Aganaanooru 116 – Louder than a victor’s shout

Sangam Lit

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12d ago 6:26

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In this episode, we hear the reason for a refusal, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 116, penned by Paranar. The verse is situated amidst the paddy stalks and lotus blooms of the ‘Marutham’ or ‘Farmlands landscape’ and illustrates the events of a historic battle.

எரி அகைந்தன்ன தாமரை இடை இடை
அரிந்து கால் குவித்த செந் நெல் வினைஞர்
கள் கொண்டு மறுகும் சாகாடு அளற்று உறின்,
ஆய் கரும்பு அடுக்கும் பாய்புனல் ஊர!
பெரிய நாண் இலைமன்ற; ‘பொரி எனப்
புன்கு அவிழ் அகன்துறைப் பொலிய, ஒள் நுதல்,
நறு மலர்க்காண் வரும் குறும் பல் கூந்தல்,
மாழை நோக்கின், காழ் இயல் வன முலை,
எஃகுடை எழில் நலத்து, ஒருத்தியொடு நெருநை
வைகுபுனல் அயர்ந்தனை’ என்ப; அதுவே,
பொய் புறம் பொதிந்து, யாம் கரப்பவும், கையிகந்து
அலர் ஆகின்றால் தானே; மலர்தார்,
மை அணி யானை, மறப் போர்ச் செழியன்
பொய்யா விழவின் கூடற் பறந்தலை,
உடன் இயைந்து எழுந்த இரு பெரு வேந்தர்
கடல் மருள் பெரும் படை கலங்கத் தாக்கி,
இரங்குஇசை முரசம் ஒழிய, பரந்து அவர்
ஓடுபுறம் கண்ட ஞான்றை,
ஆடு கொள் வியன் களத்து ஆர்ப்பினும் பெரிதே.

A trip to the farmlands, which throbs against our eardrums, as we hear these words said by the confidante to the man, when he seeks entry to the lady’s house, after his tryst with a courtesan:

“In the midst of lotus flowers, blazing like a fire, harvesters heap stalks of red paddy. When the cart, which roves around, bringing fresh toddy to them, gets stuck in the mud, they chop and pile beautiful stems of sugarcane in a row to heave the cart out. Such is the prosperous town of yours with pouncing streams!

You have no sense of shame, O lord! They say, ‘By the wide shores, where the beechwood tree, with blooming flowers, akin to puffed rice, you were playing along with a maiden, who has a shining forehead, short and thick tresses woven with many fragrant flowers, eyes akin to tender mangoes, a beauteous bosom, adorned by a pearl strand, the one who has an intricate, fine beauty, in the brimming streams yesterday’. Even though we tried to suppress it saying it’s nothing but a lie, beyond our hold, it leaps out and spreads as slander.

The courageous, battle-worthy Chezhian, who possesses dark and decorated elephants adorned with flower garlands, attacked and shattered the huge sea-like armies of the two great kings, who came together in the battlefield of Koodal, with unending festivities, and made them abandon their roaring drums and run away. At that moment, when the backs of the retreating enemies were seen, in that wide battlefield, filled with victory dances, a tumultuous shout erupted. The slander that spreads because of you is louder than that uproar!”

Sparks are flying in the land of plenty again! The confidante starts by describing the man’s town as a place, where harvesters heap red paddy amidst red lotuses, which appear like a blazing fire. These lines paint the song red, hinting at the angry mood that is to follow. The confidante also talks about a roving toddy cart, which apparently goes about the fields, quenching the thirst of these hardworking harvesters. Being a slushy terrain, the carts would happen to get lodged in the mud, and to help these carts to be on their way, the harvesters seemed to chop the sugarcane stalks growing by, without a thought, and use that as a board to heave the cart out. After that seemingly random description of the man’s town, the confidante comes to the crux of the issue, and tells the man that many people were saying that the man was courting a courtesan by the river shores, having great fun with her, by playing in the stream. She claims that she and the lady’s friends tried to shush it calling it a lie, but even so, the slander was spreading.

To describe the nature of this slander, the confidante traverses to the famous battlefield of Koodal, where the Pandya King Chezhiyan routed the armies of the two other great kings, namely the Chera and Chozha kings, making their armies, which had been akin to twin seas, abandon their war drums and retreat. The moment they retreated, there arose a victorious uproar on that battlefield and the man’s doings was making the slander soar louder than that uproar, the confidante connects and concludes.

In that scene of sugarcane being chopped to pull out the cart from the slush, the confidante places a metaphor for how the man was ruining the beauty of the lady and climbing over her goodness, so that he could rove about and frolic with the courtesans, akin to that toddy cart! A clear ‘No’ to the man’s ‘May I come in?’, said by the confidante, on behalf of the lady. We take note of a momentous conflict between the three great rulers of ancient Tamil land, and how two of them sided against one, and in spite of that, how that one emerged the victor in the battlefield at that ancient and ageless city of Koodal, known as ‘Madurai’ in contemporary times. Yet again, the Sangam poets prove that they are masters of creativity, adept at weaving the ripples of a domestic tussle with the roar of a historic battle!

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