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In this episode, we perceive the lady’s emotions after the man’s parting, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Ainkurunooru 331-340, situated in the ‘Paalai’ or ‘Drylands landscape’ and penned by the poet Othalaanthaiyaar.
Thus spreads the Thirty Fourth Ten of Ainkurunooru: Laments of the Lady
331 Scent of the beloved
அம்ம வாழி, தோழி! அவிழ் இணர்க்
கருங் கால் மராஅத்து வைகு சினை வான் பூ
அருஞ் சுரம் செல்லுநர் ஒழிந்தோர் உள்ள,
இனிய கமழும் வெற்பின்
இன்னாது என்ப, அவர் சென்ற ஆறே.
Listen, my friend. May you live long! Bright flowers that have bloomed from clusters on the branches of the dark-trunked burflower tree, spread their sweet scent around the mountain, making those who traverse those drylands think of those they have left behind. Unpleasant it is, they say about the path that he parted away to!
332 Animals that rove
அம்ம வாழி, தோழி! என்னதூஉம்
அறன் இல மன்ற தாமே விறல் மிசைக்
குன்று கெழு கானத்த பண்பு இல் மாக் கணம்,
‘கொடிதே காதலிப் பிரிதல்;
செல்லல், ஐய!’ என்னாதவ்வே.
Listen, my friend. May you live long! Aren’t they utterly without compassion? I speak of those thoughtless animals that live in the jungles atop those mountain peaks, for they never say, ‘It’s cruel to part with your lover. Don’t go, O lord!’
333 Birds that soar
அம்ம வாழி, தோழி! யாவதும்
வல்லா கொல்லோ தாமே அவண
கல்லுடை நல் நாட்டுப் புள்ளினப் பெருந் தோடு,
‘யாஅம் துணை புணர்ந்து உறைதும்;
யாங்குப் பிரிந்து உறைதி!’ என்னாதவ்வே?
Listen, my friend. May you live long! Aren’t they utterly incompetent? I speak of the flocks of birds in the rock-filled, fine country there, for they never say, ‘We live so intimately with our mates. Why do you want to live apart from yours?’.
334 Harder than a rock
அம்ம வாழி, தோழி! சிறியிலை
நெல்லி நீடிய கல் காய் கடத்திடை,
பேதை நெஞ்சம் பின் செல, சென்றோர்
கல்லினும் வலியர் மன்ற
பல் இதழ் உண்கண் அழப் பிரிந்தோரே.
Listen, my friend. May you live long! Along the burning drylands path, where sprouts the small-leaved gooseberry tree, as my naive heart follows, the one who walks on must be harder than a rock, for he could part away even when these many-petaled, kohl-streaked eyes shed tears.
335 Dangerous path
அம்ம வாழி, தோழி! நம்வயின்
நெய்த்தோர் அன்ன செவிய எருவை
கற்புடை மருங்கில் கடு முடை பார்க்கும்
காடு நனி கடிய என்ப
நீடி இவண் வருநர் சென்ற ஆறே.
Listen, my friend. May you live long! In the hue of blood, are the ears of the vulture, which pecks around the stone graves for reeking flesh in the drylands forest. They say, it’s so difficult, the path that the one who delays his return has taken!
336 Afflicted by wealth
அம்ம வாழி, தோழி! நம்வயின்
பிரியலர் போலப் புணர்ந்தோர் மன்ற
நின்றது இல் பொருள் பிணி முற்றிய
என்றூழ் நீடிய சுரன் இறந்தோரே.
Listen, my friend. May you live long! In the one, who united with me as if he would never part away, the affliction for that fleeting wealth has gone beyond bounds, making him part away to those long drylands paths, scorched unceasingly!
337 Sweeter than an embrace
அம்ம வாழி, தோழி! நம்வயின்
மெய் உற விரும்பிய கை கவர் முயக்கினும்
இனிய மன்ற தாமே
பனி இருங் குன்றம் சென்றோர்க்குப் பொருளே.
Listen, my friend. May you live long! To the one who left to the cold and dark hill, seeking wealth seems sweeter than embracing me with his arms, full of desire!
338 Now when pain soars
அம்ம வாழி, தோழி! சாரல்
இலை இல மலர்ந்த ஓங்கு நிலை இலவம்
மலை உறு தீயின் சுரமுதல் தோன்றும்
பிரிவு அருங் காலையும், பிரிதல்
அரிது வல்லுநர் நம் காதலோரே.
Listen, my friend. May you live long! In the mountain slopes, the soaring silk-cotton tree, bereft of leaves, blooms with flowers, making it appear as if the mountain’s on fire in the drylands, in this season, when parting is so painful. Even now, he seems so capable of parting, that lover of mine!
339 Aren’t there evenings there?
அம்ம வாழி, தோழி! சிறியிலைக்
குறுஞ் சினை வேம்பின் நறும் பழம் உணீஇய
வாவல் உகக்கும் மாலையும்
இன்றுகொல், தோழி! அவர் சென்ற நாட்டே?
Listen, my friend. May you live long! Isn’t there an evening when bats flutter their wings seeking to eat the fragrant fruit on the short branch of the small-leaved neem tree, in the country that he parted away to, my friend?
340 Spreading like wildfire
அம்ம வாழி, தோழி! காதலர்
உள்ளார்கொல்? நாம் மருள் உற்றனம்கொல்?
விட்டுச் சென்றனர் நம்மே
தட்டைத் தீயின் ஊர் அலர் எழவே.
Listen, my friend. May you live long! Won’t my lover think of me? Have I lost the quality of attaining his grace? For he has left me and gone for long, making gossip spread around town, akin to wild fire amidst the bamboos!
So concludes Ainkurunooru 331-340. All the verses are set in the context of a man’s parting from the lady, after marriage, in search of wealth. The unifying theme of all the songs is that these words are uttered by the lady to her confidante, expressing her pain at the man’s parting.
Looking at the description of the terrain, in one, there’s a sensory depiction of how the ‘kadamba trees’ or ‘burflower trees’ burst into bloom with their fragrant flowers, and this scent would inevitably make the travellers think about their beloved, whom they have left behind. To give a modern parallel, just as how the scent of a perfume might kindle memories of a particular person, this flower makes the men travelling think back about their women. The interesting facet about this information is that this very flower is used in many perfumes, and that, no doubt dates back to ancient times. Returning, next, we catch a glimpse of a gooseberry tree, having rather small leaves, implying the shade rendered is not sufficient in those burning drylands paths. A unique bird, said to have ears as red as blood, makes an appearance next, said to be sniffing and pecking at the flesh-reeking stone mounds, revealing to us corpses left behind by the highway robbers and echoing the danger to life in those parts. Considering the description of the bird and the account of its activities, we can conclude this refers to the ‘Red-headed vulture’, the renowned scavenger of the Indian skies. In another visually stunning portrayal, the silk-cotton tree appears with no leaves at all, but filled with its red flowers, that make the mountain appear to be on fire.
Turning to the intent of the speaker, in the first, the lady laments that the man has gone far, and even though memories are kindled by the burflower blooms, the man would just keep walking on his harsh path to fulfil his mission. In the second, she projects her anger and sadness on the animals that the man would meet in his path and rebukes these beasts for their lack of compassion in not asking the man to return to the lady. In the third, from the life on land, she turns her attention to the life in the skies and chides the birds for not showing the man how they live so close with their loved ones, thereby nudging him to return to his beloved. In the fourth, she decides the man’s heart is harder than a rock for so easily he has left behind the sorrowful lady and parted away. In the fifth, the lady reflects with worry on the path the man has taken, for here death and danger looms with menace.
The sixth sees the lady exclaiming that the man is deeply afflicted to search for that wealth which never stays anywhere, and that’s why even though he said he would never part away from her, he has done just that. In the seventh, the lady remarks that the man seems to feel that finding wealth was something sweeter than embracing the lady, for why else would he have parted from her! In the eighth, she laments that the man has left her in that season, when the silk-cotton tree bursts into bloom, the one so hard to be apart. This makes me wonder which season would be considered acceptable for a parting by these lovers! From time of the year, the lady moves to the time of the day, and asks her friend whether there wouldn’t be an evening, the time when bats fly about in search of the neem’s scented fruit, in the place where the man has left too. Through this, the lady asks the timeless question of those in love, ‘Won’t they feel what I feel now?’. In the final one, the lady expresses her pain that the man has gone for too long and how this has made rumours spread in town like wildfire, spreading from a spark that fell on the bamboos, with people wondering if the man had abandoned the lady for good!
In this section, we have seen so many nuanced elements. One is, how to a person in love everything seems to revolve around them and their beloved, and the animals, birds, why even a flower seem to exist only to do their bidding. Another is the philosophical tussle between earning wealth and being with a beloved. Yet another is how certain scents, certain time of the day and year seem to make the parting even more painful. Most of all, the prominent thought that arises here is how although the women were far away from their men, their hearts and minds was not where they were, in the comfort of their homes, but wherever their beloved was, in those dangerous paths in the drylands!
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