Kalithogai 128 – Hope in a dream

In this episode, we listen to the events that unfolded in a dream, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Kalithogai 128, penned by Nallanthuvanaar. The verse is situated in the ‘Neythal’ or ‘Coastal Landscape’ and reveals the subtle reasons for a transformation. ‘தோள் துறந்து அருளாதவர் போல் நின்று,வாடை தூக்க வணங்கிய தாழைஆடு கோட்டு இருந்த அசை நடை நாரை,நளி இருங் கங்குல், நம் துயர் அறியாது,அளி இன்று, பிணி இன்று, விளியாது நரலும்கானல் அம் சேர்ப்பனைக் கண்டாய் போல,புதுவது கவினினை’ என்றியாயின்,நனவின் வாரா நயனிலாளனைக்கனவில் கண்டு, யான் செய்தது கேள், இனி: ‘அலந்தாங்கு அமையலென்’ என்றானைப் பற்றி, ‘என்நலம் தாராயோ?’ என, தொடுப்பேன் போலவும்,கலந்து ஆங்கே என் கவின் பெற முயங்கி,‘புலம்பல் ஓம்பு’ என, அளிப்பான் போலவும் ‘முலையிடைத் துயிலும் மறந்தீத்தோய்’ என,நிலை அழி நெஞ்சத்தேன் அழுவேன் போலவும்,‘வலை உறு மயிலின் வருந்தினை, பெரிது’ என,தலையுற முன் அடிப் பணிவான் போலவும் கோதை கோலா, இறைஞ்சி நின்றஊதைஅம் சேர்ப்பனை, அலைப்பேன் போலவும்,‘யாது என் பிழைப்பு?’ என நடுங்கி, ஆங்கே,‘பேதையைப் பெரிது’ எனத் தெளிப்பான் போலவும் ஆங்குகனவினால் கண்டேன் தோழி! ‘காண் தகக்கனவின் வந்த கானல் அம் சேர்ப்பன்நனவின் வருதலும் உண்டு’ எனஅனை வரை நின்றது, என் அரும் பெறல் உயிரே. After a while, we get to hear the voice of the lady in this one. The words can be translated as follows: “Akin to one, who has abandoned the arms of a beloved and renders not his grace, stands the stiff pandanus, now bent by the cold northern winds. The stork with a swaying gait that rests upon the dancing branches, in the pitch dark hour of midnight, without knowing of our sorrow, without grace, without care, cries out unceasingly in the groves of the lord. You ask me, ‘Why do you glow with new beauty, as if you have seen the lord of the seas?’. Listen now to what I did to the loveless one, who does not come here in real, when I saw him in a dream: To the one who said, ‘I shan’t live apart from you’, I demanded, ‘Give me back my beauty!’ Just then, he embraced me, making my beauty return, and said ‘Let your lamenting cease!’. Then, I cried to him with a ruined heart, asking, ‘Have you forgotten the sweet sleep between my bosom’?, and he responded saying, ‘You suffer so much, akin to a peacock caught in a net’, and bent his head before my feet. With a garland as a rod, I hit that lord of the shores, wafting with cold winds, as he stood there pleading. He responded asking with a shiver, ‘What is my mistake?’ and then spoke to me, removing my fears, and declaring, ‘You don’t seem to understand because of your great ignorance!’ And so, all this I saw in a dream, my friend. Thinking, ‘The lord of the shores, who appeared in that beautiful dream, will come in reality too’, waiting for his arrival, remains my precious life!” Time to delve into the details. The verse is situated in the context of the man’s parting from the lady, prior to marriage, and here, the lady renders these words to her confidante. The lady begins by talking about the land of the lord, where a pandanus tree, which was standing stiff and straight like a person who had abandoned their beloved, was bent by the swaying winds, and upon this tree, a stork rested and cried out aloud, causing pain in the hearts of the parted. After describing the man’s land so, the lady repeats the question her confidante just asked her, wondering why there seemed to be a glow on the lady’s face when the man had not come by at all. To this, the lady replies saying that she saw the man in the dream and demanded that he give back her beauty and he hugged the lady and tried to calm her. When she persisted and questioned him about why he came no more and savoured sweet sleep with her, he understood her state, likening it to that of a peacock caught in a net, and bent low before her. When the lady pretended to be angry and hit him with a garland as a rod, the man asked with a quiver, ‘What is my mistake?’, and tried to make her understand his love and her ignorance. Repeating all this to her friend, the lady tells her friend that her life believes that all this that happened in a dream will happen for real too and that’s why it seemed to be holding on, with hope. The verse relays the power of these incomprehensible but integral part of human life called dreams, that has fascinated poets and scientists for centuries many! Do we dream what we want in life, or do dreams reflect what has happened in life, or is it all nothing but random sparks in a sleeping organ? The mystery goes on…