Indian Antiquary Vol 28

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 38

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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
(FEBRUARY, 1893.
Should this not be theirs, in some future birth they may win release, And if there be no future birth, - yet to found Their fame on earth like Himalaya's lofty peak, And to pass away with body ungtained by evil,
Is surely asceticism's highest gain.' Piciranthaiyar came from the village of Piçar, near Madura, and so was not a gubject of the king to whom he was so much attached. The name seems to have been given to him jocosely by the king, as anthai means 'owl;' so the sobriquet was equal to the owl of Piçir, which may have been a gly hit at his verses. Pottiyar, on the other hand, seems to have lived at his friend and patron's capital. The name (if it be not a nere bye-name) signifies he of the hollow tree,' and the merry hearted king made a joke on this also, as we shall see. When Kô-Perum-Çoren went to the north, his two friends went with him, but the king sent Pottiyâr home, bidding him remain there till he had a son born to him, after which a place should be found for him in the retreat. He did not return, it seems, till after the king's death. All this is necessary to be kept in mind in reading the lyrics.
Piciranthaiyar, who was a true optimist, was once asked why, though old, he was not grey or decrepid; his reply is curious (191):
My years are many, yet my locks not grey ; You ask the reason why, 'tis simply this: I have a worthy wife, and children too ; My servants move obedient to my will ; My king does me no evil, aye protects ; To crown the whole around me dwell
Good men and true, of chastened souls with knowledge filled. At anotber time he was asked, Who is your so much beloved king ? and replied:
(212) The Merry Monarch. If you ask us who is your king'? Our king is He who To the labourers gives strong palm wine strained and mellow, And with the fat of turtle satiates their desire, And fills their mouths with lampreys' rich roast flesh. They leave short toil for feast ; the feast prolong! In that good fertile land the minstrels with their kin Find our king the foe of want and hunger's pangs. He is the lord of Kori, the mighty Gora king. He loves converse with Potti, whose friendship knows no flaw.
All the day long he laughs with heart right glad ! Had the bard of the Naladi heard this soug? Assuredly in 137 he echoes its sentiment.
It seems that when the king was in his final retreat Piciranthaiyâr did not join him at once and the ascetics around said : He will not coine. Men do not remember their friends and benefactors when they are no longer able to help them.' To this the king replied in two short songs, in which he says (215, 216) :
Though he belongs to Piçir in the Pandiyan's land, he stood by me in the time of wealth, will he not stand by me in my time of grief?'
Oye of excellence fulfilled, he was ever fall of pleasant qualities and ne'er despised me; he was joined to me by friendship's closest ties. He never delighted in falsehood that withers men's glory. When he spoke of me to others he was wont to call me, by virtue of his intimacy, the silly Côran. In my time of grief he will not fail to come. Forthwith he will be here. Prepare his place by mine.'
• A play on words: potti mong 'hollow '; but there is no hollowers in this Potti, • This illastrates Kurra!, Ch. 81 and Ch. 45.