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In this episode, we listen to joyous words about the arrival of a season, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Ainkurunooru 411-420, situated in the ‘Mullai’ or ‘Forest landscape’ and penned by the poet Peyanaar.
Thus blooms the Forty Second Ten of Ainkurunooru: This Time This Place
411 Rains have begun
ஆர் குரல் எழிலி அழிதுளி சிதறிக்
கார் தொடங்கின்றால், காமர் புறவே;
வீழ்தரு புதுப்புனல் ஆடுகம்
தாழ் இருங் கூந்தல்! வம்மதி, விரைந்தே.
Rainclouds with a resounding voice have scattered huge drops and begun the rainy season in the picturesque forest. Let’s play in the falling, fresh stream, O maiden with dark and low-lying tresses. Come quickly!
412 Flowers galore
காயா, கொன்றை, நெய்தல், முல்லை,
போது அவிழ் தளவமொடு பிடவு, அலர்ந்து கவினிப்
பூ அணி கொண்டன்றால் புறவே
பேர் அமர்க்கண்ணி! ஆடுகம், விரைந்தே.
Trees like Ironwood, Golden shower, Blue lotus, Wild jasmine have opened their flower buds, as have the vines like pink jasmine and wild jasmine. These have bloomed with beauty and adorned the forest, O maiden with huge, beautiful eyes. Let’s play. Come quickly!
413 A forest like you
நின் நுதல் நாறும் நறுந் தண் புறவில்
நின்னே போல மஞ்ஞை ஆல,
கார் தொடங்கின்றால் பொழுதே
பேர் இயல் அரிவை! நாம் நயத்தகவே.
In the cool and fragrant forest that smells like your forehead, a peacock dances just like you, in this season, when the rains have begun, O maiden with adorable traits, for us to rejoice!
414 Fertile turns the Forest
புள்ளும் மாவும் புணர்ந்து இனிது உகள,
கோட்டவும் கொடியவும் பூப் பல பழுனி
மெல் இயல் அரிவை! கண்டிகும்
மல்லல் ஆகிய மணம் கமழ் புறவே.
As birds and animals unite with joy and leap about, and as flowers on branches and vines mature and bloom, O maiden with a gentle nature, see how this fragrant forest has turned so fertile!
415 This is it
இதுவே, மடந்தை! நாம் மேவிய பொழுதே;
உதுவே, மடந்தை! நாம் உள்ளிய புறவே;
இனிது உடன் கழிக்கின், இளமை
இனிதால் அம்ம, இனியவர்ப் புணர்வே!
This is the one, O naive maiden, the season we were waiting for! That is the one, O naive maiden, the forest we were thinking about! Youth becomes a time of sweetness when spent together in the union of the beloved!
416 Like the elephant
போது ஆர் நறுந் துகள் கவினிப் புறவில் தாது ஆர்ந்து,
களிச் சுரும்பு அரற்றும் காமர் புதலின்,
மடப் பிடி தழீஇய, மாவே;
சுடர்த் தொடி மடவரல் புணர்ந்தனம், யாமே!
In the picturesque forest, filled with the fragrant pollen of flowers, feeding on nectar, the delighted bees resound around the desirable bushes. O elephant, you have embraced your naive mate. I too have united with my naive maiden wearing glowing bangles!
417 Welcome home
கார் கலந்தன்றால் புறவே; பல உடன்
ஏர் பரந்தனவால் புனமே; ஏர் கலந்து
தாது ஆர் பிரசம் மொய்ப்ப,
போது ஆர் கூந்தல் முயங்கினள், எம்மே.
The forest has welcomed the rainy season; It has attained many adornments in its groves; As honey-drinking bees buzz around with beauty, the woman having flower-filled tresses embraced me!
418 Skylark’s thirst
வானம்பாடி வறம் களைந்து, ஆனாது
அழி துளி தலைஇய புறவில், காண்வர
வானர மகளோ நீயே
மாண் முலை அடைய முயங்கியோயே?
Slaying the thirst of the skylark, unceasingly huge drops have fallen on the forest. There, appearing as a heavenly maiden, you embraced me with your esteemed bosom!
419 In the animals around
உயிர் கலந்து ஒன்றிய செயிர் தீர் கேண்மைப்
பிரிந்துறல் அறியா, விருந்து கவவி,
நம் போல் நயவரப் புணர்ந்தன
கண்டிகும் மடவரல்! புறவின் மாவே.
With life fusing as one in that faultless bond, which knows not separation, embracing anew, akin to us, with love, they too have united. O naive maiden, look at those animals in the forest!
420 Beauty of the forest
பொன் என மலர்ந்த, கொன்றை; மணி எனத்
தேம் படு காயா மலர்ந்த; தோன்றியொடு
நன்னலம் எய்தினை, புறவே! நின்னைக்
காணிய வருதும், யாமே
வாள் நுதல் அரிவையொடு ஆய் நலம் படர்ந்தே.
Like gold, the golden shower has bloomed in you; Like sapphire, the bee-buzzing ironwood has bloomed in you; Along with the flame-lily too, you have attained an exquisite quality, O forest! I will come to see you, with the maiden having a shining forehead, to delight in your fine beauty!
So concludes Ainkurunooru 411-420. All the verses are set in the context of a post-marital relationship between the man and the lady. The unifying theme of all the verses is that these are words uttered by the man celebrating the rainy season that has arrived in their forest domain, echoing the satisfaction that he was able to return to the lady as promised before the arrival of this season. As mentioned, the man is the speaker in every one of these verses and he addresses the lady directly, or utters these words to other entities, in her presence.
Almost every song here talks about the changes in the forest that announce the arrival of the rains. Let’s take a look at this aspect first. Thundering clouds are heard and seen scattering huge raindrops in one, and in another, a long list of trees and vines open their buds and blossom together, welcoming their beloved guest called the rains. A peacock is seen dancing because the rains are here, and then all the birds and animals as well as the flowers on trees and vines are at their happiest, turning the forest into a fertile heaven. There’s also mention of bees buzzing around these blooming flowers and an elephant lovingly uniting with its mate with love. In another intricate one, a skylark gets the spotlight saying the rains have poured to end the starvation and thirst of this bird. Another scene shows that the season animals prefer to unite is this very rainy season. In the final depiction, as the rains arrive, golden shower trees bloom with their golden flowers, and the ironwood trees bloom with their sapphire-hued flowers and together with the flame-lilies too, they endow so much beauty on the soft forest!
Having seen the rains wave their magic wand on the forest, let’s turn our attention to the words the man says to the lady. In the first, the man invites the lady to come play with him in the fresh streams that gush because of the new rains. In the second too, he invites the lady to play, pointing to the many flowers that have bloomed in the forest. In the third, he places the forest in parallel to the lady’s forehead and says both waft with the same scent, and then adds how a peacock dances in the forest with the same delicate beauty of the lady. The fourth sees the man pointing to the lady scenes around him of birds and animals delighting with their mates, and flowers bursting into bloom everywhere, turning that forest so fertile. In the fifth, the man rejoices about the rainy season and their forest domain and turns philosophical as he talks about how youth turns into something forever pleasant if spent in the company of those we love.
In the sixth, the man addresses an elephant and says, ‘As bees buzz around the flowers of the bush, you relish the company of your mate. So do I, with my bangle-clad maiden’. He possibly says these words in the presence of the lady, so that she feels much joy. In the seventh, the man says that like the rainy season, which was welcomed by the forest, he too was welcomed with the embrace of his beloved. In the eighth, the man takes a mystical tone and says that the lady seemed to take the appearance of a heavenly maiden and embraced him, when he was returning homeward. In the ninth, the man points to the animals around him and tells the lady how they seem to untie as one, in a flawless togetherness, just like them. The final verse sees the man addressing the forest, and saying that he would visit it, along with his loving woman, to relish with her, the beauty the forest has attained because of the rains.
In verse after verse, we see the joy the rains endow on the forest and here echoes the subtext that the arrival of the man has endowed the same joy on the waiting lady. The timeless bond between the rains and the earth is reflected in the love between the man and the lady here! Looking deeply, we realise that at the core, these verses are a declaration of joy about being in this place, this moment – A celebration of the here and now, something all of us can do more with!
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