victory. A king is praised as “enemy of the Unnam of slender trunk”, meaning that he is not one to desist from his purpose even because of inexorable omens; and another is said to have warriors that care not for the bad omens from birds. The latter king was therefore styled “an enemy of birds” for he would set out to war and achieve victories even when the bird-omens were against him.39 Even voices or words or mere sounds heard at the time of a decision or during a conversation were interpreted in relation to the matter under deliberation. For instance, in the idyll Mullaippaaṭṭu, the queen is pictured as suffering in silence, for her lord has not returned from the wars at the appointed season. Her maids therefore repair to the local temple, make offerings of grain and jasmine buds, and await some “sign” concerning the return of the sovereign. As they stand with hands joined in prayer, a cow-herdess from a neighbouring stable, while trying to keep in control the calves that are restless for their evening feed, says loudly to the calves, “Your mothers will soon return to the fold driven in by the cow-herds”. The praying maids take these words to be a good omen, and therefore an indication that the sovereign will soon return. The chirping of the lizard is considered to this day to be of good omen. A poet imagines a wild-boar as awaiting the chirping of the lizard in order that it may proceed with a good omen on its predatory rounds.40 Religion and superstition and animism of the Cankam period offer material for a more discursive study. It has been the object of this chapter to point out only how far they affected the concept and interpretation of Nature poetry. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 39Patir; 61, 6; Puram; 68, 11. 40 Akam; 88. |