Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | iHeartRadio | TuneIn | RSS | More
In this episode, we listen to the lament of a mother, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Ainkurunooru 371-380, situated in the ‘Paalai’ or ‘Drylands landscape’ and penned by the poet Othalaanthaiyaar.
Thus spreads the Thirty Eighth Ten of Ainkurunooru: Ballad of the Melancholic Mother
371 Path of righteousness
மள்ளர் கொட்டின் மஞ்ஞை ஆலும்
உயர் நெடுங் குன்றம் படு மழை தலைஇச்
சுரம் நனி இனிய ஆகுக தில்ல
‘அறநெறி இது’ எனத் தெளிந்த என்
பிறை நுதல் குறுமகள் போகிய சுரனே!
When the people of the drylands beat their drums, the peacock dances. May clouds that surround soaring peaks, rain down and make the drylands as pleasant as possible! For deciding ’this is the path of righteousness’, my young daughter, with a crescent-like forehead, has parted to those drylands!
372 Leaving slander behind
என்னும் உள்ளினள்கொல்லோ தன்னை
நெஞ்சு உணத் தேற்றிய வஞ்சினக் காளையொடு,
அழுங்கல் மூதூர் அலர் எழ,
செழும் பல் குன்றம் இறந்த என் மகளே?
Did she even think about me? That daughter of mine, who along with the strong and fierce bull-like young man, who offered the right words for her mind to feast on, making this uproarious, ancient town resound with slander, has parted away, crossing prosperous peaks many!
373 Mother of the young man
நினைத்தொறும் கலிழும் இடும்பை எய்துக
புலிக் கோள் பிழைத்த கவைக் கோட்டு முது கலை
மான்பிணை அணைதர, ஆண் குரல் விளிக்கும்
வெஞ் சுரம் என் மகள் உய்த்த
அம்பு அமை வல் வில் விடலை தாயே!
The suffering of crying every moment when thoughts cross, may she too attain! I speak of the mother of the young man, wielding a strong bow and a quiver full of arrows, with whom my daughter left to the hot drylands, where escaping from a murderous tiger, an old male deer embraces its female and cries aloud in its strong voice!
374 Young daughter
பல் ஊழ் நினைப்பினும், நல்லென்று ஊழ
மீளி முன்பின் காளை காப்ப,
முடி அகம் புகாஅக் கூந்தலள்
கடுவனும் அறியாக் காடு இறந்தோளே.
After thinking about it many times, deciding that this was the right thing to do, with the bull-like, young man, akin to the god of death, who protects her, the daughter of mine with tresses not long enough to be even tied, has parted away to the drylands jungle that not even a male monkey knows about!
375 Seeing her everywhere
‘இது என் பாவைக்கு இனிய நன் பாவை;
இது என் பைங்கிளி எடுத்த பைங்கிளி’ என்று,
அலமரு நோக்கின் நலம் வரு சுடர் நுதல்
காண்தொறும் காண்தொறும் கலங்க,
நீங்கினளோ என் பூங் கணோளே?
Saying, ‘This is the favourite doll of my doll; This is the parrot raised by my little parrot’, as my eyes rove around, I think of my daughter, with a beautiful, radiant forehead, and whatever I see, it makes me shed tears. Leaving me in this state, did she part away, my girl with flower-like eyes?
376 A curse upon fate
நாள்தொறும் கலிழும் என்னினும் இடை நின்று
காடு படு தீயின் கனலியர் மாதோ
நல் வினை நெடு நகர் கல்லெனக் கலங்க,
பூப் புரை உண்கண் மடவரல்
போக்கிய புணர்த்த அறன் இல் பாலே!
Suffering even more than me, who cries every day, may it stand in the midst of a raging wildfire in a forest and perish, that fate, which lacks justice, that which made my naive daughter with flower-like, kohl-streaked eyes part away, making this well-crafted, tall mansion resound with uproar!
377 Her things here
நீர் நசைக்கு ஊக்கிய உயவல் யானை
இயம் புணர் தூம்பின் உயிர்க்கும் அத்தம்
சென்றனள் மன்ற, என் மகளே
பந்தும் பாவையும் கழங்கும் எமக்கு ஒழித்தே.
A fatigued elephant, filled with thirst, sighs akin to the ‘thoombu’ pipe played together with many musical instruments in the drylands. It’s here, she parted away to, that daughter of mine, leaving her ball, doll and playing beans with me!
378 Crying companion
செல்லிய முயலிப் பாஅய சிறகர்
வாவல் உகக்கும் மாலை, யாம் புலம்பப்
போகிய அவட்கோ நோவேன்; தே மொழித்
துணை இலள் கலிழும் நெஞ்சின்
இணை ஏர் உண்கண் இவட்கு நோவதுவே.
It’s that evening hour when wanting to travel far, a bat spreads its wings. At this time, making me lament, she left. I worry not for her, but for this girl with well-set, beautiful, kohl-streaked eyes, whose heart cries because her honey-voiced companion is no more with her!
379 Sweeter than a wedding
தன் அமர் ஆயமொடு நன் மண நுகர்ச்சியின்
இனிது ஆம்கொல்லோ தனக்கே பனி வரை
இனக் களிறு வழங்கும் சோலை
வயக்குறு வெள் வேலவற் புணர்ந்து செலவே?
Is it sweeter than a good wedding in the presence of her beautiful companions? This parting away in the company of that young man with a shining, white spear to groves, where herds of elephants rove, in those cool mountains?
380 Mother of the eloper
அத்த நீள் இடை அவனொடு போகிய
முத்து ஏர் வெண் பல் முகிழ் நகை மடவரல்
தாயர் என்னும் பெயரே வல்லாறு
எடுத்தேன் மன்ற, யானே;
கொடுத்தோர் மன்ற, அவள் ஆயத்தோரே.
To that long and winding drylands path, she left with him, that naive young maiden with white teeth, akin to pearls, and a blooming smile. ‘Mother of the maiden, who eloped away so’ is the name I have received for raising her; The ones who have given me that name are her companions!
So concludes Ainkurunooru 371-380. All the verses are set in the context of a man’s love relationship with a lady, prior to marriage, and specifically in the situation when the man has eloped away with the lady, foreseeing that the lady’s parents will not accept the man’s marriage proposal. The unifying theme in all the songs is that all are said by the lady’s mother, in this situation when the lady has left her home to be with the man she loves.
The few descriptions of the land in this section talk about how when the people of this region resound their drums, peacocks dance, mistaking the same for thunder. In another instance, there’s a scene where a male deer escapes from a tiger and cries with relief as it embraces its female. A curious statement talks about how the lady has parted away to a jungle that even a monkey does not know, implying that these agile cousins of ours are well-versed with the spread of the land, and if the lady is travelling somewhere that a well-travelled monkey doesn’t know, then we can be sure it’s really far away. Next, is a portrait of an elephant filled with so much thirst in the drylands that seems to sigh exactly like a ‘thoombu’ musical instrument of those days.
Returning to the intent of the speakers, as we have seen, all the verses are said by the lady’s mother. Though it’s hard to say whether these words are said by the lady’s birth mother or the foster mother, who raised her, most interpreters agree that the first nine are said by the birth mother and the last one by the foster mother. In the first, the mother wishes that it rains in the drylands so that it’s pleasant to cross for her dear daughter, who has left her thinking that parting away was the right path for her future. In the second, the mother wonders if the lady even thought about her, as she left with the man, making their town resound with slander. In the third, the lady’s mother curses that the man’s mother too should feel her pain that soars every time thoughts of the lady cross her mind. In the fourth, the mother remarks on the young and immature age of the lady, whose hair has not even grown long enough to be tied up and how she has found the courage to leave to such a faraway place with her man. That a child remains forever young and vulnerable in a mother’s eyes is evident from these words!
In the fifth, the mother remarks how she sees the lady wherever she turns around, be it in her doll or in the parrot the lady used to pet and keep at home. Don’t we too see the people we love in the things they used, whenever they part away from us? In the sixth, mother curses fate for leaving her in that state wherein her daughter has eloped away. In the seventh, mother remarks how the lady has gone, taking away all joy, and just leaving behind her things, like the ball, doll and dried molucca beans that she used to play with. In the eighth, mother declares she worries not for the lady who parted away in the evening hour, when bats spread their wings but for the lady’s confidante, who seems to be shedding tears before her, missing her sweet friend. In the ninth, mother questions whether eloping with the man to the drylands was something sweeter than a marriage in the company of her friends, hinting that had the lady revealed her relationship, mother might have taken steps for their marriage. In the final one, the foster mother talks about how she has been branded as the mother who raised the girl who eloped away and says it’s the lady’s friends who have blessed her with that name, as they were the ones who helped the lady part away with her beloved.
In this section, we are once again back to the realm of coherence and unity of thought, and each verse echoes in the same melancholic tone of a mother’s lament. Among the many emotions encountered such as sadness, dejection and anxiety, the highlight is that verse which describes the mother, who seeks rains to pour upon the drylands and make it pleasant for her daughter, etching for us, that matchless heart, which wishes well, even in the midst of hurt!
Share your thoughts...