Puranaanooru 273 – Lament for a horse

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In this episode, we hear the lament of a warrior’s wife, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Puranaanooru 273, penned by the poet Erumai Veliyanaar. Set in the category of ‘Thumbai Thinai’ or ‘Battle of two kings’, the verse projects sorrow on an animal in the battlefield.

மா வாராதே; மா வாராதே;
எல்லார் மாவும் வந்தன; எம் இல்,
புல் உளைக் குடுமிப் புதல்வற் தந்த
செல்வன் ஊரும் மா வாராதே
இரு பேர் யாற்ற ஒரு பெருங் கூடல்
விலங்கிடு பெரு மரம் போல,
உலந்தன்றுகொல், அவன் மலைந்த மாவே?

A tiny song brimming with emotion. The poet’s words can be translated as follows:

“The horse isn’t back! The horse isn’t back! The horses of all others are back; The horse belonging to the lord of my house, who sired our young son with a sparse hair knot, isn’t back! Is it because the horse that bore him in the battle has perished, akin to a huge tree caught in the confluence of two great rivers?”

Let’s explore the words in this verse. The poet speaks in the voice of a soldier’s wife exclaiming over and over than the horse ridden by her husband has not returned while that of all others has come home. We know it’s the wife talking because she mentions the horse as belonging to the man who sired her young son. Conjuring a stunning simile wherein a tree happens to find itself utterly ruined because it’s at the meeting point of two wild rivers, the lady concludes wondering if that’s the state of her man’s horse caught in the battle between the two kings.

A poignant verse where anxiety about a man’s absence is projected on the animal that accompanies him. In a tangent, the verse portrays the predominant use of horses in battles from this time and place. As witnessed over and over in history, in the clash of two civilisations, it has always been the ones on horses who have emerged victors. This verse indirectly depicts how these fleet-footed battle animals were endowed with respect and love in the household of warriors!