Aganaanooru 47 – Rise up and move forward

In this episode, we listen to words of encouragement, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 47, penned by Aalamberi Saaththanaar. Set in the ‘Paalai’ or ‘drylands landscape’, the verse presents a glimpse of the beauty of an ancient hill town. அழிவு இல் உள்ளம் வழிவழிச் சிறப்பவினை இவண் முடித்தனம்ஆயின், வல் விரைந்துஎழு இனி வாழிய நெஞ்சே! ஒலி தலைஅலங்கு கழை நரலத் தாக்கி, விலங்கு எழுந்து,கடு வளி உருத்திய கொடி விடு கூர் எரிவிடர் முகை அடுக்கம் பாய்தலின், உடன் இயைந்து,அமைக் கண் விடு நொடி கணக் கலை அகற்றும்வெம் முனை அருஞ் சுரம் நீந்தி, கைம்மிக்கு,அகன் சுடர் கல் சேர்பு மறைய, மனைவயின்ஒண் தொடி மகளிர் வெண் திரிக் கொளாஅலின்,குறு நடைப் புறவின் செங் காற் சேவல்நெடு நிலை வியல் நகர் வீழ்துணைப் பயிரும்புலம்பொடு வந்த புன்கண் மாலை,”யாண்டு உளர்கொல்?” எனக் கலிழ்வோள் எய்தி,இழை அணி நெடுந் தேர்க் கை வண் செழியன்மழை விளையாடும் வளம் கெழு சிறுமலைச்சிலம்பின் கூதளங் கமழும் வெற்பின்வேய் புரை பணைத் தோள், பாயும்நோய் அசா வீட, முயங்குகம் பலவே. Back to the drylands and we catch the man in the middle of his mission. At a moment, when he’s downcast, he turns and says these words to his heart: “Without losing faith, with more and more enthusiasm, we should finish our mission here, O heart! Rise up with much haste now, may you live long! As luxuriant-leafed, swaying bamboos brush against each other resoundingly, rising on all sides, fuelled by the fierce wind, soaring flames spread all across the clefts of the mountain range and make nodes of bamboos burst aloud. Hearing those fearsome sounds, huge herds of deer scuttle away together in these scorching spaces of the formidable drylands, which we have traversed with much hardship. As the sky’s wide flame vanishes behind the mountains, maiden wearing shining bangles light up white wicks at home, and just then, the short-gaited, red-legged male pigeon, residing in the tall and vast mansion, coos out to its loving mate in that evening time, which arrives in the company of loneliness. At this time, asking, ‘Where might he be?, she would be shedding tears! In that playground of rainclouds, the prosperous hills of ‘Sirumalai’, wafting with the scent of the three-lobed nightshade, ruled by the generous Chezhiyan, the owner of mighty jewel-clad chariots, bloom beautiful bamboos. Akin to those bamboos, are her thick arms, and if we were to finish our mission here with haste, slaying those pouncing waves of affliction, we will to get to embrace them again and again!” Glancing at the furious flames of the scrub forest from the safety of our modern lives, let’s learn more about the man’s thoughts. The man starts by nudging his heart to rise up and get going, without losing its determination. Just then, the man’s heart puts forth a gloomy question, ‘Tell me one reason why I must do that!’. In response, the man launches into a vivid description of the drylands they have walked through, talking about the fiery flames bursting out of bamboos and the scuttling away of frightened deer. He accepts to his heart that they have faced much difficulty in this journey. Then his mind turns homeward, as he is reminded of the yearning that would fill his lady’s heart, in that lonely evening hour, and how when cooing pigeons calling out to their mates, that would add to the lady’s suffering. Remembering how the lady’s arms are so much like the bamboos that grow in a hill town, ruled by the Pandya King Chezhiyan, renowned for his generosity, called as ‘Sirumalai’, a place he describes as one, where clouds come to play, and one, which is filled with a fragrance of ‘Koothalam’ flowers, the man concludes with the answer to his heart’s question saying if they finish up their mission with haste, then they would get to joyfully embrace those bamboo-like arms of the lady over and over again. A moment to note that even today a scenic hill town, close to Madurai, very much in the ancient Pandya country, is called by the name of ‘Sirumalai’, still fragrant with the scent of wild flowers and famous for its tasty hill bananas! Returning to the core of the verse, we find that this is a classic case of motivation in moments of dejection. Instead of falling apart at the challenges all around and the pain that grows with every passing moment, the man chooses to visualise the delightful future that awaits him. He knows fully well that abandoning his task midway is not going to make him happy to be with his beloved when he returns and so he declares clearly to his heart, ‘If you want that, then you must do this right now!’. A verse which reminds us that we have within, that effective fuel of visualisation, to keep us going when the going gets tough!