Pathini

In the tales of ancient times, she who set the Pandyan land ablaze,
from then on there unfolded, o people, the saga of Pattini’s love
however hard one tries, the old memory will not fade,
through all the toil and grief and hardship, refuge lay only in the bond

Though there were vows once sworn, the husband broke them and went to others,
tragedy takes root in a heart that is neither solitary nor consoled
those who laugh with scorn, whom the eye keeps meeting,
a heart bearing such served-up fire, how can it ever be nurtured toward peace?

Like spears passed from mouth to mouth, so many people spoke,
o lord who kisses many flowers and still comes home, you defiled our love
yet, not letting her eyes cloud over, she ran her fingers over his brow,
there are still other faithful Pattinis in this world, who have borne their devotion to their lords

This song reaches back to the legend of Pattini, the deified faithful wife of Sinhala and Tamil tradition, the Kannagi who, in grief and fury, burned the Pandyan city of Madurai to the ground. From that ancient blaze, the song says, unfolds the saga of Pattini’s love, and it uses her as the lens for a very present grief: a wife’s suffering that no effort can make fade, for whom the only refuge was the marriage bond itself.

The middle is the wound at the song’s centre. The vows were sworn and then broken; the husband went to others, and tragedy takes root in the heart. Worse than the betrayal is the world around it, the people who laugh with scorn wherever she turns, and the song asks the hardest question: a heart forced to carry such served-up fire, daily humiliation, how can it ever be led toward peace?

The last verse names the philanderer directly, o lord who kisses many flowers and still comes home, you defiled our love, and shows the gossip flying like spears from mouth to mouth. And yet the wife’s response is dignity, not rage: without letting her eyes so much as cloud over, she gently strokes his brow, and the song closes by honouring her and all the other faithful Pattinis of the world who endure such devotion to unworthy husbands. Sung by Shashi Gunarathne, composed by Tharindu Damsara to words by the Ven. Ruhunuketha Dhammadewa Thero, it is a compassionate tribute to long-suffering, faithful wives, framed by the ancient myth of Pattini.