6 min readMay 29, 2023 10:05 AM IST
First published on: May 28, 2023 at 06:39 PM IST
Translated by V Geetha
C N Annadurai, founder of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and former chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, has referenced the Sengol in an article by that name in the weekly Dravida Nadu (24.8.1947) that he edited. Written with the rhetorical flourish that was the hallmark of his satiric imagination, the piece comprises several parts – including an imagined conversation between the author and a friendly though clueless interlocutor and one between a modern brahmin intellectual and the Adheenam. Primarily, in this essay, Annadurai wonders at the reasoning behind this handing over of the sceptre to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Here is a rough translation of parts of this essay.
The Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam has handed over a Sengol to Pandit Nehru, who is the Prime Minister of the new government. … Why did he do this? Was this a gift, an offering, a licence fee? It is certainly unexpected. And unnecessary. But if it were only unnecessary it wouldn’t matter. There is deep meaning in this gesture, and it is becoming increasingly clear that it bodes danger.
We don’t know what Pandit Nehru thought of this and neither do we know if the Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam sent a note along with it. But we have a few words for Pandit Nehru.
You are well aware of the histories of nations. An anointed King who put his subjects to work so that his cohort of nobles could live off their labour. Within the King’s golden castle there are men who have the freedom and permission to wander within its precincts. Men who are in possession of religious capital. If we are to sustain the rule of the people, such men ought to be stripped off their privileges is a historical truism. You know this.
The question that worries those like the Adheenam is this. They wonder with some anxiety if your government will act on this knowledge and they are likely to bring forth and offer you, not just a golden scepter, but one embellished with nine gems, all because they wish to protect their self-interest.
This is not a sceptre brought forth by the devotee seeking God’s grace by his ardent singing… no, the Adheenam’s gift has been wrought by people’s labour. The gold that has gone into its making is paid for by those who do not care that there are the poor who go hungry day and night, who have misused the wealth of others, hit the peasants in his belly, paid workers the least that they could, not honored their debts, multiplied their profits. And who in order to hide their wrong doing, their sins, and to cheat God have poured their offerings to him by way of this gold. If our future rulers are to receive this sceptre from those who are in the habit of exploiting bodies and minds, that does not bode well.
***
Brahmin: That you, the Adheenam would send this Sengol in an auspicious hour, out of your sheer love, respect and concern, to the new government, why this will earn you the praise of our princes, of Jaipur, Baroda, Udaipur, Mysore… They might refer to the Sengol for a minute or two, but in reality will sing your praises the whole day.
Adheenam: Wasn’t that a good idea, to send it?
Brahmin: The Sengol is what the King holds in his hand. And who handed over such a Sengol to the government? The Adheenam, who thus lent his stamp of approval, by granting the scepter, as if he were blessing the new government, granting it permission to start functioning – this is what will be the talk of the town. Not only now, but in the future as well.
***
Take a look at the Sengol. It is beautiful. But perhaps you can see more than the sacred bull, the rishabam. You can also see thousands of acres of land, planted worked over by the agricultural worker, who is reduced to a life of sorrow. You will also be able to see his hut, and the poverty therein, presided over by this sceptre. You will also see the mirasdar, his bungalow, the golden plate he eats from. And again, the tired body, with its overwrought eyes… you will see the mutt, and the ascetic with his dread locks, his beads, the gold in his ears, his golden slippers.
…This Sengol sent to Pandit Nehru is no gift offering. Or a symbol of love. Or for that matter, an expression of patriotism. It is a request to the future rulers of India that they spare the adheenams and not take away their wealth and glory. By offering this to our rulers the Adheenam is seeking their friendship, so that their fame and domination do not wither away.
…All this gold in the possession of these ascetics, yet it is a speck of what they actually hold. If all the gold in their premises is confiscated and spent on the common good this sceptre will cease to be a decorative symbol and instead become a means to improve the common person’s life.
This is an edited excerpt of an article by C N Annadurai, published in Dravida Nadu on August 24, 1947. Annadurai was founder of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and former chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. The translation and opening note is by V Geetha
The 'Sengol', which was once handed over to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (right), was placed inside the new Parliament by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday. 
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