Correct answer: (d) A king defeated in a battle committing ritual suicide by starving himself to death
Explanation
- A
Kings employing women bodyguards
Women bodyguards. Sangam has viraliyar and guards, not this rite.
- B
Learned persons assembling in royal courts to discuss religious and philosophical matters
A learned assembly. That is a sangam / avai, not vattakirutal.
- C
Young girls keeping watch over agricultural fields and driving away birds and animals
Girls watching fields. A pastoral image, not the word.
- D
A king defeated in a battle committing ritual suicide by starving himself to death
A defeated king starving himself to death. Vatakkiruttal / vattakirutal in Sangam poetry.
Summary. Official key is (d). Vattakirutal (vatakkiruttal) is the Sangam rite in which a defeated king sits facing north and fasts to death. It is not bodyguards, a court of scholars, or field-watch.