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In this episode, we listen to various perspectives on parting away, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Ainkurunooru 421-430, situated in the ‘Mullai’ or ‘Forest landscape’ and penned by the poet Peyanaar.
Thus blooms the Forty Third Ten of Ainkurunooru: Assorted Allusions
421 Scuttling hare
மாலை வெண் காழ் காவலர் வீச,
நறும் பூம் புறவின் ஒடுங்கு முயல் இரியும்
புன்புல நாடன் மட மகள்
நலம் கிளர் பணைத் தோள் விலங்கின, செலவே.
In the evening, when a guard throws his white stick, the hare hiding in the fragrant, flower-filled forest scuttles away in the soft lands of the lord. She is his daughter, and her beautiful, bamboo-like arms have prevented the travel!
422 Make haste
கடும் பரி நெடுந் தேர்க் கால் வல் புரவி,
நெடுங் கொடி முல்லையொடு தளவமலர் உதிர,
விரையுபு கடைஇ நாம் செல்லின்,
நிரை வளை முன்கை வருந்தலோ இலளே.
If we wield the horse with strong legs, tied to the tall chariot, speedily, making the wild jasmine with tall vines along with the pink jasmine shed their flowers, and journey on with haste, the maiden, wearing rows of bangles on her forearms, will worry not!
423 Brimming with tears
மா மழை இடியூஉத் தளி சொரிந்தன்றே;
வாள் நுதல் பசப்பச் செலவு அயர்ந்தனையே;
யாமே நிற் துறந்து அமையலம்;
ஆய் மலர் உண்கணும் நீர் நிறைந்தனவே.
The dark rainclouds resounding with thunder have poured down, and yet, you intend to take up a journey that will spread pallor on the maiden’s glowing forehead. She cannot live apart from you, for those beautiful, flower-like, kohl-streaked eyes are already brimming with tears.
424 Crying for the breast
புறவு அணி நாடன் காதல் மட மகள்
ஒள் நுதல் பசப்ப நீ செலின், தெண் நீர்ப்
போது அவிழ் தாமரை அன்ன நின்
காதல்அம் புதல்வன் அழும், இனி முலைக்கே.
She is the loving young daughter of the lord, who rules over the picturesque forest domain. Making her glowing forehead spread with pallor, if you leave, your loving son, akin to a blooming lotus in the clear waters, will end up crying, yearning for her sweet breast!
425 A speedy ride
புன் புறப் பேடை சேவல் இன்புற
மன்னர் இயவரின் இரங்கும் கானம்
வல்லை நெடுந் தேர் கடவின்,
அல்லல் அரு நோய் ஒழித்தல் எமக்கு எளிதே.
To make its dull-hued mate happy, the male bird cries out in the forest, resounding like the instruments played by the king’s musicians. If you ride the tall chariot speedily, it will be easy for me to end that suffering-filled disease of love!
426 War no more
வென் வேல் வேந்தன் அருந் தொழில் துறந்து, இனி,
நன்னுதல்! யானே செலவு ஒழிந்தனெனே!
முரசு பாடு அதிர ஏவி,
அரசு படக் கடக்கும் அருஞ் சமத்தானே.
The white-speared king has let go of that hard task of war now, O maiden with a beautiful forehead, and so, I won’t have to travel to that harsh battlefield to conquer enemy kings, commanding war drums to resound aloud.
427 A voided travel
பேர் அமர் மலர்க் கண் மடந்தை! நீயே
கார் எதிர் பொழுது என விடல் ஒல்லாயே;
போருடை வேந்தன், ‘பாசறை
வாரான் அவன்’ எனச் செலவு அழுங்கினனே.
O naive maiden with huge and beautiful flower-like eyes! You did not concede to let me go in this time when the rainy season is expected. The warring king too decided, ‘He will not come to the battlefield’, and voided my travel!
428 Mission to protect the maiden
தேர் செலவு அழுங்க, திருவில் கோலி,
ஆர் கலி எழிலி சோர் தொடங்கின்றே;
வேந்து விடு விழுத் தொழில் ஒழிய,
யான் தொடங்கினனால், நிற் புறந்தரவே.
Preventing the chariot from travelling, the blessed rainbow arches and uproarious clouds have started to pour down. Setting aside the mission assigned by the king, I have begun the task of protecting you.
429 Give me leave
பல் இருங் கூந்தல்! பசப்பு நீ விடின்,
செல்வேம் தில்ல யாமே செற்றார்
வெல் கொடி அரணம் முருக்கிய
கல்லா யானை வேந்து பகை வெலற்கே.
O maiden with thick, dark tresses! If you let go of your pallor, I will be able to go thither to win over the enemies of our king, who wields wild elephants that shatter forts of foes, fluttering with flags of victory!
430 Cry not
நெடும் பொறை மிசைய குறுங் கால் கொன்றை
அடர் பொன் என்னச் சுடர் இதழ் பகரும்
கான் கெழு நாடன் மகளே!
அழுதல் ஆன்றிசின்; அழுங்குவல் செலவே.
O daughter of the lord, who rules over the mountains, filled with forests, wherein short-legged golden shower trees soar atop tall mounds and their glowing petals shine like gold discs! Cry not, I shall avoid my travel!
So concludes Ainkurunooru 421-430. All the verses are set in the context of a man’s post-marital relationship with his lady. The unifying theme of these songs is the rendition of perspectives by various speakers around the core of a man’s parting away from a lady, to complete a mission. The speakers include the man’s companions, the man, and the confidante, and they express a thought revealing the connection between the man’s parting away and the lady’s emotions.
The forest lands and rains make an appearance here and there and we’ll capture this, as we note the intent of the speakers in each verse. In the first, the man’s companions observe how the man has not left his home for many days. They then describe the man’s wife as the daughter of a lord, whose domain is the forest, where guards, possibly cowherds, throw their stick at the end of the day, signalling their work is done, and unintentionally, a hare hiding in the bush is startled and runs away in fear. After the lengthy description to talk about the lady, they say that her arms were the reason that the man has set aside his travel.
In the second, we encounter the familiar scenario of a man asking his charioteer to wield the horses, such that the wild jasmine flowers on the way scatter and fall, such should be the speed. This is to prevent worry from soaring in the heart of his lady. That the jasmines have bloomed indicate it’s the rainy season, which is his promised season of return, and the man wants to go home as soon as possible to avert further pain in the lady.
In the third and fourth, it’s the confidante speaking to the man, and the third sees her pointing to how the rains have arrived and yet the man was thinking of leaving the lady. She declares to him that the lady cannot bear the separation for now, just worrying that he might leave, her eyes were already brimming with tears. In the fourth, she talks about how if the man leaves, the man’s son, whom she describes as a blooming lotus in clear waters, will be left in a state of crying for his mother’s breast, implying that the lady will be no more. What a threat to keep the man from travelling!
In the fifth, we are back to the man hastening the charioteer and asking him to ride home fast to the forest, where a male bird is crying like the king’s musicians to make its mate happy. In the rest of the verses, it’s the man speaking directly to the lady. In the sixth, the lady worries that the man is going to leave her again and part at any moment, and the man assures her that his king is not at war at the moment and so he does not have to travel to the battlefield. In the seventh, the man talks about how the lady would not let him leave in the rainy season and somehow the king too decided that the enemy is not going to battle with him in this season, and so, the man had no plans of leaving, he assures the lady. In the eighth, the man talks about how because the rainbow revealed its face and the rainclouds poured down, he had decided not to carry on the king’s mission but to fulfil his mission of protecting the lady at home.
The ninth sees the man seeking the lady’s permission to go and fulfil his duty to his king and conquer the king’s enemies, and all he asks is that the lady let go of her pallor. Is it something in her hands though? In the final verse, the man describes the lady as the daughter of a lord, who rules over the mountains with golden shower trees, and asks her not to cry, and assures her that he will not travel, parting away from her.
In this section, there are couple of metaphorical references, which are unusual for this landscape, usually filled with direct descriptions of emotions. In the description of the hare scuttling away when a guard throw his stick, that scene stands as a metaphor for how like the hare, which is startled even though it was not the intention of the guard, the lady too feels needless worry that the man’s actions imply that he is going to part away from her soon. Likewise, in the description of the man’s son as a blooming lotus in clear waters, the confidante implies that if the man were to leave, that would be like plucking that lotus from the waters, making it wilt, hinting that the man’s son will suffer likewise, losing his mother. Even in this mixed bag of perspectives, there is unity of thought with all verses revolving around the pain a man’s parting seems to inflict upon a woman in Sangam times!
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