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In this episode, we listen to words of praise rendered unto a king, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Puranaanooru 2, sung to the Chera ruler ‘Perunchotru Uthiyan Cheralathan’ by the poet ‘Muranjiyur Mudinaakanaar.’ The verse is grouped under the category of ‘Paadan Thinai’, which is a ‘paean’ listing the laudable qualities of a person.
மண் திணிந்த நிலனும்,
நிலன் ஏந்திய விசும்பும்,
விசும்பு தைவரு வளியும்,
வளித் தலைஇய தீயும்,
தீ முரணிய நீரும், என்றாங்கு
ஐம் பெரும் பூதத்து இயற்கை போல
போற்றார்ப் பொறுத்தலும், சூழ்ச்சியது அகலமும்,
வலியும், தெறலும், அளியும், உடையோய்!
நின் கடல் பிறந்த ஞாயிறு பெயர்த்தும் நின்
வெண் தலைப் புணரிக் குட கடல் குளிக்கும்,
யாணர் வைப்பின், நல் நாட்டுப் பொருந!
வான வரம்பனை, நீயோ, பெரும!
அலங்கு உளைப் புரவி ஐவரொடு சினைஇ,
நிலம் தலைக்கொண்ட பொலம் பூந் தும்பை
ஈர் ஐம்பதின்மரும் பொருது, களத்து ஒழிய,
பெருஞ் சோற்று மிகு பதம் வரையாது கொடுத்தோய்!
பாஅல் புளிப்பினும், பகல் இருளினும்,
நாஅல் வேத நெறி திரியினும்,
திரியாச் சுற்றமொடு முழுது சேண் விளங்கி,
நடுக்கின்றி நிலியரோ அத்தை அடுக்கத்து,
சிறு தலை நவ்விப் பெருங் கண் மாப் பிணை,
அந்தி அந்தணர் அருங் கடன் இறுக்கும்
முத் தீ விளக்கின், துஞ்சும்
பொற் கோட்டு இமயமும், பொதியமும், போன்றே!
In Puranaanooru 1, we saw praise rendered unto a God, and here, the recipient of the same is a ruler of men. These ancient words can be translated as follows:
“Land filled with sand, the sky borne by the land, the wind that blows in the sky, the fire stoked by the wind, the water that is the opposite of the fire – Akin to the nature of these five elements, you have the virtues of bearing with those who are hostile to you, of analysing the entirety of that enmity, the strength to face that enmity, the power to subdue them, and the compassion to render grace unto them.
The sun that rises in your sea moves and then dips into the white waves of your western sea. You are the king of a fine country with unceasing prosperity. O Chera king, you can touch the very skies!
Raging against the five, who possessed horses with swaying manes, wearing ‘thumpai’ flowers, the hundred waged a war upon the land and were destroyed. To both the warring groups, you rendered copious mounds of rice without taking a side.
Even if the nature of milk were to turn sour, even if the day were to turn into darkness, even if the four Vedas were to move away from the truth, unswerving is the integrity of your council. With them, may you shine fully with radiance. Without a single shiver, akin to the mountain ranges, where along with small-headed young deer, the huge-eyed female deer sleep in the light of three fires, lit by priests, who perform deep rituals at dusk – those golden-hued peaks of the Himalayas and the Western ghats, may you stand tall always!”
Time to climb higher into the verse and reach the peak of fine nuances! The first thing that strikes us is how the five basic elements are presented with such clarity of thought, rendering acutely, the connections between them. The ancients see the land as being filled with the ‘earth’ element and they seem to think that the sky is held up by this earth. Then, they sense the winds in those skies and how these winds light up the fires. A moment to pause and see the unbreakable connection between fire and air. A Chemistry lesson in itself! Without oxygen, fires burn out, and with their observation, the Sangam poets seem to know this, two thousand years ago. Returning, the final element of water, is simply presented as that which is on the opposite end of the spectrum of fire. Why, this listing of elements in science, one may ask. Only to compare the same with the virtues of the king in question!
In parallel to these five elements, five virtues of this king are presented. One, how he has the ability to bear with his enemies, like the earth. Two, how he has an expansive strategy, akin to the sky to deal with them. Three, how he has the strength, like the wind, to do what’s necessary. Four, how he has the will to destroy, like fire, so as to subdue his enemies, and finally, how he can render compassion to them, like water, when they bow down and supplicate to him. That’s the portrait of the king, embodying the great and powerful virtues of the five elements!
Next, the poet talks about how the sun rose in the eastern seas of the king’s domain and set in the western seas of the same king’s domain. This could either mean that the king’s land extended from the current Bay of Bengal to the Arabian Sea or maybe the king ruled over a huge island, say Sri Lanka, in the Indian Ocean.
Following this is a mention of the ‘Mahabaratha’ war between the five Pandavas, who are mentioned to have horses with dancing manes, and the hundred Kauravas, who were then defeated in battle. This king seems to have been the impartial party in-between, serving copious amounts of food to both the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Something that reminds us of India’s nonalignment policy today!
Following this, praise about the king’s councillors are rendered, saying how whatever may change, such the sweet taste of milk or the bright light of day or the truth of the four Vedas, the ministers would never swerve from the right path. The king is in good hands and thus the poet blesses him to continue being so and shine radiantly. To me, this marks how important it is for every leader to surround themselves with people, who are the best in wisdom, knowledge and integrity. For no one person, however powerful, can do everything for everyone.
Finally, the spotlight falls on some mountain ranges where deer are sleeping ever so peacefully in the glow of the fires lit by priests as they perform twilight rituals. And, these turn out to be the tall mountains of both the Himalayas and the Pothigai hills in the Western Ghats, and the poet concludes by wishing the king to stand as tall as these peaks, without shivering even a little.
In so many ways, this verse is a meeting of the North and the South. This poem clearly illustrates how influences from the North such as knowledge about Vedic rituals and the ‘Mahabaratha’ had entered the knowledge sphere of the South. In this case, just because the Mahabaratha war is mentioned, it need not be taken as a fact of history because this would fall under the poetic license of hyperbole, where the bard praises the present qualities of a person by projecting the same on a real or imagined event from the past. In the end, the verse leaves us with an etched portrait of the virtues and qualities of a king. And, as they say in Tamil ‘எல்லோரும் இந்நாட்டு மன்னர்கள்’ or ‘when everyone is the king of their domain today’, it serves each of us to emulate these qualities of the five elements and stand firm and tall as the ranges, be it in the North or the South!
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