Alive they embraced the body, dead they consigned it to flames - mantrA 150

srigurubhyO namahA |

In the 150th mantrA of the thirumandiram, the sage wonders on the nature of love and human relationships which change and grow different with the passage of time. The import of this mantrA is still concerned with the transience of the physical body and the impact of time on our bodies and relationships.

வாசந்தி பேசி மணம்புணர்ந்து அப்பதி
நேசந் தெவிட்டி நினைப்பொழி வார்பின்னை
ஆசந்தி மேல்வைத்து அமைய அழுதிட்டுப்
பாசந்தீச் சுட்டுப் பலியட்டி னார்களே. I.2.8.150

Lips met lips, bodies licked in close embrace,
And love in surfeit cloyed--then died memories long cherished,
Soon the body on bier was set while mourners mourned;
All passions spent, the body in the leaping flames perished. I.2.8.150

Com - Lips met lips, bodies licked in close embrace, And love in surfeit cloyed--then died memories long cherished, (The time will come) When the wife will tire of the love of her husband whom she had wedded after the customary ritual of the ‘nishcaya tAmbUlA’ or the engagement ceremony and to whom she vowed to be ever united. She will someday even forget the reason for the love she once had for her husband and their moments of togetherness would become forgotten memories. Soon the body on bier was set while mourners mourned; and one day when her husband dies, she will join the other mourners and wail and lament his death as his body lies on the bier before being cremated. All passions spent, the body in the leaping flames perished. When the body has been consigned to flames, it is as if she has also thrown in her love and affection (for the dead husband) into the pyre. What a pitiable state?

*The sage observes the pitiable state of affairs of this life where affection and love will one day change into something quite different. He speaks here of the woman who over time has a change of heart concerning her husband who she wed after the customary rites. Though she vowed undying love to her husband, life together with him has eventually changed the nature of her love. Time and familiarity have led to a day where she barely remembers the reason why she is together with him. Still, when the husband dies she puts up the public display of sorrow by joining the mourners. Though in reality, she had consigned to the flames her love and affection for this person long before his body was set on the pyre. The sage observes that once someone dies, it is as if the love and affection that others had for them also dies in the fire. As once the final rites have been performed, the mourners just go about their life once again having all but forgotten the dead.

thirucchitrambalam |