Kalithogai 83 – Spear through a sore wound

Sangam Lit

In this episode, we perceive the angst of the lady, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Kalithogai 83, penned by Maruthan Ilanaakanaar. The verse is situated in the ‘Marutham’ or ‘Farmlands landscape’ and reveals the consequences of the man’s actions on the lady.

தலைவி
பெருந் திரு நிலைஇய வீங்கு சோற்று அகல் மனை,
பொருந்து நோன் கதவு ஒற்றிப் புலம்பி யாம் உலமர,
இளையவர் தழூஉ ஆடும் எக்கர் வாய் வியன் தெருவின்
விளையாட்டிக்கொண்டு வரற்கு எனச் சென்றாய்,
உளைவு இலை; ஊட்டலென் தீம் பால் பெருகும் அளவெல்லாம்
நீட்டித்த காரணம் என்?

தோழி
கேட்டீ
பெரு மடற் பெண்ணைப் பிணர்த் தோட்டுப் பைங் குரும்பைக்
குட வாய்க் கொடிப் பின்னல் வாங்கி, தளரும்
பெரு மணித் திண் தேர்க் குறுமக்கள் நாப்பண்,
அகல் நகர் மீள்தருவானாக, புரி ஞெகிழ்பு
நீல நிரைப் போது உறு காற்கு உலைவன போல்,
சாலகத்து ஒல்கிய கண்ணர், ‘உயர் சீர்த்தி
ஆல் அமர் செல்வன் அணி சால் மகன் விழாக்
கால்கோள்’ என்று ஊக்கி, கதுமென நோக்கி,
திருந்துஅடி நூபுரம் ஆர்ப்ப இயலி, விருப்பினால்,
கண்ணும், நுதலும், கவுளும், கவவியார்க்கு
ஒண்மை எதிரிய அம் கையும், தண் எனச்
செய்வன சிறப்பின் சிறப்புச் செய்து, ‘இவ் இரா
எம்மொடு சேர்ந்து சென்றீவாயால், செம்மால்!
நலம் புதிது உண்டு உள்ளா நாணிலி செய்த
புலம்பு எலாம் தீர்க்குவேம் மன்’ என்று இரங்குபு,
வேற்று ஆனாத் தாயர் எதிர்கொள்ள, மாற்றாத
கள்வனால் தங்கியது அல்லால், கதியாதி,
ஒள்ளிழாய்! யான் தீது இலேன்

தலைவி
எள்ளலான், அம் மென் பணைத் தோள் நுமர் வேய்ந்த கண்ணியோடு
எம் இல் வருதியோ? எல்லா! நீ தன் மெய்க்கண்
அம் தீம் சொல் நல்லார் அணிந்த கலம் காட்டி,
முந்தை இருந்து மகன் செய்த நோய்த்தலை
வெந்த புண் வேல் எறிந்தற்றால், வடுவொடு
தந்தையும் வந்து நிலை.

Another conversation between the lady and the confidante around the man’s courting of courtesans. The words can be translated as follows:

“Lady:

In this wide mansion, where the abundant rice cooking within echoes its great state of wealth, leaving me to hold on to the well-fitted, sturdy door and lament with angst, what was the reason that made you delay returning with my son, to the extent of making my breasts swell with the sweet milk that I wanted to feed him with? You had said that you would just take him out through the arena with sands spread out for youngsters, to embrace and dance, to the street for some play!

Confidante:

Listen to me! In the street, where little children had become tired playing by pulling the matted, green, pot-like fruits of the palmyra tree with long fronds, with tight ropes, riding in a strong chariot, resounding with clear bells, strode your son to come back to the wide mansion. At this time, women, who had eyes, akin to blue lilies with loosened petals, swaying in the wind, stood by their windows looking outside. Thinking, ’This must be the statue of the esteemed and adorned son of the god, who abode by a banyan, coming on a ritual round during the festival time’, suddenly they rushed out, making the anklets on their well-etched feet resound. Seeing the boy instead, with affection, they caressed his eyes, forehead and cheeks and holding his beautiful hand, they made him feel special with their cool grace. Then they asked him to stay with them, and if at all, he did that, they would let go of their lament over the shameless man, the boy’s father, who had devoured their fresh beauty, and then abandoned them, without a thought. As they pleaded so, seeing these other mothers, because of this little thief, who couldn’t say no, I had to stay there. So, do not be furious with me, O maiden wearing radiant jewels. I did nothing wrong!

Lady:

Showing much disrespect to me, how can you come to our home wearing the garlands woven by those maiden with beautiful, soft and bamboo-like arms?

My dear! Amidst the pain that the son inflicts on me, previously by wearing jewels rendered by those women, who speak sweet and beautiful words, akin to a spear piercing a sore wound, the father’s state of arriving here with scars of embrace inflicts even more!”

Let’s explore the nuances. The verse is situated in the context of a love quarrel between the man and the lady, owing the man’s seeking of courtesans. These words are said by the lady to her confidante and son, while the man arrives at the end of the conversation, and listens nearby. Seeing the events in the previous verse, we had inferred this must be an affluent society. In this verse, we get evidence for our conclusion, in the lady’s description of her home as a place, where wealth overflowed, and there was always copious rice being made to distribute to guests who arrived. Then, turning to the matter at hand, the lady questions her friend asking why the confidante had delayed bringing back the lady’s son home, making the lady lament and wait by the door, when the confidante had said that she was only going to take the boy to play in the streets for a short while. The delay had made the lady’s breasts swell with milk she wanted to feed the boy, and it was flowing in waste, the lady details.

To this question, the confidante relates how the boy was going in his chariot through the streets, where little children were playing rolling green palm fruits. Hearing the bell sounds of the chariot, courtesans inside a house seemed to have thought that this was sound of a temple chariot. Running outside, they discover that it’s not the god’s statue but the lord’s son and they shower their affection on the little boy, touching his forehead and cheeks and holding his little hand. They ask him to spend a little time with them, so that they can forget the pain of suffering the boy’s father had inflicted on them, by being with them and then, abandoning them later. The boy, unable to say no, to these ladies, agreed to step inside and that’s why I was delayed, the confidante says, adding she couldn’t do anything and that she was not at fault.

Hearing this, the lady angrily asks the boy how could come there so cooly wearing the jewels those maiden had given him. Just then, she notices the boy’s father entering their home and the lady concludes by declaring that atop the pain inflicted by the boy, the father, who arrived home with scar wounds of being intimate with other women, was inflicting even more torture, just the way a spear that is thrown at a sore wound would feel!

Amidst the usual scenario of the lady’s pain and anger at her son for entertaining the wishes of courtesans that we have been seeing in the past few verses, what’s striking her is the expression ‘வெந்த புண் வேல் எறிந்தற்றா’ meaning ‘Akin to throwing a spear at a sore wound’ and this exact expression is a commonly used phrase, even in contemporary Tamil, talking about a continuity in linguistic tradition for over two thousand years!