78.1 Pride of the Soldiers

 78.1 Pride of the Soldiers

Question:

How does a real hero react when his king disapproves of the war?

Answer:

Even when the king disapproves, the soldiers who

are ready to die on the battlefield will remain undaunted.               (Couplet – 778)

உறின்உயிர் அஞ்சா மறவர் இறைவன்

செறினும் சீர்குன்றல் இலர்.                                         (குறள் – 778)

Explanation:

Tamil society has always been very proud of their courage and celebrated the war heroes with great admiration. Wars were ubiquitous among the kings and the chieftains who ruled the Tamil country during Valluvar’s time and even before that. In Couplet 778, Valluvar says that even if the king asks the soldiers to stop fighting, the soldiers will always be ready to fight. In other words, the soldiers were fearless and always fond of fighting. The Tamil classic, Puranaanuuru has several poems describing the bravery of the Tamil soldiers. Two poems in Puranaanuuru describe the attitudes and readiness of the soldiers to fight.

In poem 31, the poet Kovur kizhaar says to Chola king Nalangkilli , “Your warriors wearing their anklets exult at the sound of the word ‘war,’ and they tell you that they will not hesitate to march even into countries deep in the jungle and far distant!”. In poem 68,  the same poet tells about  the same king to a bard, “ When he does not command his soldiers to move against an enemy when the omens  are bad and clearly indicate subversion may exist within his land, those warriors  of endless courage shout out “We will die here!” and in a street handsomely built for the passage of chariots, they slap their swelling arms to the rhythm of drum meant to quiet them down.”

Several other poems in Puranaanuuru describe the courage and bravery of the men and women of Tamil society in great detail. Interested readers can find detailed explanations for Puranaanuuru in my book புறநானூறு  - மூலமும் எளிய உரையும் பகுதி 1[1] & 2[2] or in the book The Four HundredSongs of War and Wisdom[3] authored by George L. Hart and Hank Heifetz.

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[1]. பிரபாகரன், இர. புறநானூறு மூலமும் எளிய உரையும் (பகுதி 1). காவ்யா பதிப்பகம், சென்னை, 2012.

[2]. ________________. புறநானூறு மூலமும் எளிய உரையும் (பகுதி 2). காவ்யா பதிப்பகம், சென்னை, 2013.

[3]. Hart, George L. and Heifetz, Hank. (1999) The Four Hundred Songs of War and Wisdom. Columbia University Press, New York: 1999, page 279