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In this episode, we listen to the sweet reminiscences of the lady’s foster mother, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Ainkurunooru 401-410, situated in the ‘Mullai’ or ‘Forest landscape’ and penned by the poet Peyanaar.
Thus blooms the Forty First Ten of Ainkurunooru: The Music of Togetherness
401 Hard to obtain
மறி இடைப்படுத்த மான் பிணை போல,
புதல்வன் நடுவணன் ஆக, நன்றும்
இனிது மன்ற அவர் கிடக்கை; முனிவு இன்றி
நீல் நிற வியலகம் கவைஇய
ஈனும், உம்பரும், பெறலருங்குரைத்தே.
Akin to a fawn lying between a male deer and its mate, with the son in the middle, the way they were lying together was so pleasant to see. Such a flawless state, is hard to obtain here, in this world, surrounded by the blue-hued wide space, and in the world above.
402 Like a bard’s strings
புதல்வற் கவைஇய தாய் புறம் முயங்கி
நசையினன் வதிந்த கிடக்கை, பாணர்
நரம்பு உளர் முரற்கை போல,
இனிதால்; அம்ம! பண்புமார் உடைத்தே.
The way he was embracing with love, the back of the mother, who was hugging the son, has the same, sweet nature of music from the plucked strings of bards!
403 The sight of his son
புணர்ந்த காதலியின் புதல்வன் தலையும்
அமர்ந்த உள்ளம் பெரிது ஆகின்றே
அகன் பெருஞ் சிறப்பின் தந்தை பெயரன்
முறுவலின் இன் நகை பயிற்றி,
சிறு தேர் உருட்டும் தளர்நடை கண்டே.
Seeing the son of the one he united with; the offspring, who will claim the name of his greatly esteemed father, his heart feels a great love, as the boy, with a sweet, little smile, pushes his toy chariot, with a wobbling gait!
404 Embracing her
வாள் நுதல் அரிவை மகன் முலை ஊட்ட,
தான் அவள் சிறுபுறம் கவையினன் நன்றும்
நறும் பூந் தண் புறவு அணிந்த,
குறும் பல் பொறைய நாடுகிழவோனே.
As the maiden with a radiant forehead suckled her son at her breast, he embraced the small of her back sweetly, that lord of the country, filled with many little mounds, adorned with cool and fragrant, flower-filled forests!
405 Light of the home
ஒண் சுடர்ப் பாண்டில் செஞ் சுடர் போல,
மனைக்கு விளக்கு ஆயினள் மன்ற கனைப் பெயல்
பூப் பல அணிந்த வைப்பின்
புறவு அணி நாடன் புதல்வன் தாயே.
Akin to the red glow of the bright ‘paandil lamp’, she became the light of the home, that mother of the lord’s son, in whose domain, adorned with forests, bloom many picturesque flowers, amidst the heavy downpour!
406 Playing son
மாதர் உண்கண் மகன் விளையாட,
காதலித் தழீஇ இனிது இருந்தனனே
தாது ஆர் பிரசம் ஊதும்
போது ஆர் புறவின் நாடு கிழவோனே.
As the adorable son with kohl-streaked eyes played, embracing his lover, he was there, full of joy, that lord of the country, where honey-seeking bees buzz around the flower-filled forest.
407 Music of the embrace
நயந்த காதலித் தழீஇ, பாணர்
நயம் படு முரற்கையின் யாத்த பயன் தெரிந்து,
இன்புறு புணர்ச்சி நுகரும்
மென் புல வைப்பின் நாடு கிழவோனே.
Embracing his beloved, he would relish the fine music of the bard’s strings and then attain the sweet union with her, that lord of the country, filled with soft tracts of forests.
408 Delight in the son
பாணர் முல்லை பாட, சுடர் இழை
வாள் நுதல் அரிவை முல்லை மலைய,
இனிது இருந்தனனே, நெடுந்தகை
துனி தீர் கொள்கைத் தன் புதல்வனொடு பொலிந்தே.
As the bards sang the ‘mullai’ tune, along with the young maiden wearing glowing jewels, having a shining forehead and adorned with a ‘wild jasmine’ garland, the great lord with flawless principles, was there with much joy, delighting in his young son!
409 A three-fold embrace
புதல்வற் கவைஇயினன் தந்தை; மென் மொழிப்
புதல்வன் தாயோ இருவரும் கவைஇயினள் ;
இனிது மன்ற அவர் கிடக்கை;
நனி இரும் பரப்பின் இவ் உலகுடன் உறுமே.
The father embraced his son; As for the soft-spoken mother of the son, she embraced them both; So sweet was this scene of their togetherness, equal in greatness to this entire world with its huge and spreading lands!
410 An evening scene
மாலை முன்றில் குறுங்கால் கட்டில்
மனையோள் துணைவி ஆக, புதல்வன்
மார்பின் ஊரும் மகிழ்நகை இன்பப்
பொழுதிற்கு ஒத்தன்று மன்னே
மென் பிணித்து அம்ம பாணனது யாழே!
It’s evening, and in the front yard, there lies a short-legged cot. He lies on this, with his wife as his sweet companion and son crawling on his chest. The ecstatic joy and laughter that rise here at this sweet time can be said to be perfectly in tune with an intricately-tied bard’s lute!
So concludes Ainkurunooru 401-410. With this set of verses, we have entered the last domain of the forest landscape, and the verses we have seen so far situated in this domain deal with the patient waiting of the lady, when her husband has parted away on a mission to earn wealth or win a war. Turning to this particular section, all the verses are set in the context of a man’s married life with his lady. The unifying theme of all these verses is that these are uttered by the lady’s foster mother, and in most cases, to the lady’s birth mother, after a visit to the lady’s marital home.
As for references to land, these are very few and generic in description, such as a country, where there are little hills filled with forests, where heavy rains pour and assorted flowers bloom, making bees buzz around them. These lands are characterised as ‘soft’ and this echoes in the scenes that each of these verses reveal.
There’s a perfect coherence and unity of emotion in all the verses because each one depicts a happy scene involving the man and the lady, and in most cases, their son, a toddler. We can see the foster mother’s smiling face and sense her joy as she recollects the happy life of the girl she raised, as she says these words to the girl’s mother. In the first, she draws a parallel to a scene where a baby deer is lying in between a male deer and its mate, and says that’s how the man and lady were lying together, with their young son in the middle and such a state of joy is hard to find on earth and heaven, the foster mother says. In the second, she paints a picture of how the lady was embracing her son, and at that time, the man came and embraced the lady from behind and this makes the foster mother hear the music of a bard’s strings just then.
In the third, there’s an intricate note about how the man’s son will claim the respectable name of the man’s father, a practice followed in many Indian communities till this day, where the grandson is named after his grandfather, sometimes to the embarrassment of these modern youngsters! From these ancient words, we can understand that this is an age-old practice, a living tradition. Returning, here, the foster mother sees the joy in the man’s eyes, as he watches his young son, push his toy cart and toddle about. In the fourth, the man embraces his wife from behind as the lady suckles their young son. In the fifth, the foster mother describes the lady as the light of the man’s home, shining radiantly like a ‘paandil lamp’, a sentiment echoed even today!
In the sixth, the man embraces his wife and watches his son play. Here’s an intricate mention of how the boy’s eyes are kohl-streaked, indicating that this was something mothers did to their young children then. In the seventh, the man is described as enjoying the music of strings and the pleasant union with his wife, all dwelling in the domain of pleasure. The eighth sees the man, praised by the foster mother as someone having laudable principles, and describes him as watching his son with delight, even as bards sing the ‘mullai’ tune and his wife sits near him wearing a ‘mullai’ or ‘wild jasmine’ garland. In the ninth, the father hugs his son and the mother hugs them both and the foster mother describes this scene as being as great as this entire world when it comes to its value. In the final verse, the foster mother speaks to herself as she takes in the scene one evening, of the man lying with his wife by his side on a cot in their front yard, as their son crawls on the man’s chest, and she says the laughter and joy there is in the exact melody of a well-tied lute.
In these verses, there’s a repeated association of a lute’s strings with family’s togetherness. The timeless joy that brims over, when watching young children explore their world with play, is perfectly captured in the musical words of these ancient verses!
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