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In this episode, we perceive scenes from a dry and harsh land echo the conflict in a man’s mind, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Natrinai 298, penned by Vitrootru Vannakkan Thathanaar. The verse is set in the drylands of ‘Paalai’ and speaks in the voice of the man to his heart, expressing his thoughts about parting away to the listening lady.
வம்ப மாக்கள் வருதிறம் நோக்கிச்,
செங்கணை தொடுத்த செயிர் நோக்கு ஆடவர்
மடி வாய்த் தண்ணுமைத் தழங்குகுரல் கேட்ட
எருவைச் சேவல் கிளைவயிற் பெயரும்
அருஞ்சுரக் கவலை, அஞ்சுவரு நனந்தலைப்
பெரும் பல் குன்றம் உள்ளியும், மற்று இவள்
கரும்புடைப் பணைத்தோள் நோக்கியும், ஒரு திறம்
பற்றாய் வாழி எம் நெஞ்சே! நல் தார்ப்
பொற்தேர்ச் செழியன் கூடல் ஆங்கண்,
ஒருமை செப்பிய அருமை வான் முகை
இரும் போது கமழுங் கூந்தல்,
பெருமலை தழீஇயும் நோக்கு இயையுமோ மற்றே?
Opening with the words ‘வம்ப மாக்கள்’ meaning ‘newcomers’, the verse gave me a feeling of having heard this before and sure enough, the same words were to be found in another ‘Paalai’ poem Natrinai 164. The phrase ‘செங்கணை தொடுத்த செயிர் நோக்கு ஆடவர்’ paints a frightening picture of the people who inhabit these parts, for it means ‘men with furious eyes, who stand with arrows, soaked in red’. Highway bandits of the ancient era, no doubt! These men may be harsh but there’s music in their life too, for they carry around ‘மடி வாய்த் தண்ணுமை’ or ‘drums with leather skin’. A bird flutters in the sky of words when we glance at ‘எருவைச் சேவல்’ meaning ‘the male of an eagle’. ‘கரும்புடைப் பணைத்தோள்’ talks about ‘paintings of sugarcane on the fleshy arms of the lady’, a reference which we have come across in Natrinai 39. History smiles at us in ‘பொற்தேர்ச் செழியன்’ meaning ‘Chezhiyan with golden chariots’ and the city of ‘கூடல்’, which was the ancient name for ‘Madurai’. The verse ends with ‘இயையுமோ மற்றே’ meaning ‘will that even happen’ and beckons us to explore more!
The man and lady had been leading a happy, married life when the man is compelled to leave the lady to gather wealth. He conveys his decision to the lady’s confidante and she agrees that he should leave on his mission. When he comes home to convey the same decision to the lady, as the lady listens, he turns to his heart and says, “Looking out at the path that may bring unsuspecting wayfarers, stand men with rage-filled eyes, aiming a red-tipped arrow. Hearing the rattling sound of their leather-covered drums, a male eagle rushes back to its kin. Such is the path through the drylands amidst the wide open spaces, dotted with many, huge hills. On one side, you think about the journey to be taken through those hills and on the other side, you think about her thick arms painted with sugarcanes, and end up not knowing the one path that you must take, O heart. May you live long! I expressed single-minded words of determination to leave to the city of ‘Koodal’ in the domain of King Chezhiyan, who rides a golden chariot and wears a fine garland. When I think about how my lady with dark and fragrant tresses, wafting with the scent of white flower buds, will look at these mountains ahead and shed tears, how can my words to part away stand firm?” With these words, the man expresses how he has decided to defer his journey, seeing the pain that would arise in the lady if he were to part away.
Time to unravel the subtleties! The man starts by conjuring the image of a dry region, where there are no pleasing views of green for the eyes, with the frame painted in a shade of red. Red drips from the tips of arrows that men with blood-shot, raging eyes are seen wielding, and they are keeping watch for wayfarers to hunt down their wealth. As if these sights are not ominous enough, we hear the sharp and shaking noise from a drum carried by these men. We are not the only ones startled, for hearing this, an eagle, which had come out to hunt, makes a u-turn and returns home to its kith and kin. The man finishes the description of this land by saying such is the fear-evoking path in the spreading spaces beyond many mountains. The man then turns to his heart and says how on one side, it’s mulling over this path he must traverse and on the other side, takes in the exquisite arms of the lady, painted with sugarcanes. A moment to remember that this is the art form of body painting known as ‘thoyyil’ practised in Sangam times, and we see a repeated reference to the pattern of sugarcanes being painted. Returning to the verse, the man says how his heart is at the crossroads of these diverging paths and stands muddled unable to decide where to go!
The man recollects the time he vouched with clarity and determination that he would leave to the ancient city of ‘Koodal’, the seat of Pandya kings, wherein ‘Chezhiyan’ ruled then, a king, who was renowned for his wealth of golden chariots. But, the man concludes that when the image, of his lady with thick and fragrant tresses crying seeing the mountains before her, crosses his mind, he cannot take a single step forward. How can he keep to his decision of parting when love languishes? When the man talks about the eagle startled by the drum beats returning to its family, he is expressing his own fear of being struck by the drum beats of the lady’s pining and how he’s sure to return half way in his journey. Hearing these words, the lady would be relieved of her fear of the man’s parting and perhaps, even strengthened to let him part, when he so decides, seeing his steadfast love. A verse that captures the war between love and duty that seems to go on, in one way or the other, in human minds!
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