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In this episode, we listen to perspectives about people, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Ainkurunooru 361-370, situated in the ‘Paalai’ or ‘Drylands landscape’ and penned by the poet Othalaanthaiyaar.
Thus spreads the Thirty Seventh Ten of Ainkurunooru: About Her, About Him
361 Fury of her form
உயர்கரைக் கான் யாற்று அவிர்மணல் அகன்துறை
வேனில் பாதிரி விரி மலர் குவைஇத்
தொடலை தைஇய மடவரல் மகளே!
கண்ணினும் கதவ, நின் முலையே!
முலையினும் கதவ, நின் தட மென் தோளே!
By the raised banks of a wild river, in the spreading sands of the wide shore, you heap summer trumpet flowers and weave a garland, O naive maiden! More furious than your eyes, is your bosom; More furious than your bosom, are your soft and curved arms!
362 A dark and difficult path
பதுக்கைத்து ஆய ஒதுக்கு அருங் கவலை,
சிறு கண் யானை உறு பகை நினையாது,
யாங்கு வந்தனையோ பூந் தார் மார்ப!
அருள் புரி நெஞ்சம் உய்த்தர
இருள் பொர நின்ற இரவினானே?
Filled with stone graves, difficult to traverse is that path. Without thinking about the seething wrath of the small-eyed elephant there, how did you arrive here, O lord, with a chest clad in a flower garland? With a heart to render your grace, you have arrived, even as darkness blocked you in the middle of the night!
363 Seeing god
சிலை வில் பகழிச் செந் துவர் ஆடைக்
கொலை வல் எயினர் தங்கை! நின் முலைய
சுணங்கு என நினைதி நீயே;
அணங்கு என நினையும், என் அணங்குறு நெஞ்சே.
O sister of hunters, who wield a ‘silai’ bow and piercing arrows, who are clad in red attire and skilled in killing, you think that those are pallor spots on your breast, but my fearful heart thinks those are furious gods!
364 Wait till I win her over
முளவு மா வல்சி எயினர் தங்கை
இளமா எயிற்றிக்கு, நின் நிலை அறியச்
சொல்லினென் இரக்கும்அளவை
வென் வேல் விடலை, விரையாதீமே!
To the sister of hunters, who gather porcupine meat, that young and beautiful huntress, I will explain your state. Till I plead to her, O young man wielding a white spear, please do not be in haste!
365 Penance of a mango shoot
கண மா தொலைச்சித் தன்னையர் தந்த
நிண ஊன் வல்சிப் படு புள் ஓப்பும்
நலம் மாண் எயிற்றி போலப் பல மிகு
நன்னல நயவரவு உடையை
என் நோற்றனையோ? மாவின் தளிரே!
Hunting huge herds of deer, her brothers bring home fatty meat, and she chases away birds that seek to steal it. Akin to that beautiful and excellent huntress, you seem to posses many good traits that bring joy to all. What penance did you do for this, O shoot of a mango tree?
366 Secret of the Buttercup
அன்னாய், வாழி! வேண்டு, அன்னை! ‘என் தோழி
பசந்தனள் பெரிது’ எனச் சிவந்த கண்ணை,
கொன்னே கடவுதி ஆயின், என்னதூஉம்,
அறிய ஆகுமோ மற்றே
முறி இணர்க் கோங்கம் பயந்தமாறே?
Long may you live, mother! Listen to me, mother! With reddened eyes, you say that my friend’s form has spread with pallor, and question her about it furiously. How can we understand even a little bit about that, when it is because of the leaves and flowers of the buttercup tree, given to her?
367 His name and her life
பொரி அரைக் கோங்கின் பொன் மருள் பசு வீ,
விரிஇணர் வேங்கையொடு, வேறு பட மிலைச்சி,
விரவு மலர் அணிந்த வேனில் கான் யாற்றுத்
தேரொடு குறுக வந்தோன்
பேரொடு புணர்ந்தன்று அன்னை! இவள் உயிரே.
Wearing fresh and golden flowers of the rough-trunked buttercup tree, along with the blooming flowers of the Kino tree, she went to the wild river, gushing with the various flowers of summer. There came a man in his chariot thither, and with his name, her life has bonded inseparably!
368 If she lives
எரிப் பூ இலவத்து ஊழ் கழி பல் மலர்
பொரிப் பூம் புன்கின் புகர் நிழல் வரிக்கும்
தண் பத வேனில் இன்ப நுகர்ச்சி
எம்மொடு கொண்மோ, பெரும! நின்
அம் மெல்லோதி அழிவிலள் எனினே!
Many flame-like flowers of the silk-cotton tree mature and fall down in the dotted shade of the beechwood tree with flowers, akin to puffed rice, in the cool and pleasant season of spring. You may find pleasure in her company, O lord, if that maiden with beautiful and soft tresses can remain without ruin till then!
369 Louder than the cuckoo
வள மலர் ததைந்த வண்டு படு நறும் பொழில்
முளை நிரை முறுவல் ஒருத்தியொடு, நெருநல்
குறி நீ செய்தனை என்ப; அலரே,
குரவ நீள் சினை உறையும்
பருவ மாக் குயில் கௌவையின், பெரிதே!
In that fragrant grove, where lush flowers bloom and bees buzz around, with a maiden having shoot-like, neat row of teeth, you trysted yesterday, they say. Louder than the cry of the seasonal dark cuckoo that lives on the long branch of the ‘tarenna’ tree, is slander that spreads in town!
370 The garlanded one
வண் சினைக் கோங்கின் தண் கமழ் படலை
இருஞ் சிறை வண்டின் பெருங் கிளை மொய்ப்ப,
நீ நயந்து உறையப்பட்டோள்
யாவளோ? எம் மறையாதீமே.
Who is she, who wears a cool and fragrant garland given by you, made with the flowers of the buttercup tree with tough branches, around which black-winged bees buzz around, and who lives with much desire for you? Do not hide from me!
So concludes Ainkurunooru 361-370. The verses are set in varying situations both before marriage and after marriage between the man and the lady. The unifying theme of these verses is that all of them are direct addresses, bringing to the fore, the character of the person being spoken to. The words are said either by the man, the confidante or the lady in varying contexts.
Unlike the other verses in the ‘Paalai’ or ‘Drylands landscape’, the connection to land is wafer-thin. For instance, the only indication of this being set in the drylands in many verses is the type of flower mentioned such as the ‘Kongam’ or the ‘Kuravam’ or the season of spring, heralded by the blooming of flowers or the singing of the cuckoo.
Let’s delve into the intent of the speakers. In the first, it’s the man saying these words to the lady in a situation when they are eloping together. The lady seems to have seen trumpet flowers on the banks of a river and immediately forgetting the situation and inherent danger, she starts heaping the flowers and making a garland, without worrying about anything. The man must have remarked about this, and in response, overcome with shyness, hides her eyes. At this time, the man says that even more than her eyes, her bosom attacks him with fury, and when she hides that in response, the man concludes even more than her bosom, those soft and curved arms of hers attack him. The young man thus expresses how smitten he is with the maiden in his company.
In the second, it’s the confidante addressing the man as she talks about all the dangers in his path. One, that is filled with stone cisterns, which are make-shift graves made with stones by highway robbers for the people they killed and stole from. The thought to respect the dead is an element that echoes the honour among these thieves. Returning, in addition to the danger from these fellow humans, elephants too seem to rove about there. On top of it all, this is at night when darkness blocks the man from taking even a single step. Even so, the man has come to grace the lady, praises the confidante.
The man takes the spotlight in the third and he addresses his lady, calling her the sister of hunters, who are clad in red and skilled with their bows. Like in the case of the first verse, he talks about how the spots on the lady’s bosom seem to look at him with the fury of a mountain god, indicating his surrender to her beauty. In the fourth, the confidante once again addresses the man. Here, he seems to have told her of his intention to elope with the lady. She asks him to wait with patience until she has won over the lady with her words about the man’s proposal. In the fifth, the man address a new leaf of a mango tree, as he walks through the drylands, and says it seems to have such beauty and all the good traits, just like the lady, and asks how was it able to attain that unmatchable quality. This reveals how the man’s heart is still with the lady he left behind and it’s her he sees in all the objects of beauty around him.
In the sixth, the confidante addresses the mother who seems to have questioned the lady about why her form was spread with pallor and why was she was losing her health. To this, the confidante says, ‘You will never understand it by questioning her for this is all because of the leaves and flowers of the buttercup tree’. Though this looks like a puzzle to us, this is the confidante’s way of revealing the lady’s relationship with the man by mentioning the gifts he gave the lady before uniting with her. In the seventh, the confidante yet again addresses the mother talking about a day when the lady went near a wild river to collect the various flowers gushing through it, in that season of spring. Though she doesn’t say it explicitly and just talks about the man arriving there in his chariot, it’s possible that the man saved the lady, when she fell into the river. That’s possibly why the confidante concludes that the man’s name and the lady’s life are irrevocably tied together.
The seventh sees the confidante addressing the man when he intends to part away from the lady to seek wealth and promises that he would be back by spring. The confidante says, ‘Sure, you can delight with her in spring, when the silk-cotton tree’s fire-like flowers fall in the shade of the beechwood tree, but if only the lady manages to live till then. This is to indicate to the man that the lady would suffer in his absence and that he should return as quickly as he can. In the last two, it’s courtesan trouble in the drylands too! In the ninth, the lady addresses the man and asks about a woman that the man met with, the previous day, talking about how rumours are resounding louder than a cuckoo’s call in spring. Likewise, in the tenth, the lady questions the man about the woman to whom he offered a buttercup garland and demands that the man reveal who she is!
Here I was admiring the coherence and unity of thought in the verses set in this landscape, and this section turns out to be that one odd fellow, where various contexts, why even courtesan trouble seems to loom in what’s usually the hot and dry air of the drylands! Perhaps it was evident to people then about why these verses are bunched together, but to us, it seems a random arrangement of words uttered on different occasions with some elements found in this landscape. Still, here too, we can admire the strong association of flowers and seasons with the land and delight in the superlative observational powers of these ancient people about the world around them!
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