Puranaanooru 20 – A land of peace

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இரு முந்நீர்க் குட்டமும்,
வியல் ஞாலத்து அகலமும்,
வளி வழங்கு திசையும்,
வறிது நிலைஇய காயமும், என்றாங்கு
அவை அளந்து அறியினும், அளத்தற்கு அரியை,
அறிவும், ஈரமும், பெருங் கண்ணோட்டமும்:

சோறு படுக்கும் தீயோடு
செஞ் ஞாயிற்றுத் தெறல் அல்லது
பிறிது தெறல் அறியார், நின் நிழல் வாழ்வோரே;
திருவில் அல்லது கொலை வில் அறியார்;
நாஞ்சில் அல்லது படையும் அறியார்;

திறன் அறி வயவரொடு தெவ்வர் தேய, அப்
பிறர் மண் உண்ணும் செம்மல்! நின் நாட்டு
வயவுறு மகளிர் வேட்டு உணின் அல்லது,
பகைவர் உண்ணா அரு மண்ணினையே;

அம்பு துஞ்சும் கடி அரணால்,
அறம் துஞ்சும் செங்கோலையே;
புதுப் புள் வரினும், பழம் புள் போகினும்,
விதுப்புறவு அறியா ஏமக் காப்பினை;
அனையை ஆகல்மாறே,
மன் உயிர் எல்லாம் நின் அஞ்சும்மே.

After seeing many songs on bloodshed and warfare in Puranaanooru thus far, this song comes as a breath of fresh air. The king being celebrated here is the same Chera King Yaanaikatchey Irumporai, the ruler we met in Puranaanooru 17, he, who has the gaze of an elephant, celebrated by the same poet. The words of this poet can be translated as follows:

“Even the depth of the huge ocean, width of the wide earth, directions of wind movement, and height of the formless sky may be measured but hard to measure is the wisdom, compassion and wide vision of yours;

Other than from fire that cooks rice and rays of the red sun, no other form of harsh heat do they know – those who live in your shade! They know of the rainbow but not a killer bow belonging to the battlefield; Other than the plough, they know not of any other weapon;

With an army of skilful soldiers, you defeat your enemies and then take the sands of their land, O honoured king! Whereas, in your land, only pregnant maiden would take the sand and eat it with desire. But your foes shall never taste that rare land of yours!

Well-protected forts, where arrows rest, and a fine sceptre, where justice rests, you possess! Whether new birds arrive or old birds leave, there would be no reason to tremble under your watchful protection. And yet, since you have such qualities, all lives here fear for you!”

Let us now delve into the nuances of the thoughts expressed about this Chera King. The poet begins by talking about certain concepts that were beyond measure in the time period he was living in. These would be the depth of the ocean, extent of the wide spreading lands, patterns of wind movements, and height of the amorphous sky. The poet connects these elements to the king by saying even these could be measured but not the extent of knowledge, kindness and foresight of this king. What a unique way of comparing quantities related to the physical world to qualities of the human mind!

Reading about these unmeasured concepts mentioned by this poet, two thousand years ago, made me curious about when each of these aspects were discovered. Without having to leave the comfort of my seat, today in the twenty-first century, I was able to find that the depth of oceans was discovered between 1872 and 1876. The next parameter, the extent of land was tricky for do they mean the size of the earth or how far habitable land extends on earth. I decided to go with the latter and that would mean asking the question ‘when was the Americas discovered?’. Unlike what our history books say, it was not Christopher Columbus to reach the continent first. Rather, he was one of the last, many say. Historians now contend that this discovery should be credited to a Viking explorer, Leif Erikson, who seems to have set foot on Newfoundland, a current province of Canada, around the year 1000 AD, close to 500 years before Columbus arrived here. Then, moving on to the next immeasurable thing, the wind patterns of the world is said to be published as a chart by a US geographer Matthew Maury in the year 1847. And finally, the study of layers of the atmosphere too has been going on from 1648 to 1902. So, as predicted by this Sangam poet, all these quantitative aspects have indeed been measured 1000 to 2000 years later, from the time of this poet! Today, if one were to find an equivalent for this poet’s concept of immeasurable things, one top contender would be the extent of this universe – how far wide, tall, deep does it go? Wonder when in the future someone will spell out the answer to that one!

Returning from our meanderings across space and time to the words about this Sangam king, we see the poet describing how all the people in the king’s land know of no tormenting heat other than the cooking fire and the scorching sun. This is to say the villages in this king’s domain have never been set ablaze by any enemy king. Then, the poet puts forth a delightful thought that the people of this land have seen only a rainbow in the sky but no murderous bow that rains arrows upon them. Similarly, the people here know only of one battle weapon – the farmer’s plough!

Continuing in this theme of peace and prosperity in the king’s land, the poet conjures an intriguing comparison. Saying that the Chera King has fought valiantly and destroyed his enemies and in consequence, has tasted the victory of many an enemy land, the poet contrasts it to how it’s only pregnant maiden who eat the sand in this king’s land but not a single one of the king’s foes! This fact that pregnant women eat dirt may be shocking to many in this generation and possibly people of Western cultures but this act has been documented throughout history and in most cultures. It’s a pregnancy craving and is said to affect women in tropical cultures more than the colder regions. Eating dirt is called as ‘geophagia’ or ‘pica’ and scientists are still not fully clear about the reasons for this craving. It could be the woman’s body pushing her to supplement its mineral deficiencies, some speculate! Isn’t it stunning to see this timeless action of pregnant women around the world captured and presented as a piercing comparison in the portrait of this king?

Finally, the poet talks about the guarded forts and the thoughtful rule, and mentions that the people of this land have nothing to worry about omens, such as birds arriving or leaving. In short, they need not have any fear whatsoever. The poet concludes by saying, however, the people of the land do fear one thing, and that is, some harm befalling their virtuous ruler. Moving words about an admirable monarch! The song seems to shout out from across the centuries that it’s not wars won in enemy lands but peace that prevails in one’s own land that defines a good leader!