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In this episode, we understand the preferences of victorious warriors, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Puranaanooru 297, penned by an anonymous poet. Set in the category of ‘Vetchi Thinai’ or ‘Capturing’, the verse differentiates two different types of towns in Sangam times.
பெரு நீர் மேவல் தண்ணடை எருமை
இரு மருப்பு உறழும் நெடு மாண் நெற்றின்
பைம் பயறு உதிர்த்த கோதின் கோல் அணை,
கன்றுடை மரை ஆத் துஞ்சும் சீறூர்க்
கோள் இவண் வேண்டேம், புரவே; நார் அரி
நனை முதிர் சாடி நறவின் வாழ்த்தி,
துறை நனி கெழீஇக் கம்புள் ஈனும்
தண்ணடை பெறுதலும் உரித்தே வைந் நுதி
நெடு வேல் பாய்ந்த மார்பின்,
மடல் வன் போந்தையின், நிற்குமோர்க்கே.
A verse that focuses on the material gain in a battle. The poet’s words can be translated as follows:
“Akin to the huge and curving horns of a wet buffalo that seeks out copious waters, grows the long stalks of the crop. On a bed filled with the shed pods of this crop, sleeps a sambar deer with its calf in those small towns. We wish not to take such small towns as our gift! Praising this flower-scented, sweet toddy in this old jar fitted with a fibrous filter, we declare that water-rich villages filled with egg-laying hens that dwell near river shores are the right gift for those who, even after a sharp-edged, tall spear pounces on their chest, stand tall and steady, like a palm tree with dense fronds!”
Time to delve into the nuances. The poet speaks in the voice of a warrior during a leader’s feast given before the beginning of a battle. This warrior describes certain villages where deer and their young ones sleep amidst the pods of a crop that grows like a buffalo’s horns and declares that they would not prefer to get those villages as a gift from the leader. Wonder why, those villages sound so picturesque and prosperous too, with those pods and deer! However, he continues celebrating his well-filtered, sweet toddy and declares that instead what they want are those villages with copious rivers, where water hens are known to lay their eggs on the shore. The warrior concludes declaring that only this is a fitting tribute to that warrior, who dares to stand like a majestic palm tree, in the middle of the battlefield, even after tall spears have pierced his chest!
This far, we have seen verses where soldiers declared that they cared not about the grant of villages or any material gifts but only preferred to die for the leader’s cause. They seem to have come to their senses in this verse and look forward to a life afterwards. A noteworthy point here is that the first type of villages where the deer sleeps is said to be those in the ‘Mullai’ or ‘Forest’ landscape and the second type of villages, where river hens are found is said to be in the ‘Marutham’ or ‘Farmland’ landscape. So, these soldiers are in fact demanding agricultural lands rather than forest pastures. This goes on to show the prime value placed on agriculture in Sangam times. The most elevated thought in this verse though is comparing a soldier’s brave and unbending stance to that of a palm tree. Even amidst all this pursuit of glory in war and material wealth, it’s heartening to see the soaring feeling, a tree evokes, as it continues to, even in this modern world of machines!
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