Natrinai 278 – What’s left on a tree

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படுகாழ் நாறிய பராஅரைப் புன்னை,
அடு மரல் மொக்குளின் அரும்பு வாய் அவிழப்,
பொன்னின் அன்ன தாதுபடு பல் மலர்
சூடுநர் தொடுத்த மிச்சில், கோடுதொறும்
நெய் கனி பசுங்காய் தூங்கும் துறைவனை
இனி அறிந்திசினே, கொண்கன் ஆகுதல்,
கழிச் சேறு ஆடிய கணைக் கால் அத்திரி
குளம்பினும் சேயிறா ஒடுங்கின,
கோதையும் எல்லாம் ஊதை வெண்மணலே.

The verse opens with ‘படுகாழ்’ meaning ‘a throwaway seed’ and packs within it, the philosophy of this tree’s propagation. The tree turns out to be the ‘பராஅரைப் புன்னை’ or the ‘thick-trunked mastwood’ tree that we have seen in many ‘Neythal’ poems. After seeing the seed and trunk of this tree, we turn to the ‘பொன்னின் அன்ன தாது’ or ‘gold-like pollen’ in the flowers of the tree. We encounter an intriguing phrase ‘சூடுநர் தொடுத்த மிச்சில்’ meaning ‘what’s left after being stringed by those who wear flowers’, talking about how the ‘punnai’ flowers were favoured by Sangam people, who must have stringed them into garlands. Next, we see ‘நெய் கனி பசுங்காய்’  referring to the ‘oil-filled fruits that are tender green’. The phrase ‘கொண்கன் ஆகுதல்’ establishes the core message of the verse for it means ‘to become a husband’. And, thinking about it, what does it mean then and now? Moving on, we see a graphic image in ‘அத்திரி குளம்பினும் சேயிறா ஒடுங்கின’ meaning ‘in the mule’s hooves, red shrimps were crammed within’. The verse ends with the rhythmic phrase ‘கோதையும் எல்லாம் ஊதை வெண்மணலே’ meaning ‘on his garlands and all over, was the northern wind’s white sands’. Let’s follow the trail of this wind to know more!

The man and lady had been leading a love relationship when the man decided to part away to gather wealth for his wedding with the lady. His promised time of return passes by and the lady languishes in pining. One day, the confidante runs to her and says, “Shooting up from a wayward seed, stands a thick-trunked ‘punnai’. As the adjoining hemp buds open out their tender petals, the many gold-like, pollen-streaked flowers of the ‘punnai’ that are leftover after the plucking of those who wear these flowers, blooms and hangs down from the branches as tender-green, oil-rich fruits. Such is the shore of the lord! Now, I have learnt that the lord’s fleshy-legged mules, which have traversed through muddy roads, have red shrimps wedged in their hooves and the lord’s garlands are filled to the full with the cold winds’ white sands. Lo, he rushes here to become your husband!” With these words, the confidante conveys with joy to the lady that without a doubt, the man was on his way to marry her and that the lady’s days of suffering were over. 

Now, for the hidden layers and their significance! The confidante starts with a cherished element of ancient shores – the ‘punnai’ tree. First, she talks about how the tree comes into being. There are no farmers or city planners, thoughtfully laying the seed in regular intervals, so as to make it adorn the land. As we have seen way back in Natrinai 49, the ‘punnai’ tree grows by the sea waves and drops its seeds, which are taken to far away lands to find a place of their own. The unmeditated spreading of the seeds, and the way the ‘punnai’ tree shoots up from a random seed that knows not where it came from, is the first element captured by the confidante. Then, she stresses on the ‘thick trunk’ of the tree, which has remarkable because the wood of this tree is so hardy that it has been used from ancient times for ship building. The thick trunk of the tree, like the frog’s croak that gives it away, turns a problem, because as soon as the tree matures in about five years, this tree is chopped for its wood. But, if the tree has been left uncut, it can show what a multi-faceted personality it is. For, as the confidante mentions, the flowers burst forth with their gold-like pollen and in time, these flowers turn into tender green fruits.

The confidante describes this fruit as ‘rich in oil’ and this is of value to us, because the oil in these fruits has been found to be a bio-diesel, an alternative for diesel, to operate farm machinery. News articles in 2014 and 2015 talk about how farmers can fulfil their power needs if they were to cultivate punnai trees in their farms. But, patience is needed, for the punnai trees must be left untouched for 5 to 10 years so that they bear those ‘oil-rich’ fruits, described so two thousand years ago, to be made into diesel to drive our modern machinery! 

Turning away from our ‘oil’ and ‘power’ concerns, we see the confidante describing the fruits as emanating from what’s left of the flowers, after these have been picked for wearing. With the final image of these rich fruits hanging all over the branches of the punnai tree, the confidante completes the description of that seashore, referring to it as the man’s land. The confidante now turns to a description of the man’s mules that seem to have blood-red shrimps crammed into the spaces between their hooves. From the ground below, the confidante then takes us to eye-level to point to the man, who seems to be covered in white sand. These two images present to us, a sense of the speed the man was travelling in.

The mules are rushing and in their hurry, they stamp on the shrimps in the shore, which stains their hooves red and gets wedged in between. No time to stop and clean that too. Similarly, as the man rushes forth, cold winds paint on him, a coat of white sea sand. Today, if we were to open our chariot windows and ride with such speed, a coat of black soot is what we can expect. The lucky man gets shrouded in fine, white unpolluted sand. The rush, we understand, is because the man hurries homeward to become the lady’s husband and like those ‘punnai’ fruits that have bloomed and are hanging down, from what’s left of the flowers, although the lady’s health has been ruined by the slanderous talk of the town, what’s left of her will find bliss in a fruitful married life with the man. Stunning how with a mere description of a tree’s parts, the verse makes life and love in that ancient land bloom in our minds, and makes us relish the fruit of knowledge!