Avvaiyar and the Cowherd Boy

The wise old poet

Avvaiyar (ஔவையார்) is one of the most loved poets in Tamil history. Tamil tradition actually remembers more than one poet by this name, and many stories are told about her: a wise old woman who walked from village to village, sharing verses about kindness, learning and good living. Even today, Tamil children learn her short sayings, the Aathichoodi (ஆத்திசூடி), which begins with "அறம் செய விரும்பு", "Love to do good."

Avvaiyar was a great devotee of Ganesha, and she was famous for her sharp mind. Kings and scholars came to her with difficult questions, and she always had an answer.

Well, almost always.

A long, hot road

The story goes that one summer afternoon, Avvaiyar was walking along a dusty country road. The sun blazed down. Her feet ached and her throat was dry. At last she came to a big naval tree (நாவல் மரம்), the jamun tree with its sweet, dark purple fruit, and she sat down gratefully in its shade.

"Ah," she sighed. "A little rest, and then I shall walk on."

"Paatti! Paatti!" called a voice from above. (Paatti, பாட்டி, means grandmother.)

Avvaiyar looked up. High among the leaves sat a boy, a young cowherd, while his cows grazed lazily nearby. He had a cheeky smile and a twinkle in his eyes.

"You look hungry, Paatti," he said. "Shall I get you some fruit?"

"That would be very kind, child."

The boy leaned down from his branch, grinning. "Then tell me: சுட்ட பழம் வேண்டுமா? சுடாத பழம் வேண்டுமா? Do you want roasted fruit, or unroasted fruit?"

A strange question

Avvaiyar frowned. Roasted fruit? Who roasts fruit? Fruit grows on trees; it does not come out of a cooking fire. Perhaps the boy was just being silly.

She had answered riddles from kings. Surely she could handle a little cowherd.

"Give me roasted fruit, then," she said, curious to see what he would do.

The boy gave the branch a good shake. Down pattered the ripe fruit, landing in the hot sand all around her feet. Avvaiyar picked one up. It was covered in sand, so she did what anyone would do: she held it up and blew on it, phoo, phoo, to blow the sand away.

From the branches came a peal of laughter.

"பழம் சுடுகிறதா, பாட்டி? Is the fruit too hot, Paatti? Is that why you are blowing on it? I told you it was roasted fruit!"

The joke

Here is the clever part. In Tamil, sudu (சுடு) means to be hot, or to roast. When food is too hot, we blow on it to cool it down. The fruit was not really hot at all, but Avvaiyar was blowing on it just as if it were. So the boy teased her that it must be "roasted"! The "unroasted" fruit would have been fruit handed to her clean, straight from the branch, with no blowing needed.

Avvaiyar began to laugh too. The great poet, who had traded clever words with kings, had been beaten at wordplay by a little cowherd.

"Child," she said, shaking her head with a smile, "you have taught me something today. I thought I knew so much. But you have shown me that there is always more to learn, even from someone small."

The boy in the tree

Then something wonderful happened. The boy in the tree began to shine with a golden light. In his place stood Lord Murugan himself, holding his vel (வேல்), his divine spear. He had come in disguise to play with his beloved devotee, and to remind her, with love, that no one should grow proud of their learning.

Tears of joy filled Avvaiyar's eyes. She folded her hands and sang in praise of Murugan, the young god who loves the Tamil language and those who serve it.

And perhaps, from that day on, she never looked at a jamun tree without smiling.

If you enjoyed this story, read how Murugan once raced around the whole world for a mango in The Fruit of Wisdom.

The lesson

Learning is precious, but humility is even more precious. A truly wise person is always ready to learn, even from a child.

Talk about it

• Why do you think the boy asked such a strange question?
• Have you ever learned something from someone younger than you? What was it?
• Sudu can mean "hot" or "roasted". Can you think of another word, in Tamil or English, that has two meanings?