In this episode, we listen to the angry words of a wife, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 36, penned by Madurai Nakeerar. Set amidst the fish-filled ponds and blooming trees of the ‘Marutham’ or ‘Farmlands Landscape’, the verse conveys facets of nature and nuggets of history.

பகுவாய் வராஅற் பல் வரி இரும் போத்துக்
கொடு வாய் இரும்பின் கோள் இரை துற்றி,
ஆம்பல் மெல் அடை கிழிய, குவளைக்
கூம்பு விடு பல் மலர் சிதையப் பாய்ந்து, எழுந்து,
அரில் படு வள்ளை ஆய் கொடி மயக்கி,
தூண்டில் வேட்டுவன் வாங்க வாராது,
கயிறு இடு கதச் சேப் போல, மதம் மிக்கு,
நாள் கயம் உழக்கும் பூக் கேழ் ஊர!

வரு புனல் வையை வார் மணல் அகன் துறை,
திரு மருது ஓங்கிய விரி மலர்க் காவில்,
நறும் பல் கூந்தற் குறுந் தொடி மடந்தையொடு
வதுவை அயர்ந்தனை என்ப. அலரே,
கொய் சுவல் புரவிக் கொடித் தேர்ச் செழியன்
ஆலங்கானத்து அகன் தலை சிவப்ப,
சேரல், செம்பியன், சினம் கெழு திதியன்,
போர் வல் யானைப் பொலம் பூண் எழினி,
நார் அரி நறவின் எருமையூரன்,
தேம் கமழ் அகலத்துப் புலர்ந்த சாந்தின்
இருங்கோ வேண்மான், இயல் தேர்ப் பொருநன், என்று
எழுவர் நல் வலம் அடங்க, ஒரு பகல்
முரைசொடு வெண்குடை அகப்படுத்து, உரை செல,
கொன்று, களம்வேட்ட ஞான்றை,
வென்றி கொள் வீரர் ஆர்ப்பினும் பெரிதே!

After the fixed interval, we are back to the songs from the fertile farming towns and as can be expected, the situation of love quarrel between the man and his lady is ongoing, because of the man’s relationship with a courtesan. The man returns home, seeking to appease his wife and these are the words the lady says to him:

“A huge male striped Varaal fish with a wide open mouth, after eating the bait at the tip of the curving iron hook, tearing the soft leaf of a white waterlily and crushing the many flower buds of the blue waterlily, leaps and soars, tangling the beautiful interlaced ‘vallai’ vines, and then refusing to come along as the fish-hook wielding hunter pulls in, akin to a mad bull that’s being tamed with a rope, full of arrogance, churns the pond, during the morning hour in your town, flourishing with flowers, O lord!

On the wide, sand-filled shores of the Vaigai river with unceasing waters, where an esteemed ‘Marutham’ tree soars in a blooming flower orchard, you united in marriage with a maiden wearing small bangles and having fragrant, thick hair, they say. As for the rumours, it seems to be louder than the uproar of the victorious soldiers, in the army of the Pandya King Chezhiyan, riding atop chariots, fluttering with flags, and pulled by horses with trimmed manes, on that day he killed the enemy warriors and claimed victory in the battle at Alangaanam, reddening the wide spaces, and conquering the great strength of the seven, namely the Chera King Cheral, Chozha King Sembiyan, the furious Thithiyan, Ezhini wielding battle-worthy elephants adorned with golden ornaments, the Lord of Erumai Oor, renowned for its distilled fine toddy, the Ruler of Venmaan, Irungo, with a honey-fragrant wide chest streaked with sandalwood, and Porunan with his capable chariots, all in just a single day, as he captured all their war drums and white royal umbrellas, making his fame spread everywhere!”

Time to sit by a pond, and watch the antics of this rich male fish! The lady starts with a lengthy description of the man’s town filled with fresh flowers, where in the wee hours of the morning, a fisherman is at his work, loosening his fishing line. At this time, a freshwater murrel fish, attracted by the tasty bait on the fish hook, feeds on it, and then tries to escape, by leaping above the waters, and in the process, tears a white waterlily leaf, crushes the flower buds of the blue waterlily, messes up the ‘vallai’ vines and refuses to be pulled in by the fisherman. To portray the attitude of this fish, the lady brings in the simile of a mad bull that thrashes about, refusing to be tamed. Consequently, the fish ends up muddling the waters of that pond, she says. A lengthy description of a farmland town is bound to have hidden meanings. But we’ll come to that in just a moment!

The lady continues by talking about how many people came to her and told her that the man had united together with a young maiden, in the flower orchard, on the shore of the Vaigai River, which is incidentally described as having ceaseless waters, a far cry from the sandy river beds of the said river we see today. After relaying her knowledge of the man’s actions, the lady concludes by talking about how gossip and slander is spreading all around town. To quantify the intensity of these rumours, she says this is louder than the victory shouts of the Pandya King Chezhiyan, when in a single day, at the battle of Alangaanam, he routed the armies of seven kings, namely the Chera and Chozha kings as well as five other Velir Kings such as Thithiyan, Ezhini, Erumai Ooran, Irungo and Porunan, and captured their war drums and royal umbrellas.

Now would be a good time to return to the description of the leaping fish in the pond, which is a metaphor for how the bard baited the man, and he fell for his words and went preying upon a courtesan, and after that, when he left her, he disturbed the courtesan’s family, implied by the white waterlily’s leaf getting torn, and worrying the lady’s kith and kin as well, defined by the ‘Vallai’ vines around the blue waterlily buds, and in short, sent waves of disturbance through the entire town, represented by the fish’s muddying of that pond.

In essence, both with the direct simile of the historical reference and with the hidden layers of metaphor of a baited fish in a pond, the lady seems to be telling the man that he has caused slander to spread in town because of his actions and thus brought much suffering to her. While the theme is the usual love-quarrels that may not be so appealing to us, what’s fascinating in this verse is the accurate depiction of a fish in the moments of being captured, which illuminates the powers of observation, and also, the interweaving of a historical incident inside a domestic situation, which reveal the remarkable creativity of these Sangam poets!