Aganaanooru 96 – Louder than a war cry

In this episode, we perceive the refusal of a request, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 96, penned by Marutham Paadiya Ilankadunko. Set amidst the lush fields and paddy mounds of the ‘Marutham’ or ‘Farmlands landscape’, the verse refers to a historic incident to sketch a domestic tussle. நறவு உண் மண்டை நுடக்கலின், இறவுக் கலித்து,பூட்டு அறு வில்லின் கூட்டுமுதல் தெறிக்கும்பழனப் பொய்கை அடைகரைப் பிரம்பின்அர வாய் அன்ன அம் முள் நெடுங் கொடிஅருவி ஆம்பல் அகல் அடை துடக்கி,அசைவரல் வாடை தூக்கலின், ஊதுஉலைவிசை வாங்கு தோலின், வீங்குபு ஞெகிழும்கழனிஅம் படப்பைக் காஞ்சி ஊர!”ஒண் தொடி ஆயத்துள்ளும் நீ நயந்துகொண்டனை” என்ப ”ஓர் குறுமகள்” அதுவேசெம்பொற் சிலம்பின், செறிந்த குறங்கின்,அம் கலுழ் மாமை, அஃதை தந்தை,அண்ணல் யானை அடு போர்ச் சோழர்,வெண்ணெல் வைப்பின் பருவூர்ப் பறந்தலை,இரு பெரு வேந்தரும் பொருது களத்து ஒழிய,ஒளிறு வாள் நல் அமர்க் கடந்த ஞான்றை,களிறு கவர் கம்பலை போல,அலர் ஆகின்றது, பலர் வாய்ப் பட்டே. In this trip to the farmlands, trouble’s brewing and we find the theme of a love-quarrel related to a courtesan reverberating in these words of the confidante to the man, when he seeks entry to the lady’s house: “As toddy bowls were washed in the waters, shrimps therein leap about in an intoxicated frenzy,  akin to the snapping of a taut bow’s string, and fall inside a grain silo, on the shores of the ponds by the fields, which are filled with serrated, saw-like thorny vines of the rattan bushes, and these vines tie around the wide leaves of the moist water-lilies. When the northern winds blow about, akin to the leather of a blacksmith’s bellows, it swells and shrinks in the fertile fields of your town, filled with portia trees, O lord! They say that you have desired a young maiden, one among many courtesans, clad in radiant bangles, and united with her. When the father of Akuthai, a maiden with beautiful, radiant dark skin, shapely thighs, clad in red gold anklets, the Chozha king, having a mighty elephant army, battled with the two great emperors in the Paruvoor warfront, surrounded by fields of white paddy, and defeated them, at that time, as he triumphed with shining swords and captured the enemy elephants, akin to the uproar that rose in that battlefield, because of your actions, slander is soaring in town, spread by many tongues.” Let’s take a walk amidst the ponds and fields of the farmlands town and hear the latest! The confidante starts with a vivid description of the man’s town by mentioning how people drink up toddy in bowls and then take to washing the same in the ponds by the fields. As a result, the shrimps therein get sloshed as well and seem to snap like a bow, and leap into grain silos around. She further describes how rattan vines tie around waterlily leaves and make them rise and fall, much like an ironworker’s bellows. Note how two occupational references are subtly woven into this narrative. One, toddy flows in that farmlands, a sign of fertility and prosperity, as we have seen in many poems, and farmers and others relish the drink as they work, and wash it in the ponds nearby; Two, the matter-of-fact reference to the blacksmith’s bellows etches the fact that ironmaking was second nature to these Sangam people. Returning, leaving aside such subtle elements, the confidante comes directly to the matter at hand and mentions how some interesting news about the man has reached her ears. This was talk of the man taking a young maiden, one of the courtesans, as his preferred partner. To portray how this news is spreading around town, the confidante takes us to the battlefield of Paruvoor. Here we meet the Chozha king, surprisingly a king known as ‘Akuthai’s father’- Akuthai, being a maiden of extraordinary beauty. This dad of Akuthai is quelling the forces of the Chera and Pandya kings, and the moment he captures the enemy elephants, a huge uproar rises from the throats of his warriors. As loud as that uproar, slander had spread in town because of the man’s doings, the confidante concludes. In essence, the confidante refuses to allow the man entry to the lady’s house. Though it’s the same old theme, it’s heartening to know that even in this patriarchal society, the lady had some means at her disposal, to express her displeasure at the man’s actions!