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In this episode, we listen to the plea in a man’s heart, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 280, penned by Ammoovanaar. The verse is situated amidst the blooming flowers and scuttling crabs of the ‘Neythal’ or ‘Coastal Landscape’ and echoes the yearning to attain a beloved.
பொன் அடர்ந்தன்ன ஒள் இணர்ச் செருந்திப்
பல் மலர் வேய்ந்த நலம் பெறு கோதையள்,
திணி மணல் அடை கரை அலவன் ஆட்டி
அசையினள் இருந்த ஆய் தொடிக் குறுமகள்,
நலம்சால் விழுப் பொருள் கலம் நிறை கொடுப்பினும்,
பெறல் அருங்குரையள்ஆயின், அறம் தெரிந்து,
நாம் உறை தேஎம் மரூஉப் பெயர்ந்து, அவனொடு
இரு நீர்ச் சேர்ப்பின் உப்புடன் உழுதும்,
பெரு நீர்க் குட்டம் புணையொடு புக்கும்,
படுத்தனம், பணிந்தனம், அடுத்தனம், இருப்பின்,
தருகுவன்கொல்லோ தானே விரி திரைக்
கண் திரள் முத்தம் கொண்டு, ஞாங்கர்த்
தேன் இமிர் அகன் கரைப் பகுக்கும்
கானல் அம் பெருந் துறைப் பரதவன் எமக்கே?
In this trip to the shore, we perceive scenes of play, as we listen to the man say these words to his heart, when he’s returning home, after a tryst with the lady:
“Wearing many woven, radiant flowers of the champak, appearing akin to thick clusters of gold, on her exquisite tresses, chasing crabs on the heaped sands of the seashore, that young maiden wearing beautiful bangles, tires out and rests there. Even if the best of earned wealth, filled to the brim of a vessel, is rendered, it would be hard to attain her. If I were to migrate from the country I live in, and along with him, if I toil on the salt fields of this huge and vast shore, and sail along in his boat into the huge seas, and if I submit, surrender and stoop in humility before him, would that lord of the huge shores, filled with groves, the one who gathers picturesque pearls from the deep seas himself and renders unto others in those bee-swarming wide shores, realise it’s the just thing to do and offer his beautiful daughter to me?”
Let’s follow along on the shore and listen to the man pour his heart out! The man starts by describing the lingering beauty of the lady he had just met and left, and to do that, he mentions the yellow flowers of the champak tree that adorns his beloved’s head like thick golden ornaments. He talks about how she used to run about chasing crabs on the seashore. Then, with a sigh, remarks that even if he were to heap gold sky high, it would not suffice as ‘bride price’ for that maiden, and that it would be impossible to attain her. Thinking in another direction, the man concludes by wondering if he decides to leave his land, come live here and toil in the salt pans and fish in the great seas along with the lady’s father, and utterly bow low before him, then would that lord of the seas, who seems to gather pearls and distribute to his kith and kin on the flower-filled shores, decide the right thing to do would be to offer his daughter’s hand to this wonderful man?
For the man, who is a lord of some land himself to decide to bow low before another man, is the surest indicator of the extent he is willing to go to become united with the one he loves. It proclaims aloud how deeply he feels love in his heart for the lady and his determination to leave no stone unturned in making her his own. A verse that made me smile thinking about the man’s attempts to charm his future father-in-law!
