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In this episode, we perceive the yearning of the lady, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Ainkurunooru 451-460, situated in the ‘Mullai’ or ‘Forest landscape’ and penned by the poet Peyanaar.
Thus blooms the Forty Sixth Ten of Ainkurunooru: Tears from the Homefront
451 He cannot return
கார் செய் காலையொடு கையறப் பிரிந்தோர்
தேர்தரு விருந்தில் தவிர்குதல் யாவது,
மாற்றரும் தானை நோக்கி
ஆற்றவும் இருத்தல், வேந்தனது தொழிலே?
How can he, who is parted away on this day in the rainy season, leaving me in helplessness, arrive in his chariot, relish the feast and stay here, if, considering his army that cannot be conquered, the king’s wish happens to be to remain there?
452 Collecting taxes and spreading pallor
வறந்த ஞாலம் தளிர்ப்ப வீசிக்
கறங்குரல் எழிலி கார் செய்தன்றே,
பகை வெங்காதலர் திறைதரு முயற்சி,
மென் தோள் ஆய் கவின் மறையப்
பொன் புனை பீரத்து அலர் செய்தன்றே.
Making the dried-up land cool down, the rainy season has arrived with winds and clouds having thundering voices. My lover, who has won the king’s enemies, is now in the midst of collecting taxes, and owing to this, my slender arms have lost their alluring beauty and pallor spreads on them, in the hue of golden-hued, ridge gourd flowers.
453 Chariot remains away
அவல்தொறும் தேரை தெவிட்ட, மிசைதொறும்
வெங்குரல் புள்ளினம் ஒலிப்ப, உதுக்காண்,
கார் தொடங்கின்றால் காலை, அதனால்
நீர் தொடங்கினவால் நெடுங்கண், அவர்
தேர் தொடங்கின்றால் நம் வயினானே.
In all the puddles, frogs croak, and everywhere above, birds resound with their desirable voices. Look! This is a day when the rainy season has begun, and so, my huge eyes have begun shedding tears, as his chariot has not started its journey towards us!
454 Wild jasmine and the rains
தளவின் பைங்கொடி தழீஇப், பையென
நிலவின் அன்ன நேர் அரும்பு பேணிக்
கார் நயந்து எய்தும் முல்லை, அவர்
தேர் நயந்து உறையும், என் மாமைக் கவினே.
Embracing the pink jasmine, blooming on green vines, slowly, akin to the moon, white buds of the wild jasmine spread, knowing that its loving rainy season had arrived. Akin to that, is my dark-skinned beauty that will bloom only when his loving chariot arrives.
455 Retiring war drums and Resounding rain clouds
அரசு பகை தணிய, முரசு படச் சினைஇ,
ஆர் குரல் எழிலி கார் தொடங்கின்றே,
அளியவோ அளிய தாமே, ஒளி பசந்து
மின் இழை ஞெகிழச் சாஅய்த்
தொன்னலம் இழந்த என் தட மென்தோளே.
As the king’s enemies were vanquished, drums have ceased roaring, and the rainy season heralded by the rainclouds with a resounding voice has begun. Aren’t they to be pitied? These curving, soft arms of mine that have lost their old beauty and glow, as pallor spreads and shining ornaments slip away!
456 Won’t he recollect his promise?
உள்ளார் கொல்லோ தோழி, வெள் இதழ்
பகல் மதி உருவின் பகன்றை மாமலர்
வெண்கொடி ஈங்கை பைம் புதல் அணியும்
அரும் பனி அளைஇய கூதிர்,
ஒருங்கு இவண் உறைதல் தெளித்து அகன்றோரே?
The light-petaled, huge rattlepod flower, akin to the moon during the day, adorns the green bush of the twisted acacia with white vines, in this winter season, with extreme cold. Won’t he think, my friend, of me staying all alone here, at this time, the one who parted away with promises?
457 Unable to forget
பெய் பனி நலிய உய்தல் செல்லாது,
குருகினம் நரலும் பிரிவருங் காலைத்,
துறந்து அமைகல்லார் காதலர்,
மறந்து அமைகல்லாது, என் மடங்கெழு நெஞ்சே.
Unable to bear the pouring dew, flocks of birds resound aloud in this season when it’s unbearable to be apart. At this time, my lover cannot remain apart from me, and my heart filled with naivety, cannot remain without thinking of him.
458 Golden pallor in the eyes
துணர்க்காய்க் கொன்றைக் குழற்பழம் ஊழ்த்தன,
அதிர் பெயற்கு எதிரிய சிதர் கொள் தண் மலர்,
பாணர் பெருமகன் பிரிந்தென,
மாண் நலம் இழந்த என் கண் போன்றனவே.
The tubular fruit clusters of the golden shower, akin to the tresses of maiden, matures in the thunderous downpour and the cool flowers drop down, appearing like my eyes, which have lost their fine beauty, as the lord of the bards parted away.
459 Ending pallor with an embrace
மெல் இறைப் பணைத்தோள் பசலை தீரப்
புல்லவும் இயைவது கொல்லோ, புல்லார்
ஆர் அரண் கடந்த சீர் கெழு தானை
வெல்போர் வேந்தனொடு சென்ற
நல் வயல் ஊரன் நறும் தண் மார்பே?
To make the pallor that spreads on my soft, bamboo-like arms to vanish, is it at all possible to embrace the cool and fragrant chest of the lord, who rules over the town with prosperous fields, the one who went along with the conquering king and his famous army to seize the formidable forts of foes?
460 Swirling northern winds
பெருஞ்சின வேந்தனும் பாசறை முனியான்,
இருங்கலி வெற்பன் தூதும் தோன்றா,
ததை இலை வாழை முழு முதல் அசைய,
இன்னா வாடையும் அலைக்கும்,
என் ஆகுவென் கொல், அளியென் யானே?
The furious king seems not to hate the battle camp still and the lord of the huge mountains seems not to send any messenger. Shaking the plantain tree with dense leaves from top to bottom, the terrible northern winds blow. What is to become of me? I am to be pitied indeed!
So concludes Ainkurunooru 451-460. All the songs are set in the context of a man’s post-marital relationship with his lady, and revolve around the situation of the man’s parting away to aid his king in warfare. The unifying theme of all these verses is that all are uttered by the lady back home, seeing that the man had not returned from his war mission even as the rainy season has arrived at her door, tormenting her.
In the previous ten, we saw how the man was away in the battlefield and lamenting that he was not able to return to his lady as promised. The next set of ten seems to be a sequel to the first, where we see the lady echoing his emotions of the pain in being apart at this time. The lady addresses her confidante in all the verses, lamenting about her situation. In the first, she declares that the man cannot return anytime soon because the king seems to want to remain there. In the second, she describes how the rainy season had arrived, and even though the actual battle is over, the man was still engaged collected taxes from the foes so that he was not able to return to her, and owing to this, pallor seemed to spread on her skin, in the hue of the golden flowers of the ridge gourd. Curious to understand how medicine would see these many descriptions of this symptom of pallor, spreading on the skin of these Sangam maiden. Was it only a phenomenon on this particular people at that particular time or do we have parallels in different cultures at different times? After all, pining for a loved one is a timeless and universal emotion and wonder how its manifestation changes over space and time!
Returning, in the third, the lady hears the croaking frogs and the crying birds in the rainy season and talks about how her eyes are shedding tears because there’s no sign of the man’s chariot heading home. In the fourth, the pink jasmine blooms on vines, and close to it, the wild jasmine spreads its white buds only because its love, the rainy season, had appeared. Likewise, she adds her beauty too would bloom only when the man’s chariot appears. In the fifth, the lady laments how though the drums have ceased now and the foes were finished, the rainy season came ahead of the man’s return, and because of this, her arms had thinned away and ornaments were slipping away.
In the sixth, the lady tells us how the seasons have graduated from the rainy season to the winter, when the rattepod is said to bloom like the moon around a touch-me-not bush nearby. She wonders if the man won’t think of her at all, at this time. In the seventh, the lady says as the dew pours and the birds cry, her heart cannot forget the man, whom she knows cannot stay away from her. The eighth sees the theme of pallor returning, and now, attacking the eyes of the lady, making them golden-hued again, like the flowers of the golden shower tree. The interesting detail here is the description of the tube-like black fruits of this tree and placing them in parallel to a woman’s tresses. A testimony to the immense imagination of these ancients!
In the ninth, the lady wonders if it would be possible to embrace the man to end her pallor, even as she describes his mission of helping the king vanquish his enemies and seize their forts. The last one sees the lady expressing how the king seems to not feel any dislike towards his battle camp, even after being there for so long, and there seemed to be no message from the man. While this was so, the seasons were prompt in their torment, for the northern winds were shaking the plantain tree from root to tip, and seemingly, the lady too. And so, in this series, we understand that the pain of parting afflicts not only the man but the lady too, and while he can distract himself by immersing himself in his work, she seems to remain at home, dwelling only on him. Perhaps an indication that this lady perceives the pain of parting with even more intensity!
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