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In this episode, we learn of the nature of a king, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Puranaanooru 105, penned about the Velir King Vel Paari by the poet Kabilar. Set in the category of ‘Paadaan Thinai’ or ‘King’s praise’, the verse hints about the natural wealth and beauty of the king’s land.
சேயிழை பெறுகுவை வாள் நுதல் விறலி!
தடவு வாய்க் கலித்த மா இதழ்க் குவளை
வண்டு படு புது மலர்த் தண் சிதர் கலாவப்
பெய்யினும், பெய்யாது ஆயினும், அருவி
கொள் உழு வியன் புலத்துழை கால் ஆக,
மால்புடை நெடு வரைக் கோடுதோறு இழிதரும்
நீரினும் இனிய சாயல்
பாரி வேள்பால் பாடினை செலினே.
Following our encounter with the Velir king Athiyamaan through the words of Avvaiyaar, now we turn to a series of songs on another renowned Velir King Paari by the prolific Sangam poet Kabilar. His words can be translated as follows:
“O singer with a shining forehead! The new flowers of the fragrant, dark-petalled, bee-buzzing water-lily, flourishing in wide springs, blend with cool water sprays of the cascade, which whether it rains or it rains not, flow as streams through the wide fields, sown with horse gram, falling down from the many peaks of the mountains with towering bamboos. Sweeter than the water from these cascades is the nature of ‘Paari’. If you go thither and sing his praises, well-crafted ornaments you shall get!”
Let’s explore the details herein. In this song, the poet is addressing a female singer called as ‘Virali’ in Sangam times. He then talks about a lush place, where a lily is blooming bright with its dark blue petals, bees are buzzing around it, and the nectar from this flower is fusing with the water droplets spraying from cascades nearby. Then, the poet talks about how whether it rains or not, those cascades always continue to pour down from the mountains and water the agricultural lands planted with horse-gram crops. Imagine the sweetness of those perennial waters from the fertile mountains, he tells the lady, and then declares King Paari’s personality is sweeter than those waters. He concludes by bidding her to sing his praises and earn her living.
A poet who we know is adept at portraits of nature, is bringing alive that lush land, fragrances of flowers, moisture in the air and fertility of the fields in this compact song, and as the highlight, he places the king’s nature in parallel to the waters of a cascade. In one shot, the poet entices our senses with the glimpse of that lush land and intrigues our minds with this introduction to a Tamil king from two thousand years ago, whose name lives on, even today!
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