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In this episode, we learn of the lasting legacy of a warrior, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Puranaanooru 282, penned by the Chera King Paalai Paadiya Perunkadunko. The verse is situated in an unidentified category and sketches a person’s courage and fame.
எஃகு உளம் கழிய, இரு நிலம் மருங்கின்,
அருங் கடன் இறுத்த பெருஞ் செயாளனை,
‘யாண்டு உளனோ?’ என, வினவுதி ஆயின்,
…………………………………………………………………………………
வரு படை தாங்கிய கிளர் தார் அகலம்
அருங் கடன் இறுமார் வயவர் எறிய,
உடம்பும் தோன்றா உயிர் கெட்டன்றே;
மலையுநர் மடங்கி மாறு எதிர் கழியத்
……………………………………………………………………………
அலகை போகிச் சிதைந்து வேறாகிய
பலகை அல்லது, களத்து ஒழியாதே;
சேண் விளங்கு நல் இசை நிறீஇ,
நா நவில் புலவர் வாய் உளானே.
You would have no doubt noted the unusual pauses in the rendition of this verse. This is because it has many missing lines but still we are able to ascertain the core thought with what has been found. This famous Chera king was quite the wordsmith having penned many poems in Kurunthogai, Natrinai and a couple in Puranaanooru. The poet-king’s words can be translated as follows:
“If you ask ‘Where is he?’ about the great man of action, who fulfilled his difficult duty, as spears tore apart his chest in the wide spreading battlefield…
(Missing lines)
Bearing the onslaught of the enemy army, stood his garland-clad chest. Doing their given duty, the enemy warriors threw spears many, and so his body and the unseen life within were ruined. As foes were subdued and their rage subsided…
(Missing lines)
Losing power and being destroyed, nothing but the battle shield remains. Still everything has not been lost in the battlefield, for enthroning his great and shining fame, he lives on in the tongues of poets who speak the good!”
Let’s delve into the words here. The poet starts by mentioning a question put forth about where a particular person was. This person turns out to be a soldier who fought bravely, fulfilled the purpose of his existence and took spears to his chest. Owing to the fierce assault of the enemies, his body was cut into pieces and lost in the battlefield. All that they could recover was his etched battle shield. However, you cannot say he’s nowhere for he will always live in the tongues of great poets, who will spread his shining fame far and wide and for a long time to come, the poet-king concludes. They say that history is written only by the victors. But here in Sangam tradition, we see that taken-for-granted truth not being upheld. For even the fallen are celebrated and this goes on to show that to these Sangam people, it did not matter whether a person won or lost in the end but only how they lived their life. Surely, a lesson to imbibe from the past!
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