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In this episode, we listen to words of despair, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 322, penned by Paranar. The verse is situated amidst the falling cascades and soaring peaks of the ‘Kurinji’ or ‘Mountain Landscape’ and reveals the unique qualities of a king’s domain.
வயங்கு வெயில் ஞெமியப் பாஅய், மின்னு வசிபு,
மயங்கு துளி பொழிந்த பானாட் கங்குல்;
ஆராக் காமம் அடூஉ நின்று அலைப்ப,
இறு வரை வீழ்நரின் நடுங்கி தெறுவர,
பாம்பு எறி கோலின் தமியை வைகி,
தேம்புதிகொல்லோ? நெஞ்சே! உரும் இசைக்
களிறு கண்கூடிய வாள் மயங்கு ஞாட்பின்,
ஒளிறு வேற் தானைக் கடுந் தேர்த் திதியன்
வரு புனல் இழிதரு மரம் பயில் இறும்பில்,
பிறை உறழ் மருப்பின், கடுங் கண் பன்றிக்
குறை ஆர் கொடுவரி குழுமும் சாரல்,
அறை உறு தீம் தேன் குறவர் அறுப்ப
முயலுநர் முற்றா ஏற்று அரு நெடுஞ் சிமை,
புகல் அரும் பொதியில் போலப்
பெறல் அருங்குரையள், எம் அணங்கியோளே!
In this trip to the highlands, we get to traverse formidable spaces, as we listen to the man say these words to his heart, at a time when he’s unable to meet with the lady for a tryst by night:
“As the radiant sun vanished, clouds spread, lightning streaked across and drops of rain poured down in the middle of the night. As unceasing passion attacks relentlessly, you tremble with fear, akin to one who falls from a mountain peak, and remaining all alone, akin to a discarded staff, thrown away after beating a snake, you are whimpering, O heart! With the roar of thunder, elephants clash and swords flash in that battlefield, where the army of shining spears fight on, lead by Thithiyan, who wields speedy chariots. In his mountain forest, filled densely with trees, where cascades gush down with force, after feeding on the fleshy pieces of a harsh-eyed wild boar, having a tusk, akin to the crescent moon, a striped tiger roars aloud in the slopes. This is a place where the clefts soar so high, making it impossible even for daring honey collectors to climb and gather. Akin to this hard-to-enter Pothiyil mountains, ruled by Thithiyan, so hard and precious to obtain is that maiden, who torments me!”
Time to brave the midnight downpours of this domain! The man starts by talking about the time of the day he finds himself in. It’s midnight, and thick clouds dominate the sky and presently, they are flashing with lightning and pouring down as well, he says! On such a night, the man finds that he’s trembling in the manner of person, who has fallen from a mountain peak, and that he remains alone like a rod that has been thrown away after hitting a snake. Here’s a cultural nuance indicating the practice of discarding a rod, used to hit a snake, for fear the snake’s poison may remain. The man turns to his heart and acknowledges the way it’s crying as passion torments him.
Then he goes on to talk about a king named ‘Thithiyan’, who is in the middle of an uproarious battlefield, filled with elephants, swords and spears. From that arena of blood, the man traverses to an entirely different scene, one in a mountainous forest, where a tiger has just had its fill of a wild boar meat and is roaring contently. The man reveals that this place is the Pothiyil mountains, ruled by Thithiyan and talks about how impossible it’s to reach this place, so high and impassable that even honey collectors, who go everywhere, give up exhausted. He concludes by saying just like this impenetrable place, his beloved too is hard to attain. The creativity of Sangam folks comes to the fore here, in their seeing a person’s preciousness in a place’s inaccessibility!
