In this episode, we perceive intriguing similes that capture the lady’s changing state, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Kalithogai 38, penned by Kabilar. The verse is situated in the ‘Kurinji’ or ‘Mountains landscape’ and relates the success of the confidante’s initiative.

இமைய வில் வாங்கிய ஈர்ஞ் சடை அந்தணன்
உமை அமர்ந்து உயர்மலை இருந்தனனாக,
ஐ இரு தலையின் அரக்கர் கோமான்
தொடிப் பொலி தடக் கையின் கீழ் புகுத்து, அம் மலை
எடுக்கல்செல்லாது உழப்பவன் போல
உறு புலி உரு ஏய்ப்பப் பூத்த வேங்கையைக்
கறுவு கொண்டு, அதன் முதல் குத்திய மத யானை
நீடு இரு விடர் அகம் சிலம்பக் கூய், தன்
கோடு புய்க்கல்லாது, உழக்கும் நாட! கேள்:

ஆர் இடை என்னாய் நீ அரவு அஞ்சாய் வந்தக்கால்,
நீர் அற்ற புலமே போல் புல்லென்றாள், வைகறை,
கார் பெற்ற புலமே போல், கவின் பெறும்; அக் கவின்
தீராமல் காப்பது ஓர் திறன் உண்டேல், உரைத்தைக்காண்

இருள் இடை என்னாய் நீ இரவு அஞ்சாய் வந்தக்கால்,
பொருளில்லான் இளமை போல் புல்லென்றாள், வைகறை,
அருள் வல்லான் ஆக்கம் போல் அணி பெறும்; அவ் அணி
தெருளாமல் காப்பது ஓர் திறன் உண்டேல், உரைத்தைக்காண்

மறம் திருந்தார் என்னாய் நீ மலையிடை வந்தக்கால்,
அறம் சாரான் மூப்பே போல் அழிதக்காள், வைகறை,
திறம் சேர்ந்தான் ஆக்கம் போல் திருத்தகும்; அத் திருப்
புறங்கூற்றுத் தீர்ப்பது ஓர் பொருள் உண்டேல், உரைத்தைக்காண்

என ஆங்கு,
நின் உறு விழுமம் கூறக் கேட்டு,
வருமே, தோழி! நல் மலை நாடன்
வேங்கை விரிவு இடம் நோக்கி,
வீங்கு இறைப் பணைத் தோள் வரைந்தனன் கொளற்கே.

A mix of mythology and nature in this one! The words can be translated as follows:

“As the one, who bent the Himalayas like a bow, the noble one with moist braids, along with his companion Umai, rested upon the mountain, the lord of the demons, known for his ten heads, thrust his strong arms, adorned with warrior bracelets, under the mountain, and unable to pull them out, suffered in agony there. Akin to that, seeing the ‘Kino tree’ that has bloomed with flowers, appearing like a fierce tiger, maddened, a wild elephant in musth pierces the tree’s trunk, and unable to pull out its tusk, suffers, trumpeting aloud, making the wide valleys of the long and dark mountains resound. Such is your country, O lord! Please listen to what I have to say:

Thinking not about the dangers of the path, fearing not the snakes that rove, you come here. She, who was lifeless like a land bereft of water, in the morning, becomes beautiful, like a land on which rain has fallen. If there is a way to protect that beauty without fading away, please tell me now!

Thinking not about the darkness of the path, fearing not the night without light, you come here. She, who was lifeless like the youth of an impoverished man, in the morning, becomes plentiful, like the wealth of a generous man. If there is a way to protect that plenty without fading away, please tell me now!

Thinking not about the dangerous men of the path, traversing mountains many, you come here. She, who was lifeless like the old age of a man without virtue, in the morning, becomes prosperous, like the wealth of a skilled man. If there is a way to protect that prosperity without letting it diminish away, please tell me now!

And so, listening to the suffering that goes through you, the man of the fine mountains has decided to come, my friend, in the time when Kino flowers open out their buds, to claim the hand of the one with thick wrists and bamboo-like arms!”

Time to explore the nuances. The verse is situated in the context of the love relationship between the man and lady, prior to marriage, and speaks in the voice of the confidante, initially to the man and then concludes to the lady. The confidante decides to render a lesson in mythology, and she talks about a noble person, who was so powerful that he could bend the Himalayas like a bow. Another thing about this person is that he had moist braids of hair, and that he resided with his companion named ‘Umai’ in the mountains. These details have made many interpreters conclude that this is a reference to God Siva, whose abode is said to be in the Himalayas, with the ‘moist braid’ reference talking about how he holds the River Ganges in his tuft of hair. Umai or ‘Umaiyal’ as she’s called now is the name endowed to the consort of this God, also known as ‘Parvathi’. The confidante continues the class in mythology by talking about how a ten-headed lord of the demons, identified as Raavanan from Ramayana, decides to uproot the Himalayas and even manages to place his hands under the mountain, but just because the great God stayed upon the mountain, he was not able to dislodge it and neither could he pull his hands out. The confidante ends this narrative, depicting the roaring cries by the demon lord. From there, the confidante leaves to a mountain country, where a mad elephant in musth sees a flowering ‘Vengai’ tree, and mistakes it for a tiger, and in anger, thrusts its tusk into the trunk of the tree. Then, unable to pull it out, it trumpets aloud, making the hills and valleys around resound with its pain. The roaring of this elephant in the mountains and that demon lord is placed in parallel. Why is she talking about the roaring of the elephant? Only to describe the man’s mountain country so. After the salutation, the confidante asks the man to listen to her words.

Then, the confidante goes on to describe how the man minds not the dangers, the darkness and the highway robbers in his path through the mountains, at night, filled with snakes, for he intends to visit the lady. Because of this, the lady who was dull and barren, like a land without water, the youth of a poor person, and the last days of a virtueless person, changes utterly and becomes like a rain-washed land, like the riches of the generous and the wealth of the skilful respectively. In short, the man’s coming endows the lady with beauty, ecstasy and immense joy. Now, the confidante tells the man, ‘All that’s fine. But tell me a way so that her beauty doesn’t have to fade away!’ After narrating these words the confidante had previously said to the man, she concludes with the joyous news to the lady that the man has seen the truth of the confidante’s words and the suffering in the lady’s heart and so he has decided to come claim the hand and marry the lady, in the time of the Vengai tree’s flowering!

A verse which is a clear case of ‘Marry her, marry her’ and in that, we get to tread on a bridge between mythology and nature that we have been seeing now and then in Kalithogai verses. We also learn the preferred season of marriage in this prosperous land, and that’s exactly the time, when the bright yellow flowers that so angered the elephant, opens out its buds and announces the arrival of auspicious times!