Sumati Satakam 6

తలనుండు విషము ఫణికిని
వెలయంగా దోకనుండు వృశ్చికమునకున్
దల దోక యనకనుండును
ఖలునకు నిలువెల్ల విషము గదరా సుమతీ

Talanundu vishamu phanikini
velayangA dOkanundu vrischikamunakun
dala dOka yanakanundunu
khalunaku niluvella vishamu gadarA sumatI

తలనుండు = it is in the head
విషము =Poison
ఫణికిని = for a snake
వెలయంగా దోకనుండు = it is in the tail
వృశ్చికమునకున్ = for a scorpion
తల = head
తోక = tail
యనకనుండును = it is there without consideration
ఖలునకు = for a bad man
నిలువెల్ల = all through the body
విషము = poison
గదరా = isn’t it
సుమతీ = oh wise one

This is a sharp poem condemning the venomous nature of wicked people. Such people indulge in words gestures and thoughts all soaked in venom. Whatever they do will be harmful to the others. There are plenty of such people even in today’s society.

Baddena sharply says only two things here. He compares the bad people with snakes and scorpions. A snake has its venom only in the head and a scorpion in its tail. The other parts of their body are absolutely harmless. It is common knowledge these days that snakes are eaten. For a bad person, there is no localization for the venom. Baddena says that all the parts of the body are as venomous as they could be.

A snake has its venom for only self defence. It is common knowledge that a snake will never bite a person without provocation. Actually the sanke is more afraid of people than the people about the snake. A scorpion is also is similar. Their nature is mis represented by the stories made up by people. A snake being revengeful is a myth. There are people who played with snakes and scorpions all through their lives.
Not so a bad person. Even a simple gesture of the eprson will be full of venom. I feel human beings are the most venomous creatures in this world. thay can torture the fellow beings without killing them. Killing will end the story, whereas a bad word will slowly poison the person and make them suffer whenever they think of it. Humans can cause trouble and thus can be called venomous.

This is an excellent poem typifying the sataka poetry of this genre.