In this episode, we listen to a detailed account of the agricultural wealth of a country, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Puranaanooru 120, penned about the Velir King Vel Paari by the poet Kabilar. The verse is situated in the category of ‘Pothuviyal Thinai’ or ‘Miscellaneous matters’ and details the lifestyle of the people in the king’s land.

வெப்புள் விளைந்த வேங்கைச் செஞ் சுவல்
கார்ப் பெயல் கலித்த பெரும் பாட்டு ஈரத்து,
பூழி மயங்கப் பல உழுது, வித்தி,
பல்லி ஆடிய பல் கிளைச் செவ்விக்
களை கால் கழாலின், தோடு ஒலிபு நந்தி,
மென் மயில் புனிற்றுப் பெடை கடுப்ப நீடி,
கருந் தாள் போகி, ஒருங்கு பீள் விரிந்து,
கீழும் மேலும் எஞ்சாமைப் பல காய்த்து,
வாலிதின் விளைந்த புது வரகு அரிய,
தினை கொய்ய, கவ்வை கறுப்ப, அவரைக்
கொழுங் கொடி விளர்க் காய் கோட் பதம் ஆக,
நிலம் புதைப் பழுனிய மட்டின் தேறல்
புல் வேய்க் குரம்பைக் குடிதொறும் பகர்ந்து,
நறு நெய்க் கடலை விசைப்ப, சோறு அட்டு,
பெருந்தோள் தாலம் பூசல் மேவர,
வருந்தா யாணர்த்து; நந்தும்கொல்லோ
இரும் பல் கூந்தல் மடந்தையர் தந்தை
ஆடு கழை நரலும் சேட் சிமை, புலவர்
பாடி ஆனாப் பண்பின் பகைவர்
ஓடு கழல் கம்பலை கண்ட
செரு வெஞ் சேஎய் பெரு விறல் நாடே!

A long song in the theme of immense wealth in Paari’s country and its changing fate. The poet’s words can be translated as follows:

“The red soil, on which the ‘vengai’ tree soars amidst the searing heat, is moistened by the widespread rains of the monsoon. This fertile mud is mixed well and ploughed upon, and then, seeds are sown. When stalks with many branches shoot up, ‘palli’ weeds grow along and these are weeded out to make grains grow luxuriantly. They appear in the shade of a delicate peahen that has laid eggs recently. These dark stalks stand tall, and mature together uniformly, without any differences, and burst into grains at the top and bottom, growing in abundance. The people there harvest such stacks of ‘varagu’ millets, gather ‘thinai’ millets, collect sesame seeds, and pluck from the fleshy vines of ‘avarai’ beans, seeing that these have fruited in the right proportion. Then, bringing out the aged toddy that has been buried under the ground, they share that liquor with people in all the grass-thatched huts around, along with lentils fried in fragrant oil, and cooked rice. Women with fleshy arms wash huge plates of food. Such painless and plentiful prosperity, this land was filled with. All that is about to end in this country belonging to the father of these maiden with thick and luxuriant hair. Alas! This is the fate of this land, where swaying bamboos resound in distant peaks, and poets sing ceaselessly of the king’s good nature – The one, who always hears the lamenting sound of enemy anklets running away from his battlefield; The lord, who desires and wins over battles in this land of victory!”

Let’s take a deeper dive into this verse! First of all, the poet points to an ‘Indian Kino Tree’ standing tall and he tells us about how it has taken in the heat of summer and soared high. From the tree, he turns his attention to the soil and talks about how the changing season of monsoon brings down heavy rains and makes the land fertile. On this moistened land, farmers plough and sow many seeds. When they sprout into stalks, weeds grow along with that and these are quickly taken care of, by the farmers to ensure a rich harvest of multitude of crops such as kodo millet, foxtail millet, sesame seeds and broad beans as well. Once the harvest of these crops is done, after their hard work, these ancestors liked to party with the aged toddy buried under the ground, sharing it with all their neighbours, and also savouring fried grams as snack and cooked rice, perhaps following the truth that alcohol does no good to an empty stomach. And, many plates of such relished food would be washed by maiden in the house, the poet adds. This long list of details, the poet mentions to talk about the wealth of King Paari’s country, and adds how poets sing endlessly about him and how in his land of victory, the king is used only to hearing the sound of enemy anklets running away in defeat. He concludes with his lament that all this is about to end now that the king is gone. 

The thing about Sangam Literature is that they find so many different ways of conveying the same core message, be it in ‘Aham’ or ‘Puram’ verses. In poem after poem, we have seen how the poet references to different aspects of the king’s land only to feel sad that it’s now gone. Although repetitive, perhaps this style talks about the creativity of the poets, and also, their belief that somethings should be visited again and again, before the mind can find its resolution. And taking that leaf of thought from this verse, if we too can accept that our minds sometimes keep making the same mistakes, we can lead our lives with more patience and perseverance.