Mothers -
Purananuru 278
The old woman's shoulders
were dry, unfleshed,
with outstanding veins;
her low belly
was like a lotus pad.
When people said
her son had taken fright,
had turned his back on battle
and died,
she raged
and shouted,
" If he really broke down
in the thick of battle,
I'll slash these breasts
that gave him suck, "
and went there,
sword in hand.
Turning over body after fallen body,
she rummaged through the blood-red field
till she found her son,
quartered, in pieces,
and she rejoiced
more than on the day
she gave him birth.
The old woman's shoulders
were dry, unfleshed,
with outstanding veins;
her low belly
was like a lotus pad.
When people said
her son had taken fright,
had turned his back on battle
and died,
she raged
and shouted,
" If he really broke down
in the thick of battle,
I'll slash these breasts
that gave him suck, "
and went there,
sword in hand.
Turning over body after fallen body,
she rummaged through the blood-red field
till she found her son,
quartered, in pieces,
and she rejoiced
more than on the day
she gave him birth.
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