Kurunthogai 44 – A foster-mother’s frustrating quest

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In this episode, we listen to a person’s fatigue in a quest, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 44, penned by Velli Veethiyaar. The verse is situated in the drylands of ‘Paalai’ and speaks in the voice of the lady’s foster mother, expressing her frustration at not seeing the man and lady she set out to find.

காலே பரி தப்பினவே; கண்ணே
நோக்கி நோக்கி வாள் இழந்தனவே;
அகல் இரு விசும்பின் மீனினும்
பலரே மன்ற, இவ் உலகத்துப் பிறரே.

‘I can’t seem to go on’ cries this verse! The opening words, ‘காலே பரி தப்பினவே’ meaning ‘legs are tired out’, talk about the state of the traveller’s feet. Then, the words ‘கண்ணே நோக்கி நோக்கி வாள் இழந்தனவே’ meaning ‘peering into the distance, eyes have lost their brightness’ talks about the state of a person’s eyes, walking in bright light and heat. The phrase ‘stars in the sky’ in ‘விசும்பின் மீன்’ paints a picture of the night sky. Ending with the words ‘இவ் உலகத்துப் பிறரே’ meaning ‘the others in this world’, the verse invites us to understand a person’s journey!

Feet, eyes and stars seem to speak for a person’s mind. The context reveals that the man and lady had been leading a love relationship when they decided that the only way to save their relationship was to elope together. Learning that they have left, the lady’s foster mother, a central character in the lady’s life, goes in search of them. Midway in the course of her search, the foster mother says, “My legs have tired unable to walk further; Peering over and over again, my eyes have lost their light. More than the stars in the dark, wide sky, for sure, there are others in this world!” With these words, the foster mother conveys how her quest to find the man and lady has been fruitless. 

What has caused such vexation in the foster mother? She talks about how walking for miles and miles on hard, stony path has made her feet lose their vigour. From her feet, she rises to her eyes and says how with constant peering, these have lost their shine. Why has she been peering so much? Only because she has been tracing the outline of people ahead in her path and trying to see if they are indeed the man and the lady. Then, she concludes that even more than the countless stars in the wide, dark sky, there seem to be other people in this world. Here, the foster mother seems to have made a clear split of the world into two – in one group, stand the man and the lady, and in the other, everyone else!

Reflecting on the foster-mother’s comparison between the others in her path and the stars in the sky, it becomes clear that it only seems so to her for it’s impossible that she met more people than stars in the sky on her way. Why, there are definitely not more people than stars in the sky in the whole world too! That exaggerated comparison only serves highlight the height of discontent in the foster mother. Whether she gained the strength to continue with her search or whether she gave up her quest, is something left to our imagination. However, the verse does highlight the relatable resentment in not finding what one is looking for!