Aganaanooru 120 – Song of the red-naped ibis

Sangam Lit

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4d ago 5:17

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In this episode, we listen to a pointed request, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 120, penned by Nakeeranaar. The verse is situated in the blue-lotus blooming backwaters of the ‘Neythal’ or ‘Coastal landscape’ and presents a subtle way to change a person’s course of action.

நெடு வேள் மார்பின் ஆரம் போல,
செவ் வாய் வானம் தீண்டி, மீன் அருந்தும்
பைங் காற் கொக்கினம் நிரை பறை உகப்ப,
எல்லை பைப்பயக் கழிப்பி, குடவயின்
கல் சேர்ந்தன்றே, பல் கதிர் ஞாயிறு
மதர் எழில் மழைக் கண் கலுழ, இவளே
பெரு நாண் அணிந்த சிறு மென் சாயல்
மாண் நலம் சிதைய ஏங்கி, ஆனாது,
அழல் தொடங்கினளே பெரும! அதனால்
கழிச் சுறா எறிந்த புண் தாள் அத்திரி
நெடு நீர் இருங் கழிப் பரி மெலிந்து, அசைஇ,
வல் வில் இளையரொடு எல்லிச் செல்லாது,
சேர்ந்தனை செலினே சிதைகுவது உண்டோ
பெண்ணை ஓங்கிய வெண் மணற் படப்பை
அன்றில் அகவும் ஆங்கண்,
சிறு குரல் நெய்தல் எம் பெருங் கழி நாட்டே?

A scenic trip to the coast where we listen to the confidante say these words to the man, when he comes to tryst with the lady:

“Akin to the garland on the chest of the Tall-speared One, grazing against the reddened twilight sky, the green-legged flock of storks, which feed on fish, spread their wings in a neat row. Slowly, slowly, diminishing the day, the many-rayed sun has reached the mountains in the west. Her beautiful, rain-like eyes fill with tears, and she, adorned with a great modesty and having a delicate, fine appearance, pines away and destroys her celebrated beauty with her ceaseless shedding of tears, O lord! And so, without taxing your mule, which is moving slowly in the vast spaces of the dark backwaters, as its legs have been wounded by the attack of backwater sharks, instead of leaving with your helpers, wielding strong bows, during the day, would anything fall to ruin, if you were stay for longer and then leave from this country, filled with vast backwaters, brimming with small-stalked blue lotuses, wherein palm trees soar upon white sands and the red-naped ibis cries aloud?”

Time to take in the sounds of an evening by the sea! The confidante starts by sketching the time of the day and to do that she calls a God denoted as the ‘Tall-speared one’, most probably referring to God Murugan. She zooms on to the white flower garlands encircling his red-hued chest and says that’s exactly how the storks are rising in neat rows on the canvas of the blushing sky at dusk. Then, the confidante details the time of the day even more closely by saying that the sun has slowly drawn the curtains on the day and had gone to rest its many rays in the mountains of the west. Now, from this detailed look at the time of the day, the confidante turns her attention to the crux of the matter and points to how the lady seems to be shedding tears ceaselessly, ruining her beauty. When we ask why, instead of explaining directly, she makes us understand through her next question to the man, wherein she asks what harm would happen if at all he would defer leaving with his bow-clad helpers and his mule, which is anyway moving slowly, wounded by the attack of sharks in the backwaters, and instead stay there in the lady’s village, filled with white sands, where palm trees sprout tall, and atop which, a red-naped ibis is crying aloud!

Remember how these birds were seen as an inseparable couple that even death can’t part, in the eyes of Sangam folks? Subtly evoking this profound feeling, the confidante seems to be asking the man, ‘Don’t you hear the pining of the lady in the call of that red-naped ibis?’. These words are to convey to the man how his absence seems to affect the lady so greatly, and thereby, gently nudge him to give up this now-on-now-off trysting, and instead seek the forever joy of a permanent union. A sudden thought pops up in my mind as to whether all such songs are a tool employed to tell us to go beyond the temporary and transient to the permanent and lasting, in all that we feel, think and do!

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