Puranaanooru 394 – Never will I ever

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சிலை உலாய் நிமிர்ந்த சாந்து படு மார்பின்,
ஒலி கதிர்க் கழனி வெண்குடைக் கிழவோன்,
வலி துஞ்சு தடக் கை வாய் வாள் குட்டுவன்,
வள்ளியன் ஆதல் வையகம் புகழினும்,
உள்ளல் ஓம்புமின், உயர் மொழிப் புலவீர்!

யானும் இருள் நிலாக் கழிந்த பகல் செய் வைகறை,
ஒரு கண் மாக் கிணை தெளிர்ப்ப ஒற்றி,
பாடு இமிழ் முரசின் இயல் தேர்த் தந்தை
வாடா வஞ்சி பாடினேனாக,
அகம் மலி உவகையொடு அணுகல் வேண்டி,
கொன்று சினம் தணியாப் புலவு நாறு மருப்பின்
வெஞ் சின வேழம் நல்கினன்; அஞ்சி
யான் அது பெயர்த்தனெனாக, தான் அது
சிறிது என உணர்ந்தமை நாணி, பிறிதும் ஓர்
பெருங் களிறு நல்கியோனே; அதற்கொண்டு,
இரும் பேர் ஒக்கல் பெரும் புலம்புறினும்,
‘துன் அரும் பரிசில் தரும்’ என,
என்றும் செல்லேன், அவன் குன்று கெழு நாட்டே.

This leader’s name is a contradiction of sorts because the epithet ‘Kuttuvan’ indicates he belongs to the Chera country. However, the other part of his name ‘Chozhiya Enathi’ means ‘Commander-in-chief of the Chozhas’. How this came about must be an interesting story in itself! Perhaps inspired by the interesting combination of this leader’s name, the poet employs a novel technique to portray his qualities. The poet’s words can be translated as follows:

“Having a sandal-coated chest, upright owing to endless practice with the bow, and fields filled with luxuriant crops is the leader of the town of ‘Ven Kudai’, the one having thick arms, where strength takes forever refuge, and the one with victorious swords- Kuttuvan. Even though the world entire praises him saying he’s so generous, please do not think it is so, O poets, who render noble words!

For, one day, at a time when the dark moon was fading and dawn was breaking, striking against the eye of my huge ‘kinai’ drum, I sang the praises of his father, who wielded chariots many and made war drums resound, as the unfading ‘Vanji’ songs of battle conquests. With a happiness that brimmed over from his heart, wanting for me to approach him, he rendered unto me, a furious battle elephant, wafting with the smell of flesh, its rage not yet calmed. Scared, I sent the elephant back to him. Thinking that I had considered it to be too small a reward, he felt ashamed, and rendered another even bigger elephant along with that! Because of this, even if my huge group of kith and kin suffer and lament, thinking ‘He would render unreachable rewards’, I would never ever go to his mountain-rich country!”

Let’s take a deep-dive into the nuances. The poet starts as is custom praising the sandal-streaked chest of this leader, and indicating that’s always upright because of the long years using the bow, and thus throws light on the leader’s skill by talking about his physical feature. Next, the land this leader rules is also fertile having lush crops, the poet continues, adding that its name is ‘Ven Kudai’, translated as ‘White Umbrella’, which should have come from this oft-used phrase for the royal umbrella, symbolising ‘ the good rule of a leader’. More praise is laid at the feet, or rather, the arms of this leader, by sketching how strength has taken an eternal residence there. There’s some mention of victorious swords too. Just when we are thinking the poet is stacking soaring accolades one on top of the other, suddenly, he topples this tower of praise and tells to all the listening poets that the world may tell this ruler is generous but prevent yourselves from thinking so. 

Then, he goes on to clarify the reason for this statement and transports them to one morning when the sky was bidding bye to the moon and welcoming the sun. The poet seems to have gone drumming and singing the praises of the leader’s father. Listening to this, the leader becomes overjoyed and wanting to shower his appreciation on the poet, sends him the gift of an elephant. Isn’t that the coveted gift of many a poet? However, the poet sketches the elephant as one, just back from its exploits in the battlefield, still smelling of blood and flesh, and in a fury too. The poet is frightened by the sight of this elephant and he seems to have sent it back to the leader. Noting that his reward was returned, the leader mistakenly assumes that the poet must have considered it to be too small for his standing, and so, to make up for that, he sends the poet, an even bigger, wilder elephant. And so, the poet concludes saying no matter how much his kith and kin suffer in hunger, he’s never going back to the leader thinking he will give him unapproachable gifts!

A classic example of the poetic device called in Tamil as ‘Vanja Pugalchi Ani’, implying the scenario when either the poet insults the protagonist by praising them or praises the protagonist by insulting them. The closest element I could find in English was the device of ‘verbal irony’, when a person says one thing and means another thing entirely. The highlight in this verse is the leader imagining that the poet must have thought the gift of that elephant to be too small. I burst out laughing when I read that line! In the scene preceding this one, the poet, no doubt, thin and famished because of all his wandering, arriving with hope at the leader’s gates, and being startled by the gift of this huge and wild elephant has such a comedic effect too. And in the end, is that elegant word-play talking about ‘unreachable rewards’ implying both a reward beyond one’s wildest dreams, and also, a real, unreachable, roaring elephant in front! In short, even if the poet had written a hundred lines of praise, that wouldn’t have been as effective as this single note of seeming censure. It’s one of those verses that show us that humour is truly the pinnacle of human cognition!