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In this episode, we hear about an unbelievable event that occurred in the poet’s life, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Puranaanooru 223, penned about the Chozha king Koperunchozhan by the poet Poththiyaar. Set in the category of ‘Pothuviyal Thinai’ or ‘Common Themes’, the verse echoes the elation in the poet’s mind on receiving an answer he sought.
பலர்க்கு நிழல் ஆகி, உலகம் மீக்கூறி,
தலைப்போகன்மையின் சிறு வழி மடங்கி,
நிலை பெறு நடுகல் ஆகியக் கண்ணும்,
இடம் கொடுத்து அளிப்ப, மன்ற உடம்போடு
இன் உயிர் விரும்பும் கிழமைத்
தொல் நட்புடையார் தம் உழைச் செலினே.
Here’s another short song, the last of the songs revolving around the death of the Chozha King Koperunchozhan, who gave up his life, rather than fight his sons. The poet’s words can be translated as follows:
“Becoming the shade to many, being celebrated by the world, unable to extend the rule till the end, being thwarted into a small space, he turned into a lasting hero stone. Even after he became so, he rendered his grace by granting me a space! Indeed, such things happen to those who have a deep and old friendship, akin to the bond between a body and its sweet life.”
Let’s delve deeper into these words. In the previous verse, we saw the poet ask the king, who had become a hero stone by then, about which was his space to give up his life. Apparently, the king seemed to have appeared in the mind’s eye of this poet and shown him the spot. Amazed by this wondrous event, the poet talks about how although the king couldn’t live and extend his rule, and he had to be forced into a situation of giving up his life, the king had attained a lasting fame of becoming a hero stone. And now, what was amazing then was how the king, no longer in his mortal form, had appeared before the poet, and answered him. The poet concludes by declaring such things are possible when the friendship is deep between the two people concerned.
When one says that someone appeared after their death and showed them the path to follow, those with a scientific bent of mind would say that’s most probably the imagination of the person speaking. However, those of faith believe that it’s indeed the person whom they have lost speaking to them. Whatever be the truth, this experience stands testimony to the fascination humans have with death and dying and the mysteries of the beyond.
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