Sandal mountain breeze

[Palaniappa]

In Jayadeva's gItagovinda, in several places, he uses the words "malaya
samirE", "zrIkhaNDazailAnila", "malayAnila", "malayajapavanEna",
"candanAnila", etc. In Barbara Stoler Miller's translation, all these
occurrences are translated as sandal mountain wind. For instance,

"Sandalwood mountain wind
As you blow southern breezes
To spread the bliss of love,
Sooth me! End the paradox!
Lifebreath of the world,
If you bring me MAdhava
For a moment,
You may take my life!"   (Gitagovinda 7.39)

The sandal mountain wind is mentioned in connection with the suffering of the
separated lovers. What is interesting to me here is the association of the
southern breeze originating in the "malaya" mountain ("potiyil" in Tamil)
exacerbating the suffering of the separated lovers.

How old is this theme in the Sanskrit literature? Is Jayadeva following any
earlier model like Kalidasa, etc? Or is he influenced by Tamil tradition where
the southern wind/breeze originating in the potiyil (malaya) mountain with
sandal wood is associated with the separation of lovers from cilappatikAram
onwards. In the vaishnavite work of nAlAyirattivviyappirapantam, tirumankai
AzvAr sings in the words of a love-sick girl longing for kriSNa, "the sweet
gentle southern breeze which has mixed with the pollen of rich sandal trees of
the potiyil mountain of the southern king (Pandyas) and has come to gladden
the hearts of this world is indeed a scorching fire to me." (periya tirumaTal
83-84)

While such a theme is native to Tamil literature, how did Jayadeva supposedly
composing his songs in eastern India include it in his work? Does
bhAgavatapurANa, which is supposed to have transmitted the viraha bhakti
tradition of AzvArs to the world of Sanskrit have such a theme? Or did
Sanskrit literature have an independent tradition of sandal mountain winds
adding to the misery of separated lovers?


Regards

S. Palaniappan