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In this episode, we relish news of joy and bliss, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Natrinai 294, penned by Puthukkayathu Vannakkan Kampoor Kilaan. Set in the mountain country of Kurinji, the verse speaks in the voice of the confidante to the lady’s kith and kin, conveying her impressions of her friend’s health, after a visit to the lady’s marital home.
தீயும் வளியும் விசும்பு பயந்தாங்கு,
நோயும் இன்பமும் ஆகின்றுமாதோ;
மாயம் அன்று-தோழி!-வேய் பயின்று,
எருவை நீடிய பெரு வரைஅகம்தொறும்,
தொன்று உறை துப்பொடு முரண் மிகச் சினைஇக்
கொன்ற யானைக் கோடு கண்டன்ன,
செம் புடைக் கொழு முகை அவிழ்ந்த காந்தள்
சிலம்புடன் கமழும் சாரல்
இலங்கு மலை நாடன் மலர்ந்த மார்பே!
Opening with ‘தீயும் வளியும்’ meaning ‘fire and breeze’, the poem starts with the strength and force of the elements. We see the contrasting ‘நோயும் இன்பமும்’ referring to ‘suffering and happiness’ shortly thereafter. The curious expression ‘மாயம் அன்று’ means ‘it’s not false’. This seems to be an ancient expression employed in response, when someone raises their eyebrows in doubt. An element of wildness is expressed in ‘வேய்’ referring to ‘bamboo’ and ‘எருவை’ referring to ‘giant reeds’. The phrase ‘தொன்று உறை துப்பொடு’ talks about ‘an enmity that extends from ancient times’ and is somehow connected to the ‘கொன்ற யானை’ meaning ‘the elephant that killed’. In tandem with the pachyderm appears the plant ‘காந்தள்’ or ‘flame lily’. The verse ends with ‘மலை நாடன் மலர்ந்த மார்பே’ meaning ‘the wide chests of the mountain lord’. From an abstract start to a body part, the verse beckons us to learn more!
The man and lady had been leading a love relationship and at a point, they feel the need to elope to the man’s village and marry there. One day, the lady’s confidante leaves her village to come visit the lady in her marital home in the man’s mountain country. After visiting them, she returns to her village and relates her experiences to the lady’s kith and kin saying,”In the huge mountain slopes, filled densely with bamboo and reeds, moved by an ancient enmity, enraged and battling, the elephant kills. Akin to its tusk, blooms the red petals of the flame lily’s fleshy buds. The fragrance of this flame lily spreads all over the spreading slopes of the mountain country, the domain of the man. And, my friend has found both pain and pleasure on the man’s vast chest, akin to how both fire and wind appear in the same sky. Indeed, it’s no lie!” With these words, the lady’s confidante is conveying to the incredulous parents that their girl is content and happy in her husband’s home.
Now, for the hidden nuances! The confidante starts by talking about something abstract, something universal. She mentions about how fire and breeze appear in the same place, in the skies. With regard to fire, I think she means lightning, for it would be too much of a leap to think she meant comets and asteroids. The reason she’s talking about fire and breeze becomes clear when we glance at the next sentence she utters. There, she talks about two contrasting things – pain and pleasure! From this, we understand that she means that both the raging fire and the calming breeze appears in the same place.
After that cryptic beginning, the confidante ventures into the man’s mountain land with the description of the dense bamboo grass and giant reeds, sprouting all over the slopes. And here, she takes us to a spot where we can view an elephant and its recent activities. The confidante teleports us to a distant past and talks about an ancient enmity in the mind of the elephant. The curious thing is she mentions not who that age-old foe is, but we are expected to understand that it’s the tiger. After fighting with the implied tiger, the elephant wins over its enemy and stands there, with its tusk, glowing red! Unlike us, the confidante doesn’t simply say the elephant’s tusk is glowing red, but calls upon the flame lilies blooming on the mountainside to paint this picture for us. Once she has captured the sight of the red tusk with this simile, she stresses on how the scent of these flowers are spreading all over the mountain slopes!
After that lengthy description of the man’s country, the confidante finishes with a simple statement about the man’s vast chest, which links back to the opening of how her friend has found both pain and pleasure herein, akin to the wild fire and gentle wind born in the same sky! During the time of their tryst, whenever the man was away, the lady suffered in pain and now, in his company, secure in their marital bond, the lady was the epitome of bliss, the confidante conveys and vouches for her words by telling the lady’s parents that it’s no lie and nothing but the truth. In the metaphor of how the fragrance of the flame lily spreads all over the mountain slopes, the confidante conveys that the news of the lady’s happiness will similarly spread and stop the slandering voices of the villagers! Interesting how this verse left a lot unsaid like the contrast between fire and air and also about the elephant’s ancient foe. The highlight of the verse though is how it reveals that contrasting things can have the same beginning and points to the insight about how our own strengths and weaknesses seem to stem from the same core in our minds!
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