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In this episode, we listen to an account of a war ritual, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Puranaanooru 26, penned about the Pandya King Thalaiyaalankaanathu Cheruvendra Nedunchezhiyan by the poet Mangudi Kizhaar. The verse is set in the category of ‘Vaagai Thinai’ or ‘king’s victory’ and speaks of the king’s enemies and their curious claim to fame.
நளி கடல் இருங் குட்டத்து
வளி புடைத்த கலம் போல,
களிறு சென்று களன் அகற்றவும்,
களன் அகற்றிய வியல் ஆங்கண்
ஒளிறு இலைய எஃகு ஏந்தி,
அரைசு பட அமர் உழக்கி,
உரை செல முரசு வௌவி,
முடித் தலை அடுப்பு ஆக,
புனல் குருதி உலைக் கொளீஇ,
தொடித் தோள் துடுப்பின் துழந்த வல்சியின்,
அடுகளம் வேட்ட அடு போர்ச் செழிய!
ஆன்ற கேள்வி, அடங்கிய கொள்கை,
நான் மறை முதல்வர் சுற்றம் ஆக,
மன்னர் ஏவல் செய்ய, மன்னிய
வேள்வி முற்றிய வாய் வாள் வேந்தே!
நோற்றோர் மன்ற நின் பகைவர், நின்னொடு
மாற்றார் என்னும் பெயர் பெற்று,
ஆற்றார் ஆயினும், ஆண்டு வாழ்வோரே.
Yet another song singing praises of the Pandya King Nedunchezhiyan and his victory at Thalaiyalangkaanam. The poet’s words can be translated as follows:
“Akin to a ship with wind-puffed sails in the deep expanse of the wide seas, elephants strode in the battlefield, clearing the path, and in the wide lands of that cleared path, soldiers stormed, carrying leaf-tipped shining spears, and thus, you rained ruin on those enemy kings, and claimed their drums. And then, with those crown heads as the stove, you lit the pyre pouring their blood and used their armlet-clad arms as the ladle in your war rituals on the battlefield, O fearsome Chezhiyan!
You performed that striking ritual surrounded by priests, with deep knowledge and strong principles, well-versed in the four scriptures, as your subordinate kings did your bidding, and completed it as it should be, O king with a shining sword! They have done penance indeed, those enemies of yours, as they have claimed the fame of being your foes, and even though they have won not the battle, they will live on forever.”
Let’s understand the details presented in this disturbing song! The poet compares the way elephants storm into the battlefield to ships with sails fluttering in the wind. After that creative connection, the poet moves on to how these elephants clear the path for soldiers to shower destruction on enemy kings. As we have seen in the previous verse, this helps the king to snatch the war drums of those enemies and thereby seal his victory. After this act, is the king satisfied? No, is the answer, for the poet tells us he’s in the midst of a gruesome ritual of piling the severed heads of kings, pouring their own blood into the pyre and using severed hands of those kings to stoke that fire. This is the gut-wrenching ritual the king is performing surrounded by priests and other kings, the poet tells us. How is it that none of them can see the brutality of these actions? Then, to cap it all, the poet talks about what glory those enemies have attained by simply being the enemies of this king. For though they have fallen in that battle, they will live on forever, the poet concludes.
While we can understand that this verse is talking about the reality of the situation then, it’s difficult to see how so many can condone and even celebrate such acts of violence. How can priests and poets believe in the rightness of these acts that show no semblance of humanity? Thinking about it, power and blind belief in that power is the sole reason for most such atrocities in history. Only a silent prayer for those in power and those around them to see with the eyes of the future in their actions of the present!
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