Kalithogai 88 – Fearing the swearing

Sangam Lit

In this episode, we observe the inferences of a lady’s perceptive eyes, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Kalithogai 88, penned by Maruthan Ilanaakanaar. The verse is situated in the ‘Marutham’ or ‘Farmlands landscape’ and etches the quarrelling and conflict in a household.

தலைவி
ஒரூஉ; கொடி இயல் நல்லார் குரல் நாற்றத்து உற்ற
முடி உதிர் பூந் தாது மொய்ம்பின ஆக,
தொடிய, எமக்கு நீ யாரை? பெரியார்க்கு
அடியரோ ஆற்றாதவர்?

தலைவன்
கடியர் தமக்கு யார் சொல்லத் தக்கார் மாற்று?

தலைவி
வினைக்கெட்டு, வாய் அல்லா வெண்மை உரையாது. கூறு நின்
மாயம் மருள்வாரகத்து

தலைவன்
ஆயிழாய்! நின் கண் பெறின் அல்லால், இன் உயிர் வாழ்கல்லா
என்கண் எவனோ, தவறு?

தலைவி
இஃது ஒத்தன்! புள்ளிக் களவன் புனல் சேர் பொதுக்கம் போல்,
வள் உகிர் போழ்ந்தனவும், வாள் எயிறு உற்றனவும்,
ஒள் இதழ் சோர்ந்த நின் கண்ணியும், நல்லார்
சிரறுபு சீறச் சிவந்த நின் மார்பும்,
தவறாதல் சாலாவோ? கூறு

தலைவன்
‘அது தக்கது; வேற்றுமை என்கண்ணோ ஓராதி; தீது இன்மை
தேற்றக் கண்டீயாய் தெளிக்கு

தலைவி
இனித் தேற்றேம் யாம்
தேர் மயங்கி வந்த தெரி கோதை அம் நல்லார்
தார் மயங்கி வந்த தவறு அஞ்சி, போர் மயங்கி,
நீ உறும் பொய்ச் சூள் அணங்கு ஆகின், மற்று இனி
யார் மேல் விளியுமோ கூறு.

In the same style as the previous verse, continues this one too, in a conversational style. The words can be translated as follows:

“Lady:
Step aside! With pollen from flowers that have dropped from the luxuriant tresses of maiden, who are akin to vines, covering your shoulders, you have come here. Why do you touch me? Who are you to me? Is it the fate of those who are weak to be slaves to the strong?

Man:
Who can even answer the words of those who are so harsh?

Lady:
Leaving aside your work, you don’t have to come here and say lies, full of nothing. Go say that to those who will fall for your falsehoods!

Man:
O maiden wearing well-etched ornaments! Unless I attain the grace of your eyes, I cannot live. What could be the fault in me?

Lady:
Some man he is! Those marks of sharp nails and shining teeth, akin to the imprints of a spotted crab on the sands of a river shore, and your garland with those once-glowing petals now faded, on your chest, reddened, as those beautiful maiden hit you with fury, all stand testimony to your wrong-doing!

Man:
Do not see me differently. I will make it clear to you that I have done nothing wrong.

Lady:
I seek no clarity anymore. As you hurried here on your chariot, you have come wearing the garland of those women. Fearing the mistake of misplaced garlands and the quarrel that will follow, you might swear a false oath and if that angers the spirits, upon whom will ruin befall? Tell me now!”

Time to delve into the details. The verse is situated in the context of a love-quarrel between a man and a lady, owing to the man’s seeking of courtesans. These words are spoken by the lady and the man to each other. The lady starts by asking the man to move away, describing how he has come there, covered in pollen, which, she infers, has come from the flowers on the tresses of courtesans. She angrily asks him to avoid touching her, and laments whether she has no other go but to bow low before the strength of this man. The man replies saying no one can answer to those who are so harshly set in their thoughts, and the lady responds saying he need not try saying any words of untruth. That will not work with her. To this, the man takes a humble stance and says, unless he gets the grace of the lady’s eyes, he cannot live. When I’m such a person, how can you think I’m at fault, he asks. ‘How dare he?’, fumes the lady! ‘Can’t I see the marks of those maiden’s nails and teeth on his reddened chest, akin to the claw prints of a crab on a river shore? Aren’t these enough to shout out all the wrong he’s done?’, she adds. The man asks her not to look at him in that manner and he calls her close saying he can explain everything. Just then, the lady declares that she needs no explanations, for if in the course of that, the man happens to swear a false oath to hide his mistake of wearing the courtesan’s garland, then ruin would fall on her head. With those final words, the lady actually gives in and accepts the man, fearing the effect of a false oath.

The importance given to speaking the truth when swearing an oath and how its consequences in angering the heavenly spirits not only affect the speaker but also the listener are some of the inferences we can make of perceptions in Sangam society. It’s interesting how this belief in being true to an oath and the consequences of heavenly fury continues even in this twenty-first century too, as can be witnessed in a court of law, during a testimony, when a person swears upon a holy book of their choice, promising to speak ‘the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth!’