In this episode, we listen to thoughtful words spoken to the heart, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 33, penned by Madurai Alakkar Gnaazhaar Makanaar Mallanaar. Set in the ‘Paalai’ or ‘Drylands landscape’, the verse highlights the conflict between work and love in those times.

வினை நன்றாதல் வெறுப்பக் காட்டி,
மனை மாண் கற்பின் வாணுதல் ஒழிய,
கவை முறி இழந்த செந் நிலை யாஅத்து
ஒன்று ஓங்கு உயர் சினை இருந்த, வன் பறை,
வீளைப் பருந்தின் கோள் வல் சேவல்
வளை வாய்ப் பேடை வரு திறம் பயிரும்
இளி தேர் தீம் குரல் இசைக்கும் அத்தம்
செலவு அருங்குரைய என்னாது, சென்று, அவள்
மலர் பாடு ஆன்ற, மை எழில், மழைக் கண்
தெளியா நோக்கம் உள்ளினை, உளி வாய்
வெம் பரல் அதர குன்று பல நீந்தி,
யாமே எமியம் ஆக, நீயே
ஒழியச் சூழ்ந்தனைஆயின் முனாஅது
வெல் போர் வானவன் கொல்லி மீமிசை,
நுணங்கு அமை புரையும் வணங்கு இறைப் பணைத் தோள்,
வரி அணி அல்குல், வால் எயிற்றோள்வயின்
பிரியாய்ஆயின் நன்றுமன் தில்ல.
அன்று நம் அறியாய்ஆயினும், இன்று நம்
செய்வினை ஆற்றுற விலங்கின்,
எய்துவைஅல்லையோ, பிறர் நகு பொருளே?

Back to the drylands and here, we are following the man’s trail in the harsh landscape and listening to these words he speaks to his heart:

“Emphasising how important the mission of gathering wealth was, you made me leave behind the maiden, with a shining forehead, the one who adds glory to the home, and brought me here, where upon a sturdy Ya tree, which has lost all its leaves, on a soaring high branch, a strong male killer eagle with powerful wings, cries out calling its mate with a curved beak, making that sweet sound of an ‘Ili’, resound all around the drylands.

Without thinking that the journey would be harsh and formidable, you brought me here, and now, thinking of the clear gaze in her flower-like, kohl-streaked, rain-like eyes, you want to part away, leaving me, the one who came traversing across hills many, with hot stones, akin to chisel edges, all alone!

Had you not separated from the one having a beautiful lined waist, shining teeth, a curving wrist and arms, akin to the slender bamboos that flourish atop the Kolli hills, ruled by the great king, with unceasing victories in the battlefield, that would have been good. Even if you couldn’t understand what our state would be then, if today you leave the mission unfinished and return, won’t you become an object of everyone’s scorn?”

Even as we hear the deep voices of the winged predators in the drylands, let’s turn our attention to the whispers of the heart! The man turns to his heart and recollects how it insisted that he leave on his mission to gather wealth, leaving behind his wife. Now they were in the middle of the drylands, where a male eagle with strong wings sitting atop a leafless Ya tree was calling its mate to come close and that piercing sound was ringing everywhere, sounding like the ‘Ili’ instrument. Then, the man talks about his present and says the heart, after bringing him here, has now started thinking about the lady’s eyes and feels the urge to part away to her. The man chides his heart and says, ‘At least if you had known this earlier, we would not have separated from the lady’, whom he describes as having slender arms akin to the bamboos that grow in the Kolli hills, ruled by a victorious king. The man concludes by asking his heart that now, after bringing him all the way there, if the heart were to abandon the task of gathering wealth halfway and rush back to the lady, won’t it become the laughing stock of everyone!

In essence, it’s the man who’s feeling extremely nostalgic and yearns to be back in the embrace of his lady. But to get some perspective, the man separates himself from his heart and addresses these words, thereby finding the inspiration to move forward, while acknowledging the strong force pulling him backwards. Lines that echo aloud the power of inner awareness and self-motivation that can keep us going in the harshest of situations!