Causing the kohl-streaked eyes of those who love him diminish with pallor and brim with tears, the lord is an expert of experts in falsehoods. He is sure not to keep the vows he takes!
38 Left in tears
அம்ம வாழி, தோழி! மகிழ்நன்
தன் சொல் உணர்ந்தோர் அறியலன் என்றும்
தண் தளிர் வௌவும் மேனி,
ஒண் தொடி முன்கை, யாம் அழப் பிரிந்தே.
Listen, my friend! May you live long! The lord does not know the heart of those who trust in his words. Forsaking my form akin to a tender mango shoot, and my forearms shining with bangles, he parts, leaving me in tears.
39 Parts but parts not
அம்ம வாழி, தோழி! ஊரன்
வெம் முலை அடைய முயங்கி, நம் வயின்
திருந்து இழைப் பணைத்தோள் நெகிழ,
பிரிந்தனன் ஆயினும், பிரியலன் மன்னே.
Listen, my friend! May you live long! Even though the lord, after embracing my chest, parted making my bamboo-like arms with well-etched jewels fade, he has not truly parted away.
40 An enamoured bee
‘அம்ம வாழி, தோழி! மகிழ்நன்
ஒண் தொடி முன்கை யாம் அழப் பிரிந்து, தன்
பெண்டிர் ஊர் இறைகொண்டனன்’ என்ப
கெண்டை பாய்தர அவிழ்ந்த
வண்டு பிணி ஆம்பல் நாடு கிழவோனே.
Listen, my friend! May you live long! They say that the lord parted from me, the one wearing shining bangles on forearms, leaving me in tears, and took residence in the home of his woman, about the lord of the town, where even though the bee scatters as the carp fish leaps, it is forever chained by the white waterlilies.
Thus concludes Ainkuru Verses 31 to 40. Time to delve into the details. All these songs are set in the context of a man’s parting after marriage, and revolves around his attitude of seeking other women called as courtesans. The first six are spoken by the lady and the last four are spoken by a courtesan. However, the unifying element in all the verses is that these words are addressed to the confidante, either the lady’s or the courtesan’s. Each of the verses begin with words to a confidante containing an invitation to listen and a blessing to her. I’ve always admired this Sangam nature of blessing a person when seeking their attention. It seems to me like the Sangam equivalent of the thought, ‘I’m grateful for the time you’ve given me!’
Although the exact words are addressed only to the confidante, there are messages hidden for others listening in. And this, we will explore song by song. In the first, the lady thinks back to the past, when the man took a vow to never part from her. This was by the shore in her town, with an old and curving Arjuna tree, as her playmates stood as witness. She now wonders whether he will now declare that he’s not bound to keep those words. This is meant to be heard not only by the confidante but also by the man’s helpers, who are listening in, with the hope it will be conveyed to the man, thereby nudging his sense of decency.
In the second, she talks about how because the man came for just a day to his home with the lady, the courtesans shed tears for seven days, and they seemed to melt in pain like a drop of wax in the fire. Here, the lady refuses entry to the man’s messengers implying that the courtesans’ distress is sure to keep the man away from her. In a similar vein, in the third and the fourth too, she refuses entry to the man’s messengers by declaring that the man is said to be rejoicing in the pleasure of courtesans by the river shore, on a bed of flowers from the Arjuna tree, and how her eyes have taken on the terrible golden hue of pollen on a waterlily, indicating that she was afflicted with pallor because of the man’s heartless actions, which has now made him a stranger to her.
In the fifth one, when the man’s messengers argue his case and detail all that he’s lost, the lady responds in words to her confidante that she too has lost a great deal, that dark and glowing beauty of hers as reflected in the glow of black skin, akin to an unsheathed lily stalk. But now, it becomes golden in hue, she laments. A moment to pause and appreciate how a dark, black hue was the sign of beauty and health in a Sangam woman, and being golden was something to be shunned, when many Indian women still seek to lighten their complexion with many beauty products and laser treatments. What’s beauty on the outside is just a passing cloud across the ages, seems to say this verse from the past!
Returning, in the sixth, in a time when the confidante has refused entry to the man’s messengers, the lady decides it’s the wrong move and says just like how the man is happy without her, it’s quite possible for her to be happy without the man. However, the pallor that coats her eyes make this impossible, she says, implying there’s no other go but to permit the man back to their home.
Following this, the last four verses are from the point of view of a courtesan, as said to her confidante. When she is informed the man has left to his wife and has taken a vow that he will not seek these women again, she declares to her confidante that he will surely not keep that vow, for he is an expert liar. This is meant to fall on the ears of the lady’s friends listening in, and shake the lady’s confidence. In the next, she blames the man for not understanding the heart of those who trust in him and like he causes pain to her, he will eventually cause pain to the lady as well. In the ninth one, the courtesan’s confidence seems to return and she says even though the man has left, he has truly not left her. Again, an attempt to shake the lady’s assurance by passing on this message through her listening friends.
As you may have noticed, these ten so far curiously lack that metaphorical quality of implying other meanings that we saw in the previous verses of Ainkurunooru and seem rather direct. This last verse makes up for that in the depiction of a bee that is startled by a jumping carp fish and flies away, and a statement that while it may be so, that bee will be inevitably pulled towards that lily and will return, a metaphor for how though the man has gone home, disturbed by the tears of his wife, he is hopelessly attracted to these courtesans and will be back here.
In a nutshell, this entire section is a poetic cat fight! The only reason for this state of affairs could be the loss of many men in wars, leaving the few remaining to become objects of tussle between women! Why did the Sangam folks give so much importance to these exchanges, which seem somewhat petty in our time and age? Perhaps, they were being honest in their depiction of reality! Triumph and freedom truly awaits a woman in any age, when her thoughts and ideas soar above and beyond the mere preoccupation with a man!
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