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In this episode, we listen to a lady’s outpouring to the elements of the world around, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Kalithogai 144, penned by Nallanthuvanaar. The verse is situated in the ‘Neythal’ or ‘Coastal Landscape’ and paints a portrait of a parted woman’s pain.
கண்டோர்:
நன்னுதாஅல்! காண்டை: நினையா, நெடிது உயிரா,
என் உற்றாள்கொல்லோ? இஃது ஒத்தி பல் மாண்
நகுதரும் தன் நாணுக் கைவிட்டு, இகுதரும்
கண்ணீர் துடையா, கவிழ்ந்து, நிலன் நோக்கி,
அன்ன இடும்பை பல செய்து, தன்னை
வினவுவார்க்கு ஏதில சொல்லி, கனவுபோல்:
தெருளும் மருளும் மயங்கி வருபவள்
கூறுப கேளாமோ, சென்று?
தலைவி:
‘எல்லா! நீ என் அணங்கு உற்றனை? யார் நின் இது செய்தார்?
நின் உற்ற அல்லல் உரை’ என, என்னை
வினவுவீர்! தெற்றெனக் கேண்மின்: ஒருவன்,
‘குரற்கூந்தால்! என் உற்ற எவ்வம் நினக்கு யான்
உரைப்பனைத் தங்கிற்று, என் இன் உயிர்’ என்று,
மருவு ஊட்டி, மாறியதற்கொண்டு, எனக்கு
மருவு உழிப் பட்டது, என் நெஞ்சு
எங்கும் தெரிந்து, அது கொள்வேன், அவன் உள்வழி
‘பொங்கு இரு முந்நீர் அகம் எல்லாம் நோக்கினை
திங்களுள் தோன்றி இருந்த குறு முயால்!
எம் கேள் இதன் அகத்து உள்வழிக் காட்டீமோ?
காட்டீயாய்ஆயின், கத நாய் கொளுவுவேன்;
வேட்டுவர் உள்வழிச் செப்புவேன்; ஆட்டி
மதியொடு பாம்பு மடுப்பேன் மதி திரிந்த
என் அல்லல் தீராய் எனின்’
என்று, ஆங்கே, உள் நின்ற எவ்வம் உரைப்ப, மதியொடு
வெண் மழை ஓடிப் புகுதி; சிறிது என்னைக்
கண்ணோடினாய் போறி, நீ!
நீடு இலைத் தாழைத் துவர் மணற் கானலுள்
ஓடுவேன்; ஓடி ஒளிப்பேன்; பொழில்தொறும்
நாடுவேன்; கள்வன் கரந்திருக்கற்பாலன்கொல்?
ஆய் பூ அடும்பின் அலர்கொண்டு, உதுக் காண், எம்
கோதை புனைந்த வழி
உதுக் காண் சாஅய் மலர் காட்டி, சால்பிலான், யாம் ஆடும்
பாவை கொண்டு ஓடியுழி
உதுக் காண் தொய்யில் பொறித்த வழி
உதுக் காண் ‘தையால்! தேறு’ எனத் தேற்றி, அறனில்லான்
பைய முயங்கியுழி
அளிய என் உள்ளத்து, உயவுத் தேர் ஊர்ந்து,
விளியா நோய் செய்து, இறந்த அன்பிலவனைத்
தெளிய விசும்பினும் ஞாலத்தகத்தும்
வளியே! எதிர்போம் பல கதிர் ஞாயிற்று
ஒளி உள்வழி எல்லாம் சென்று; முனிபு எம்மை
உண்மை நலன் உண்டு ஒளித்தானைக் காட்டீமோ;
காட்டாயேல், மண்ணகம் எல்லாம் ஒருங்கு சுடுவேன், என்
கண்ணீர் அழலால் தெளித்து
பேணான் துறந்தானை நாடும் இடம் விடாயாயின்
பிறங்கு இரு முந்நீர்! வெறு மணலாகப்
புறங்காலின் போக இறைப்பேன்; முயலின்,
அறம் புணையாகலும் உண்டு
துறந்தானை நாடித் தருகிற்பாய்ஆயின், நினக்கு ஒன்று
பாடுவேன், என் நோய் உரைத்து
புல்லிய கேளிர் புணரும் பொழுது உணரேன்
எல்லி ஆக, ‘எல்லை’ என்று, ஆங்கே, பகல் முனிவேன்;
எல்லிய காலை இரா, முனிவேன்; யான் உற்ற
அல்லல் களைவார் இலேன்
ஓஒ! கடலே! தெற்றெனக் கண்ணுள்ளே தோன்ற இமை எடுத்து,
‘பற்றுவேன்’ என்று, யான் விழிக்குங்கால், மற்றும் என்
நெஞ்சத்துள் ஓடி ஒளித்து, ஆங்கே, துஞ்சா நோய்
செய்யும், அறனில்லவன்
ஓஒ! கடலே! ஊர் தலைக்கொண்டு கனலும் கடுந் தீயுள்
நீர் பெய்தக்காலே சினம் தணியும்; மற்று இஃதோ
ஈரம் இல் கேள்வன் உறீஇய காமத் தீ
நீருள் புகினும், சுடும்
ஓஒ! கடலே! ‘எற்றமிலாட்டி என் ஏமுற்றாள்?’ என்று, இந் நோய்
உற்று அறியாதாரோ நகுக! நயந்தாங்கே
இற்றா அறியின், முயங்கலேன், மற்று என்னை
அற்றத்து இட்டு ஆற்று அறுத்தான் மார்பு
கண்டோர்:
ஆங்கு
கடலொடு புலம்புவோள் கலங்கு அஞர் தீர,
கெடல் அருங் காதலர் துனைதர, பிணி நீங்கி,
அறன் அறிந்து ஒழுகும் அங்கணாளனைத்
திறன் இலார் எடுத்த தீ மொழி எல்லாம்
நல் அவையுள் படக் கெட்டாங்கு,
இல்லாகின்று, அவள் ஆய் நுதல் பசப்பே.
Another flood of emotions from the lady’s perspective! The words can be translated as follows:
“Onlookers:
O maiden with a fine forehead! Look at this! What has happened to make her think so deep and sigh for long? She has become a woman, who has let go of her modesty, to the ridicule of others around, as she sits there, without wiping away her pouring tears, her head bent, looking down at the ground, tormented by such pain within, and gives strange answers to those who question her. As if in a dream, she sometimes appears with clarity, and at other times, with confusion. Shall we go listen to what she has to say?
Lady:
You say to me, ‘Hey dear! Why are you filled with affliction? Who did this to you? Tell us what your suffering is!’ Listen intently! A man said, ‘O maiden with thick tresses! I’m happy that my sweet life decided to remain with me, until I could come and tell about my suffering to you’. He thus came close to me, entranced me, and then went away. Since the day it got entranced thus, my heart keeps seeking him. I shall go everywhere, following it, and find the place where he is!
‘O little rabbit in the moon! You can see the length and breadth of this land, surrounded by the leaping, wide oceans! Can you show me the place where my beloved is? If you don’t, I shall incite wild dogs to hunt you down! I shall tell hunters where you are! And also, to make you suffer some more, I shall let out a snake to eat the moon, if you do not end my suffering that makes me lose my senses!’ – And so, as I express the sorrow within to you, taking the moon along, you run and hide within those white clouds! Don’t you even care a little to look at my state, before you leave?
I too shall run within groves filled with long-leaved pandanus, standing on the salty sands; I shall run and hide; I shall go search in all the orchards to see if that thief is waiting therein.
Will I see him in that place, where he took the beautiful flowers of the beach morning glory and tied a garland for me?
Will I see that man without honour in that place, where he once distracted me by pointing to a soft flower, and then ran away with my doll?
Will I see him in that place, where he etched ‘thoyyil’ paintings on me, and said, ‘O pretty maiden! Be strong!’, even as that man lacking justice embraced me?
O wind present everywhere in the skies and on earth! To see the man without love, the one who has parted away, leaving me with a ceaseless disease, riding the chariot of suffering in my pitiable heart, go wherever the light of the many-rayed sun spreads! Show me the one, who has savoured my true beauty and then hid it away with hatred! If you shan’t show, I shall scorch the earth entire by scattering the fire of my tears!
O radiant, roaring ocean! If you don’t give me the space to seek the one, who abandoned me without caring, I shall drain away all the water in you, with my legs, and turn you into mere sand. Do you think it’s impossible? Know that when there is a will, justice would turn a raft for me. If at all you promise to seek the man, who abandoned me, and return him to me, I shall sing a song to you, about my affliction.
In those times, I spent embracing my beloved, without my knowledge when the night ended, I would cry for the night and hate the day; But now, I hate when the day ends and the dark arrives, without having anyone to slay my suffering!
Alas! O Sea! When he appears so vividly within my eyes and I open the eyelids saying, ‘I will hold on to you’, he would run and hide within my heart, and there, he would afflict me with the disease that lets me sleep not, that man without justice!
Alas! O Sea! Even the fierce wild fire that surrounds a town with raging heat might abate its fury, when water is showered! But this fire of passion, lit by the man without compassion, scorches even when submerged in water!
Alas! O Sea! Saying, ‘Look how crazy that woman without strength has become!’, let those who know not the extent of this affliction, laugh at me! If I had known about this, when he desired me then, I would not have embraced the chest of the one, who severed my strength and left me in this state!
Onlookers:
And so, to end the wallowing sorrow of the one, who was lamenting to the sea, her flawless lover returned with much haste. Akin to how terrible words, spoken by immoral people, about a righteous man, who always walks the path of justice, shatter to smithereens in the council of the wise, her affliction retreated then, making the pallor on her fine forehead vanish away!”
Time to explore the essence. The verse is situated in the context of the man’s parting from the lady, prior to marriage, and here, the onlookers and the lady express the events and emotions in the situation. The onlookers talk to each to other mentioning how the lady seems so changed, and full of angst, forgetting her sense of modesty as a woman, as she sits there shedding tears and giving bizarre replies to those who question her. They decide to go listen to her side of the story. When they ask the lady what her problem was, she talks about how the man entranced her in the beginning of their courtship, but has now disappeared!
At this time, she decides to ask the rabbit in the moon about where the man is, knowing that there is no place the moon cannot behold! A moment to pause and relish this reference to the ‘moon rabbit’. On searching, I saw that this is a reference, which has strong ‘East Asian’ and ‘Native American’ origins. Now, we have a South Asian instance of this repeating thought across cultures!
Returning, the lady threatens the rabbit in the moon saying if it doesn’t show her where the man is, she would send hunting dogs to pounce upon it, and a snake to eat the rabbit’s abode of the moon. And then she remarks how fearing her words, the rabbit pulled the moon and hid within the white clouds. This exchange tells us the lady is indeed in a crazed state of love!
Following this, the lady declares that she too wants to run and search for the man, in all the places, where he had graced her with love, care and affection, made her smile and laugh. Next, the lady turns to the wind and seeks its help, knowing there is no place the wind cannot enter on earth, and threatens the wind too saying if it doesn’t cooperate, she would scorch the earth with the fire of her tears!
Leaving the moon and the wind, she now turns to the sea and says that if the sea does not let her seek the man, she would dry up its waters with her legs. If at all the sea was scoffing at her saying, ‘That’s impossible!’, the lady replies saying, such things are very much possible for those with a strong will in their heart, for at that time, justice would become their raft in that stormy sea. Reminds me of so many phrases and idioms we have often heard, in the lines of ‘Where there’s a will…’ and ‘Faith can move mountains’.
Then the lady decides to calm the sea and win it over to her side by singing the song about her affliction and talks about the days past when she didn’t want the night to end, when she was with her man, and now, when he was no where around, she didn’t want the day to end and the dark to torment her. She concludes her song by telling the sea about how the man appeared in her dream and vanished away within, letting her sleep not, even for a moment; about how wild fires around a town can be put out with water but that fire of passion in her heart would burn even when pushed within water; and about how everyone around her calls her mad and weak, declaring had she known the man would leave her thus, she might not have returned his embraces back then.
Now, the onlookers seize the stage and declare how the man returned with haste to end the sorrow of this lady, who was crying her heart out to the sea. To etch the lady’s transformation, they talk about how wrong words spoken about a righteous person would be shattered in the council of the wise, and likewise, the lady’s affliction ended in that moment, and the pallor on her forehead vanished, without the slightest trace, they conclude. The verse ends up capturing the fiery passion of the lady by connecting it to the various elements of fire, water, wind and earth and builds a sturdy bridge between the inner space of the mind and the outer space of the world!
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