Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | iHeartRadio | TuneIn | RSS | More
In this episode, we perceive a decision in the making, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 191, penned by Orodakathu Kantharathanaar. Set in the ‘Paalai’ or ‘Drylands landscape’, the verse relays a sense of protection and care.
அத்தப் பாதிரித் துய்த் தலைப் புது வீ
எரி இதழ் அலரியொடு இடை பட விரைஇ,
வெண்தோட்டு தொடுத்த வண்டு படு கண்ணி,
தோல் புதை சிரற்று அடி, கோலுடை உமணர்
ஊர் கண்டன்ன ஆரம் வாங்கி,
அருஞ் சுரம் இவர்ந்த அசைவு இல் நோன் தாள்
திருந்து பகட்டு இயம்பும் கொடு மணி, புரிந்து அவர்
மடி விடு வீளையொடு, கடிது எதிர் ஓடி,
ஓமை அம் பெருங் காட்டு வரூஉம் வம்பலர்க்கு
ஏமம் செப்பும் என்றூழ் நீள் இடை,
அரும் பொருள் நசைஇ, பிரிந்து உறை வல்லி,
சென்று, வினை எண்ணுதிஆயின், நன்றும்,
உரைத்திசின் வாழி என் நெஞ்சே! ”நிரை முகை
முல்லை அருந்தும் மெல்லிய ஆகி,
அறல் என விரிந்த உறல் இன் சாயல்
ஒலி இருங் கூந்தல் தேறும்” என,
வலிய கூறவும் வல்லையோ, மற்றே?
We perceive some interesting sights in this trip to the drylands, as we listen to the man, say these words to his heart, at a time when his heart is nudging him to part away from the lady, and go in search of wealth:
“Bee-swarming garlands, woven with new, coarse-haired trumpet flowers from the drylands, in the hue of fire, interspersed with white flowers of the pandanus, are worn by salt merchants, who hold on to rods and wear leather slippers that resound when walking, and they arrive in huge groups, as if seeing a town entire, directing their wagons through the formidable drylands. The sound of loud bells that resound as their wield their bulls, moving with a determined effort that knows no fatigue, along with their long whistles, rushes in the opposite direction, and conveys a message of protection to those new travellers, who are treading the huge jungles, filled with toothbrush trees. If you wish to traverse those scorching long paths, desiring for that hard-to-attain wealth, and think you have the strength to live apart, and are contemplating parting away, that’s good, my heart! Long may you live! But you have to go and tell her, “O gentle maiden, who wears fully bloomed wild jasmine flowers on your dark, luxuriant tresses, soft to touch, spreading like black sand, you have to console yourself!” Do you have the strength to speak such strong words, O heart?”
Let’s take in the sights and sounds of the sweltering drylands! The man starts by bringing before our eyes, garlands, worn by a specific group of people, the salt merchants, and these are said to be woven both with flowers of the coast, from where these salt merchants are coming, namely the white, pandanus flowers, as well as the flowers of the drylands that they are treading, the red, trumpet flowers. Then, attention is drawn to the kind of footwear these merchants wear, and the sounds these make, as well as the rods they are carrying in their hands. He talks about how seeing a group of them was like seeing a town entire.
After focusing on the vision of their appearance, the man turns his attention to the sounds they emit, such as the loud bells on their sturdy bulls that know no tiredness, as well as their way of communicating through long whistles. He has mentioned these sounds to say that hearing their sounds was the only source of comfort for the anxious wayfarers crossing the drylands jungle and these sounds relayed to them the presence of a group of people, who will extend their protection in a moment of trouble. After depicting the sense of danger in the drylands in this manner, the man now turns to his heart and asks, ‘Is this where you want me to leave? You think you can live apart from the lady and go towards this mission?’. He answers himself, saying to his heart, ‘Well and good. But there’s something you must do. And that is you must go and tell this news to the beautiful, delicate lady with jasmine-clad, silt-like tresses and ask her to console herself. The man ends by asking his heart whether it had the strength to go speak such painful words to the lady.
Another case of separating the heart from oneself to gain some perspective. Here, the man tends towards not leaving in search of wealth as he wishes not to bring pain to his beloved. Even though there are notes of danger and anxiety, the tone that rises above it all is the sense of caring for one another, be it in the way the sounds of the salt merchants comfort the troubled wayfarers or the man’s empathy for the lady’s pain at his parting. In a way, the verse echoes a core philosophy that the social wealth that arises out of this thoughtfulness and care for others, is of much greater value than even mounds of material wealth!
