In this episode, we perceive the journey of a people in search of a better life, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Puranaanooru 391, penned about the Leader Poraiyaatrukizhaan, by the poet Kalladanaar. Set in the category of ‘Paadaan Thinai’ or ‘Praise’, the verse expresses the hope of finding refuge in the domain of this prosperous ruler.

தண் துளி பல பொழிந்து எழிலி இசைக்கும்
விண்டு அனைய விண் தோய் பிறங்கல்
முகடுற உயர்ந்த நெல்லின் மகிழ் வரப்
பகடு தரு பெரு வளம் வாழ்த்தி, பெற்ற
திருந்தா மூரி பரந்து படக் கெண்டி,
அரியல் ஆர்கையர் உண்டு இனிது உவக்கும்
வேங்கட வரைப்பின் வட புலம் பசித்தென,
ஈங்கு வந்து இறுத்த என் இரும் பேர் ஒக்கல்
தீர்கை விடுக்கும் பண்பு இல முதுகுடி
நனந்தலை மூதூர் வினவலின்………..
‘முன்னும் வந்தோன் மருங்கிலன், இன்னும்
அளியன் ஆகலின், பொருநன் இவன்’ என,
நின் உணர்ந்து அறியுநர் என் உணர்ந்து கூற,
காண்கு வந்திசின் பெரும, மாண்தக
இரு நீர்ப் பெருங்கழி நுழை மீன் அருந்தும்
துதைந்த தூவி அம் புதாஅம் சேக்கும்
ததைந்த புன்னைச் செழு நகர் வரைப்பின்,
நெஞ்சு அமர் காதல் நின் வெய்யோளொடு,
இன் துயில் பெறுகதில் நீயே வளஞ்சால்
துளி பதன் அறிந்து பொழிய,
வேலி ஆயிரம் விளைக, நின் வயலே!

Praises continue to pour at the gates of rulers. The poet’s words can be translated as follows:

“Pouring down cool raindrops, clouds resound and swirl around sky-soaring hills. Heaped like these hills, were mounds of paddy, harvested by the joyful work of oxen. Praising this great prosperity and obtaining huge chunks of meat, they spread it, cooked it, relished it with toddy and lived happily in the north of the Venkatam Hills. Since drought spread in that region, my huge group of kith and kin came here seeking. When the ancient people there, who never have to leave from that widespread place, were asked… Knowing about you and seeing me, they said, ‘This person came before too, and he is a supplicant who is to be pitied.’ So, I came to see you, O lord, in your prosperous mansion, surrounded by ‘punnai’ trees, in which beautiful storks, with thick feathers, after feeding on the fish in the dark backwaters, rests upon. Here, may you always attain a sweet sleep with your wife, who resides in your heart with love, and may the rains know the needs of all your fields and make them flourish in thousands of ‘veli’.”

Let’s explore the details. The poet, wishing to talk about mountains, mentions clouds, which pour down rain drops, and talks about their tendency to envelope these projections on the land. Here, the poet gives us a subtle geography lesson on the inseparable bond between clouds that bear rain and mountains that stop them in their tracks and make them pour down, much to the joy of those living there. Moving on, these mountains have been spoken about to place them in parallel to heaps of paddy that were to be found in a particular place. Here, people like the poet praised the wealth of this land made possible by the oxen, they called their possessions. As a gift they obtained pieces of meat and toddy. Such was the happy life of his kith and kin, the poet reveals, in a country to the north of Venkatam Hills, identified as the contemporary Tirupati Hills in the state of Andhra Pradesh. 

But that life had to end, continues the poet, saying drought and famine spread in that region, and so they all came to this town, whose people had been living there from ancient times, so deep were their roots. This is the story of migration which perpetually keeps repeating in the history of human life! Those migrants questioned the people living there and because they knew about their leader’s generosity, they spoke kind words to allay the poet’s situation and directed him to the ruler’s abode. To describe this place, the poet calls in thick-feathered birds that have had a plentiful catch of fish in the backwaters and are now retiring for the day in the soaring ‘Laurelwood’ trees. These ‘punnai’ trees surround the leader’s home, indicating that this is a coastal town. The poet concludes with a blessing that the leader should always sleep in peace with his loving wife, and also, that the rains should always understand the needs of the leader’s fields, and make them flourish vastly. In the original verse, the word ‘veli’ is used in connection with the prosperity of these fields, and though that word means ‘fence’ in contemporary Tamil, here it’s used as a measure of land such as acres or hectares, which we employ today. The nuanced element in this blessing is how the poet personifies the rains as a knowing entity that has the ability to pour according to the needs of a land. And thus, the poet neatly ties up the verse starting from the rain clouds around the mountains to the raindrops on the fields beneath!