 |
Vandiya
Devan crossed the street hurriedly to reach the place where the Prince and
Nandini stood. By the time he was across the street, he was not sure whether he
had seen Nandini at all? How could it be Nandini? Though her face had resembled
Nandini’s, she was attired simply like a sanyasi, with no jewels on her person and her
wind-blown hair was moving in waves around her.
When Vandiya Devan had reached the Prince, the woman had disappeared among
the shadows of the dilapidated mansion that stood on the other side.
“Ayya!
Who is that woman? She looked very familiar,” said Vandiya Devan.
Azhwarkadiyan
who had lumbered behind him said, “Whoever that woman was, I am inclined to
worship her as a Goddess. If she had not clapped her hands and called us to the
other side, we would be rotting under the rubble,” pointing opposite the street
where the massive stones of the mansion lay piled like a small hillock. The
rubble from the mansion was big enough to bury an elephant underneath and would
have killed these three people almost instantly.
“You
were right to call her a Goddess. If she had not warned us on time, we would
have died,” said the Prince.
“Prince!
What did you call that woman?” asked Vandiya Devan.
“Why
do you ask that? Why did you try to follow her?” asked the Prince.
“This
Vaishnavan called her a Goddess, while to my eyes she resembled the she-demon
who has come to destroy the Chola dynasty,”
“Whom are you referring to?”
“I
might be hallucinating but to my eyes she seemed like the younger wife of
Periya Pazhuvetarayar, Nandini Devi. Didn’t you notice the resemblance?”
“I
didn’t see properly. Nonetheless you are probably imagining things. How could
the Pazhuvur Queen, Nandini Devi come to Elangai and stand on its streets
alone?” asked Azhwarkadiyan.
“We
cannot dismiss what he says as imagination or hallucination. Even I have felt
that there is a remarkable resemblance between them. Come! Let us leave this place,”
Instead
of walking along the shadows of the mansions and palaces they walked in the
middle of the street.
“Prince!
The woman who called you across the street, what did she say?”
“She
said that two assassins have come here to slay me in cold blood. She said that
they would bide their time for the right opportunity,”
“My God! Was it us that she was warning you
off?”
Ponniyin
Selvar laughed at Vandiya Devan’s horrified statement and said, “No. She didn’t
specify and say that it was you two. But it doesn’t matter if it was because
she also said that I have a long life ahead. She has saved me from many mishaps
ever since I have come here,”
“Ayya!
I know who has come here to kill you. I saw them accompanying Parthibendra
Pallavan, when he came here searching for you. I saw two shadows moving through
the ruins of that mansion that almost fell on us. I am sure it must be them,”
“Ayya
Vaishnavarey! You are telling me now! You both walk ahead, let me inspect those
ruins for these assassins,” said Vandiya Devan and tried to turn back but the
Prince caught his hand and stopped him.
“It
is pointless to search for them now. We can deal with them later. You are not to move away from me until I command otherwise. I came to this ruin of a city
without any entourage or bodyguards because you were accompanying me. Would you
abandon me in the middle of the streets in the dead of the night? What would I do
if somebody attacks me after you left?”
The
Prince’s words charmed Vandiya Devan to the core and he immediately said,
“Ayya! I swear, I will not leave you alone even for a second,”
To
this Azhwarkadiyan said to Vandiya Devan, “I too swear on my Lord that I will never leave you
alone for a second. You can be the Prince’s armour while I will be yours,”
After
walking for a short while, they reached Mahasenar’s Palace. A large airy room
was readied for them to rest with three large bed steads to lay down. They lay down on the bed that was bathed with cool moonlight from the large
windows that lay open near them.
“Hundreds
of years ago, in this palace Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses probably lay
on these very bed steads. And the moon probably peeped on them through those
windows just as it does now. How disappointing that it should find ordinary
people like us, lying down here?”
“Ayya!
You are free to call this Vaishnavan and yourself anything that you choose but
I beseech you, do not call me ‘ordinary’ because I am anything but that,”
“Of
course, I forget. You are no ordinary man. You are the Prince of Vallam,”
“Yes
I am. I could even tell you what some bards had sung about my ancestors but I
am afraid that this Vaishanvan might just die of jealousy,”
“While
that may be true, Thirumalai also appreciates great poetry, so let us hear this
poem,”
Yen
Kavigai Yenduvasam
Yenkiriyidu
yenpari edhu enbarey –
Mangavan
Maavendhan
Vaanan
Varisai Parisu
Pettre
paavendarai, Vendhar Parthu
Ponniyin
Selvar listened to it intently and said, “Thirumalai! You are a poet too, tell
me the meaning of this poem?”
“Ayya!
Looks like you are testing me. Here is the meaning. Outside of the palace of
the Great Vanar King, lords and chieftains are waiting for an audience. But
they have to wait for their turn because the King is busy with the poets and
bards. Their poems and songs delight him so much that he gives them many gifts
and tokens of appreciation. Some get gold coins, while some get bejewelled
umbrellas, some take home huge harams and bracelets studded with large precious
stones while some get the best elephants, chariots and horses too!
As
each one of the poets come out of the palace, the Lords and Chieftains who are
waiting outside watch them jealously riding away with the treasures that they
had gifted the King once. “Oh no! That’s my chariot!” “That’s my palanquin”
“That poet is riding away on my best horse!” Such was the greatness of the
Vanar King who would reward true talent with the best of the treasures. My
Prince! Am I correct?”
“How
can I fault your interpretation Thirumalai? What a lovely poem this is? What
imagination? If only we knew who the poet was! Prince of Vallam, It does not
matter whether your kingdom was big or small when a poem such as this was sung
for your ancestors. They were great indeed. And you, a scion of this dynasty
has as much right as the kings of Elangai to sleep on this royal bedstead. It
wouldn’t be amiss to say that you are entitled to sleep even on King Dushtagamanu’s
royal bedstead too, if it is available,”
“Yes!
Yes! I am entitled to many things indeed. But sadly there is no respect for
title and no value for talent in this sad world. Did those Bikshus offer the
crown of Elangai to me? No indeed. Instead they offered to it to someone who
was happy to refuse it. I felt very angry when they did that. I almost grabbed
the crown from their hands and would have crowned myself the King. I controlled
myself because I didn’t want this Vaishnavan competing with me,”
Ponniyin
Selvar laughed at Vandiya Devan’s hilarious wishes for a while and said,
“Didn’t I tell you about Truth and Dharma? Don’t you think they are enough
reasons to refuse the crown of Elangai?”
“I
once used to be fascinated by truth and dharma, Prince but I have henceforth
decided that I will have nothing to do with them,”
“Aha!
Why do you want to take such a decision? Why so much anger against them?”
“I
am not angry with them. Didn’t you tell me that you were in love with two
maidens called Truth and Dharma? How can I think about women who belong to
somebody else?”
Ponniyin
Selvan laughed yet again at his funny repatriate and said, “I am yet to meet
another man who jokes so well,”
“Yes,
ayya! It’s all a joke to you while I am sitting here regretting a lost
opportunity. You didn’t want the throne of Elangai, then you could have turned towards me and said, ‘Please give it to him’.” Asked
Vandiya Devan with mock anger.
After
Ponniyin Selvar had laughed his fill, he said, “Vandiya Devarey! Accepting the
throne means accepting the responsibilities of ruling a Kingdom and let me
assure you, that is not a mean task. And I don’t think it is proper to accept
the Kingdom from the Buddha Bikshus. I have always believed that religious
leaders ought to stop with leading the people towards the faith. They must not
interfere in the affairs of the kingdom. If they do, it will lead to disasters
that will not only affect the Kingdom and the people but also their faith. Moreover
the Maha Sangam that we saw today does not represent all those who follow the
faith of Buddha. There are two more Maha Sangam in this Kingdom who believe that
they have the right to choose the next king. If I had accepted the crown from
them, I would be expected to rule the Kingdom as per their wishes, while the
other two Maha Sangams would be against me,”
“Does
the Prince of Vallam understand the situation here?” asked Azhwarkadiyan.
“Yes.
I understand. There are fools in our Kingdom who would fight and riot about who
the bigger God is – Vishnu or Shiva. In the same manner, we have fools here,
fighting over other Gods,”
 |
| Prince Arul Mozhi Varmar, Azhwarkadiyan and Vandiya Devan |
“Please,
don’t start fighting again. It is very late in the hour and I can hear the
people who had gone with the Perahara Festival coming back. Let us get some
sleep,” said the Prince.
“I
can’t sleep until I know the identity of the woman who saved us from being
buried alive in the rubble,”
“I
do not know who she is but I do know many things about her. If you wish to know
more, come and sit here,” said the Prince.
No comments:
Post a Comment