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In this episode, we observe the antics of a wild boar, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Ainkurunooru 261-270, situated in the ‘Kurinji’ or ‘Mountain landscape’ and penned by the poet Kabilar.
Thus soars the Twenty Seventh Ten of Ainkurunooru: Ballad of the Boar
261 Fearless boar and fearful man
மென் தினை மேய்ந்த தறுகண் பன்றி
வன் கல் அடுக்கத்துத் துஞ்சும் நாடன்
எந்தை அறிதல் அஞ்சிக்கொல்?
அதுவே மன்ற வாராமையே.
After grazing on the soft millets, the fearless boar sleeps on the strong boulders in the mountain of the lord. Did he fear that father has come to know? That must be the reason he did not come!
262 A residence with the mate
சிறு தினை மேய்ந்த தறுகண் பன்றி
துறுகல் அடுக்கத்துத் துணையொடு வதியும்
இலங்குமலை நாடன் வரூஉம்
மருந்தும் அறியும்கொல் தோழி! அவன் விருப்பே?
After grazing on the little millets, the fearless boar stays with its mate in the rock-filled, radiant mountain of the lord. Does his desire know that his coming here is my only cure?
263 Accompanied by beauty
நன் பொன் அன்ன புனிறு தீர் ஏனல்
கட்டளை அன்ன கேழல் மாந்தும்
குன்று கெழு நாடன் தானும்
வந்தனன்; வந்தன்று தோழி! என் நலனே!
Akin to fine and flawless gold is the fully grown millet field and akin to a touchstone is the boar that eats it in the peak-filled land of the lord. He has arrived, and along with him, that beauty of mine has arrived too!
264 Pallor in the eyes
இளம் பிறை அன்ன கோட்ட கேழல்
களங்கனி அன்ன பெண்பாற் புணரும்
அயம் திகழ் சிலம்ப! கண்டிகும்
பயந்தன மாதோ, நீ நயந்தோள் கண்ணே!
The curved horn of the boar is akin to the crescent moon, and it mates with a female boar, akin to a Caranda plum, in your slopes, gushing with water, O lord! Have you seen how pallor has spread in the eyes of the one you love?
265 A caring father boar
புலி கொல் பெண்பால் பூ வரிக் குருளை
வளை வெண் மருப்பின் கேழல் புரக்கும்
குன்று கெழு நாடன் மறந்தனன்
பொன்போல் புதல்வனோடு என் நீத்தோனே.
The tender young boar with beautiful lines, left behind by the mother that was killed by a tiger is nurtured by the male boar, with a curved, white horn, in the peak filled country of the lord. He has forgotten us, the one who has forsaken my golden son and me.
266 Battle with a boar
சிறு கண் பன்றிப் பெருஞ் சின ஒருத்தலொடு
குறுக் கை இரும் புலி பொரூஉம் நாட!
நனி நாண் உடையை மன்ற
பனிப் பயந்தன, நீ நயந்தோள் கண்ணே!
With a small-eyed, furious male boar, a short-legged, huge tiger battles in your land, O lord! Filled with much shyness and spreading with pallor are those eyes of the one you love!
267 Words without truth
சிறு கண் பன்றிப் பெருஞ் சின ஒருத்தல்
துறுகல் அடுக்கத்து வில்லோர் மாற்றி,
ஐவனம் கவரும் குன்ற நாடன்
வண்டு படு கூந்தலைப் பேணி,
பண்பு இல சொல்லும், தேறுதல் செத்தே.
Fooling the bowmen in the rock-filled mountain, a small-eyed, furious male boar steals the millet crops in the peak-filled country of the lord. Caressing those tresses, swarming with bees, he has said words many, lacking in truth, just to console her!
268 A motherless boarlet
தாஅய் இழந்த தழு வரிக் குருளையொடு
வள மலைச் சிறு தினை உணீஇ கானவர்
வரை ஓங்கு உயர் சிமைக் கேழல் உறங்கும்
நல் மலை நாடன் பிரிதல்
என் பயக்குமோ நம் விட்டுத் துறந்தே?
Along with its motherless, young boar having close-set lines, the male boar feeds on the little millets in the lush mountain and sleeps in the high peaks of the ranges, where the foresters dwell, in the fine mountain country of the lord. What good will come of his intent to part away?
269 Field of grass
கேழல் உழுதெனக் கிளர்ந்த எருவை
விளைந்த செறுவின் தோன்றும் நாடன்
வாராது அவண் உறை நீடின் நேர் வளை
இணை ஈர் ஓதி! நீ அழ
துணை நனி இழக்குவென், மடமையானே.
As the male boar dug up the soil, rough grass has shot up, looking like a fully-bloomed paddy field in the land of the lord. O maiden, wearing well-set bangles and having moist tresses, if he plans on staying there without coming here, and makes you cry so, I will lose the right to be your companion. I blame it all on my stupidity!
270 An effortless harvest
கிழங்கு அகழ் கேழல் உழுத சிலம்பில்
தலை விளை கானவர் கொய்தனர் பெயரும்
புல்லென் குன்றத்துப் புலம்பு கொள் நெடு வரை
காணினும் கலிழும் நோய் செத்து,
தாம் வந்தனர், நம் காதலோரே.
The male boar digging for tubers tills the land in the mountain slopes and here the mountain dwellers reap a rich harvest and part away in that mountain. Thinking, ‘Even if my lady looks at that sad and lonely mountain, she would be filled with lament and would shed tears many’, he has come here, that lover of yours!
So concludes Ainkurnooru 261-270. All the verses except one are set in the context of a man’s love relationship with a lady prior to marriage and that exception is set after marriage and involves a conflict situation with a courtesan. The unifying theme of all these verses is the presence of a wild boar and its connection to the love life of the protagonists. The words are spoken either by the confidante or the lady, to each other, and in most cases, as the man listens nearby.
Let’s first turn our attention to the many interesting details about the wild boar, as sketched in these words. In the first, we see how the boar feeds on the millets being grown by the mountain farmers and then sleeping without any fear in the mountains. In another one, the boar does the same feeding and instead of sleeping, it stays happily with its mate. This is followed by a verse, a glowing instance of the poet’s prowess with similes, for here, he calls the millets the boar feeds on, as gold, and the black boar itself as the touchstone, on which the gold is rubbed against to test for purity! The curved horn of this beast is then called in parallel to the crescent moon, while the female is compared to a bengal currant plum. Next, we turn to poignant moments in the male boar’s life, when its mate has been killed by a tiger and the young boarlet is now protected by the father boar. As if this is a sequel to the previous image, we see a boar battling with a tiger, in the next. The scene changes, and now, the boar is intent on fooling the bowmen, guarding the fields in the mountains and stealing those millet crops. Yet again, we get a glimpse of that motherless little boar along with its father, munching on the little millets in the fields, and then sleeping in the peaks, where mountain men live. The next is a stunning illustration of how animals change the land, and here, we see a field looking as if lush paddy crops are growing, but on closer look, it turns out be a rich outcrop of that rough ‘korai’ grass that has shot up because the boar had been digging up the land. In the next, the mountain farmers smartly make use of this tilling by the boar. This happens because the boar is actually digging up on that rough ground with its sharp horn for tubers. They sow their millet crops in this land and boom, it’s a rich harvest very soon.
Moving on to the intent of the speakers, in the first, the confidante speaks to the lady, as the man listens nearby, wondering whether the man did not come for his tryst the previous time because he was afraid that the lady’s father had come to know of their relationship, thus mocking the man’s courage with an intention to make him seek the lady’s hand. In the second, the lady wonders to her confidante if the man understands the fact that he’s the only cure for her affliction. In the third too, the lady speaks, talking about how since the man has returned with a marriage proposal, her beauty too has returned to her. In the fourth, the confidante speaks to the man, and points out how pallor has spread in the eyes of the lady because of the man’s delaying their marriage. The fifth is the only exception when we perceive the theme of courtesan trouble and the lady remarks with anger to the man’s messengers about how the man has forgotten not only her but their precious son too, in his courting of courtesans.
In the sixth, the confidante points again to the pallor spreading in the lady’s eyes and nudges the man to seek the lady’s hand without delay. In the seventh, the confidante speaks to the lady as the man listens, chiding him for how he has told many lies to the lady, just to enjoy her company. This is to nudge him to change his ways and seek marriage. In the next, the confidante wonders to the lady, as the man listens, about what good the man’s parting would do, thereby nudging him to seeking an alternate path to marrying the lady. In the ninth, the confidante, with anger and sadness, remarks to the lady when the man is in earshot, about her mistake of bringing them together, for the man seems to be not prompt in his trysting and makes the lady wallow in sorrow. In the final one, the confidante makes a U-turn and praises the man for returning with success quickly and reflects the thoughts that must have gone through his mind about the lady’s state of worry whenever she would look up at his mountain.
Now, taking in the metaphors, in the image of the male boar eating the millets and sleeping fearlessly, that’s a metaphor for the man’s interest in just trysting with the lady and not taking efforts to seek marriage with her. In the next when the male boar resides with its female, that’s a happy metaphor from the confidante for the man marrying the lady and leading a happy life with her. In the image of the father boar taking care of the young boarlet, after its mother is killed, that’s a sad metaphor where the lady, abandoned by the man, who has taken to seeing courtesans, wonders if the man will at least take care of their son, should she perish in the sorrow caused by the man’s actions.
Then, in the one where the male boar fights with a tiger, that’s an intricate metaphor for the situation of strangers seeking the lady’s hand and an indirect message to the man that he needs to stand up, fight against them and claim the lady. In the one, where the boar fools the bowmen and steals the millets, that’s a metaphor for the man’s interest in only fooling the lady’s family and trysting with her, without seeking her hand. In the one, where the father boar feeds on the millets along with its motherless young one, that’s a subtle metaphor nudging the lady to elope with the man and part away from the lady’s family, for like how the male boar takes care of its young one, the man would take care of the lady in their journey of elopement and afterwards, promises the confidante. After that positive depiction, colours change in the next image where because of the boar’s tilling, useful crops don’t grow but it’s a field of rough grass. This is a metaphor for the man’s actions appearing without integrity, as he seems to say whatever he wants just to tryst with the lady. In the final one, where farmers gain from the tilling of the boar and reap a rich harvest, that’s a metaphor for how the man’s actions of returning with the wealth for marriage has brought effortless happiness in the lady’s life.
And thus, we get to see the many incarnations of this wild beast, and the most striking thing is how the boar stands as parallel to the man, the protagonist of these verses. In other words, the man is called a pig, and no one raises an eyebrow. Imagine the scandal now! Time and culture had not yet corrupted these ancient minds, and so, these verses are a delightful illustration of the reverence once held for this esteemed wild beast!
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