Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | iHeartRadio | TuneIn | RSS | More
In this episode, we listen to a hidden message of persuasion, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 362, penned by Velli Veethiyaar. The verse is situated amidst the spraying cascades of the ‘Kurinji’ or ‘Mountain Landscape’ and describes the dangers of a tryst by night.
பாம்புடை விடர பனி நீர் இட்டுத் துறைத்
தேம் கலந்து ஒழுக, யாறு நிறைந்தனவே;
வெண் கோட்டு யானை பொருத புண் கூர்ந்து,
பைங் கண் வல்லியம் கல் அளைச் செறிய,
முருக்கு அரும்பு அன்ன வள் உகிர் வயப் பிணவு
கடி கொள, வழங்கார் ஆறே; ஆயிடை
எல்லிற்று என்னான், வென் வேல் ஏந்தி,
நசை தர வந்த நன்னராளன்
நெஞ்சு பழுதாக, வறுவியன் பெயரின்,
இன்று இப்பொழுதும் யான் வாழலெனே;
எவன்கொல்? வாழி, தோழி! நம் இடை முலைச்
சுணங்கு அணி முற்றத்து ஆரம் போலவும்,
சிலம்பு நீடு சோலைச் சிதர் தூங்கு நளிப்பின்
இலங்கு வெள் அருவி போலவும்,
நிலம் கொண்டனவால், திங்கள் அம் கதிரே!
In this trip to the highlands, we get to see the usual sights, as we listen to the confidante say these words to the lady, speaking in the voice of the lady, pretending not to notice the man listening nearby, but making sure he’s in earshot:
“From the mountain peaks, filled with snakes, cool water flows through the narrow shores, fused with honey, making the river brim over; After fighting with a white-tusked elephant, nursing its wounds, the green-eyed, strong male tiger rests in the mountain cleft, protecting its tired mate with sharp claws, akin to Coral tree buds, in that path, which wayfarers avoid; Without considering the dangers of such a place and that it’s the dark hour of night, carrying a white spear, with desire, the good and noble man would arrive here. If he were to return empty-ended, with a broken heart, I have to give up my life, this very instant. What to do? Long may you live, my friend! Akin to the necklace that lies between our pallor-spotted bosoms, is the radiant, white cascade, and akin to the way it spreads moist drops all through the groves in the mountains, the rays of the moon shower upon the land!”
Time to take that night trek through the mountains. The confidante speaks in the voice of the lady, and starts by talking about how water gushes down from the mountains, filled with flowers and the nectar of honeycombs, making the river overflow. The confidante adds that in a path nearby, a tiger rests after a fight with an elephant, even as it protects its mate, picturesquely placing its sharp claws in parallel to the coral tree buds. She continues by saying so dangerous is that path that wayfarers stay away from it, and yet the man, without caring about the predators, which wait to attack, or the dark hour of the midnight, comes walking with just his spear for company, hoping to tryst with the lady. This is where we find out the confidante us speaking in the voice of the lady for she says, if at all he were to return disappointed, then she wouldn’t live another moment. The confidante means the lady wouldn’t live another moment, and by extension, herself. The confidante concludes by pointing out how the moon’s rays spread all around the land, just like the white cascade amidst the mountains, which is like a necklace amidst their bosoms, spreads moist drops all over the mountain groves.
These words are to impress upon the listening man the pain and suffering the lady goes through every time the man doesn’t get to tryst with her. To avoid such frequent angst, the confidante subtly nudges the man to choose the path of permanent happiness by marrying the lady. Moving beyond the usual ‘Marry her, Marry her’ theme, we find the striking aspect of this verse in the way the similes are stacked by comparing the necklace on the bosom to the cascade amidst the mountains, and then the spray of that cascade upon all the groves in the mountain to the moonlight that brightens the land! To add to this stack of similes, like that moonlight that brightens the spread of the land, these words from the past seem to shower their glow upon the acres of time!
