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In this episode, we bask in the beauty of the mountain country, portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 13, penned by Kabilar. The verse is situated in the hills of ‘Kurinji’ and speaks in the voice of the lady to her confidante, explaining the reasons for her ill-health, after the man had parted away.
மாசு அறக் கழீஇய யானை போலப்
பெரும் பெயல் உழந்த இரும் பிணர்த் துறுகல்
பைதல் ஒரு தலைச் சேக்கும் நாடன்
நோய் தந்தனனே – தோழி!-
பசலை ஆர்ந்த, நம் குவளைஅம் கண்ணே.
The yearning to be cleansed can be sensed in this verse. The first image it presents is that of the cleansing of an elephant in the words ‘மாசு அறக் கழீஇய யானை’ meaning ‘an elephant, washed clean of mud’. Later, we meet ‘இரும் பிணர்த் துறுகல்’ referring to ‘a dark boulder with a rough surface’. In the words ‘நோய் தந்தனனே’ meaning ‘he gave me an illness’, shines the core of the verse. This is no infectious illness of the twenty-first century but the quintessential Sangam disease of ‘pining’, as can be seen in the words ‘பசலை ஆர்ந்த’. Ending with ‘குவளைஅம் கண்ணே’ meaning ‘beautiful eyes like a blue lily’, the verse is rich with lush images from that land.
A deeper look reveals the context as one, where the man, after gaining the confidante’s confidence, had succeeded in furthering his love relationship with the lady. Soon, he had to leave the lady on a mission and at this time, the confidante observes the changes in the lady. Seeing her friend worrying, the lady says, “Like an elephant that has been washed clear of dirt, stands a dark, rough-skinned boulder, cleansed by a heavy downpour, moist and cool, in the lord’s mountain country. He, who was one with me, has now endowed me with an affliction, my friend! Lo, the pallor of pining spreads on my blue-lily eyes!” With these words, the lady expresses the emotions coursing through her and conceals a subtle hope for the future as well.
Now, to unravel the layers and reach the very core! The lady brings up the stunning image of an elephant being washed. It’s well-known that elephants love to play in the mud and it’s indeed a survival mechanism to keep their skins cool. But, when these elephants are tamed by men, they lose their freedom to be the wild things they are. So, perhaps a mahout is scrubbing and washing the elephant and ridding it of all the mud and slush. The lady has mentioned this image of the clean and curved back of an elephant to place it as a simile for a boulder, which too has a dark hue and a rough texture like that of an elephant, but the similarity extends further and is strongest in the fact this boulder too has been washed clear of all moss by the pouring rains in the land. The lady brings up the boulder only to describe the man’s moist mountain country. From his land, the lady turns to talk about how the man had been with her but now he has left her with the gift of an illness, which spreads as pallor above her blue-lily eyes.
Two images dance before our eyes – an elephant’s back, clear of all the mud, and a dark boulder, washed clear of its moss. In contrast to these clean and shining pictures, is the rendering of how pallor is spreading on the lady’s skin. The lady seems to say that the man comes from a land where all mire is washed clear whereas, his act of leaving her has covered her in the slime of pallor. But, that’s not all! Like how the elephant and the boulder have been washed clear in the plenitude of the man’s land, the lady believes her own pallor too will be removed by the man’s return. A picturesque verse that reflects the hope of a heart, through the prism of the resplendent beauty of an ancient mountain land!
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