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In this episode, we perceive an illustration of the right kind of friendship, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Puranaanooru 190, penned by a Chozha King Nalluthiran. Set in the category of ‘Pothuviyal Thinai’ or ‘Common Themes’, the verse presents a comparative study on the efforts of people.
விளை பதச் சீறிடம் நோக்கி, வளை கதிர்
வல்சி கொண்டு, அளை மல்க வைக்கும்
எலி முயன்றனையர் ஆகி, உள்ள தம்
வளன் வலியுறுக்கும் உளம் இலாளரொடு
இயைந்த கேண்மை இல்லாகியரோ!
கடுங் கண் கேழல் இடம் பட வீழ்ந்தென,
அன்று அவண் உண்ணாதாகி, வழி நாள்,
பெரு மலை விடரகம் புலம்ப, வேட்டு எழுந்து,
இருங் களிற்று ஒருத்தல் நல் வலம் படுக்கும்
புலி பசித்தன்ன மெலிவு இல் உள்ளத்து
உரனுடையாளர் கேண்மையொடு
இயைந்த வைகல் உள ஆகியரோ!
Thoughtful words from a Chozha king who turns poet in this verse. His words can be translated as follows:
“Biding the time for the crops in the small field to mature, the rat steals the curving crop and stores this food in its little hole. There are those whose actions are akin to this rat, as they hold on tight to their wealth. May your life avoid friendship with such people lacking a strong heart! As the harsh-eyed boar fell on its left, the tiger eats not that day, but on the next day, rising up hungry from its lonely cave in the tall mountains, it desires to hunt and then, fells down a huge male elephant on the right side. There are those whose actions are akin to this tiger, who have hearts of vigour with no weakness. May your life abound with the lasting friendship of such people having a determined will!”
Time to take a deeper look at the verse. As in the case of Aham verses, the poet starts by talking about the activities of an animal, which happens to be a rat. This field rat seems to be waiting for the right time for the crops to mature. When it decides the time has come, the rat would steal those grains and store it in its hole. Taking this action of the rat, the king projects it on the way some people live their lives, without spending much effort, stealing the work of others, and he declares one must avoid the friendship of such people at all cost.
Then, he turns to another animal, a tiger, which one day manages to fight and fell a boar. But however, the boar seems to have fallen on its left side. So, the tiger discards the boar and walks away. A moment to pause and note this Sangam belief that a tiger would eat an animal only if it falls on its right, which we have already encountered in Natrinai 154. Returning, we see the tiger rising the next day, full of hunger and then with the intention of a hunt, it sets out and fells down an elephant, and this time on the right side. Yet again, the king takes the action of this tiger and says there are people in the world who are like this animal, with lofty goals and vigorous efforts and it’s the friendship of such people one must seek, he concludes!
Though it’s not a scientific fact that tigers won’t eat prey that fall to the left, we can compare this thought to how certain animals will not eat a dead prey but will hunt their own. What makes perfect sense is this projection on human qualities, which sketches a kind of person, who is not opportunistic and tries to live off the efforts of others like the rat, but instead has high ideals and will live by that principle alone. Like the tiger believed to not eat a prey on its left, the human equivalent would be a person who will not accept wealth gained by wrong means but will focus all their energy into gaining it the right way, not only for them, but to give away to all those around them. Beyond these somewhat obvious inferences, there’s a subtle note that echoes aloud in this verse, and that is the timeless truth – ‘Choose your friends with care, for you will become them, so beware!’
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