Aganaanooru 6 – Mock not my age

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அரி பெய் சிலம்பின் ஆம்பல் அம் தொடலை,
அரம் போழ் அவ் வளைப் பொலிந்த முன்கை,
இழை அணி பணைத் தோள் ஐயை தந்தை,
மழை வளம் தரூஉம் மா வண் தித்தன்,
பிண்ட நெல்லின் உறந்தை ஆங்கண்
கழை நிலை பெறாஅக் காவிரி நீத்தம்,
குழை மாண் ஒள் இழை நீ வெய்யோளொடு,
வேழ வெண் புணை தழீஇ, பூழியர்
கயம் நாடு யானையின் முகன் அமர்ந்தாஅங்கு,
ஏந்து எழில் ஆகத்துப் பூந் தார் குழைய,
நெருநல் ஆடினை, புனலே; இன்று வந்து,
”ஆக வன முலை அரும்பிய சுணங்கின்,
மாசு இல் கற்பின், புதல்வன் தாய்!” என,
மாயப் பொய்ம்மொழி சாயினை பயிற்றி, எம்
முதுமை எள்ளல்; அஃது அமைகும் தில்ல!
சுடர்ப் பூந் தாமரை நீர் முதிர் பழனத்து,
அம் தூம்பு வள்ளை ஆய் கொடி மயக்கி,
வாளை மேய்ந்த வள் எயிற்று நீர்நாய்,
முள் அரைப் பிரம்பின் மூதரில் செறியும்,
பல் வேல் மத்தி, கழாஅர் அன்ன எம்
இளமை சென்று தவத் தொல்லஃதே;
இனிமை எவன் செய்வது, பொய்ம்மொழி எமக்கே?

We get to traverse ‘Marutham’ landscape for the first time in Aganaanooru, and we receive a promise that every song that ends in 6, will feature these farmlands. In this instance, a man has offended a lady by choosing to be with courtesans, and here, the lady renders these words to him, when he returns to her, seeking her grace:

“Wearing pebble-filled anklets and a garland of pink water-lilies, having forearms, adorned with conch shell bangles, cut with a saw, and bamboo-like arms, shining with ornaments, lives a maiden named ‘Aiyai’, whose father is the immensely generous ‘Thithan’, who renders wealth unto others, akin to a rain shower, in his town of Uranthai, heaped with mounds of paddy! In this town, where River Kaveri gushes with abundant waters, which never lets even the sturdiest of bamboo oars to stay steady, along with your desired one, wearing heaving earrings and shining ornaments, holding on to a white reed raft, crumpling the flower garland that was adorning your handsome chest, with the joy of elephants that take a dip in the ponds of the Poozhiyars, you played in the river stream yesterday;

Today, you come here, and say to me, “You are one with beautiful pallor spots, adorning your handsome breasts; one with flawless chastity; the mother of my son!”. You render these illusory praises as if you are humbled. Don’t you mock at my mature age! I have accepted it for what it is! The beauty of my youth, is akin to the town of Kazhaar, ruled by the many-speared ‘Maththi’, wherein after shaking the beautiful vines of the hollow-tubed ‘Vallai’ creepers, amidst water-filled fields, adorned with flaming lotuses, an otter with sharp teeth, which was preying on scabbard fish, then rests amidst the stalks of the thorny-stemmed cane bushes. I know fully well that this youth of mine has forsaken me long ago! So what good can your falsehood do to me?!”

Time to take a longer walk amidst the fertile vistas of ponds and paddy! The lady in this verse begins her statement by curiously talking about another lady, a princess named ‘Aiyai’, describing her ornaments and garlands. But, the focus quickly shifts to this princess’ father, a ruler named ‘Thithan’, and his immense generosity. This, not being ‘Puranaanooru’, this king too is not of much relevance in this verse, for the spotlight moves again to the town of ‘Uranthai’ that this king rules over. Even ‘Uranthai’, with its mounds of paddy, does not retain our attention for long, and instead the River Kaveri that gushes with much force through this town is brought before our eyes. Is it a song about the beauty of this ancient river? I can listen to that all day long! No, says the lady, and points to a pair playing in the waters, one, a handsome man wearing a garland on his chest, and the other, his desired maiden, adorned with beautiful ornaments. This pair apparently is the man and his courtesan, who were having a romp in the wild waters of the Kaveri, and the lady tastefully places in parallel the image of this duo, with a couple of elephants frolicking in the pond of the Poozhiyars, a clan renowned for the wealth of their white goats that we have seen in Natrinai and Kurunthogai!

The lady elaborates that the man was in such a joyous state with another woman only yesterday, and today, he has come so humbly praising the lady as one with much beauty, calling her the mother of his son. As if saying ‘Stop right there’, the lady asks the man not to render falsehoods about her beauty and mock at her maturing age. She then goes on to tell him that she has accepted that she has grown old, and her youth which echoed a beauty, akin to the fertile town of ‘Kazhaar’, ruled by Mathi’, had long left her. To talk about this ancient town, she mentions an otter that feeds on scabbard fish in the lush fields by day, and then retires to sleep amidst the cane bushes, in a metaphor for how the man seemed to be enjoying the graces of other women, and then wanting to retire to his own home! After rendering this hidden reprimand, the lady finishes saying to the man that his false words of praise were of no use, because she knows who she is!

Though it’s yet again the tussles of the farmlands filled with quarrels about courtesans, the striking elements here are self-knowledge and self-confidence. In that difficult moment, when the lady has been insulted by the man’s choice of a younger woman, she accepts what time has done to her own youth and beauty, and refuses to be swayed by false praises. Soaring tall before our eyes, the words of this Sangam lady echo a reverberating truth from those ancient skies that the most beautiful thing in a woman is her confidence!