Shaiva and Vaishnava faiths
flourished during the times of Mahendra Varma Pallava and his son Narasimha
Varman. As Jain and Buddhist religions were declining, the good aspects of
those faiths were absorbed by Shaivism and Vaishnavism. Devotion to Shiva and Love for Krishna were
promoting faith in the country. Nayanmars such as Appar and Sambandar, and Vaishnavite
Azhvars spread the faiths through their poetry. Temples for Shiva and Vishnu
came up, with the flourishing art of sculpture.
While most of the believers
followed such paths of love, there was a minority that believed in religions
such as Kapalik, Saktha and Bhairavam, which promoted
human sacrifice. These religions flourished underground and promoted blind superstitions.
Followers affected by such blind superstitions cut off their own heads in the
Kali and Durga temples. They were led by the priests to believe that such
sacrifices earned them great privileges in their subsequent births. These religions
established Kali and Durga temples in mountainous regions that were hard to
reach.
In Mahendra Pallava’s days, King
Pulikesi attacked the Tamil region. Such religions entered the Tamil region
along with Pulikesi’s forces. The regions faced severe draughts, first right after
Pulikesi’s return to Vatapi, and again when Narasimha Varman led his army to
fight in Vatapi. The superstitious faiths involving human sacrifice found more
followers during such droughts.
Narasimha Varman had been trying
to root out such beliefs based on superstition. He had realized that he could
not succeed in that goal through threats or punishments. After all, how do you
punish those who are willing to kill themselves? Hence, the Emperor had handed
over the governance of the kingdom to his son and traveled in disguise to
gather intelligence on such religions. That was how he was in the right place
at the right time to save Vikraman.
Vikraman, however, was not aware
of the nature of the danger that he had escaped. He had been under the belief
that he was attacked by bandits. When he took leave from the spy chief, his
mind was whirl of thoughts. He was eager to see his mother. The horse that he
borrowed from the spy chief was fast, but he wished it could go faster.
Vikraman thought of the spy chief
and felt a surge of gratitude for his timely help. He also speculated if a man
of such remarkable intelligence might have discovered his identity. ‘Is it
possible that he lent me the horse to trap me in some sort of conspiracy?’, he
wondered.
Despite these misgivings, the
story that the spy chief told of the young love between Narasimha Varman and
Sivagami kept coming back to him. He visualized Sivagami dancing, Ayanar
capturing her poses in sculpture and a young Narasimha Varman relishing the
scene.
He also remembered the young
woman with large eyes who looked at him fondly from her palanquin. Could a girl
of such beauty be harboring treacherous thoughts? ‘Impossible’, he thought.
‘But who is she? The princess or her friend?’
Amidst such thoughts, he stopped
to ask for directions. As the spy chief
had indicated, the horse seemed to be taking the right path. This increased the
confidence he had on the spy chief. He recalled the spy chief’s
advice not to travel at night. He decided to stay overnight in a village inn on
the way. But his plans ran into trouble before dusk fell.
The eastern sky darkened. Dark
clouds gathered. Cool wind whipped up dust. The wind brought the smell of drenched
earth. Soon it started raining. It was not just a rain. It was torrential
downpour, accompanied by thunder and lightning. It rained as if all the water
accumulated over a long period was rushing down through a large hole in the sky.
Drenched and shivering, Vikraman
tried to find shelter under a tree for a while. The rain did not stop. He was
worried that the dark skies could get darker with nightfall. He decided to
travel on and look for a temple or an inn to stay at.
He came across a river. The water
seemed knee-deep. Vikraman thought the water flow may increase if he waited any
longer, so he nudged the horse to go on. After he went in, the tide started
rising. The horse started being swept by the powerful currents. As Vikraman
debated between the alternatives - whether it was safer to go on, or to return
to the shore he came from, the horse was submerged enough that it had to start
swimming. Vikraman sensed that he was
endangering the horse by staying on it. He jumped into the river.
Click here for the audiobook version
Parthban Kanavu: The Tamil version of the novel is in the public domain. Copyright for the translation is reserved by the translator..
Art by Sujatha, unless otherwise credited.
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