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In this episode, we listen to wishes rendered for another’s welfare, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 345, penned by Kudavayil Keerathanaar. Set in the ‘Paalai’ or ‘Drylands landscape’, the verse describes the exquisite transformations in nature.
”விசும்பு தளி பொழிந்து, வெம்மை நீங்கி,
தண் பதம் படுதல் செல்க!” எனப் பல் மாண்
நாம் செல விழைந்தனமாக, ”ஓங்கு புகழ்க்
கான் அமர் செல்வி அருளலின், வெண் கால்,
பல் படைப் புரவி எய்திய தொல் இசை
நுணங்கு நுண் பனுவற் புலவன் பாடிய
இன மழை தவழும் ஏழில் குன்றத்துக்
கருங் கால் வேங்கைச் செம் பூம் பிணையல்
ஐது ஏந்து அல்குல் யாம் அணிந்து உவக்கும்
சில் நாள் கழிக!” என்று முன் நாள்
நம்மொடு பொய்த்தனர்ஆயினும், தம்மொடு
திருந்து வேல் இளையர் சுரும்பு உண மலைமார்,
மா முறி ஈன்று மரக் கொம்பு அகைப்ப,
உறை கழிந்து உலந்த பின்றை, பொறைய
சிறு வெள் அருவித் துவலையின் மலர்ந்த
கருங் கால் நுணவின் பெருஞ் சினை வான் பூச்
செம் மணற் சிறு நெறி கம்மென வரிப்ப,
காடு கவின் பெறுக தோழி! ஆடு வளிக்கு
ஒல்கு நிலை இற்றி ஒரு தனி நெடு வீழ்
கல் கண் சீக்கும் அத்தம்,
அல்கு வெயில் நீழல் அசைந்தனர் செலவே!
In this trip to the drylands, instead of the usual dreary scenes, we are surprised by elements of pleasantness, as we listen to the lady say these words to her friend, at a time when the man had parted away from the lady, so as to seek wealth:
“Even though I tried to go along with him many times saying, “The skies have showered down, the heat has been swept away, and the land has attained a cool quality, so take me along with you!”, he had replied to me, “Owing to the grace of the great goddess of the forest, with a soaring fame, the poet, attained many white-legged horses, fitted with wealthy accessories, for penning intricate verses about the Ezhil mountains, enveloped by rain clouds. Making a garland of red flowers from the black-stemmed Kino tree growing there, let me adorn your beautiful waist, and spend a few more days delighting here’. After saying such lies, he left suddenly without me. So be it, but letting those young helpers of his, carrying well-etched spears, find bee-buzzing garlands, may the branches of the mango tree flourish with tender sprouts. After rain clouds have poured down and parted away, in the spray of the small white mountain cascades, let those white flowers that have bloomed on huge branch of the black-trunked mulberry tree scatter down and draw fragrant patterns on the small path, cutting through the red earth. My friend, may the forest attain all such beauty and delight the journey of my man, who finds shade amidst the scorching heat of the drylands, under a soaring fig tree, which sways its sole, tall aerial root and sweeps the eyes of a boulder nearby!”
Let’s listen to this lady’s bitter-sweet song! The lady starts by recollecting how she had requested the man to take her along in his journey, since the weather was on their side and the rains had poured, and had rendered much coolness to the land. But the man had refused to heed to her request and had instead talked about spending a few days with the lady, adorning her waist with the Kino flowers, from the Ezhil mountains, celebrated by skilled poets, who had the blessing of a forest goddess, whom many interpreters associate with Kottravai, the Goddess of the drylands and one whose blessings were sought on every mission. In essence, the man had said to the lady that he would go later and then after that false promise, took off to the drylands on his own.
Seeing that he had done such a thing, the lady is not furious but instead she decides to bless the trees in the forest so that the man’s helpers may find mango flower garlands, and also, the white mulberry flowers would fall down and paint floral patterns on all the paths her lover treads. The lady concludes saying she wishes only joy for the man, whom she pictures as standing under the shade of a fig tree, amidst the heat of the drylands, as he takes in a sole, hanging aerial root, moved by the winds, wiping the surface of a boulder nearby!
That image of an aerial root wiping a rock made me see the yearning in the lady’s heart for a hand to wipe away her own tears of pining. Even though so much disappointment and dejection fills her, the lady is able to send out good thoughts the man’s way, telling us in a subtle manner, the only way to fly out out of the pit of sorrow, is to latch on those wings of positivity!
