Old Tamil Poetry

Puranaanooru – 184

If mature rice is harvested and consumed,
a ma’s* yield will last many days;
even a hundred sei** (goes waste)
if a single elephant enters it to eat,
as its legs trample more than what it eats;
if a judicious ruler collects as per rule,
his country yields a lot and prospers;
if ruler becomes weak, surrounded
by fawning ignoble kith and kin,
hankers after wealth mercilessly,  
like an elephant overrun field,
neither does he consume,
but his country is ruined too.

*Ma – a measure of land, roughly 1/3 of an acre
** Sei – a measure of land, roughly 1 3/4 of an acre

காய் நெல் அறுத்துக் கவளம் கொளினே,
மா நிறைவு இல்லதும், பல் நாட்கு ஆகும்;
நூறு செறு ஆயினும், தமித்துப் புக்கு உணினே,
வாய் புகுவதனினும் கால் பெரிது கெடுக்கும்;
அறிவுடை வேந்தன் நெறி அறிந்து கொளினே,
கோடி யாத்து, நாடு பெரிது நந்தும்;
மெல்லியன் கிழவன் ஆகி, வைகலும்
வரிசை அறியாக் கல்லென் சுற்றமொடு,
பரிவு தப எடுக்கும் பிண்டம் நச்சின்,
யானை புக்க புலம் போல,
தானும் உண்ணான், உலகமும் கெடுமே.

This poem by Pisiranthaiyaar advises the Pandya king to collect taxes judiciously. If rice is harvested carefully and consumed, yield of a Ma (1 Ma = roughly 1/3 of an acre) will last for many days. But yield of even a 100 Sei (1 Sei = roughly 1 3/4 of an acre) will be wasted if an elephant enters it, because it tramples much more with its legs than what it eats. Similarly, if a ruler collects taxes as per rule, his country will yield a lot to him and it will prosper too. However, if he becomes weak and on the advice of fawning relatives he collects taxes without any mercy on the populace, his country will become like an elephant entered field. He won’t get what he wishes for, but his country too will be ruined.

It is a sage advice to rulers. Collect taxes carefully. If you put too much pressure on the populace, you won’t get what you wish and your country will be ruined. Keep your relatives and yes men off the government.

யானை புக்க புலம் போல,
தானும் உண்ணான், உலகமும் கெடுமே.
I could not match the brevity of these lines. All I could muster was

Like an elephant overrun field,
neither does he consume,
but his country is ruined too.

Puranaanooru – 196

To grant if it is possible
or to refuse if not possible,
is the practice of gallant men;
To promise when not possible
or to refuse when possible,
these two cause supplicant’s grief
and also lead to patron’s shame;
Your action is like that;
I’ve seen what my ancestors did not;
May your sons be free of illness;
I too, without cursing the heat or idling in rain,
will be on my way to my impoverished home,
a hole in a rock guarding us from the wind,
thinking of my chaste young wife who awaits me
with not a jewel on her but modesty;
May you have a good day.

ஒல்லுவது ஒல்லும் என்றலும், யாவர்க்கும்
ஒல்லாது இல் என மறுத்தலும், இரண்டும்,
ஆள்வினை மருங்கின் கேண்மைப் பாலே;
ஒல்லாது ஒல்லும் என்றலும், ஒல்லுவது
இல் என மறுத்தலும், இரண்டும், வல்லே
இரப்போர் வாட்டல் அன்றியும், புரப்போர்
புகழ் குறைபடூஉம் வாயில்அத்தை;
அனைத்து ஆகியர், இனி; இதுவே எனைத்தும்
சேய்த்துக் காணாது கண்டனம்; அதனால்,
நோய் இலராக நின் புதல்வர்; யானும்,
வெயில் என முனியேன், பனி என மடியேன்,
கல் குயின்றன்ன என் நல்கூர் வளி மறை,
நாண் அலது இல்லாக் கற்பின் வாள் நுதல்
மெல் இயல் குறு மகள் உள்ளிச்
செல்வல் அத்தை; சிறக்க, நின் நாளே!

Poet Aavoor Moovan Kilar has come to the Pandya King’s (Ilavanthikai Palli Thunjiya Nanmaran) to sing his praise and get gifts. The King neither gives a gift nor refuses, but keeps on dragging his feet. The poet is upset and wrote this poem. “Either to give or say it’s not possible to give is what gallant men do. To promise when it’s not possible and to refuse when it is possible cause grief to the supplicant and also bring shame on the benefactor. What you are doing is similar to that. Your ancestors were generous men who gave gifts to my ancestors. But I have seen what my ancestors haven’t seen. I will be on my way to my impoverished home where my wife awaits me. I won’t wait anymore here in your court even if the sun is scorching or it is raining. My home is nothing but a hole in a rock. My wife has no jewels but her innate modesty. But don’t think I am cursing you. My your sons be free of illness. May your day be good”

Even when one is upset by actions of the other, it is still a practice in Tamilnadu to say “May you be well” (நல்லா இரு) instead of cursing. This habit seems to be a left over from the Sangam era. A poets curse was thought to be potent. So he did not curse the King but just spoke about his own poverty and helplessness. At the same time, he doesn’t want to give up his self respect. Hence he says he won’t wait any more in the court but be on his way to his home. Some commentators interpret ‘poverty stricken hole in a rock home, that just protects from the wind’ as ‘our home which just protects us from the wind, where poverty hangs like a millstone’.

This poem from 2000 years ago says that things haven’t changed much. Tamil poets are impoverished yet imperious.

Puranaanooru – 191

If you ask why I haven’t greyed
though I’m advanced in age,
my wife’s noble, children clever;
my attendants act as per my wish;
my ruler is a just protector;
above all, in my town live
many a learned and humble scholar.

யாண்டுபல வாக நரையில வாகுதல்
யாங்கா கியரென வினவுதி ராயின்
மாண்டவென் மனைவியொடு மக்களு நிரம்பினர்
யாண்கண் டனையரென் னிளையரும் வேந்தனும்
அல்லவை செய்யான் காக்கு மதன்றலை
ஆன்றவிந் தடங்கிய கொள்கைச்
சான்றோர் பலர்யான் வாழு மூரே.

This poem is by Pisiranadhaiyaar, a poet in Pandya country. His friendship with Chola King KopPerun Cholan was legendary, though they had never met each other. When KopPerun Cholan decides to starve to death after a tussle with his sons for the throne, he sends news to Pisiranadhaiyaar to come and see him. But before Pisiranadhaiyaar comes, he passes away.

When Pisiranadhaiyaar is asked why he hasn’t greyed though he is old, this is his answer. “My wife is a dignified soul, my children are clever. My attendants are in line with my thinking. My ruler is just and protects us safely. Above all this I am surrounded by learned and humble scholars in my town. So I have nothing to worry about, hence I haven’t greyed”.

No wonder most of us bald and grey early these days.

Puranaanooru – 259

Oh warrior with shining sword and anklets,
who walks alongside cows that leap and prance
like a tribal woman possessed by spirits,
long live your valor; wait, don’t rush forward;
beware  of skilled archers who stay back
hiding in the leafy forest, as the herd
of bulls and cows they stole move ahead.  

ஏறுடைப் பெரு நிரை பெயர்தர, பெயராது,
இலை புதை பெருங் காட்டுத் தலை கரந்து இருந்த
வல் வில் மறவர் ஒடுக்கம் காணாய்;
செல்லல், செல்லல்; சிறக்க, நின் உள்ளம்,
முருகு மெய்ப் பட்ட புலைத்தி போலத்
தாவுபு தெறிக்கும் ஆன்மேல்
புடை இலங்கு ஒள் வாள் புனை கழலோயே!

Raiding the opponents livestock and recovering such stolen livestock is a common theme in Puranaanooru poems. In this poem, the warrior wants to chase the herd that is being stolen by the enemy clan. The poet advises him to not to rush forward. “Those who stole the cows will be hiding in the foliage in the forest to attack the recovery party. So be watchful, finish off your enemies before going forward. I am not holding you back because I doubt your valor. Long live your valor.”

Don’t rush headlong into battle. Be aware of hidden snipers who will attack you on the way. Clear the ground before moving forward.

I have altered the structure of the poem (transposing the first 3 line with the last 4 lines) for easy readability.

கழல் – Anklets (whic were given as token of honor to warriors of the clan)
புலைத்தி – generally translated as low caste woman, which seems to be a later day meaning. I have taken it as tribal woman, which I understand was the meaning in Sangam era.
உள்ளம் – I have used ‘valor’, though U Ve Saa inteprets it as enthusiasm / zeal.