Kalithogai 23 – Feelings of forsakenness

Sangam Lit

In this episode, we listen to the lady’s feelings of despair, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Kalithogai 23, penned by the Chera King Paalai Paadiya Perunkadunko. The verse is situated in the ‘Paalai’ or ‘Drylands landscape’ and vividly sketches the shades of abandonment.

இலங்கு ஒளி மருப்பின் கைம்மா உளம்புநர்,
புலம் கடி கவணையின், பூஞ் சினை உதிர்க்கும்
விலங்கு மலை வெம்பிய போக்கு அரு வெஞ் சுரம்
தனியே இறப்ப, யான் ஒழிந்திருத்தல்
நகுதக்கன்று, இவ் அழுங்கல் ஊர்க்கே:
இனி யான்,
உண்ணலும் உண்ணேன்; வாழலும் வாழேன்

தோள் நலம் உண்டு துறக்கப்பட்டோர்
வேள் நீர் உண்ட குடை ஓரன்னர்

நல்குநர் புரிந்து நலன் உணப்பட்டோர்
அல்குநர் போகிய ஊர் ஓரன்னர்

கூடினர் புரிந்து குணன் உணப்பட்டோர்
சூடினர் இட்ட பூ ஓரன்னர்

என ஆங்கு,
யானும் நின்னகத்து அனையேன்; ஆனாது,
கொலை வெங் கொள்கையொடு நாய் அகப்படுப்ப,
வலைவர்க்கு அமர்ந்த மட மான் போல,
நின் ஆங்கு வரூஉம் என் நெஞ்சினை
என் ஆங்கு வாராது ஓம்பினை கொண்மே.

The lady comes to the spotlight as she tries to convince the man to take her along. The words can be translated as follows:

“The field guards, wanting to chase away an elephant with bright and shining tusks, pelt stones with their slings and end up shedding flowers from branches in those radiant mountains. Those lush lands have been scorched to become a formidable drylands and you intend to part away alone, leaving me behind. This would become a laughable thing for this uproarious town. And so, I intend not to eat or live anymore!

Those whose beauty has been savoured and abandoned, are akin to the palm leaf bowls, discarded by those who have had their fill of water.

Those whose beauty has been savoured with grace and abandoned, are akin to a town whose inhabitants have left to live elsewhere.

Those whose health has been savoured and then abandoned, are akin to flowers thrown away after use.

And so, I too seem to have lost value to you. Akin to how a naive deer is captured by hunters, when surrounded by murderous hunting dogs, my heart seems to want to only come along with you, leaving me behind. So, take it and protect it well!”

Let’s delve into the details. The verse is situated in the context of the man’s parting from the lady after marriage and it’s the lady speaking these words to the man. She starts with a description of a once-prosperous place in the mountains, where field guards wanting to chase away elephants throw stones and these end up shedding flowers from branches. But now, this lush land had turned a drylands, and the man intended to leave there, leaving behind the lady, and somehow the lady says this is going to make her an object of ridicule among the townspeople. I’m clueless as to why! Was it a shameful thing to go in search of wealth, leaving behind your wife?

Returning, we find the lady declaring that she’s neither going to eat nor live, if the man were to persist in his decision. Following this, she sketches three different scenarios – a bowl made of palm leaf, discarded after a thirsty person had drunk from it, a town where the inhabitants live no more, and flowers, thrown away after use. And that’s exactly, the state of those who have been loved and left behind, the lady says, declaring that she too seems to have lost her use to the man. While that may be so, like a deer captured by hunting dogs, which has to leave with the hunters, her heart too surrounded by these feelings, seems to want to leave with the man, forsaking the lady. The lady concludes her statement asking the man to take care of her heart that is no longer hers!

Yet again, we see a portrayal of the woman as someone who cannot go on without her man. Leaving aside this outdated notion, I would like to zoom on to something subtle mentioned here: A cup made of palm leaves, from which people used to drink water. Imagine the intricate craftsmanship of that vessel to help people drink up with shedding a drop. Also, even when discarded how that vessel hurts not the earth, unlike the ubiquitous plastic and paper cups of our generation that chokes the landfills and oceans. Here’s to reviving some thoughtful inventions of the past, so that we do not let the earth we live on, feel abandoned like the lady in this verse!