In this episode, we listen to a lady’s admonition to her son, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Kalithogai 82, penned by Maruthan Ilanaakanaar. The verse is situated in the ‘Marutham’ or ‘Farmlands landscape’ and sketches the man’s infidelity.

தலைவி
ஞாலம் வறம் தீரப் பெய்ய, குணக்கு ஏர்பு,
காலத்தில் தோன்றிய கொண்மூப் போல், எம் முலை
பாலொடு வீங்கத் தவ நெடிதாயினை;
புத்தேளிர் கோட்டம் வலம் செய்து இவனொடு
புக்க வழி எல்லாம் கூறு

தோழி
கூறுவேன்; மேயாயே போல வினவி, வழிமுறைக்
காயாமை வேண்டுவல் யான்

தலைவி
காயேம்.

தோழி
மடக் குறு மாக்களோடு ஓரை அயரும்
அடக்கம் இல் போழ்தின்கண், தந்தை காமுற்ற
தொடக்கத்துத் தாயுழைப் புக்காற்கு, அவளும்
மருப்புப் பூண் கையுறையாக அணிந்து,
‘பெருமான், நகைமுகம் காட்டு!’ என்பாள் கண்ணீர்
சொரி முத்தம் காழ் சோர்வ போன்றன; மற்றும்,
வழிமுறைத் தாயுழைப் புக்காற்கு, அவளும்
மயங்கு நோய் தாங்கி, மகன் எதிர் வந்து,
முயங்கினள் முத்தினள் நோக்கி, நினைந்தே,
‘நினக்கு யாம் யாரேம் ஆகுதும்?’ என்று,
வனப்பு உறக் கொள்வன நாடி அணிந்தனள்,
ஆங்கே, ‘அரி மதர் உண்கண் பசப்ப நோய் செய்யும்
பெருமான் பரத்தைமை ஒவ்வாதி’ என்றாள்;
அவட்கு இனிதாகி விடுத்தனன் போகித்
தலைக் கொண்டு நம்மொடு காயும் மற்று ஈது ஓர்
புலத் தகைப் புத்தேள் இல் புக்கான்…..

தலைவி
…… அலைக்கு ஒரு
கோல் தா; நினக்கு அவள் யார் ஆகும்? எல்லா!
வருந்தி யாம் நோய் கூர, நுந்தையை என்றும்
பருந்து எறிந்தற்றாகக் கொள்ளும்; கொண்டாங்கே,
தொடியும் உகிரும் படையாக நுந்தை
கடியுடை மார்பின் சிறு கண்ணும் உட்காள்,
வடுவும் குறித்தாங்கே செய்யும். விடு, இனி;
அன்ன பிறவும், பெருமான் அவள்வயின்
துன்னுதல் ஓம்பி, திறவது இல் முன்னி, நீ
ஐயம் இல்லாதவர் இல் ஒழிய, எம் போலக்
கையாறு உடையவர் இல் அல்லால் செல்லல்;
அமைந்தது இனி நின் தொழில்.

Yet again, this is a conversation revealing aspects of the ‘farmlands’ lifestyle. The words can be translated as follows:

“Lady:
Akin to the seasonal cloud that rises from the east, wanting to pour down, so as to end the thirst of the world, making my breasts swollen with milk, you have delayed in returning. After taking a round in the temple of the gods, tell me all the places that you went with him!

Confidante:
I shall tell you. All I request is that after asking with so much interest, you shouldn’t get angry with me!

Lady:
I shan’t!

Confidante:
During those unrestrained times, when he used to play with young and foolish people, games of ‘orai’, there was a woman his father desired initially. To her home, your son went, and she offered the boy, an ornament, made of ivory as a gift, and made him wear it, saying, ‘O lord, show me your smiling face’, with tears dropping down, akin to pearls, scattering from a broken strand. After that, he went to the home of the other mother. She too, concealing her suffering, came before your son, embraced and kissed him, asking ‘Who could I be to you?’. Then, wanting to see him adorned, she dressed him with more ornaments, saying to him, ‘Making kohl-streaked eyes with red lines fill with pallor, do not seek courtesans like your father’. Saying sweet things to her, he took leave, and after that, he went to the house of a new woman, who is full of ire towards us!

Lady:
Bring me a rod to strike him right now! Who is she to you, my dear son? Making me filled with sorrow and affliction, like an eagle, she pounces and flies away with your father. With her bangles and nails as her weapons, she wounds and leaves scars on his chest. Don’t do this anymore! My dear, do not go to the homes of these women, wondering if your father is there. It’s better not to go to any other home other than ours with a worrying woman like me. Let this be the last time you do such things!”

Let’s delve into the details. The verse is situated in the context of a love quarrel between the man and the lady, owing to the man’s seeking of courtesans. Here, a conversation between the lady and her confidante unfolds, around the activities of the lady’s son, while the man listens nearby. The lady first asks the confidante, where she had taken her son after a temple visit, leaving her breasts to ache, swollen with milk, like a rain cloud that arrives to quench the thirst of the arid land. She asks her friend to relate to her all the places that she took her son to. The confidante agrees with a forewarning that the lady should not get mad. The lady too promises that and then the confidante goes on to say, how the lady’s son visited the house of a woman that the man had courted in his young and unrestrained days, and there, the woman seems to have given gifts of ivory ornaments to the child, with tears dropping down like pearls from her eyes, as she invited the boy to smile.

Next, the boy seems to have gone to the house of the other woman the man married and she too, was filled with suffering. This woman asks the boy about their relationship, and like the other woman, she too gives jewels to the boy and advises him not to be like his promiscuous father. Finally, the boy seems to have gone to the house of a new woman, who was known to have much malice towards the lady.

Hearing this, the lady’s anger soars and she asks for a rod to strike the child. Then cooling down, she talks about how that woman had stolen away her husband and asks her son to no longer visit the homes of such women. It’s better for him to remain close to her at their home, the lady concludes. By tracing the trail of the little boy’s footsteps, the man’s many relationships and the way he abandons them without a care is highlighted. There’s no dearth of wealth anywhere and even such forsaken women seem to be able to shower wealth on the man’s son. All this points to an affluent society, where power and wealth seems to be concentrated in the hands of a few men, resulting in a less than ideal lifestyle for the women concerned!