In this episode, we listen to the confidante’s counsel, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Kalithogai 50, penned by Kabilar. The verse is situated in the ‘Kurinji’ or ‘Mountains landscape’ and argues for a protective attitude towards the lady.

வாங்குகோல் நெல்லொடு வாங்கி, வருவைகல்,
மூங்கில் மிசைந்த முழந்தாள் இரும் பிடி,
தூங்கு இலை வாழை நளி புக்கு, ஞாங்கர்
வருடை மட மறி ஊர்வு இடைத் துஞ்சும்
இருள் தூங்கு சோலை, இலங்கு நீர் வெற்ப!

அரவின் பொறியும் அணங்கும் புணர்ந்த
உரவு வில்மேல் அசைத்த கையை, ஓராங்கு
நிரைவளை முன்கை என் தோழியை நோக்கி,
படி கிளி பாயும் பசுங் குரல் ஏனல்
கடிதல் மறப்பித்தாய்ஆயின், இனி நீ
நெடிது உள்ளல் ஓம்புதல் வேண்டும்; இவளே
பல் கோட் பலவின் பயிர்ப்பு உறு தீம் கனி
அல்கு அறைக் கொண்டு ஊண் அமலைச் சிறுகுடி
நல்கூர்ந்தார் செல்வ மகள்
நீயே, வளியின் இகல் மிகும் தேரும், களிறும்
தளியின் சிறந்தனை வந்த புலவர்க்கு
அளியொடு கைதூவலை

அதனால்,
கடு மா கடவுறூஉம் கோல் போல், எனைத்தும்
கொடுமை இலையாவது அறிந்தும், அடுப்பல்
வழை வளர் சாரல் வருடை நன் மான்
குழவி வளர்ப்பவர் போல, பாராட்டி,
உழையின் பிரியின், பிரியும்,
இழை அணி அல்குல் என் தோழியது கவினே.

A verse that varies from the usual three-step Kalithogai format! The words can be translated as follows:

“Bending the curving stalk, filled with grains, at dawn, the huge female elephant with drum-like feet feeds on the bamboo, and then enters the plantain grove, filled with hanging leaves, and there, amidst the frolicking young kids of mountain goats, sleeps in those dark groves, fed by radiant rivers, in your mountain, O lord!

Carrying a bow, with snake-like spots, one which torments those who stand in opposition, on your swaying hands, you gazed at my friend, wearing well-set bangles on her forearms, and made her forget her task of chasing away parrots that pounce on the lush stalks of the millet fields then! Now, you need to think deeply about how to protect and care for her.

As for her, she is the precious daughter of a wealthy couple, who sought the boon of a child for long, in this little hamlet with plentiful food, where people relish the sticky flesh of the fruit that drops from the many-branched jackfruit tree upon a boulder!

As for you, you possess chariots that speed faster than the wind, and sturdy elephants, and even more than the rains, you shower your generosity upon poets, who come seeking to you.

And so, knowing that you have not even the tiny shred of cruelty that makes one wield a whipping rod on a speeding horse, I ask you to take good care of my friend, akin to those who raise the young one of a mountain goat in the tree-filled slopes. If you part away from her, the beauty of my friend, adorned with a bejewelled waist, will part away too!”

Let’s explore the details. The verse is situated in the context of a man’s love relationship with a lady, prior to marriage, and the words are uttered by the confidante to the man. The confidante first describes the man’s country as a place where the elephant feeds on a grain-filled bamboo stalk and then sleeps in the plantain grove amidst the frolicking young ones of mountain goats. Then, she recollects how the man arrived one day with a bow in hand and seeing the lady, slowly worked his charm and made her forget the task of chasing parrots from her father’s millet fields. The confidante then brings the man back to the present, asking him to think about how he would protect the lady.

To stress on her message, the confidante talks about the lady’s background, as a child born after many years to a couple seeking the boon of having children, to say how precious she is, and then talks about the lady’s hamlet as a lush place with plentiful food, where jackfruits fall on mountain boulders and are collected, without any pain or effort, and relished by the mountain folk. She also praises the worthy nature of the man, talking about his possessions of chariots and elephants, but more importantly, his immense generosity to poets and those who come seeking to him. And then, describing the man as one who wouldn’t even wield his whip on his horse, so kind he was, the confidante asks him to take good care of the lady, just the way the people would take care of an abandoned kid of a mountain goat. For if he does not do that and parts away, the lady’s health and beauty too would part away, she concludes.

The confidante is saying these words when the man has been absent from his trysting for a while and insists that he take better care of the lady. The striking element of this verse is the way advice is offered, by talking about the goodness of both parties involved and presenting the case of why it’s important to do what’s being said. Even though the verse revolves around domestic issues of the heart, it teaches a valuable lesson in the art of negotiation!