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In this episode, we listen to a lady’s conversation with an evening, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Kalithogai 148, penned by Nallanthuvanaar. The verse is situated in the ‘Neythal’ or ‘Coastal Landscape’ and echoes the emotions of a parted maiden.
தொல் இயல் ஞாலத்துத் தொழில் ஆற்றி, ஞாயிறு,
வல்லவன் கூறிய வினை தலை வைத்தான்போல்,
கல் அடைபு, கதிர் ஊன்றி, கண் பயம் கெடப் பெயர;
அல்லது கெடுப்பவன் அருள் கொண்ட முகம் போல,
மல்லல் நீர்த் திரை ஊர்பு, மால் இருள் மதி சீப்ப;
இல்லவர் ஒழுக்கம் போல், இருங் கழி மலர் கூம்ப;
செல்லும் என் உயிர்ப் புறத்து இறுத்தந்த மருள் மாலை!
மாலை நீ
இன்புற்றார்க்கு இறைச்சியாய் இயைவதோ செய்தாய்மன்;
அன்புற்றார் அழ, நீத்த அல்லலுள், கலங்கிய
துன்புற்றார்த் துயர் செய்தல் தக்கதோ, நினக்கு?
மாலை நீ
கலந்தவர் காமத்தைக் கனற்றலோ செய்தாய்மன்;
நலம் கொண்டு நல்காதார் நனி நீத்த புலம்பின்கண்
அலந்தவர்க்கு அணங்கு ஆதல் தக்கதோ, நினக்கு?
மாலை நீ
எம் கேள்வற் தருதலும் தருகல்லாய்; துணை அல்லை;
பிரிந்தவர்க்கு நோய் ஆகி, புணர்ந்தவர்க்குப் புணை ஆகி,
திருந்தாத செயின் அல்லால் இல்லையோ, நினக்கு?
என ஆங்கு
ஆய் இழை மடவரல் அவலம் அகல,
பாய் இருட் பரப்பினைப் பகல் களைந்தது போல,
போய் அவர் மண் வௌவி வந்தனர்
சேய் உறை காதலர் செய் வினை முடித்தே.
Those long songs of lament have ended finally and here’s a crisp comment to the time of the day. The words can be translated as follows:
“After performing its ancient mission for the land, the sun, as if getting ready for the task assigned by the Skilled One, retreats to the mountains, folding its rays and making the eyes lose the boon of sight. Akin to the gracious face of one, who ends evil, traversing the brimming waves of the ocean, arrived the moon, dispelling darkness. Akin to the attitude of those, who do not have wealth to give, the flowers in the dark backwaters closed their buds; Thus, the bewildering evening too has come to assail my life that’s fading away!
O evening! You do all the right things to those, who are happily united; Is it right on your part to shower sorrow on those who are in distress, when their beloved has parted away and left them in tears?
O evening! You add to the heat of passion in those, who are together; Is it right on your part to shower terror on those who are in angst, when the one who savoured their beauty, has parted away and left them with loneliness?
O evening! You don’t fulfil the task of bringing back my beloved; You are no companion to me; You become the affliction in those, who are parted, but the raft for those sailing together in love. Is it right on your part to act so unfairly?
And so, to end the suffering of the naive maiden, wearing beautiful jewels, akin to how the day arrives to scatter the spreading darkness, the one who had gone to capture the land of his enemies, her beloved, who had been far away, after completing his mission, returned to her!”
Let’s explore the nuances. The verse is situated in the context of the man’s parting from the lady, prior to marriage, and here, the lady and the onlookers express the emotions herein. The lady starts by commenting on the sun’s forever task of creating the day. Then, she talks about how as if the god of love asked the sun to get going, the orb was parting away to the mountains. Just then, with the face of a person, who wants to right a wrong thing, the moon arrived there, she says. Adding another simile, the lady points to how the flowers are closing their buds, like the behaviour of those, who have no wealth to give unto those, who come seeking. Such is the nature of the evening, which has come there to take her life, says the lady.
Then, in the old three-step Kalithogai format, the lady remarks on the nature of the evening to add joy, to raise the passion and become a raft to those who are in the state of being united with their beloved but at the same time, it torments, tortures and terrifies those, who are away from their beloved, and she ends by questioning why the evening was so unfair in this manner. Summarising these laments of the lady, the onlookers conclude talking about how the man who had gone away on a mission of war, succeeded in it, and came back to the lady, like the day and dispelled the darkness of sorrow in the lady. Interesting how the verse starts with the day ending and the sun parting away, and ends with the day beginning and the sun of the lady’s life, shining bright on her face!
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