Kalithogai 131 – Care of the shore

In this episode, we perceive stunning images from an ancient seashore, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Kalithogai 131, penned by Nallanthuvanaar. The verse is situated in the ‘Neythal’ or ‘Coastal Landscape’ and sketches the dynamics in the relationship between the man and the lady. தோழி:பெருங்கடல் தெய்வம் நீர் நோக்கித் தெளித்து, என்திருந்திழை மென்தோள் மணந்தவன் செய்தஅருந்துயர் நீக்குவேன் போல் மன், பொருந்துபுபூக்கவின் கொண்ட புகழ் சால் எழில் உண்கண்,நோக்குங்கால் நோக்கின் அணங்காக்கும் சாயலாய்! தாக்கிஇனமீன் இகல் மாற வென்ற சினமீன்எறிசுறா வான் மருப்பு கோத்து நெறி செய்தநெய்தல் நெடு நார்ப் பிணித்து யாத்துக் கை உளர்வின்யாழசை கொண்ட இன வண்டு இமிர்ந்து ஆர்ப்பத்தாழாது உறைக்கும் தடமலர்த் தண்தாழைவீழ் ஊசல் தூங்க பெறின். மாழை மட மான் பிணை இயல் வென்றாய்! நின் ஊசல்கடைஇ யான் இகுப்ப, நீடு ஊங்காய் தட மென்தோள்நீத்தான் திறங்கள் பகர்ந்து. தலைவி:நாணினகொல் தோழி? நாணினகொல் தோழி?இரவெலாம் நல்தோழி நாணின, என்பவைவாள் நிலா ஏய்க்கும் வயங்களி எக்கர் மேல்,ஆனாப் பரிய அலவன் அளை புகூஉம்,கானல் கமழ் ஞாழல் வீ ஏய்ப்பத் தோழி, என்மேனி சிதைத்தான் துறை. தோழி:மாரி வீழ் இருங்கூந்தல் மதைஇய நோக்கு எழில் உண்கண்தாழ்நீர முத்தின் தகை ஏய்க்கும் முறுவலாய்!தேயா நோய் செய்தான் திறம் கிளந்து நாம் பாடும்சேய் உயர் ஊசல் சீர் நீ ஒன்று பாடித்தை. தலைவி:பார்த்துற்றன தோழி! பார்த்துற்றன தோழி!இரவெலாம் நல் தோழி! பார்த்துற்றன என்பவைதன் துணை இல்லாள் வருந்தினாள் கொல்? எனஇன்துணை அன்றில் இரவின் அகவாவே,அன்று, தான் ஈர்த்த கரும்பு அணி வாட, என்மென்தோள் ஞெகிழ்த்தான் துறை. தோழி:கரைகவர் கொடுங்கழிக் கண்கவர் புள் இனம்,திரை உறப் பொன்றிய புலவு மீன் அல்லதை,இரை உயிர் செகுத்து உண்ணாத் துறைவனை யாம் பாடும்அசைவரல் ஊசல் சீர் அழித்து, ஒன்று பாடித்தை. தலைவி:அருளினகொல் தோழி? அருளினகொல் தோழி?இரவெலாம் தோழி! அருளின என்பவைகணங்கொள் இடு மணல் காவி வருந்தப்பிணங்கு இரு மோட்ட திரை வந்து அளிக்கும்,மணம்கமழ் ஐம்பாலார் ஊடலை ஆங்கேவணங்கி உணர்ப்பான் துறை. தோழி:என நாம்,பாட மறை நின்று கேட்டனன் நீடியவால் நீர்க் கிடக்கை வயங்கு நீர்ச் சேர்ப்பனையான் என உணர்ந்து நீ நனி மருளத்தேன் இமிர் புன்னை பொருந்தித்தான் ஊக்கினன் அவ் ஊசலை வந்தே. We encounter our first long song in this series on the coastal landscape, comprising of an animated conversation. The words can be translated as follows: “Confidante:Splashing its water on you, the great god of the sea seems to bless you saying, ‘I will remove the deep suffering caused by the one, who embraced your soft arms clad with perfect jewels’, O maiden having flower-like, esteemed, beautiful, kohl-streaked eyes, and an appearance that bewitches those who behold you! Tying together the white bills of many swordfish, which have attacked and won over many other kinds of fish, in neat rows, a plank has been tied together with the long stems of the blue lotus, and to make a swaying swing, this has been placed on the aerial roots of the cool pandanus trees with huge flowers, around which unceasingly bees of many kinds buzz around, akin to a hand-held lute. O maiden, with a gaze, akin to a young, naive deer, as you sit upon this swing and I rock you up and down for a long time, share about the qualities of the one, who abandoned your curving, gentle arms! Lady:Didn’t they felt ashamed, my friend? Didn’t they feel ashamed? All night, they felt ashamed, my friend, those crabs that ceaselessly skip about the radiant sands, akin to the white moon, as they rushed into their holes, in the shores of the one, who ruined my form, and turned it into the hue of the falling flowers of the fragrant screw-pine! Confidante:O maiden with rain-like, thick tresses, beautiful, kohl-streaked eyes, with an exquisite gaze, and a smile, akin to the glow of pearls in the deep waters! Matching the rhythm of this swing that flies afar, why don’t you render a stanza in this song we are singing together about the qualities of the one, who rendered this unending affliction in you? Lady:They saw and felt sorrowful, my friend! They saw and felt sorrowful! All night, they felt sorrowful, my friend! Did they think, I was worrying without my companion, that those red-naped ibises with sweet mates refrained from singing all night, in the shores of the one, who painted sugarcane patterns on my soft arms, and then made their beauty fade away. Confidante:O maiden! Matching the rhythm of this swaying swing, render one more thought in this song we are singing about the lord of the shore, where the picturesque sea birds, which adorn the shores of the curving backwaters, feed only on the fish that are battered by the waves and brought to the shore, and would never prey upon the living! Lady:Didn’t they grace and protect, my friend? Didn’t they grace and protect? All night, they rendered their grace, my friend, as the thick sand that flew in with the wind troubled the red lilies, the waves rushed to flatten the rising levels of mud and protected with grace, in the shore of the one, who bows low and resolves the sulking of the maiden, having fragrant, five-layered tresses therein. Confidante:And so, once before, the lord of the shores. brimming with white waves, stood there hiding, listening to such a song of ours. Making you think it’s still me standing behind, leaning on the laurelwood, buzzing with bees, he pushed the swing himself that day!” Time to delve into the delicious nuances. The verse is situated in the context of the man’s parting from the lady prior to marriage. Here, the confidante and lady converse about the man and his actions. The confidante begins by pointing to the lady, the spray of the waves, and saying how it seemed as if the god of the seas was blessing her saying that it would remove the pain in the lady caused by the man’s parting. The confidante then goes on to describe in intricate detail about a swing, whose plank has been made with the bills of swordfish in a neat row, tied with the fibres of a lotus stem, and then hung from the aerial roots of a pandanus tree. She has talked about this delightful object to cheer up the lady by asking her to sit on it, promising to sway it up and down, and suggesting that they sing about the lord of the shore, as she dos so. At each point, the confidante asks the lady to sing matching the rhythm of this swaying swing, and the lady too responds readily. First, the lady talks about the crabs in the man’s shore and how they were ashamed because the man had ruined the beauty of the lady’s skin and changed it to the hue of the screw-pine flowers, and that’s why they were hurrying to hide in their holes. Next, the lady talks about how the red-naped ibis happily united with their mates, felt sad about the lady being parted from the man, for all night they refused to sing. And for the third and last request from the confidante, the lady talks about the waves and how they seemed to take great care about the red lilies, which were troubled by the sand laid down by the thick winds, and rushed to settle the mud and calm them down. All these elements are from the shore ruled by the lord, the lady connects. Hearing all this, the confidante concludes recollecting how once before when they were singing in this fashion, the man had been standing at a distance, listening, and then, came and stood behind the swing and pretending to be the confidante, he pushed the swing, much to the delightful confusion of the lady. With those words, the confidante seems to part with the hope that the man would arrive again, just like that, and bring joy to the lady. Fascinating to note the order of emotions projected on the beings and the land, for it starts with the shame of the crabs, as if accusing the man of his actions, hoping to evoke regret in him. Next, it’s the sorrow of the ibis, reflecting the lady’s painful state, intending to reach the man’s compassion, and finally, in that exquisite depiction of the waves rushing in to protect the waterlilies and save them from the torment of the wind, the aim is to appeal to the nobler emotions of the man, with the hope he would be filled with love for the lady and would rush to protect his beloved. In that last image especially, the truth that holding a person to high standards will make them rise to it, is sketched vividly. To sum it all up, the verse stands testimony to the incomparable skill of Sangam poets in weaving together the elements of the land and the emotions of the mind!