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In this episode, we perceive the past being summoned to resolve a problem in the present, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 337, penned by Paalai Paadiya Perunkadunko. Set in the ‘Paalai’ or ‘Drylands landscape’, the verse etches a violent scene in this domain in vivid detail.
”சாரல் யாஅத்து உயர் சினை குழைத்த
மாரி ஈர்ந் தளிர் அன்ன மேனி,
பேர் அமர் மழைக் கண், புலம்பு கொண்டு ஒழிய,
ஈங்குப் பிரிந்து உறைதல் இனிது அன்று; ஆகலின்
அவணது ஆக, பொருள்” என்று, உமணர்
கண நிரை அன்ன, பல் கால் குறும்பொறை,
தூது ஒய் பார்ப்பான் மடி வெள் ஓலைப்
படையுடைக் கையர் வரு தொடர் நோக்கி,
”உண்ணா மருங்குல் இன்னோன் கையது
பொன் ஆகுதலும் உண்டு” என, கொன்னே
தடிந்து உடன் வீழ்த்த கடுங்கண் மழவர்,
திறன் இல் சிதாஅர் வறுமை நோக்கி,
செங் கோல் அம்பினர் கைந் நொடியாப் பெயர,
கொடி விடு குருதித் தூங்கு குடர் கறீஇ,
வரி மரல் இயவின் ஒரு நரி ஏற்றை,
வெண் பரல் இமைக்கும் கண் பறி கவலை,
கள்ளி நீழல் கதறுபு வதிய,
மழை கண்மாறிய வெங் காட்டு ஆர் இடை,
எமியம் கழிதந்தோயே பனி இருள்
பெருங் கலி வானம் தலைஇய
இருங் குளிர் வாடையொடு வருந்துவள் எனவே!
In this trip to this oft-treaded region, we get to see some gruesome sights, as we listen to the man say these words to his heart, at a moment when the heart is nudging him to part with the lady and go in search of wealth:
“You said to me, ‘Leaving the maiden, having a complexion, akin to moist and tender sprout that blooms in the rainy season upon a tall branch of a ‘Yaa’ tree on a mountain slope, and huge, well-set, rain-like eyes, to lament in loneliness, it is not good to stay here away from her. And so, let that wealth remain where it is!’, when I was in the middle of a formidable path through the hot scrub jungle, which had forgotten rains for days many, wherein amidst the many small boulders, appearing akin to herds of bulls, wielded by salt merchants, looking at an approaching messenger-priest, carrying a white palm leaf around his waist, those weapon-clad men thinking, ‘This wretched man with a starving belly might have gold in his fold’, pointlessly kill him. Then, taking a closer look at the rag-like garment that covers the corpse, those harsh-eyed robbers, holding red-tipped arrows, snap their fingers in disappointment, and leave from there. A male fox that arrives in that path, lined with striped hemp, pulls out the intestines hanging with blood, and biting it, drags it on that long path, filled with white pebbles, flashing in the eyes, and then howls aloud, resting in the shade of the tall cacti. With those words, you left me all alone there and rushed away, because she would be worrying, assailed by the attack of the tormenting northern winds, on that dark and cold night, when the uproarious clouds have poured!”
Time to brave the dangers of this challenging domain! The man starts by recollecting a past moment when his heart had turned to him and said that it was not a good idea to continue the search for wealth when the lady was languishing far away. He explains how this had happened in the middle of the drylands and he goes on to sketch that space by zooming on to a messenger-priest, walking with a palm script tied around his waist, and seeing this man approach, some highway robbers think that there was a chance the starving man was hiding some gold amidst his clothes and ended up killing him with their sharp arrows. Then when they come closer, they see that his clothes are rag-like and bereft of anything precious. So, they walk away in regret, not because they have killed a man pointlessly but that kill yielded nothing for them. Now, a fox arrives in that scene and pulls out the bleeding intestines of the corpse, and dragging it, feeds on it amidst the paths, bordered with hemp, and then finds its favourite spot under the shade of the cactus, and rests there, howling aloud. The man concludes by connecting that his heart had said those words to him in such a place in the middle of the drylands, and ran away from him, leaving him all alone, because the lady would be suffering and worrying, attacked by the northern winds!
In essence, the man is recollecting a past expedition he had taken, nudged by this heart, and when in the middle of his journey, he had lost the strength to go on and felt deserted by that very heart, which seemed to run in the opposite direction homeward. With these words he intends to tell his heart that he has no wish to repeat that past mistake of leaving the lady and going in search of wealth, at the behest of his heart, only to be deserted by it, half way! Yet again, the man separates his heart from himself and renders the timeless lesson that the past is the best teacher there can be!
