BRAHMINS IN SANGAM LITERATURE-9 PURANANOORU

LITERATURE-LIGHT ANS DELIGHT

BRAHMINS IN SANGAM LITERATURE-9
                   Purananooru

"The flow of Time without beginning and end"- this is how Indians generally look at time. Senior friends may recall the first sentence with which Kalki's  most famous historical novel 'Ponniyin Selvan' begins: 'Aaadi andamillaada kaala vellattil'!

Westerners fixed some arbitrary date and considered as historical events after this date , and  as pre-historical what was supposed to have taken place before that.History is supposed to be based on 'facts'; pre-history is largely considered to be imaginary or legendary.

But any one studying this critically will simply laugh at such views. Take even modern history. How much of it is really historical?  John Kennedy was supposed to be such a great figure and the offficial accounts lionised him. So many unsavoury 'facts' have surfaced now. Take an event like India's partition in 1947. So many books have been written; yet who knows all that really happened? How much of what is written about Gandhi or Nehru is factual, and how much fanciful? If we dig out the so called archival material, so much of what is considered history will be seen to be pure muck. Official Indian history textbooks totally sideline Sri Aurobindo or Subhas Bose. Yet the then Viceroy himself recorded that Sri Aurobindo was the most dangerous person in India then! And Bose's INA was one of the reasons why the British hastened their decision to leave India. But in which history books are these 'facts' mentioned? Let me cite one more instance. Mahatma Gandhi visited a British politician in hospital when he was not well.(Either Pethic Lawrence or Fenner Brockway) During their conversation, Gandhiji just stroked him to express his wishes. That politician later said that his pain disappeared with that. Is this fact or miracle, history or legend? (This has been recorded by C.Subramaniam in his reminiscences.) Thus if we have to be true to history, we will have to go on revising it endlessly, so that a later generation may refute things which the earlier ones thought was 'history'. If we thus read history, we will not believe in greatness at all - it is all make-believe!

Indians have had better sense. They have two clear categories- Purana and Itihasa. Purana is unimaginably  ancient. It contains truths in the form of legend , story and allegory, based on some initial historic material. Itihas, as the name reveals, is: Iti-ha-asa= it happened like this ie history.There are 18 Puranas, but only two Itihasas- Ramayana and Mahabharata. Brahminical life is based on Itihasa-Purana, as much as Veda-Upanishad; it is the belief that the Vedic truths are revealed through Itihasa -Purana. The Mahabharata is called the 5th Veda which can be read by everybody! We saw that the Vedic/Puranic Deities like Indra/Varuna were worshipped in the Sangam period. We find extensive references to Itihasa-Purana in Sangam literature (apart from later sectarian Bhakti literature).

Tripura Dahanam

Poet Ila Naaganaar sings about Pandya king Nanmaaran..55

Ongumalaip peruvil paambu jnaan koleei

Orukanai kondu mooveyil udatri

Peruviral amararkku venri thanda

Karaimidatru annal kaamar chennip

Pirai nudal vilangum orukan.

Taking the huge mountain (Meru) as the mighty bow, and the snake (Vaasuki) as the string,aiming  a single mighty matchless arrow and burning the three forts and reducing them to ashes, Lord Shiva, with the blue throat conferred victory on the brave Devas. A matchless eye (of fire) adorns his beautiful forehead, with the cresent moon.

The poet has given us a beautiful account here of the Puranic incident of Tripura dahanam. Centuries later, Manikkavachakar sang this in his Tiruvachakam (Tiruvundiyaar) in his own exquisite manner.

Valaindadu villu vilaindadu poosal
Vulaindana muppuram undeepara
Vorungudan vendavaaru undeepara

Mahameru bent like the bow. War began. The three puras became troubled. Instantly they were reduced to ashes.

Eerambu kandilam ekambar tam kaiyil
Ore ambey muppuram undeepara
Onrum perumigai undeepara.

We have not seen a second arrow in the Lord's hand. A single arrow was enough to account for the three puras. We say, even that one was too much!

 Arunagirinatha  explains why even that single arrow  was  excess. The Devas were eager to help Lord Shiva in many ways but he did not need any help. He just looked and smiled,and caused the fire :

 "Azhalunda nakum tiral kondavar" (Tirupparanmkunram Tiruppugazh-Kanakam tiralginra)

What is this 'muppuram'- the three places with forts,etc? Simple devotees take it as a physical fact, but philosophically they represent the three blemishes from which human beings suffer: ego, karma, maya.These cannot go without the grace of God. Devotees obtain it through devotion, the asuras attract it through combat. Thirumoolar puts it succinctly:

Muppuram enbadu mummala kaariyam
Appuram erittamai yaar arivaarey!

The three puras mean the three blemishes. Who can know how they were burnt!

Lord Shiva's third eye is associated with fire- it burnt Manmatha too! But the real meaning of the third eye is that it is not fleshy-physical, but signifies Jnana which alone can remove all blemishes. The ajna chakra is located at that spot in the forehead.

The reference to  'Oru kanai'-single arrow is also significant. In Tamil, Oru does not mean just one. It also means matchless. Here, it signifies the legend that it packed the power of three Deities: Vishnu, Agni, Vaayu. So it was unique.

It is remarkable how much of Puranic lore is packed and implied in these four lines of the Sangam poet! But he proceeds further to wish the king long life and in that context mentions the Lord of Tiruchendur.

Nee needu vaazhiya.....thaazh neer
Ventalaip punari alaikkum senthil
Neduvaell nilaiyia kaamar viyanturai
Kaduvali toguppa yeendiya
Vadu aazh ekkar manalinum palave.

Lord Kumara with his long spear stays in this Senthil, where the ocean is constantly throwing up waves with white foams. May you live longer than the number of sand particles found on the extensive  beach here.

If Lord Shiva destroyed the three forts, Kumara also appeared to destroy some Asuras and restore the heavenly abode to Indra. Restoration of Indra really means that the Yajnas which sustain Indra and other Devas are protected. To perform Yajna is one of the six duties of Brahmins. It is therefore significant that the poet concludes with a reference to Kumara , the 'vipra kula yaaga Sabapati'!

King like the Deities.

The same king is praised by poet Nakkeerar too.56

Yaetru valan vuyariya yerimarul avirsadai
Maatrarum kanichi manmidatronum (1)
Kadal valar purivalai puraiyum meni
Adal ven naanjil panaikodiyonum      (2)
Mannuru tirumani puraiyum meni
Vinnuyar putkodi viralvaei yonum      (3)
Manimayil vuyariya maara venrip
Pinimukha voordhi onnseiyonum, yena       (4)
Jnalam kaakkum kaala munpin
Thola nal isai naalvar vullum
Kootru otteeye maatru arum seetram
Vali otteeye vaaliyonai
Pugazh otteeye igazhunat adunanai
Murugu otteeye munniyadu mudittalin.

Lord Shiva,the mighty one, with his hair spread out like the red fire, with his changeless weapon and his blue throat,  (1)
Balarama,white like the conch obtained from the sea, with the plough as weapon bringing victory, and his flag with the palm tree inscribed on it, (2)
Vishnu, full of valour,dark blue like the precious stone dug out from the earth, with his flag of Garuda (3)
Kumara,  shining reddish, seated on the  beautiful blue peacock, always attended by high victory (4)

So these four are protecting the world. Among these famed ones-
you are like Shiva in your anger
you are like Balarama in strength
you are like Vishnu in destroying enemies
you are like  the handsome Muruga in accomplishing the thing contemplated.

The poet is of course showering high praise. But in the process, he is mentioning details of Hindu Gods like their form, colour, weapon, flag, essence of their function, etc which is usually seen in dhyana slokas! Two facts are worthy of special note.
We had seen earlier that the ancient Tamils had divided the land into five natural regions and had prescribed a Godhead for each. Here Nakkeerer is talking about Shiva and Balarama. Balarama wth his plough as the weapon is considered the Lord of the cultivated areas. Vendan or Indra is also considered so. This is a little mystery. Lord Shiva has no specific area- He seems to be an over-arching Presence. We can see that in ancient Tamil land the devotees of the different Deities had not formed into sects and started quarrelling! There is no record of Balarama having been worshipped as a separate Deity elsewhere in India, though in Puri Jagannath, he is celebrated along with Krishna. That Balarama was assigned the status of the lord of one of the natural regions in ancient Tamil land is a fact which has not been sufficiently highlighted.
This poem reveals one more signficant fact. Usually, Vinayaka and Hanuman are worshipped for 'karyasiddhi' ie succesful completion of the work on hand or undertaking. Here Kumara is revealed as the one who gets things accomplished! Has not Arunagirinatha sung:
"Vetri velayudhap perumaaley'!
Well done, devout Hindus have one more string to their bow!

There can be no Itihasa-Purana without Brahmins and vice-versa! That so many specific puranic and itihasic details are mentioned in this poem clearly shows that they were well known in ancient Tamil land. Dravidian fanatics may not prescribe such poems for study in schools and colleges, and thus deny the youngsters the chance to learn their own ancient literature in full, but who can erase the facts?

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