In this episode, we listen to a nuanced attempt to change a person’s course of action, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 308, penned by Pisiranthaiyaar. The verse is situated amidst the flowing cascades of the ‘Kurinji’ or ‘Mountain Landscape’ and etches the domain in picturesque detail.
உழுவையொடு உழந்த உயங்கு நடை ஒருத்தல்
நெடு வகிர் விழுப் புண் கழாஅ, கங்குல்
ஆலி அழி துளி பொழிந்த வைகறை,
வால் வெள் அருவிப் புனல் மலிந்து ஒழுகலின்,
இலங்கு மலை புதைய வெண் மழை கவைஇ,
கலம் சுடு புகையின் தோன்றும் நாட!
இரவின் வருதல் எவனோ? பகல் வரின்,
தொலையா வேலின் வண் மகிழ் எந்தை
களிறு அணந்து எய்தாக் கல் முகை இதணத்து,
சிறு தினைப் படு கிளி எம்மொடு ஓப்பி,
மல்லல் அறைய மலிர் சுனைக் குவளைத்
தேம் பாய் ஒண் பூ நறும் பல அடைச்சிய
கூந்தல் மெல் அணைத் துஞ்சி, பொழுது பட,
காவலர்க் கரந்து, கடி புனம் துழைஇய
பெருங் களிற்று ஒருத்தலின் பெயர்குவை,
கருங் கோற் குறிஞ்சி நும் உறைவு இன் ஊர்க்கே.
In this trip to the highlands, we encounter characteristic scenes, as we listen to the confidante say these words to the man, when he arrives for his nightly tryst with the lady:
“After fighting with a tiger, a male elephant with a fatigued gait, finds its wounds of war, carved by those sharp claws, washed in the midnight downpour of rain and hailstones. Owing to this shower, the bright, white cascade brims over with a new flood and gushes down in those radiant mountains, buried by white clouds, which appear akin to smoke that rises when pots are burnt in a kiln. Such is your mountain country, O lord! Why do you come by night? If you were to come by day, resting upon the platform in the mountain cleft, unreachable by elephants, built by our father, who delights in charity and wields an unerring spear, along with her, you can chase away parrots that come to raid the little millets. And then, treating her tresses, filled with many honey-flowing, shining, fragrant flowers of the blue-lily that blooms in the lush waters of springs near prosperous rocks, as your soft pillow, you may sleep. Then, when the day ends, akin to a huge male elephant that has grazed in a well-protected field, avoiding the guards, you may part away to your pleasant town, where the black-stemmed Kurinji blooms aplenty!”
Let’s get going on that trek to the hills! The confidante starts by describing the man’s mountain country and to do that, she brings forth the image of an elephant, whose battle wounds, caused by a tiff with a tiger, is washed away by the shower of raindrops and hailstones in those cloud-covered hills. The extent to which pottery was ingrained in this culture is evident from that matter-of-fact simile, comparing the fog around those mountains to the smoke that rises when pots are browned in a kiln.
Next the confidante comes to the point and asks the man why he choses to come by night to tryst with the lady. Then she goes on to give an alternative proposal wherein he could come by day, and chase parrots with the lady, sitting atop a tall loft, built by the lady’s father, known for his generosity and his unfailing spear. Carrying on with the proposal, the confidante adds the man could then sleep on the pillow of lady’s blue-lily adorned tresses and leave in the evening, walking majestically like an elephant that has escaped the eyes of the fearsome guards, and retire to his pleasant town, where Kurinji flowers bloom!
To the inexperienced eye, it may appear as if the confidante is simply proposing a change in the time of tryst. ‘Don’t come now, come then’ it seems like! However, there’s more! First in the image of the lady’s father as a man, who has built a loft that cannot be reached by elephants, and one who has a victorious spear, the confidante portrays the formidable man that the lady’s father is! Next, in that comparison of a huge elephant, grazing in the millet fields, and then escaping without inviting the attention of guards in a well-protected field, implies the impossibility of such a thing happening. A huge elephant cannot walk away after raiding such a field, and likewise the man too cannot relish that tryst by day with the lady. In short, the only course of action for the man was to seek the lady’s hand in marriage. That note about the lady’s father being a generous person should fill the man with hope about the success of his venture. What a thoughtful way of persuading a person by directing them to come to those conclusions about the only viable path! Yet again, a lesson in negotiation from the pages of the past!
