Kalithogai 109 – A mesmerising maiden

Sangam Lit

In this episode, we listen to a heart’s outpouring, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Kalithogai 109, penned by Chozhan Nalluruthiran. The verse is situated in the ‘Mullai’ or ‘Forest Landscape’ and etches the mesmerising beauty of a maiden.

கார் ஆரப் பெய்த கடி கொள் வியன் புலத்துப்
பேராது சென்று, பெரும் பதவப் புல் மாந்தி,
நீர் ஆர் நிழல குடம்சுட்டு இனத்துள்ளும்,
போர் ஆரா ஏற்றின் பொரு நாகு இளம் பாண்டி
தேர் ஊர செம்மாந்தது போல் மதைஇனள்

பேர் ஊரும் சிற்றூரும் கௌவை எடுப்பவள் போல்,
மோரோடு வந்தாள் தகை கண்டை; யாரோடும்
சொல்லியாள் அன்றே வனப்பு

பண்ணித் தமர் தந்து, ஒரு புறம் தைஇய
கண்ணி எடுக்கல்லாக் கோடு ஏந்து அகல் அல்குல்
புண் இல்லார் புண்ணாக நோக்கும்; முழு மெய்யும்
கண்ணளோ? ஆயர் மகள்

இவள்தான் திருத்தாச் சுமட்டினள், ஏனைத் தோள் வீசி,
வரிக் கூழ வட்டி தழீஇ, அரிக் குழை
ஆடல் தகையள்; கழுத்தினும் வாலிது
நுண்ணிதாத் தோன்றும் நுசுப்பு
இடை தெரியா ஏஎர் இருவரும் தத்தம்
உடை வனப்பு எல்லாம் இவட்கு ஈத்தார்கொல்லோ?
படை இடுவான்மன் கண்டீர், காமன் மடை அடும்
பாலொடு கோட்டம் புகின்

இவள் தான், வருந்த நோய் செய்து இறப்பின் அல்லால், மருந்து அல்லள்
‘யார்க்கும் அணங்காதல் சான்றாள்’ என்று, ஊர்ப் பெண்டிர்,
‘மாங்காய் நறுங் காடி கூட்டுவேம்; யாங்கும்
எழு நின் கிளையொடு போக’ என்று தத்தம்
கொழுநரைப் போகாமல் காத்து, முழு நாளும்,
வாயில் அடைப்ப வரும்.

After the downpour of long, long songs in this Mullai landscape, a gentle drizzle in this one! The words can be translated as follows:

“Without leaving the fresh and fragrant wide spaces, where the rains had poured copiously, feeding on the thick and tall scutch grass in the moist shade, along with the herd of cows that yield pots of milk, grazes the war-like, young one of a bull that never ceases fighting. Akin to how this young bull would stride with pride when tied for the first time to a chariot, walks on this young maiden.

Making all the great towns and little hamlets spread rumours, see how she comes walking, selling buttermilk. It is said that her beauty has no equal!

On one side, she wears a garland, woven and presented to her by her kin, around her lined and lifted wide hips, destroying even those without desire. It’s not just her eyes that captivate one, her entire form seems to be a collection of eyes, in that herder’s daughter!

As for her, she places a huge head pad that does not fit, and swaying her arms, holding a basket full of rice, she comes walking, with her dangling earrings dancing. Even more alluring and slender than her neck, appears her slim waist. Have those two heavenly maiden given away all their exquisite beauty to her? If she enters the temple of Kama, the God of love, with a pot of milk as offering, seeing her, he is sure to drop down his bow, stunned!

She is one who is sure to part away, condemning me with a fatal affliction, but she won’t become the cure! The womenfolk of the town thinking, ‘What a terror she is!’, will decide, ‘Let’s choose tender mango pickle as our side dish’ and tell the maiden, ‘Please leave elsewhere with your kin to sell your wares’ and will prevent their husbands from stepping out, the entire day, by shutting their gates!”

Let’s delve into the details. The verse is situated, like the previous one, in the context of love between workers, and these words are said by a herder man about a buttermilk-selling young maiden. The man first talks about the gait of this lady, equating it to an element of that land – a young bull, born to a fighter bull, in the moment this bull is tied to a cart and sent out on its first mission. The pride many young people feel when they start to work and the assurance it renders to them is captured in this simile. This young girl too is out on the streets, selling buttermilk, creating an uproar in towns, big and small, the man tell us, adding ‘Oh! That beauty of hers has no equal!’. He describes how a garland she wears around her waist seems to devastate even ascetics who have no desire.

As one of the things she carries, he talks about a load pad, called as ‘summaadu’, which I have seen women in rural parts of Tamilnadu use till this day. It’s a rolled piece of cloth, used to carry heavy pots and vessels on the head. The man remarks how that doesn’t fit the lady at all, perhaps it’s too big for her, or maybe not fashionable enough! The other thing she’s holding is a basket of rice and this simple object echoes the economics of that era, depicting a barter system of exchanging buttermilk and rice, a transfer of products between the ‘Mullai’ or ‘Forest Landscape’ and the ‘Marutham’ or ‘Farmlands Landscape’.

The man continues describing the lady’s dangling earrings and then goes on to talk about her slim waist. He mentions two heavenly maiden, whom he names not, but possibly referring to the mythological Urvasi and Ramba, goddesses known for their divine beauty, wondering if they have decided to donate all their beauty to this maiden! In the same vein, he says when this lady enters the temple of the God of love, Kama, to give a pot of milk as offering, the god himself would be so overcome that he would drop his bow in confusion! Jitters to gods themselves – What a maiden! Joking apart, this nugget tells us that the ancient Tamils had built temples to worship the God of Love, and the people had the practice of offering milk to the deity, a tradition which is continued across Tamil nadu to this day, to other Gods in other temples.

Returning, the man ends with a reaction for the maiden that made me burst out laughing every time I read it. He says this is the reaction that arises in the other married women in that town, who realise what a danger this lady is, and decide they are not going to buy buttermilk from this maiden, thinking it’s better to eat their rice with a dash of mango pickle than having her walking about their streets. Also, as an extra caution, until she’s gone, they decide to lock up their husbands all day within their homes ! A hyperbole to sketch this ancient woman’s allure, no doubt, but the verse also captures vividly a person’s mindset, when in the throes of passion, which makes them see the significant other as someone so beautiful, divine and out of this world! Isn’t that what love is all about?