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In this episode, we listen to the angst-ridden words of a maiden, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 347, penned by Maamoolanaar. Set in the ‘Paalai’ or ‘Drylands landscape’, the verse interleaves the victory of a Chera King amidst the melancholy of pining.
தோளும் தொல் கவின் தொலைய, நாளும்
நலம் கவர் பசலை நல்கின்று நலிய,
சால் பெருந் தானைச் சேரலாதன்
மால் கடல் ஓட்டி, கடம்பு அறுத்து இயற்றிய
பண் அமை முரசின் கண் அதிர்ந்தன்ன,
கவ்வை தூற்றும் வெவ் வாய்ச் சேரி
அம்பல் மூதூர் அலர் நமக்கு ஒழிய,
சென்றனர்ஆயினும், செய்வினை அவர்க்கே
வாய்க்கதில் வாழி, தோழி! வாயாது,
மழை கரந்து ஒளித்த கழை திரங்கு அடுக்கத்து,
ஒண் கேழ் வயப் புலி பாய்ந்தென, குவவு அடி
வெண் கோட்டு யானை முழக்கு இசை வெரீஇ,
கன்று ஒழித்து ஓடிய புன் தலை மடப் பிடி
கை தலை வைத்த மையல் விதுப்பொடு,
கெடு மகப் பெண்டிரின் தேரும்
நெடு மர மருங்கின் மலை இறந்தோரே!
In this trip to this challenging domain, in addition to the usual scenes, we take a short historic detour, as we listen to the lady say these words to her confidante, when the man had parted away from her, intending to seek wealth:
“As my arms lose their old beauty, and day after day, the pallor of pining, intent on stealing away my health, torments me without any grace, leaving me with the shame of slander in this uproarious old town, owing to the gossip of hot mouths in the neighbourhood, resounding akin to the vibrating eyes of the well-crafted drum, made by felling the burflower tree of enemies, who were chased into the huge seas, by that Chera King, the leader of an esteemed, huge army, he has left! Long may he live, my friend! Though he has left me so, may he succeed in that mission he intends to accomplish by leaving away to those mountains, which rain clouds have hid away from, filled with dried-up bamboos, wherein as a radiant-hued, strong tiger pounces on it, the thick-footed, white tusked elephant trumpets aloud, and hearing that, frightened, its soft-headed, naive mate, runs away, forgetting its calf, and then, akin to a woman, who has lost her children, hurrying in a confused panic, with her hands on her head, it searches anxiously in those spaces with soaring trees!”
Let’s explore those barren spaces and search for the moisture within! The lady starts by pointing to her current state of her arms thinning away and pallor attacking her ceaselessly. Then from the physical torture, she moves to the mental domain, and mentions how she’s afflicted by a sense of shame, owing to the slander spreading in their ancient town, thanks to the gossiping mouths of the townsfolk. That slander is spreading so thickly tells us the parting between the man and lady has happened prior to their marriage.
Returning, the lady sketches the manner in which slander is thundering in their town, by placing it in parallel to a resonating, victorious war drum, made from a burflower tree. Apparently, this burflower tree was a protected, sacred tree of a Chera King’s enemies, whom the king drove away, chased them even in the seas and after a fierce battle, felled the said tree and made his victory drum. That historic nugget slipped in talks about the exploits of the Chera King, who was known by the name ‘Imayavaramban Cheralathan’, a southern king, who is said to have planted his flag up north in the Himalayas.
Back from the history lesson, we find the lady has mentioned those elements of physical and mental angst, only to say that was all because the man had left her and gone to the drylands. She goes on to describe the space as a drying mountain region, which the rain clouds have forsaken, and filled with browning bamboo trees and a place where a female elephant, frightened by the roar of its mate, when attacked by a tiger, had run away, leaving its calf, and then comes back in much panic, searching for the little one, exactly like how, a woman who has lost her child, would run around in panic, hands on her head. The lady concludes by saying even though the man had left her in such a state and gone so far away, she wishes that he succeeds in his endeavours! Yet again, it’s a ‘though he left me in pain, may he attain all he seeks’ message, which is wrapped in the layers of history and nature, standing as picture-perfect parallels for the human condition!
