Natrinai 315 – Battered boat and castaway cattle

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | iHeartRadio | TuneIn | RSS | More

ஈண்டு பெருந் தெய்வத்து-யாண்டு பல கழிந்தென,
பார்த் துறைப் புணரி அலைத்தலின், புடை கொண்டு,
மூத்து, வினை போகிய முரி வாய் அம்பி,
நல் எருது நடை வளம் வைத்தென, உழவர்
புல்லுடைக் காவில் தொழில் விட்டாங்கு,
நறு விரை நன் புகை கொடாஅர், சிறு வீ
ஞாழலொடு கெழீஇய புன்னை அம் கொழு நிழல்
முழவு முதற் பிணிக்கும் துறைவ! நன்றும்
விழுமிதின் கொண்ட கேண்மை நொவ்விதின்
தவறும்; நன்கு அறியாய்ஆயின், எம் போல்,
ஞெகிழ் தோள், கலுழ்ந்த கண்ணர்,
மலர் தீய்ந்தனையர், நின் நயந்தோரே.

The verse begins with ‘ஈண்டு பெருந் தெய்வத்து-யாண்டு பல கழிந்தென’ meaning ‘here, many god years have passed by’ and set on fire, many questions in my mind. I was intrigued by the reference to the word ‘year’ in ‘யாண்டு’, which in contemporary Tamil is the similar sounding ‘ஆண்டு’ and the connection with the word ‘god’. The current Tamil calendar follows a 60 year cycle and I have been struck by how all these Tamil years have Sanskrit names. This is surely a thing that changed in the intermittent years of Sanskrit’s dominion, courtesy of medieval kings. So, what was the concept of ‘years’ in the minds of ancient Tamils? This single reference does give proof that they were conversant with the concept of a ‘year’. But, what could ‘god years’ mean? Were these years named after gods? Or, was it a term to indicate the passage of time happens courtesy of gods? Is it the notion of this poet or that society as a whole? Questions that we will hold on to, in our journey forward.

Further, in the verse, we encounter a ‘முரி வாய் அம்பி’ meaning ‘a boat with a broken edge’ and ‘நல் எருது’ meaning ‘a fine bull’, one, a reference to the coastal domain and the other, the agricultural domain. Although the theme of the song is ‘love-quarrel’, which is usually set in agricultural regions, the presence of coastal elements like the mentioned boat, and the seaside trees ‘புன்னை’ and ‘ஞாழல்’, referring to ‘laurelwood’ and ‘senna sophera’, has made the song to be classified as belonging to the ‘Neythal’ or ‘coastal’ landscape. Ending with the striking line ‘மலர் தீய்ந்தனையர், நின் நயந்தோரே’ meaning ‘those who love you become flowers, scorched by a fire’, the verse invites us within!

The man and lady had been leading a married life when the man took to keeping the company of courtesans. After a while, the man wishes to return to his lady. Near his home, an older courtesan, says to him, “In this way, after many godly years had passed, being hit and shaken by the waves in the rocky shore, carrying many dents, becoming old and having a broken edge, the boat had become inept at its work. Akin to a fine bull that had lost its stride, which the farmer has let loose to graze in the grassy groves, without offering fine and fragrant incense to that broken boat, the fishermen have tied it to the thick shade of the ‘punnai’, with its drum-like trunk, growing with the small-flowered ‘gnazhal’. Such is the scene from your shore, O lord of the seas! Please realise that even a relationship, once considered a thing of pride, can become flawed. If you don’t, like me, maiden who love you, will become thin of shoulders and teary-eyed, akin to a flower, touched by a fire!” With these words, the courtesan is expressing her feelings of abandonment and also, beseeching the man to cherish his love relationship.

Now, the nuances! The courtesan starts by talking about a boat that is tied to the shade of a ‘punnai’ tree, whose trunk is referred to, with the familiar simile of ‘drum-like’. Also, the ‘punnai’ is not the only denizen of the plant kingdom, for we find the small-flowered ‘gnazhal’ blooming therein, as well. What’s new about a boat tied to a tree in the coast, one may wonder! Just then, the courtesan takes us closer to the boat and like an expert sailor, points out how battered the boat is, subject to the thrashing of waves on that rocky shore. The boat is a broken one and the courtesan adds that the fishermen no longer offer fragrant incense to it. From this, we glean the information that fisherfolk used to spread fragrant smoke on the boats in use. Perhaps, it was their way of disinfecting the boat, which no doubt later took on religious hues. Moving on, after sketching that abandoned object, the courtesan underlines it in red with a simile. For this simile, she takes us to an agricultural village, where a bull that has lost its stride is let loose by the farmers to rove as it pleases, in the groves, without caring or providing for it. The courtesan paints these scenes as if to describe the man’s place of origin but within that, she conceals her consternation at how the man seems to be someone who abandons those who are no longer of use to him!

Then, the courtesan talks about how a cherished relationship that gave joy and pride, might turn out to be a thing of sorrow. She asks the man to realise this and be true to the lady, to whom, he is returning. The courtesan finishes with the dark words that if the man doesn’t realise this truth, those he loves are fated to become flowers in a fire. Let’s hope these words burn the man in the perfect spot and turn him in the right direction. The verse seems to point out how we abandon things that no longer serve us, without a thought, and that seems to take place in all places and over the years. However, the highlight is that singeing word of caution, bidding us never to do this with those we love!