Puranaanooru 246 – Fire of the pyre

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பல் சான்றீரே! பல் சான்றீரே!
‘செல்க’ எனச் சொல்லாது, ‘ஒழிக’ என விலக்கும்,
பொல்லாச் சூழ்ச்சிப் பல் சான்றீரே!

அணில் வரிக் கொடுங் காய் வாள் போழ்ந்திட்ட
காழ் போல் நல் விளர் நறு நெய் தீண்டாது,
அடை இடைக் கிடந்த கை பிழி பிண்டம்,
வெள் எள் சாந்தொடு, புளிப் பெய்து அட்ட
வேளை வெந்தை, வல்சி ஆக,
பரல் பெய் பள்ளிப் பாய் இன்று வதியும்
உயவல் பெண்டிரேம் அல்லேம் மாதோ;

பெருங் காட்டுப் பண்ணிய கருங் கோட்டு ஈமம்
நுமக்கு அரிதாகுக தில்ல; எமக்கு எம்
பெருந் தோள் கணவன் மாய்ந்தென, அரும்பு அற
வள் இதழ் அவிழ்ந்த தாமரை
நள் இரும் பொய்கையும் தீயும் ஓரற்றே!

While still on the theme of death, this verse offers the perspective of a bereaved woman. The queen’s words after the death of her husband, the Pandya king Boothapandiyan, can be translated as follows:

“O learned men of many virtues! O learned men of many virtues! Instead of saying ‘go ahead’, you tell me to ‘let go’ and prevent me, O learned men with crafty strategy!

Akin to the good, white seeds within the curvy vegetable with stripes like those on a squirrel’s back, when split by a sword, is the hand-squeezed rice, without a drop of fragrant ghee. This is placed on a leaf, along with the paste of white sesame and ‘velai’ greens, cooked with tamarind. This is to be one’s food. Then, a bed of pebbles, without even a mat upon it, is to be one’s place of rest. I am not prepared to be a sorrowful woman who eats and sleeps this way!

The funeral pyre stacked on black branches in the huge forest may appear formidable to you; But to me, since my broad-shouldered husband parted away, the huge water-brimming pond, filled with fully-bloomed lotus flowers, leaving not a single bud unopened, and the fire of the pyre are one and the same!”

Time to delve into the nuances. The queen starts by directing her thoughts to the poets and philosophers in the king’s court. She says that instead of supporting her in her intention, they are requesting her to not proceed in that path, calling them people with much cunning. When we query what is her intention and why are the learned men preventing her, instead of giving us a direct reply, she starts talking about a food item. To vividly portray the same, she brings forth the simile of a cucumber, which in turn is said to have stripes like that of squirrel, revealing the plant-animal connections that Sangam poets are adept at capturing. This cucumber is cut open with a sword to reveal white seeds within. Just like the appearance of these watery white seeds is the hand-squeezed ball of rice, one which is not graced by even a drop of ghee, the queen describes. This ball of rice is placed on a broad leaf and with that, white sesame paste is given along with some ‘velai’ greens, cooked with tamarind. After completing the description of the food item, the queen moves on to talk about a place filled with pebbles of many shapes and sizes, rolling about. Now, the queen connects that food, by saying this is what a woman is expected to eat, and the spot of pebbles, saying that is where she is expected to sleep, after the death of her husband. She concludes by declaring that she is not going to be one of those women, filled with misery. 

Again, she turns to those philosophers and says to them, the funeral bed stacked on black twigs might appear dangerous to them, but to her, after losing her husband, a cool pond filled with fragrant lotuses and this pyre is all the same. Now, it becomes clear that the intention of this lady is to end her life by jumping into her husband’s funeral pyre, and in fact, those philosophers were trying to dissuade her from this act, asking her to rule the country, in that challenging time, following the king’s loss. To this queen, those philosophers seemed to be on the wrong side, preventing her joining her husband, but in fact, they are on the right side of history. Sati, this practice of a woman ending her life on her husband’s pyre, which seems to have started in these Sangam times, was finally abolished in 1829 by the British – one of the positive legacies they have left behind in India. This verse is insightful because it offers a woman’s perspective on why she chose this path of seeking death. The alternative was to live a harsh and isolated life with no comforts whatsoever, be it a drop of ghee in the food or a soft mattress to sleep on. Such was the demand of the patriarchal society such women lived in and so they chose the other path – one they thought exemplified their love for their partners. Glad the times have taught many a woman that loss is real, grief is real, pain is real, but seeking death is not the path of love!