Aganaanooru 131 – To go or not to go

In this episode, we perceive a man’s dilemma in choosing between two worthy pursuits, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 131, penned by Madurai Maruthan Ilanaakanaar. Set in the ‘Paalai’ or ‘Drylands landscape’, the verse sketches events and scenes from this domain. ‘விசும்பு உற நிவந்த மாத் தாள் இகணைப்பசுங் கேழ் மெல் இலை அருகு நெறித்தன்ன,வண்டு படுபு இருளிய, தாழ் இருங் கூந்தல்சுரும்பு உண விரிந்த பெருந் தண் கோதைஇவளினும் சிறந்தன்று, ஈதல் நமக்கு’ எனவீளை அம்பின் விழுத் தொடை மழவர்நாள் ஆ உய்த்த நாம வெஞ் சுரத்துநடை மெலிந்து ஒழிந்த சேண் படர் கன்றின்கடைமணி உகுநீர் துடைத்த ஆடவர்பெயரும் பீடும் எழுதி, அதர்தொறும்பீலி சூட்டிய பிறங்குநிலை நடுகல்வேல் ஊன்று பலகை வேற்று முனை கடுக்கும்வெருவரு தகுந கானம், ‘நம்மொடுவருக’ என்னுதிஆயின்,வாரேன்; நெஞ்சம்! வாய்க்க நின் வினையே. We get to see many interesting aspects of the drylands, as we listen to the man say these words to his heart: “As if the green-hued, soft leaves of the dark-trunked ‘Ikanai’ tree, which soars to the skies, are densely placed together, are her low-hanging dark tresses, swarming with bees. Thinking that more than this maiden, wearing a huge, moist garland, with blossoms wide open and inviting bees, charity is important, you say to me, ‘Come on with me, to the formidable, hot drylands, filled with fear-evoking jungles, appearing akin to an enemy king’s battlefield, dotted with spears and shields, filled with radiant hero stones amidst bushes, and which are adorned with peacock feathers, and inscribed with the name and fame of those men, who wiped away the tears flowing down the eyes of calves, which were unable to walk for a long distance, at a time when robbers with whistling arrows that fail not, had stolen the mother cows!’. I shan’t come with you, O heart! May your mission succeed!” Time to walk through those arid spaces filled with monuments of valour. The man starts by talking about the lady’s beauty, and to do that, he mentions her thick and long hair, which resembles the leaves of an unidentified tree named ‘Ikanai’, which is said to be sky-soaring and having a black trunk. Since many candidates suit the role, perhaps the tree has remain unidentified. Another subtle element is how the colour dark green of the leaves and the colour black of the lady’s tresses are seen as one and the same in this culture. Returning, we find the man mentioning how bees buzz around those beautiful tresses of the lady and also around the garlands she wears. The man now reveals why he has talked at length about the lady, when he turns to his heart and says, ‘You have been insisting to me that the joy obtained from the lady’s company is not as important as my duty of charity’. What is this duty of charity and why should be in conflict with the lady? The man then goes on to say his heart has been telling him this opinion and nudging him to travel to the fearsome drylands, which he then goes on to talk about as a place, which appears like an enemy king’s battlefield, for spears and shields are decked around memorial stones, tied with peacock feathers. Looking closely at these memorial stones, we can read the glorious things written about certain warriors, who are said to have wiped the tears of calves, left behind, when their mother cows where stolen by the bow-wielding highway robbers with unfailing arrows. Of course, wiping the tears could actually mean the physical wiping away of tears of these calves, crying for their mothers, but here, it most probably refers to how those warriors had gone in pursuit of the highway robbers, and recovered the stolen cows, victoriously, while some died in the mission, and thus got glorified on those hero stones. The man concludes by replying to his heart saying that he will not be joining it in its mission to earn wealth and wishes good luck to his heart in its journey. In essence, the man is separating himself from his heart to get some perspective as he stands at the crossroads. On one side is his love and the joy of the lady’s presence, and on the other side, is his sense of duty, which is to give unto others, for which he needs wealth, and that meant, leaving the lady. Here, the man seems to choose the side of love, and yet, he wishes well to his heart to succeed in its mission. So, it’s an open-ended conclusion, telling us the man could have remained at home or he could have followed his heart, for where can the heart go, if we don’t?