Natrinai 161 – Omen of a return

In this episode, we relish the thoughts expressed by a man returning home, as portrayed in Sangam literary work, Natrinai 161, penned by an anonymous poet. The verse is set in the forest country of ‘Mullai’ region and speaks in the voice of a man to his charioteer, as he talks about the journey back home.
???????, ????? ?????? ?????????, ?????,
??? ???? ????? ?????????? ???,
?? ???? ??????? ????? ?????? ???????,
??????? ???? ????? ???? ????,
?????? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???,
?????? ??????? ??????, ??? ????
??????? ??? ???? ?????????? ??????,
???? ??? ?????, ????? ??? ????????
???? ?????????????????-??????????
????? ??????? ???????, ?????
???????? ???????? ??????????
????? ??????? ???? ???????????
Opening with the word ‘???’, which means ‘God’ in contemporary language, the poem teases us by making us think it’s a hymn. However, we learn ‘???’ meant a  ‘king’ or ‘leader’ then. And, this makes me reflect if all the gods of various religions were indeed great leaders of the past, who have been glorified to a greater-than-human status by the descendants and their oral traditions. Moving beyond the first word, we meet with ‘????? ??????’, which means ‘a difficult work’ and refers to the ubiquitous work of war in those ancient times. ‘??? ???? ?????’ talks about ‘a blue like the eyes’ and refers to blue-lilies blooming in the ponds. ‘Blue eyes’ is a reference that we often see in western literature but to see it oft-repeated in literature from this part of the world makes us wonder whether this blue, is a deep blue, that we have taken to calling ‘black’ now or was it a hue that we cannot even imagine? Perhaps the science of archaeology will tell us someday. A lot of life floats in this song, for on one side, we hear the ‘buzzing of bees’ in ‘??????? ????’ and the ‘falling of flowers’ in ‘?? ???? ??????’. Not just the ‘kino flowers’ that are falling, even the ‘flame-lilies’ play a role as we glimpse at ‘???????’. We meet with ‘????’ meaning ‘bird’, making us ask ‘which one?’ And that will soon be revealed with the context. The verse ends on a sweet note, referring to the lady as ‘???? ????????’ meaning ‘woman with words of honey’. Now, time to learn more about the man and his lady with that dulcet voice. 
The man and lady had been leading a happy married life, when the man was called to the battlefield by their king. After helping the king win his war, the man returns home and his thoughts are filled with his lady back there. He turns to his charioteer and says, “Our king, completing the arduous task of war, has bid us farewell. Along the way through the mountains, ponds are flowering with blue-lilies, akin to eyes. In the expansive spread of the forest country, bunches of flowers fall from ‘vengai’ trees. Bees that roam in clusters scatter away on this straight and extending path, which is akin to the town of ‘Neduntheru’. Our servants walk along in a leisurely pace, resting now and then. The huge-petaled flame-lilies that look like shells are splintered by the hooves of horses.  My lady with words sweet as honey and a waist covered with fine yellow spots would be consoling my crying son with white lies about me arriving there that moment. As I rush gathering strength in my shoulders towards my lady, who is filled with love so clear, won’t a crow announce my impending arrival to her?” With these words, the man imagines his happy reunion with the lady and bids his charioteer to ride the horse fast to take him homeward swiftly.
As the man hurries home, let us slow down and savour the journey he describes. The man first sets out to explain the reason for his departure – A king’s call to his noblemen to come to his aid when war looms over the country.  The man, heeding that call, explains to the lady that it’s his duty to help the king in his hour of need. The lady, understanding his position sends him to the battlefield. Now, the war has been won and the man can return! When he was hastening to war, he did not wait to pause AND relish the journey but now, his eyes turn to take in the countryside as he returns. There, in all the ponds in the mountains, lilies are blooming, looking like a woman’s eyes. No doubt this makes the man think of his lady at home. Then, as if celebrating the returning warrior’s success in the war, yellow flowers of the kino trees clap in celebration and in that ecstatic emotion, fall down to greet him, as he speeds by.
The man then talks about scattering bees taking a relaxed sip of nectar on the flowers and the hooves of horses treading on fallen flame-lilies, shredding those flowers. This is a hidden message to the charioteer to rush towards the man’s home. The man’s servants are not in any hurry and after the hard war, they are returning at a slow pace. So, they will not be the first to go and tell the lady about the man’s arrival. The man thinks of the lady and visualises her as pointing to the front yard to their son, and in order to console him, fooling him with white lies saying, ‘See, my son, your father is there!’ He decides the need for those lies would soon be over. He just hopes a crow would caw near the lady’s home, speaking out an omen for his arrival and thus, fill the lady with cheer, so that the sweet-voiced one will not be in a state of pining, thinking that the man was far-away. Remarkable in this poem is the reference to a child, who misses his father and a mother, who tries to console him in the way she thinks best. We have seen many poems where a lady waits for the man to return from gathering wealth or fighting a war but this is the first reference to a mother and son, waiting for the father to return. A poem that rejuvenates us with feelings of a happy reunion.